CHILDREN OF THE MOON
Book Four
Copyright © 2020
Any unauthorized reprint or use of the material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express written permission of the author. All rights reserved.
This is an original work of fiction and the contents are a product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Contains language and adult themes, suitable for 16 years+
For my great nephew and newest
‘Pack Member’
Finlay Angus Laurenson
Born on 25th September 2020
***
CHILDREN OF THE MOON
Book Four
PROLOGUE
Bree Donovan pulled herself effortlessly up onto the tallest branch of the huge white oak and settled down to watch over the compound, just as the morning mist was beginning to clear.
Lights came on and wolves were beginning to stir, getting ready for work or school and she liked to watch them unobserved. The smell of bacon and pancakes nearby would normally make her stomach growl but for once in her life, she wasn’t hungry.
Three wolves ran directly beneath her and she recognized Jay, Roisin and Anjelica. Jay lifted his snout and sniffed, he could sense her here above him. His senses were sharp but he didn’t stop to engage her this time.
She knew she was being a coward and would have to face Nathaniel sooner or later but she wasn’t ready to do it just yet. She tried to pull Hope aside yesterday to ask her advice but she heard the loud, angry words between her and Rafe as she walked into the clinic and backed away before they saw her. Something wasn’t right with those two and Bree wondered if she and her sister were destined to be two old maids, the path of true love hadn’t even winked in their direction and Bree wasn’t sure it ever would.
Hope and Rafe had an instant connection but they had yet to mate and she doubted if they would now, it had been months. Not all mating’s happened as quickly as Seann and Imogen and even India fought so hard before eventually giving in to her feelings for Garrett, but something was lacking in her sister’s relationship. She knew Hope loved him and he was crazy about her too, but something was stopping her from making that commitment to him.
‘You’re one to talk’ a little voice in her head whispered.
She had been so certain Nathaniel was hers and the brief time they had spent together was the best of her life but she couldn’t trust a man who pledged his love for her when he already belonged to another woman. Maybe if he had told her he was already engaged when they first met she would have been more inclined to trust him, but he hadn’t said a damn word.
When the woman in question had shown up unexpectedly in the restaurant, Nate had asked Bree to give him time to explain to Renee that he had met someone else, but she had rushed back to the hotel, packed her bags and gone home.
He was just another cheater and a leopard doesn't ever change his spots.
She was better off without him.
Then why the hell did it still hurt so much...it had been two long, agonizing years?
She wiped the tears from her cheeks and touched a hand to her lips where he had kissed her again just a few weeks ago at the pack run and her heart remembered every touch, every taste, every long painful minute since she had fled from him. Her wolf whined deep inside her.
She had serious trust issues! Her father had never been very warm or loving and she recently discovered that he had pined for another woman the entire time he had been with her Mom and had even fathered a child with her. Garrett Adair was the product of that union and although she was angry at her father, she was more than happy to have another brother. He was one of the good guys, as was her brother Seann, despite his gruff exterior and crusty demeanor.
Thankfully, Nathaniel had been missing from the compound for the last week, he was helping Kandis and Liam with the proposed move to their new mountain home. She overheard Liam say he was coming back today and she wondered if she should go away somewhere for a while to get her head straight before facing him again.
She dropped down to the branch below and climbed back down to reality, landing like a cat on all fours.
She also knew that she would never have a moment’s peace as long as she kept avoiding him. Imogen told her to tackle it head-on and she knew she was right, but she was so afraid he would hurt her all over again.
‘Damn you, Nathaniel.’ she started to cry in earnest, her bruised heart was aching for him.
She ran home through the trees, avoiding other wolves along the way and slipped in through the front door. She could hear Imogen and India’s voices in the kitchen and she tip-toed upstairs to her room before anyone noticed her.
She sighed with relief when she reached her bedroom undetected, but when she opened the door her sister was stretched out on her bed, hands behind her head and she looked like she had been crying too.
“I need to talk to you Bree,” Hope said sitting upright and Bree wondered when her sister had last slept. Her eyes were red-rimmed and the black circles underneath were a giveaway that all was not well in her world.
Bree sat down beside her and pulled her close. Hope was her twin, her other half and she bled when her sister bled.
“You don’t look any better than I feel, Bree. Is it Nate?” she turned to face her and Bree nodded.
“But first, tell me what’s going on with you and Rafe,” she probed gently, “I thought you loved him.”
“I do love him, Bree. We enjoy the same things, we work great together, on the face of it, he is perfect for me.” her eyes filled with tears.
“But…” Bree asked.
“I’m not in love with him. I will never settle for anything less than my true mate and I know in my gut that it’s not Rafe. Look what settling did for Mom and Dad. She was miserable because she knew he wanted another woman and he was miserable because he couldn’t have her. Rafe knows how I feel, but he thinks what we have is enough, that we could be happy together.”
“But you don’t think your love for him will grow?” Bree asked softly brushing her sister’s hair back from her face.
“No, not in the way he wants it to. I love him and want what’s best for him, but that’s not me. I know it in my gut, my wolf knows it too. I have never once been tempted to bite him, to claim him.”
“You need to make a clean break then, love, it’s not fair to him if he thinks there is still a chance for you both.”
“I have tried, I swear, but he just won’t hear it. We just end up fighting.”
“Then you need to get away for a little while, put some distance between you so that you can think clearer. Take Rylee up on her offer to stay with her,” Bree said. “Or you could both go to the mountain cabin, Seann and Imogen won’t be going for a few weeks yet and Liam and Kandis are staying in their own cabin up there.
“Are you coming with us?”
“No, I have some things of my own I need to settle. I ran away from Nathaniel once before, this time I need to face him.” As she made the decision to stay her heart fluttered at the thought of seeing him again and she jumped up, angry with herself.
“Pack enough for a couple of weeks, Hope. I will talk to Seann and let him know what’s going on. You call Rylee and see if she can make it.”
“I don’t want to see Rafe, he will only try and persuade me to stay. I will write him a letter if you would give it to him for me.” Hope asked.
Bree nodded and hugged her sister before going downstairs in search of her brother. As alpha, he was as tough as nails, but he loved his sisters fiercely, he wo
uld only want Hope to be happy.
She found him in his office and he leaned back in the chair while she told him what was going on. He only nodded and threw her the keys to the cabin.
“Tell her to take as long as she needs and she is right not to settle for less than her mate. That goes for you too Bree, if Nate is meant for you, you already know it in your gut.” he put a hand on his abdomen. “Everything else is secondary to that bond.”
She threw her arms around him and he surprised her by hugging her back. Imogen had smoothed some of her brother’s rough edges since she came here. She and little Everly were his world.
An hour later she watched as Hope’s car disappeared around the corner and fanned herself with the envelope she had promised to deliver to Rafe. She liked the young doctor and knew he would be pissed when she gave it to him, but why would he want Hope when she had made it clear that she wasn’t the one for him. She was also grateful that she had dodged her sister’s questions about Nathaniel. She needed time to think and she needed to talk to him, sooner rather than later.
India came out onto the porch and handed her a cup of steaming coffee and they sat on the swing side by side.
“Is the baby asleep?”
“Yes, that kid eats and sleeps most of the day. I know I’m blessed.” she grinned.
Bree took a sip of her coffee. She could feel India’s eyes on her and eventually, she said.
“Are you gonna make me beg or are you going to tell me what the hell happened between you and the extremely gorgeous Mr. Wade?”
Bree sighed and blinked back the tears that threatened and began to tell India her story.
CHAPTER ONE
Bree
“He’s your mate!” India said when Bree finished talking.
“I thought so too when I met him but he is also a liar and a cheat,” Bree said angrily.
“Maybe he had given up on finding his true mate, Bree and was marrying someone he liked who he thought he could be happy with. Garrett did the same thing, he tried to make it work with Gabriella, for Kali’s sake. Not all wolves find their true mates, but they still want a family and a home and many of them make it work, you know that.”
“I do know that and I don’t blame him for wanting a life with someone...if he had been honest with me.”
“I don’t see him as deceitful, I can sense a liar a mile off, Bree. Maybe he was waiting on the right moment to tell you, but she showed up before he got the chance. You had only known him for a few days, remember. Maybe you should cut him some slack until you know the whole story.”
Bree stood up and paced up and down the porch and India tried to hide her grin. She knew India was right but she wasn’t ready to let him off the hook just yet, she was still hurting too much.
“Just talk to him, give him half an hour of your time to explain before you chew him out again,” India added. “I almost ruined it all with Garrett because I got the wrong end of the stick, don’t make that same mistake, Bree.”
“I need to take this to the clinic, I promised Hope.” she jumped down off the porch, waving the letter in her hand.
“A ‘Dear John’ letter,” India said.
“How the hell do you know that!”
“My sister is psychic, remember, she said they weren’t going to stay together. I also sensed the struggle between them. Hope is very unhappy and she would eventually make Rafe unhappy too. It’s better this way.”
“Yes, well, I still have to give a man I like and respect some bad news.”
“Imogen says he will find someone else, soon. She saw him in one of her visions, he was with another woman, at a pack run.” she shrugged, “He will be okay, they both will.
“I hope so,” Bree said and disappeared in a flash in the direction of the clinic.
Her heart was hammering in her chest. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Rafe but she had no choice. Any woman would be lucky to have him and she didn’t blame her sister for wanting to wait. It was difficult watching Seann and Imogen, India and Garrett and now Liam and Kandis with their mates and not wanting the same for yourself.
She knocked but the clinic door was wide open and she went inside. He was on his hands and knees on the floor reaching for something under the desk.
He straightened up and stood up, his expression wary as he watched her walk toward him. He knew she wasn’t there to give him good news, she could sense it.
“Bree, what can I do for you?”
She held out the white envelope with Hope’s distinctive loopy handwriting and he looked at it as if it was a snake, ready to strike.
“Hope asked me to give you this.” she felt awful for him, but it was best to just come right out with it.
He took the envelope and sat it on the desk in front of him, making no move to open it and Bree turned to leave.
“I already know what it says.” he sat down on the chair, defeated.
Bree stopped in her tracks and turned toward him.
“You already know that she isn’t your mate, Rafe. Take it from someone who knows, settling for someone else will just bring pain and discontent to all concerned.”
“Hope told me about your parents, but I know other wolves who have been very happy with their choice of partner and never claimed them.” he ran a hand through his thick dark hair.
Bree put her hands on his desk and leaned toward him.
“And if you had a family together and then one day you meet your mate, or Hope does, can you imagine what that would do to you. You either leave and hurt her or you live a lie and pine for someone else. My father resented my Mom and she did nothing to deserve it, all because he was supposed to be with another woman. Our lives were all worse because of it. I know you love her, Rafe, but you’re not her mate. She deserves to find him...and so do you.”
“I know, that’s the kicker, I do know. I thought at first she was the one for me, the attraction was so strong, but as time went on I knew in my gut it wasn’t to be. I never felt the urge to bite her, not once.”
“I’m sorry,” she said simply and turned to go.
“When did you know Nathaniel was yours?”
She stopped and turned back to look at him, ready to deny what he implied, but the pain on his face made her bite her lip and open up to him.
“The first time I met him. It was as if half of me had been missing my whole life and then he was there and I was complete. There wasn’t a single doubt in my mind that he was mine, but he lied to me and the pain of our separation almost killed me. Even when you are fated mates, it doesn’t always work out, Rafe, but you deserve to find out for yourself.”
She escaped quickly before he could see the tears in her eyes and ran all the way back to the Den. She needed to get her head straight before Nathaniel showed up in the compound again.
Roisin was in the kitchen with Everly, Ethan and little Addison. She was in her element with a house full of kids to fuss over.
“Seann said to go through as soon as you came home,” she said, wiping the little girl’s sticky fingers.
Her brother was standing by the fireplace, his hands in his pockets. Garrett and India were on the loveseat, Liam was looking out the window. Kandis and Imogen were sitting on the sofa and Imogen patted the spot between them and she took a seat. Only then did she notice the other man sitting on one of the two chairs in the corner of the room, Jay was in the other.
Seann turned to the stranger who stood up and walked to stand beside her brother.
He was tall and well-built and Bree thought she had seen him somewhere before but couldn’t remember where. She cleared her head and tried to concentrate on what they were saying.
“My name is Finn Danvers. The man who was in league with Carla to kidnap Seann and Imogen's daughter, is my brother, Rob. From what I have learned, in return for the child, Carla wanted him to kill the mate of her ex-boyfriend. He called me once after you found your daughter, he said he never intended to carry out his end of the bargain, he just wanted the b
aby … but we still don’t know why.”
“Ransom?” Bree asked him and when he turned his pale blue eyes on her, she was certain she had seen him before.
“Doubtful. He has a trust fund and has stolen more money from our mother than he will ever need, although he can spend money faster than any man I know.” his gaze never wavered.
“I think it has something to do with me being a white wolf,” Imogen said, her fists clenched and Bree knew she was reliving her daughter’s kidnapping.
“Or does he have a grudge against me or the pack.” Seann added, “He wouldn’t be the first to try and exact revenge on us for some perceived slight.”
“We won’t know for sure until we find him,” Finn said looking around the room. Rob is devious and I believe he is capable of just about anything, but we will find him. He is also arrogant and foolhardy and will slip up sooner or later. When he does, I will be there to catch him.”
“Jay, Finn will be staying with us for a while. I want you to work with him, give him whatever he needs and find the bastard who threatened my daughter’s safety.” Seann’s face was a mask of fury and Imogen went to her mate to calm him.
He pulled her to his side and Bree could see the effect she had on him as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again the fury was replaced with steely determination.
“Finn, I can’t promise that I won’t kill him when we find him, I can’t let him get away with taking my daughter,” he said.
“There’s going to be a pretty long line. He left my mother for dead and my sister badly injured when they tried to stop him from taking all her money. He shifted in front of my mom, who had no idea that shifters even exist and she is now in a psychiatric hospital. She told the police that a wolf attacked her… a wolf who was actually her son and then when her daughter shifted to protect her, she almost lost her mind. I had to lie to my mother and say she imagined the entire thing and my sister backed me up. It broke my sister’s heart to do it and I had no choice but to lock her up for everyone’s safety. I will kill the little bastard with my bare hands for what he has done to my family. He is definitely his father’s son, he leaves devastation in his wake, wherever he goes.”
Children of the Moon: Book Four Page 1