Promised at the Moon: Shifter Rising, Book 1

by Rebekah R. Ganiere

  The sound of a car lifted his gaze. A dark-blue Honda with the driver-side window covered in plastic sped down the residential street toward him. The vehicle slowed and stopped at the curb behind his bike. A petite blonde with large movie-star sunglasses looked at her phone and then up at the condo building.

  He held up his watch and tapped it.

  She shook her head and got out of the car, a large backpack slung over her shoulder. She glanced up and down the street several times before closing the door and locking it.

  A baggy hoodie hung loosely around her petite body, and a pair of yoga pants framed her slender hips. He caught the scent of stale blood and jasmine. His senses sharpened. A cut and bruise peeked out from below her left eye. She pushed the glasses onto her head, revealing bright azure eyes.

  His gut clenched at the sight of her. Easy, boy. He couldn’t afford to let a female get close.

  Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. Blood stained the material on her left shoulder.

  Anger swept through him like a brushfire. He flung his leg over his bike and stepped closer. “You’re hurt.”

  She stepped away from him quickly. “I…I’m fine.”

  He stopped and put up his hands. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m Liam. Are you—”

  She swallowed hard. “Asha.”

  “Asha’s good. You’d do better to pick a completely different name, but if Asha is what you can remember, go for it. Just make sure no one will be searching for you under that name.”

  “They won’t.”

  Long, golden hair camouflaged the right side of her beautiful face, obscuring her high cheekbones and pouty pink lips. Liam’s gut clenched again, and he was glad he still had his own sunglasses on so she couldn’t see him staring.

  “How long have you been driving?”

  “Three days.” She gazed down the street.

  Three days?

  “Well, let’s get you inside so you can clean up and rest.” His heavy boots hit the pavement and his chain bracelets clinked as he walked to the curb. She stayed rooted to the spot. Her eyes held the same fear as the prey he caught on the full moon. “This is a nice, quiet neighborhood. No one will bother you here, but if one of the old ladies from next door comes out to find you bloody and afraid, you can believe the police are gonna be called, and I don’t think you want that.”

  She shook her head and stepped up to the curb, wincing as she readjusted her backpack.

  “Let me help you.” He reached out to take her bag, and she stiffened.

  “No thank you.” She clutched it tight in her fists.

  Liam started for the white stucco building. Asha’s quiet footsteps followed him to the gate. He punched in the access code and the gate opened at the buzzer. He held the gate for her, and she ducked under his arm. Again he was struck by her jasmine scent. He breathed in deeply despite the warning howls of his wolf.

  Once inside, he walked to the second condo on the right, knocked and waited. Asha inspected the courtyard between the condos. The sound of locks being slid turned their attention to the door. It opened only as wide as the chain would allow. A pair of round brown eyes peered out at him.

  He smiled. “Hey, Cara.”

  Cara unchained the door and stepped aside. Liam crossed into the small living room. Asha still stood outside. The two women stared at each other.

  “I’m Cara,” said the tall brunette.

  Asha’s gaze narrowed, and she sniffed the air.

  “Is that an emergency pack?” asked Cara. “My mom got one for me a few years ago. I keep it in my closet.”

  Asha stepped in. “Mine was under my bed.”

  Liam blew out a large breath. Getting them to trust him enough to walk in the door was the hardest part.

  Natasha stepped into the condo past Liam, his large chest bound in a stretched white T-shirt and leather jacket, and scanned the room. The room was clean but sparse. The first floor had a small kitchen, living room, a bathroom and bedroom. Cara led her up the narrow stairs to the top floor, which had two more bedrooms along with a laundry room and two bathrooms. There was also a basement storage area attached to a garage where she could put her car.

  “You can have this room or the smaller one on the main floor.” Cara pointed into the master bedroom. “I have some towels and sheets and stuff that you’re welcome to borrow.”

  The numbness that had settled over her in the last day left Natasha’s mind like a fog. She’d tried her father’s cell phone dozens of times, and it had always gone straight to voice mail. She walked into the bedroom and sat on the large, bare bed with the standard hotel padded headboard.

  Her gaze traveled over every inch of the room. An empty, cracked melamine dresser sagged in the corner. Long white hanging blinds swung softly over a sliding door that led to a patio big enough only for a pair of pigeons.

  “Great. My room is right there. I’ll let you have some time to yourself. Yell if you need anything.”

  Natasha swung her gaze to the splatter of freckles across Cara’s nose. A kind smile crinkled the corners of her soft eyes. “Thank you.”

  Cara said something to Liam, and then his huge frame shadowed her doorway. The floor shook slightly as his combat boots punched the ground. The sound of his chain bracelets jingling resounded in the bare room. Thick dark curls the color of burnt umber hung loosely to his neck. He brushed them from his forehead with a calloused hand sporting several heavy rings.

  He moved closer and squatted down between her knees. At eye level, he took off his sunglasses to reveal brilliant jade-green eyes. They raked over every inch of her face, down her neck, to her shoulder.

  “I’m not going to hurt you.” He locked eyes with her again. “I just want to take a peek at your shoulder.”

  She nodded and sat motionless as he removed her bag and dropped it to the floor.

  His large fingers pulled at the hoodie, breaking the scabbed skin as he removed it. She glanced down. The wounds were almost gone. His fingers touched the sensitive area, and she flinched.

  He dropped his hand. “Probably needed stitches. They’ll scar now.”

  “Doesn’t matter.” She swallowed. They stared at each other for a minute. What the hell did a few scars matter compared to the fact that her parents were dead and she felt as hollow as a seashell?

  Suddenly she reached out and grabbed onto him, slipping her arms under his jacket and around his hard back. He stiffened initially and then folded her into him. She had no idea what she was doing, but she didn’t care, didn’t think, just closed her eyes and let his warmth flow over her. She needed the contact with someone, anyone. The thing she’d missed most over the past days, besides her parents, was the physical contact she was used to from her pack. To outsiders, it was strange, but to the pack touching could mean so many different things. Like when her mother had fallen ill and every female in the pack had taken turns lying at her side in bed to comfort her. Or when one of the younger children had been injured during his first turn and the entire pack had spent the night wrapping their bodies around him to keep him grounded and secure.

  Liam’s scent of leather and cologne lingered in her nose and soothed her inner wolf to sleep. He held her silently in his strong arms.

  After a minute, she let go, sat back on the bed and swallowed hard. Embarrassment heated her cheeks and flustered her thoughts.

  “Sorry,” she whispered. “I—I didn’t mean to do that.”

  His eyes flashed golden, and her heartbeat quickened. He was an Alpha.

  He glanced away and ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s understandable. You’ve been through a lot.” His gaze drifted back to her and he cleared his throat. “Look. I don’t know what happened to you, and you don’t have to tell me. My job is to find you a safe place and keep you safe. You can stay here for as long as you want. The rent’s cheap and it’s clos
e to the community college. Next semester starts in a few weeks. I can get you in, but you have to let me know before the end of the week.”

  “No, thank you,” she said. “I don’t think—” She didn’t think what?

  Liam nodded. “It’s fast, but consider it. The best thing to do is start a new life to help you forget your old one.”

  Natasha stared at the wall behind him. “I think my parents are dead.”

  He blew out a heavy breath and hung his head. “I understand how that feels, believe it or not. But the fact that you’re here says to me that they wanted you to live. It’ll take time, but you can do this.”

  Her soul reached for hope that he was right, making her want to grab it and hold on tight. But the ache in her chest hurt like she’d been cleaved in two. What would she do with her life now? Before Daniel had changed, her path had been so clear.

  Liam opened Natasha’s bag and dug inside. She reached for it, but he put up his hand to stop her.

  He retrieved three phones and held them up to her. “Which one’s yours?”

  She pointed to the smartphone. He turned it over and removed the back cover. “Good, you took the battery out. Only replace it if you have to. Which of these two are you going to use?”

  Natasha pointed to the pink one. “I don’t know the number.”

  Liam dialed a number and a phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and showed it to her. “This is you. I’m going to program it into my phone in case you need me.” He showed her the pink phone. “This is me. You call if you need anything. That’s what I’m here for.”

  He put the phones into the bag and pulled out a wad of her cash, then peeled off five one-hundred-dollar bills.

  “This is your rent for the month.” He put it in his pocket. “Get some rest, get some food and wait a few days before you make any decisions.”

  His eyes were kind despite his rough exterior. She studied the stubble on his chin. It was the same dark umber color as his hair, and she wondered if that was his color when he shifted at the moon.

  She’d lost track of how long she’d been staring at him when he patted her on the knee, zipped up her bag and stood. Instinctively she grabbed his rough hand. The move surprised her, and again the contact comforted her. Even if it was from someone who’d been paid.

  “Thank you, Liam.” Her voice sounded stronger than she felt.

  He glanced at her hand and slid from her grasp. “Call me if you need me. And remember, if you want to register for school, I have to know by the end of the week.” He replaced his sunglasses and strode from her room.

  Natasha listened to the sound of his boots stomp down the stairs. She waited until his motorcycle roared to life and then took the pink phone and curled up in a ball on her bed.

  She waited as the minutes ticked by, hoping for some digital miracle. A text or call to feed her waning hope.

  None came. Finally, she drifted off to sleep.

  * * * * *

  Natasha had been in her room for two days, obsessively checking her phone for messages, when a familiar set of heavy footsteps pounded up the stairs. She’d been unable to make herself do anything. The longer she went without word from her parents, the more obsessed she became.

  Lying on her bed, Natasha’s memories of that night played like an endless loop in her head. The feel of her mother shaking her awake. The sound of Daniel arguing with her father. The look on her mother’s face as she squeezed Natasha out of the basement window that used to be the perfect size when she was a child, but now at twenty she’d barely fit through.

  “We love you, Natasha.”

  A knock on the door reluctantly pushed open her eyelids, but she didn’t move.

  “Asha.” The sound of her name on his lips washed over her like a healing salve, soothing her wounded soul.

  She squeezed her eyes shut. No. She couldn’t go there with a guy again. She couldn’t let one in. Especially one who was in it for the money.

  The other side of her bed squeaked under his weight. “Cara tells me you haven’t left this room in two days.”

  She sighed and rolled to face him. “I think I was wrong. My parents are strong. They have to still be alive. I can’t miss their call.”

  “You need to shower and eat.”

  He wasn’t telling her anything new. But just the thought of leaving the bed weighed her down like iron chains.

  “Asha. I’m sure if your parents were here they wouldn’t want you to do this. And if they call while you’re in the shower, what’s the worst that could happen? They’ll either tell you to stay put, or it’s all clear and to come home. Either way, missing the call to take care of yourself won’t make a difference.”

  She sat up, leaned against the headboard and crossed her arms over her chest.

  Liam clenched his jaw and growled. He sucked in a deep breath and blew it out again.

  Her life had crashed down around her in the span of two gunshots. The two shots that continued to ring through her ears over and over like bad song lyrics.

  She’d never done anything on her own before. Her parents or her pack had always been there. A large extended family that looked after and protected the only daughter of the pack Alpha. They vacationed together. Picnicked together. Spent birthdays, holidays, everything together. All forty of them. Old, married, single, babies. Until the last couple of years, anyway.

  “I’ve never been alone before,” she said.

  He rubbed his face. “I understand. But if they’ve passed on, they didn’t die so you could lie in bed all day feeling sorry for yourself.”

  His words stabbed through her and twisted like a serrated knife. “I don’t feel sorry for myself.”

  He slapped the bed. “Then get up. Take a shower. Eat something. Start over.”

  “It’s easy for you to say that. You’ve never been where I am.”

  He clenched and unclenched his jaw several times. “No,” he said. “It isn’t easy for me to say that.”

  Her father would kick her butt for acting this way. “I’ll shower in a while. I promise.”

  The blanket she had wrapped herself in was pulled from her. “Get up.”

  “Hey!” She grabbed for the blanket, but he threw it out the door.

  Liam went into her bathroom and started the water in her tub. He returned, scooped her up and carried her into the bathroom while she beat on his back for him to put her down. He stood her on her feet. She pushed away and steadied herself on the counter. Her head spun and her stomach growled. The lack of food made her legs shake and her head lighten.

  “You need to bathe.”

  “Okay, okay,” she growled.

  When she didn’t move, he cocked an eyebrow. “Do I need to help you?”

  “You weren’t paid to do that part.” She grabbed the door, trying to close it on him.

  He stepped outside, and she slammed the door in his face.

  “I’ll find you a towel,” he called.

  Natasha leaned her head on the door and sucked in a ragged breath. His cologne lingered in the air, sexy and masculine. Damn Alpha. Why couldn’t he just go back to his female and leave her be?

  Fumbling with her clothes, she peeled them from her body and threw them to the floor. The hoodie had been a gift from her friend Cole, Daniel’s brother, for her seventeenth birthday. The cami and yoga pants she’d bought for a class the year before. She tossed them in the trash.

  After stepping into the warm water, she sank down into it. She shut off the faucet and slipped under. Holding her breath and opening her eyes, she stared at the ceiling above, watching the water move. How long would it take to drown? Her lungs burned and her throat tightened. The creak of the door opening startled her into a sitting position.

  She threw her arms over her bare breasts and closed the shower curtain. “I’m naked!”

 
He chuckled. “I have a towel, and Cara gave me some soap and shampoo.”

  “Leave it on the toilet.” Her heartbeat quickened. She’d never been naked with a man before. She waited until he left to open the curtain, then grabbed the soap and shampoo. She picked up a loofa sitting on the tub ledge, poured soap on it and began rubbing her skin. Within a minute the need to wash away the memories, the horror, the pain, overtook her and she scoured her skin until it was raw.

  Natasha emerged thirty minutes later, wrapped in the large blue towel. Her body ached from being scrubbed, but a small piece of her felt cleansed from Daniel and the attack.

  Liam lounged on the now-made bed, complete with clean sheets and blankets. A bowl of cereal and a carton of milk waited for her on a tray.

  “I brought you something to eat. It’s Cara’s, so you’ll need to go get some groceries of your own.”

  She sat, poured the milk into the bowl and ate so fast she barely had time to taste the little squares. Liam watched her without saying a word. When she finished, he got up and refilled the bowl. While he was gone, she dressed in the only clean T-shirt, pair of panties and shorts in her bag.

  He returned and looked over her. “Are you going to sign up for classes at the college?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know yet.” She ate slower this time.

  He ran his fingers through his hair and scratched his head. “Asha. I know this is difficult for you—”

  “It’s okay, Liam. I appreciate your help, but you don’t have to be my friend.”

  His face hardened, and his voice took on a bitter tone. “You think I’m being harsh telling you to start over and move on, but I’m not. I’m not telling you to do anything I didn’t have to do myself and nothing that I think your parents wouldn’t tell you.”

  “How do you know what they’d say?”

  “Because they sent you here, didn’t they?”

  She stared at him for a long moment. Every word he said made sense, but her heart couldn’t handle that right now. She didn’t want to hear what she should be doing. She didn’t want to be told to move on. Every piece of her hurt so bad she couldn’t see past the next ten seconds. “Right now I don’t even want to live through it.”