The Children of the Moon

by Yvonne Robertson

  “You owe my friend here for the damage to his vehicle, how do you propose to pay him back, pretty,” he pulled her against him and sniffed her hair, inhaling in gulps. “I usually like them a little younger but she will do,” he handed her to the other man as if she was a bag of groceries and Imogen struggled to get down while he laughed at her.

  They were in the middle of nowhere in front of a small run-down cabin. The door opened and a third man stood there,

  “Well what do we have here,” he grinned and Imogen felt her blood run cold, just what were they planning to do to her, “I thought you were bringing back the other one,” he added.

  “We caught this one snooping around, the other one will keep until we are done with her.”

  What other one, who were they talking about, India!

  “You better not touch me or my sister, do you know who I am?” she tried to threaten him but it just amused the big one as he closed the trunk and turned to her.

  “Your sister? Ah! the redhead is your sister. I know exactly who you are but the last time I saw you I thought I left you for dead, one of the pack must have taken pity on you and bitten you. I can smell the wolf in you but you haven’t completed your transition yet, have you pretty?” He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him, “You won’t be able to fight back, at least not enough to do anything other than excite me,” he threw back his head and laughed as the other one dumped her on the ground.

  “The pack will be looking for me,” she insisted but he grabbed her hand and pulled her roughly to her feet,

  “They will find you, what’s left of you but not just yet. By the time the cavalry gets here, we will be long gone.” His good looks were marred by the malicious grin.

  Imogen caught something out of the corner of her eye, a flash of movement in the trees at the side of the cabin but all three of her captors were looking at her so she was sure they missed it. They were here, Seann was here. Her relief was overwhelming but her instincts told her she needed to not go inside the cabin, she needed to keep them out here in the open.

  “What are you planning to do to me,” she asked, sitting back down and digging in her heels as he looked down at her again,

  “Whatever I feel like pretty,” he pulled her up onto her feet and hard against him and kissed her hard on the lips, “Whatever they like too, we always share, don’t we,” he seemed to find that hilarious and Imogen wanted to throw up.

  The man in the doorway fell first as the huge gray wolf came out of nowhere and pinned him down, he tried to shift but Liam held him fast and shook him like a rag until his head hit the doorway and knocked him unconscious, he didn’t stand a chance. He dragged him out of the doorway and dumped him at the side of the road to be watched over by the younger wolves.

  The shorter man tried to run but Hope and Bree came at him either side, teeth bared and he looked around and sank to his knees and gave up his attempt to escape as other pack members bound him and carried them off to join his friend waiting on the vehicles coming to collect them.

  Seann and Garrett changed back to human form and were either side of the ringleader when Kandis came from around the back of the cabin in her human form and stopped dead at the sight of him. The color drained from her face and Imogen thought the other woman was going to pass out, “Nooooo!”

  The mutt’s face broke into a huge smile when he saw her, despite his unfortunate predicament, “There she is, there’s my girl, you knew I would come for you eventually, didn’t you sweetheart? I would have too if this pretty little thing hadn’t gotten in the way but you know it’s you I want Kandis, it’s always been you, she was just a pleasant distraction,” he nodded in Imogen’s direction and Seann drew back his clenched fist and punched him hard on the side of the face, but he barely flinched.

  Kandis was frozen to the spot with a look of abject terror on her face and the other wolves looked on in confusion, Kandis knew the mutt?

  “No!” Imogen gasped as she realized who he was, she felt it in her gut, he was the man responsible for raping Kandis all those years ago when she was still a child, the man who was going to be her cousin’s mate.

  She ran to Kandis and tried to pull her away but she was rooted to the ground. The mutt laughed maniacally. Sensing how terrified she was, Liam came forward and put his arm around her shoulders to steer her away but the mutt didn’t like it at all.

  “Get your fucking hands off my property, wolf,” he roared and Liam turned back to him in shock, anger marring his handsome features, “Kandis belongs to me, don’t you sweetheart?” the mutt crooned and something inside her snapped.

  She changed on the fly, a blur of golden fur and bared teeth, knocking Liam on his ass and lunged at the huge dark-haired man in front of her, sinking her fangs into him over and over. She attacked him with such ferocity that Imogen jumped back and watched in morbid fascination as his blood sprayed everyone around them but no one made a move to try and stop her.

  Both Seann and Garrett were flung aside as the mutt changed too in a flash to protect himself and Imogen instantly recognized him as the huge wolf who had attacked her as she searched for her sister, the one who had attacked India too, leaving them both for dead. She hadn’t recognized his scent in human form but she did now. This was one sick individual.

  He towered above Kandis and Imogen knew that no matter how fast and strong Kandis was, this beast would kill her in an instant if he was given half a chance. Sean and Garrett changed back into wolf form and together they brought him down holding him in place while Kandis sank her teeth into the soft tissue of his neck, snarling and tearing at his throat, blood pumping from him furiously until at last, he was still.

  Imogen had never seen anything as gory or bloodthirsty, but she wasn’t upset, he truly got what he deserved. She turned her back on him as she waited on the others shifting back and the younger men dragged his body into the woods to bury him, a dead wolf was one thing but a dead man was quite another.

  Kandis went to the other two lying unconscious on the ground and Imogen asked her quietly if these two were the same two from years ago but she shook her head.

  “No, I have never seen them before but that,” she gestured to the body being carried into the woods, “That is Dan Kellas, the man who was to become my cousin’s mate and the man who violated me when I was just fourteen years old.”

  Everyone had stopped talking at once and Kandis looked around them and shrugged, “I couldn’t tell anyone before, but now that he is gone...”

  “We will take care of it Kandis,” Seann said kindly, “We will take care of everything.”

  Liam came out of the cabin and whispered something to Seann before he put his arm around Kandis and led her away to one of the vehicles that had just arrived. Liam was quickly getting over his aversion to her.

  They trussed up the two wolves and put them in the bed of the truck, everyone still in human form climbed into the truck bed with them to go home and left the car for Seann and Imogen to bring back to the Den. This time tomorrow, there would be no sign anyone had ever been here.

  When everyone had left Seann pulled on a pair of shorts and a shirt someone had handed to him then turned to her and took her hand.

  “There is something you need to see before we go home Imogen.”

  She sensed his anger bubbling just below the surface but she wisely kept her mouth shut and her thoughts to herself. She knew he was angry and rightly so, the bad feeling she had earlier had been about her all along. If she had made the decision to stay put like Seann had asked her to, she would have been safe but she didn’t believe Kandis would have been. The shock when she saw him would have given him an advantage and an opportunity to capture her, Imogen had no regrets about her decision.

  He pushed open the door of the cabin and her eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim light. It was a single room with a shadeless bulb hanging from the ceiling, with a small kitchen off to one side and a bed and sofa on the other side of the room. It was grubby and
musty and she wondered why Seann had brought her here when her eyes fell on the bed and she gasped.

  There were leather restraints attached to all four corners of the bed and she knew if Seann hadn’t got here on time that she would likely have met the same fate as Kandis had all of those years ago. She shuddered and forced the image from her mind.

  “He was going to capture Kandis and bring her here but you made it easy for them and walked right into his open arms. Not to mention that you put the whole operation and everyone else’s lives in danger by your careless disregard for the fucking rules Imogen!” He was seething and the hair stood up on her arms as his eyes glowed brighter than she had ever seen them. His fangs were punched out over his bottom lip.

  She felt a shiver of apprehension at the raw fury emanating from him and knew she had royally screwed up this time, “I think you made your point!” She snapped, trying to save a little of her dignity and turned to leave but he grabbed her arm and she felt her will bend to his as the now-familiar crushing weight descended on her chest, the weight of her alpha ruled supreme.

  “Let me go Seann,” she said angrily trying to force her will above his but it was futile, he was the strongest pack member and he had her completely at his mercy. He ignored her demands and turned her to face him, his eyes were glowing like flames.

  “Do you have any fucking idea what it would have done to me if he had violated you Imogen? Do you?” he roared and she flinched at the venom in his voice.

  She opened her mouth to speak and closed it again but he was relentless, “ANSWER ME!” he yelled and she was more than a little afraid of his temper.

  “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I had an awful feeling something was going to happen and I followed my gut Seann.”

  “No, you disobeyed a direct fucking order and it could have caused mayhem. If you hadn’t shown up they would have captured Kandis who is more than capable of defending herself and this would have been over. As it was, you would have been raped repeatedly for sure and probably murdered Imogen, why can’t you understand that!”

  He was getting angrier by the second but something inside of her snapped, “NO, you don’t understand Seann!” She whirled around, a feral growl erupted from her. His mental hold on her fractured and she was free of his control, “You were using Kandis as bait against the man who not only violently raped her but invited his friends to rape her too…when she was just fourteen years old, just a child Seann. She wouldn’t have been able to follow through on the plan when she realized who she was dealing with and it could have ended so much worse than it did, you saw her when she came face to face with him, she would have frozen on the spot and she would be dead by now!” she was yelling so hard she was unaware when he stepped away from her.

  “Imogen, honey you need to calm down,” he said softly holding out his hands in front of him and she clenched her fists, raising her voice another octave.

  “Who the fuck ever calmed down when they are told to calm the fuck down Seann!” She was screaming now, frustration coloring her judgment.

  He backed away from her and started stripping off his clothes and she laughed hysterically. What was he doing now!

  “Sweetheart, take off your clothes,” he urged her as he stood before her completely naked and she thought she had wandered into the twilight zone.

  “You want to have sex with me now!” she said incredulously.

  “NO! I mean of course I do but not here, not now. Imogen, please just listen, I have no control over you right now honey, you need to listen to me, please,” he begged.

  She felt him trying to exert his control over her again and again but she swatted it away like a fly, refusing to comply.

  “Damn right you don’t buddy! No one is going to control me, you included, Sean Donovan, no one.” she pointed a finger at his chest and gasped as a low rumble came from somewhere deep in her belly and she stared in shock at the snow-white hair covering the back of her outstretched hand.

  “What’s happening to me Seann?” She asked with a gasp and he reached for her and removed her clothes in record time, hid the gun under the pillow on the bed and walked with her to the door. She shivered in the cool evening air and he pulled her towards him.

  “It’s okay baby,” he soothed, you are about to have your first change. Just give in to it, don’t fight it and it will be easier, I promise,” he crooned, “I’ve got you, sweetheart.”

  “I thought it would be at the next moon.” She stared at her hands and she felt her rage suddenly melt away and a calm acceptance overtake her like cool water on her frazzled nerves.

  She could feel his wolf calling to her but this time it soothed her. She reached for him as she cried out in pain and fell onto all fours, her bones cracked in protest as she howled. She was in so much pain, her head, her chest, how did they do this time after time, it was agony! She could hear Seann’s voice as she cried out and she tried to focus in on it.

  “The first time for a new wolf is always a bitch, honey, but you’re doing great,” his voice washed over her like a soothing balm and she forced her clenched muscles to relax as they morphed into her four-legged alter ego.

  It was over in less than a minute but Imogen was sure nothing else could ever be as painful again in her whole life as shifting was. When she raised her head, Seann was waiting for her in his glorious wolf form and she looked down at the snow-white fur covering her body and raised her head to howl with pride.

  She had done it! She was a wolf at last.

  She took off into the dense woods following nothing but her instincts with her mate on her tail and she had never felt so alive.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Seann

  He chased her for thirty minutes through the deepest, darkest part of the woods before she showed signs of slowing down and knew she would crash and burn after this first time. She was glorious and super-fast, faster than he had thought she was going to be and her eyes were like two electric blue orbs, glowing in the dark. But it was her soft snow-white fur that fascinated him most of all, she wouldn’t blend too easily into the crowd, that’s for sure.

  The vast majority of the time a wolf’s fur will match the color of their human hair so it would follow that dark-haired wolves have dark fur and red-heads a deep russet. Occasionally there will be a throwback and a snowy white wolf will be born. No one he knew had ever heard of a bitten wolf being white though, never in the last hundred years that he knew of but in his youth, he had never been big on listening to the stories the elders tried to instill in the pack youngsters.

  They were close to the Den when she collapsed on the grass and he quickly changed back to help her. She was in a lot of pain again and he held her as her bones cracked and groaned as she changed back to her human form again. She was unconscious and completely naked in front of him and he was ashamed that the sight of her aroused him while she was still unaware.

  He held her close and ran the last few hundred feet and took her straight upstairs to their room. He yelled for Roisin to make her some hot tea and for India to come upstairs. She was probably the only person she would allow to see her naked and vulnerable. She would get used to the pack’s lack of inhibitions in time but the rest of them grew up with it, Imogen and her sister didn’t.

  The Den was alive with people within the hour. A first shift was a big deal for anyone, but for a bitten wolf, especially outwit the new moon, it was big news indeed and word spread quickly throughout the community.

  Seann wondered what it meant. Her heightened emotional state was probably the reason but coupled with the white fur she was unique for sure. His father told him once when he was still a child that only the strongest wolves could facilitate their first shift before the new moon, those wolves were usually destined to rise quickly through the ranks of the pack, most would become alpha, most were male.

  India stayed with her while he quickly cleaned up and put some clothes on and then he sat on her other side and waited for her to wake up. Her sister
had washed her and pulled a clean tank top on and she was brushing out her long dark hair when he went back into the room. Her heart was healthy and strong, he knew she would be fine but he had an uneasy feeling that something had shifted, changed between them, It would be interesting and very telling to see what happened over the next few days, he thought there would be more to Imogen that they had seen so far.

  Reassured that he would call her the minute she woke, India went back downstairs to update the others while Seann lay beside her and pulled her into his arms to wait. He smoothed his hand over her face and her tongue came out to wet her lips. He smiled as he watched her regain consciousness and his heart squeezed painfully in his chest.

  He had to temper his wolf, he was beyond excited by her change and Seann couldn’t blame him. He had waited merely weeks on Imogen's change but it felt like months. He wanted desperately to take her to the cabin to be alone with her but that was impossible right now. He had a dead wolf on his hands and his two accomplices were languishing in his dungeon, there was so much they still didn’t know and he needed to find out. He also had to contact the pack alpha and tell him about Kellas’s death but first, he needed to talk to Kandis and her parents, this was still very much her story to tell.

  Imogen’s eyes flickered open and before he could say a word she was on top of him, hands fisted into his hair and her mouth smashed into his. His heart rate soared and he wanted to lie back and enjoy this new side to her but there were a bunch of anxious people downstairs waiting to see for themselves that she was okay.

  He held her arms and flipped them over until she was beneath him and she moaned and wrapped her legs around his waist and only a scrap of fabric was between them, his wolf was just under the surface and he had to temper him down. Just a few more seconds kissing her like this and he would pull away but she was far harder to resist than he knew.

  “Stay,” she begged when he lifted his head and the temptation to give in and just do what they both desperately craved was almost impossible to deny but he didn’t want their first time to be hurried. He wanted to take his sweet time and get to know every single inch of her body as well as her mind and soul.