An Unlucky Moon

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  Liam, Alec, and Hunter hadn’t been able to prove the council members had anything to do with Becca’s kidnapping. All they’d collected was a mix of tainted scents and the fact that they’d been in Lloyd’s basement. However, since Lloyd had technically abandoned the shelter years ago, according to him, anyone could have broken in and used it to frame him.

  Hunter couldn’t deliver justice if he had no proof. The Pack wouldn’t stand for it, not when they were already in turmoil and unsettled.

  “Hunter?”

  Becca’s voice brought him out of his thoughts, and he leaned to kiss her temple. She moved into his side and shuddered.

  “They’re staring because they’re jealous that I have you and they do not.”

  Becca snorted then rolled her eyes. “Sure, honey, and after that I’ll go have tea with the Easter bunny.” She paused. “Wait, are there bunny shifters?”

  The person passing them gave her a look as if Becca were crazed but laughed with Hunter anyway.

  “No, no prey shifters. Only predators.” Well, as far as he knew. There could have been more out there considering most paranormals were very secretive about who they were and what they could do, but Hunter didn’t think that was the case here.

  “Come on, you know it would have been cute to see little tiny bunnies with pointy teeth.”

  Hunter rolled his eyes. “You’ve been watching far too many movies that provide you with unrealistic expectations. Plus, if there were bunny shifters, I’d have found them. After all, bunnies taste amazing.”

  Becca froze then hit him hard on the arm. Others looked at her as though she was crazy for hitting the Beta, but they’d get over it. She was his mate, so she could do anything she wanted to him, as long as he got to sleep by her side at night.

  “That is so not funny, Hunter Brooks. I can’t believe you’d eat Thumper.”

  “I ate Bambi and his mother too,” he deadpanned.

  Becca stuck her finger in her mouth and pretended to gag. “Thank the gods I didn’t turn into a shifter.” She winced and looked around her. “I’m just saying I couldn’t stomach it. Sorry, I love you guys.”

  Most of the wolves around her just laughed, knowing what she meant. A few others though, the wolves on Dorian’s side, glared. However, they always glared, so this wasn’t new.

  “You’d get used to hunting if you were a wolf,” Liam drawled as he came to their side, Alec right behind him.

  Becca stuck out her tongue then held open her arms. Liam stepped right into them and gave her a hard hug. Alec’s hug was a bit softer, but just as brotherly. Hunter didn’t have a problem with either of his friends hugging or touching her, as long as they kept it platonic. They were Pack, and the closest of his friends, so it only made sense that they would want to bring Becca into their folds. Becca seemed to love it, and he could tell from her scent it was just like she was hugging Dante or Shade or the triad—she just liked having friends.

  It occurred to Hunter he might have to apologize to the dragon for his attitude, but he knew it wouldn’t happen. Hunter was just a little too dominant to deal with bowing down to a dragon.

  Even one who happened to be best friends with his mate.

  “I still don’t know how to use magic or teleport,” Becca said. “Let me deal with that first, then maybe I’ll get used to you guys eating baby bunnies.”

  Liam placed his hand over his chest and feigned shock. “We never said babies.”

  Hunter pulled Becca into his arms and kissed the top of her head. “We don’t eat babies, you dork.”

  She tilted her head so she could smile at him, and he laughed. “Oh, I know. I just like seeing Liam overreact.”

  Alec rolled his eyes. “He does that often.”

  “I do not,” Liam grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.

  Hunter just shook his head and hugged Becca tighter. He knew they should move to the side and get out of the way, considering standing around in the middle seemed a bit odd, but he didn’t feel like moving. They might have been in the center of the den with people walking around them, but he didn’t care if he was displaying more affection than normal. He had his mate in his arms and his best friends by his side.

  What more could he want?

  “There’s that delectable mate of yours,” a voice said from behind them.

  Hunter growled, turning toward Dorian and pulling Becca behind him. Physically, she might have been stronger than she had been as a human, but she still couldn’t control all her new strengths and powers yet. Nor did she even know what they all were. So far all she could do was open a jar of garlic with more ease and pick up pieces of furniture with relative ease. Those powers, however, fluctuated in strength as she was learning how to use them.

  It had been an experience.

  They were planning on meeting with her new people and council soon so she could learn. That, however, wouldn’t do them any good at the moment.

  “What do you want, Dorian?” he asked, his voice as calm as he could make it.

  Dorian smirked like the bastard he was then raised a brow. “All I’m doing is complimenting that mate of yours. After all, we, the council, were the ones who told you to mate with her in the first place.”

  Becca’s grip tightened on his hand, and he had to hold himself back from killing Dorian right then and there. Thankfully Hunter had explained to Becca beforehand what exactly Dorian meant by that, but it still didn’t help matters. He knew Becca had issues with dealing with fate’s hand in their mating, let alone a council of overbearing wolves who had an ulterior motive—Liam and Alec excluded, of course.

  Becca leaned around him, causing his wolf to rise to the surface, angry she’d put herself in any form of danger. “Thanks for the compliment, I guess. However, I know you had nothing to do with our mating other than trying to get in the way of it. So…thanks. Are we done?”

  Hunter smiled and squeezed his mate’s hand as he pushed her behind him. He liked this feisty side of her. She might not be a wolf and have the ability to play the dominance game, but she wasn’t a pushover by any stretch of the word.

  Gods, he loved her.

  He’d tell her that…eventually.

  Dorian’s smirk lost some of its edge, and fury filled his gaze. Alec and Liam stood on either side of Hunter, still protecting Becca, but their Beta as well. Hunter didn’t want this to come down to a fight, but he might not have another choice, not when Dorian was as volatile as he was.

  “Your little leprechaun won’t be able to hide behind your skirts for long,” Dorian spat. “Remember, she’ll have be strong to act like the Beta’s mate. If not…” The other wolf shrugged. Hunter’s muscles bunched, ready to attack the bastard. “If not, well, I guess fate will have to provide another mate for you. After all, what use is a dead mate?”

  Hunter sprang, his claws digging into Dorian’s shoulder before the other wolf could blink. Hunter had his other hand wrapped around the bastard’s throat, careful not to cut him and cause the man to bleed out too quickly.

  Dorian swallowed hard, that bit of fear not easily hidden until he blinked, fury replacing it. “Temper, temper,” Dorian choked out.

  “Come near her again and I’ll gut you where you stand. You’re only living now because you’re council.” Even that wasn’t holding Hunter back too much anymore. The idea that the council thought they could attack his mate and hold her captive made his skin crawl. The council had too much power, and Hunter couldn’t take it anymore.

  He might tear down the fabric of their Pack by defeating the council, but it was in their best interest.

  He just hoped the Pack saw it that way.

  He released Dorian, letting the other wolf fall to his knees then rise up. “Go home, Dorian.”

  Dorian snorted then walked away, his buddies trailing after him like lost puppies.

  Small arms wrapped around his waist, and he let Becca’s scent wash over him. She calmed his wolf even through the darkest haze.

  “Let�
�s go home,” she whispered. “I’d rather just be in your arms than out right now.”

  He turned and lifted her into his arms like she wanted. He let his forehead rest against hers, needing that anchor. The darkness tried to take hold like it had all those years in hell, but he was stronger now.

  Or at least he tried to be for Becca.

  She was the one who pulled him out when he needed it. He just hoped he wouldn’t rely solely on her to keep his wolf and inner demons in check.

  With a nod to Liam and Alec, he walked back to his home—his mate in his arms. In actuality, it was more of their home at the moment. He knew that the kidnapping and subsequent threats had forced her to move faster than she’d liked, but he’d take what he could get. They were mated—a bond deeper than marriage—and were living together. They were slowly getting to know one another, but he knew they had a lot more to talk about.

  As he set her down on her feet in their living room, Becca rolled her eyes. “You know, when I said ‘in your arms’ I didn’t actually mean you had to carry me out of there.”

  Hunter shrugged. He liked having her in his arms. Why bother letting her walk around when he could carry her and keep her close. He trusted Liam and Alec to watch his back, so he didn’t need to keep his arms free.

  “You know the only reason I let you do that was so you didn’t have to deal with Dorian’s glare if I wanted down.”

  He furrowed his brows. “You wanted to get away from me?”

  “Seriously? That’s what you got out of that?” She tapped her foot, her lack of patience in his understanding of women evident.

  “Explain what you mean then.”

  She threw her hands up in the air, though she still smiled. “I mean, oh alpha-man, that I can walk by myself. I’m not a damsel in distress.” Her brows furrowed. “Okay, so I was once or twice since you’ve met me, but I’m trying not to be. I might like being in your arms, but you don’t have to carry me around like a child. I only let you do that so Dorian wouldn’t be an ass about it.”

  He loved the way her green eyes lit up when she was passionate about something, whether it be her opinion or when they were making love. Her hair bounced around her head, as if it were just as wild as she was.

  Gods, he loved her.

  “I love you, Becca.”

  Becca froze, and Hunter cursed himself. He knew she wasn’t ready to hear that. She’d been human her whole life, and he knew she’d been hurt in the past. She hadn’t told him how, but he had a feeling it was bad. He was a wolf, meaning when he found his mate and found things he liked about her, he fell in love.

  Quick and hard.

  “How…how…what did you say?” Her voice shook, and he swallowed hard.

  Damn him and his impulses. He should have kept that feeling to himself until she was ready. The cat was out of the bag though, and he couldn’t take it back, not without confusing and even hurting her.

  “I love you, Becca mine. You don’t have to say anything back, but I figured you’d like to know my feelings. This way there’s no confusion as to how I feel about you.”

  “Hunter…I…I don’t know what I feel. I mean, damn it, I like you so much. I like being with you. I want to be with you. We’re mated, and I know that’s forever, but the words? I don’t know if I can say them. I mean, not yet. Hell, I sound like an idiot. I’m sorry.”

  Though the pain arching across his chest hurt like hell, he pulled her into his arms, inhaling her scent. He knew she loved him because she wouldn’t have said yes to forever without feeling it. But saying the words that might never had been said to her in the first place beyond her friends and feeling those odd feelings were two different things.

  “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”

  She nodded, wrapping her arms around his waist.

  “I’m not good at this love stuff, Hunter. I mean, I never had it has a kid, you know?”

  He didn’t know since she’d never told him about her past in detail before, but he nodded anyway, letting her talk. He wanted to take in every piece of information he could get from her, even it was in small batches that he had to piece together later.

  He pulled her to the couch, where she snuggled into his side as though she’d always been there.

  She let out a breath then rolled her eyes. “I swear it’s cliché. My dad left us when I was a baby. Apparently being a dad and husband, or boyfriend since I’m still not sure they were even married to begin with, was too much for him. That left me and my mom, and, well, Mom wasn’t the most caring or interested mom out there.”

  Anger churned in his belly at the thought of her being left behind by the man who should have cherished and nurtured her. His parents might have died when he was younger, but before they had, he’d known they loved him. He had a feeling he wouldn’t want to hear more about just how non-mom-like her mom was, but he sat silently, rubbing small circles on her back.

  “It’s not like she starved or beat me or anything. I know a lot of kids had worse. Mom never kept a job for long and had too many men in her life to count. She used to tell me that the only way to make it as a woman in this world was to be strong enough to know when to lean on a man for something.” The last part came out laced with bitterness, and he didn’t blame her. “We always had food on the table, sometimes it was meager, but it worked. The men though…” She swallowed hard and he pulled her close.

  Rage clawed at him, his wolf pacing, but he held back, needing for her to finish her story before he went out and tore off heads.

  “They never touched me, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “Tell me,” he growled then swallowed hard to keep his wolf at bay.

  “When I got to my teens and developed breasts, some of my mom’s men started to pay more attention to me than her. She got pissed and slapped me a few times, but there wasn’t anything I could do. It wasn’t like I asked for it, you know? I was too young to leave anyway, and I wanted to finish school. Then, well, then Mom got a new guy who wanted to do more than just leer.”

  Hunter’s grip tightened on her waist, but he didn’t trust himself, so he didn’t say anything.

  “The dude got his hands on me, but I was quicker. I kneed him in the balls, and when I went to tell my mom what happened, she didn’t believe me. She slapped me again and called me a whore. Then she kicked me out. I was seventeen at the time, so I was at least old enough to finish school and stay with friends. Then, when I graduated, well, there was nowhere else to go. Luckily I stumbled across a help wanted sign at Dante’s.”

  It seemed he owed the dragon more than an apology.

  Shit.

  “Hunter?”

  “I’m not going to ask for the name of the man who touched you because killing humans would lead us into trouble, however, I’m glad you got out of there when you did.”

  She nodded then kissed his jaw. “I’m glad too.” She took a deep breath. “I…I love you too, Hunter.”

  He blinked. “Really?”

  “Really, but don’t let me freak out, okay?”

  He nodded then pulled her closer. She wiggled so she sat on his lap, his cock directly over her heat.

  His mouth found hers in a heartbeat, their tongues tangling, their teeth clashing. While before they’d started out soft and ended hard and fast, now he wanted her beneath him, over him, and his cock buried deep in her heat.

  He stripped off her top then groaned as she pulled away to stand up and take off her pants. He followed suit then pulled her down over his cock. They both groaned at the sensation, her pussy tightening around him. He’d smelled her arousal, so he’d known she was wet before he’d entered her, but shit, next time he’d have to use a little more finesse.

  “This is going to be quick, Becca. I don’t think I can last long.”

  She smiled then froze. “Shit. A condom.”

  He blinked then gripped her hips to lift her off of him. It would about kill him, but he had a feeling she wasn’t ready for a child if that w
ere to come about. They’d been sure to use condoms after their first time mating, but fuck, he’d miss the feel of him bare inside her heat.

  She gripped his wrists, stalling him. He could have broken her hold a thousand times over, but her light touch alone would freeze him.

  Anything for her.

  “We’ll use one next time,” she whispered, and Hunter tried to tamp down the warmth in his chest. He was a wolf, a strong one at that. He couldn’t be floored by the connection to a woman.

  Fuck, okay, he could be.

  Only for her.

  “You know we don’t share diseases, but Becca, we could make a baby. Are you okay with that?” His cock was still buried deep within her, so he couldn’t believe he was actually formulating sentences at this point.

  “I’m just ready to fall off that ledge and be with you fully.”

  He snorted then kissed her head. Oh, his Becca, not the most romantic of words, but he’d take them.

  Hunter gripped her hips then flexed his pelvis up, slamming even deeper into her.

  She slid her hands up his arms to hold his shoulders than threw her head back as she rode him. Her breasts bounced in front of his face, and he leaned forward to take one in his mouth. Hell, she tasted so sweet, like a drug he couldn’t get enough of.

  He let her set the pace, slow and sensual as she rocked against him then hard and fast. His balls tightened as sweat rolled down his back. He’d be damned if he came without her, so he slid his hand down to rub against her clit. The little nub swelled at his touch, and Becca let out a whimper.

  His fingers played along her clit and then where they were joined before he finally felt that sweet, sweet fluttering of her pussy around his cock.

  He came at the same time, his seed filling her up in long spurts. Both out of breath, they leaned against each other, and he wrapped his arms around her waist.