UNDER A RAGING MOON
Part Two
by V. J. Chambers
A Werewolf Romance for Three
Piper Wainwright is still trying to turn up a priceless necklace, but she’s not having much luck. A chance encounter with one of the elder werewolves in town puts her on the radar of the werewolf conclave.
Kidnapped, she discovers that she’s a hot commodity in this town—an unattached female werewolf of breeding age. The conclave is not about to let her go. They want her mated to one of their men and settled.
Now, held captive in a remote cabin with both Kale and Hudson, they demand she choose between them.
She wants to run, but she finds herself drawn to both of them…
Under a Raging Moon is a serial novel involving sexual and polyamorous content. It’s being published in three parts. This second part is 39,000 words or approximately 110 printed pages.
UNDER A RAGING MOON
© copyright 2014 by V. J. Chambers
http://vjchambers.com
Punk Rawk Books
Smashwords Edition
Please do not copy or post this book in its entirety or in parts anywhere. You may, however, share the entire book with a friend by forwarding the entire file to them. (And I won’t get mad.)
UNDER A RAGING MOON
Part Two
by V. J. Chambers
A Werewolf Romance for Three
Table of Contents
Previously…
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
More fiction from V. J. Chambers
PREVIOUSLY…
Piper Wainwright breezed into town and tricked Kale Morgan into allowing her to crash at his place. She wanted to search his house for a priceless necklace that belonged to his dead girlfriend, Lila. Piper’s clients told her wanted the necklace because they were Lila’s family, and she got involved with Kale—a member of a rival werewolf clan—against their wishes.
Piper searched the house up and down and never found it.
Part of her ruse was to sabotage her car, which was being fixed at a local shop by a guy named Hudson Slade. Piper and Hudson were immediately drawn to each other at first sight—crazy sexual tension.
But because her job meant she had to get close to Kale, she was wary of pursuing Hudson.
Then Piper discovered that Hudson and Kale had history. They both had slept with Lila, and now they hated each other. She’d put herself right in the middle of the two men’s conflict…
CHAPTER ONE
“Did you hear me?” said Kale. “It’s none of your business.”
But Hudson wasn’t looking at him. He was looking at me.
Kale turned to look at me too. “What?”
I wanted nothing more than to run back into Kale’s room and hide, but they were both staring at me now, and I couldn’t very well turn tail. I squared my shoulders and surveyed them both. Think of a reason that you’ve been messing around with both of them, I thought to myself.
Of course I couldn’t.
Hudson shook his head at me. “Obviously you were happy staying here. Obviously you didn’t mind him.”
“What does she have to do with this?” said Kale. “She’s just some girl who broke down outside my house.”
Hudson looked at him. “Who you’re fucking.”
“I don’t see how that’s your business.”
Hudson was actually shaking. He turned back to me. “You’re a fucking whore, you know that?”
I flinched. I really liked Hudson, actually. Kale was a job, but Hudson… whatever had happened between us had been spontaneous and powerful. If the circumstances had been different, then I might have pursued something with him.
And actually, now that I knew that he had something going on with Lila, who was also Kale’s ex, then it was possible he had the necklace instead of Kale, so it did make sense for me to get close to him.
But I couldn’t be close to both of them. Not anymore.
Everything was ruined.
Still, I had this urge to go to Hudson and apologize. To soothe him, to do whatever I could to try to make it better.
Kale narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“Ask her,” said Hudson. “Ask her what she was doing in my truck yesterday afternoon.”
Kale looked me over.
I cleared my throat. “Look, I just—”
“You’re just a slut?” said Hudson, voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Hudson, I’m sorry.” It wasn’t enough. It couldn’t be enough. I tried to tell him with my eyes that I wouldn’t have done this if I’d had another choice.
Kale looked back and forth between us. But he didn’t look angry. He looked amused. “What? You’re telling me you’re fucking her too?”
“No,” I said. “Not exactly.”
“Shut up,” said Hudson.
Kale smirked. “Not exactly?”
Hudson’s nostrils flared. “No, I didn’t fuck her. Not quite.”
“Well,” said Kale. “I suppose you know how it feels now. I mean, not exactly how it feels, but maybe a fraction of how it feels.”
Hudson glared at him.
“I want you out of my house,” said Kale. “In fact, I think I made it very clear before that I never want you in my house ever again.”
“We haven’t dealt with the reason I came over here in the first place.”
“You have a problem with the conclave, you deal with it yourself.” Kale eyed me. “Anyway, I don’t think this is something we need to discuss in front of her.”
Hudson laughed. “Well, that won’t make her curious. I’m sure she’ll forget all about it now.”
“You let me worry about her.”
“Oh, I will. She’s all yours. But if there’s ever a reasonably attractive woman in this town that you’re not going to have sex with, you think you might let me know?”
“Sick of my leftovers?”
“Fuck you.” Hudson advanced on Kale.
Kale stood his ground. He towered over Hudson, but Hudson was burlier and more muscular than him.
Hudson reached up and caught Kale by the throat.
I gasped.
They both turned to look at me, as if they’d forgotten I was there.
Kale used the distraction to knock Hudson’s hand away. “Get out,” he growled. “Or I’ll call the police. You’re assaulting me in my own home.”
“Right, call the police,” sneered Hudson. “You can’t fight your own battles. You never could. You never would have made it through high school without me.”
“That was then,” said Kale.
Hudson took a few steps back. “Yeah,” he agreed. “That was a long time ago.” He turned on his heel and stalked out of the house, slamming the door after himself.
Kale heaved a huge sigh. Without looking at me, he went back the hall into the bedroom.
I waited for a few seconds, and then I went after him. What the hell had just happened?
When I reached the bedroom, Kale was already shut up inside the bathroom. I heard the shower come on.
I sat down on the bed, feeling very confused. Obviously, Hudson and Kale had both been involved with the same woman—Lila—and that explained why they hated each other. But there was that other comment, about high school, which seemed to indicate that they knew each other for other reasons as well.
Man. What were the odds that I’d end up getting hot and he
avy with both of them?
I let that statement wash over me. Wow. I never thought I’d be in this position, actually. I wasn’t the kind of girl who had relationships, at least not since college. And, of course, that hadn’t gone very well.
Well, I had to hand it to myself. Two very attractive men in one day. That was pretty crazy.
And wrong. And horrible.
Oh, what did I care about that kind of shit? I was only here because I was trying to rob Kale.
And I really needed to stop patting myself on the back, because as cool as it might be to nab two different guys, it had pretty much destroyed everything about this sting.
Maybe it didn’t matter, considering Kale’s house was practically empty and there was no sign of the necklace here. But the fact was, I was pretty sure he was going to kick me out of the house. Hell, I should probably be gone by the time he got out of the shower.
Only one problem with that scenario. I didn’t have a car yet.
I wondered if Hudson would be spiteful and not fix it just because I’d hurt him.
Whatever. I had still better pack up. I left Kale’s robe in his bedroom and went downstairs to gather up my few belongings. I kind of wanted a shower too, but I didn’t know if the water pressure here would be able to handle two showers at once, and besides, I bet Kale wouldn’t be keen on extending his hospitality to me anymore. Taking a shower would be taking advantage.
Instead, I dressed quickly, bemoaning the lack of any kind of comfortable bra. All I had with me were those dreadful push-ups, and the under wires dug into my skin after wearing them for hours. Left to my own devices, I generally wore cotton bras without padding. I liked things simple, and comfort was key. But I didn’t have any normal bras, so I made do.
I got dressed and pulled my hair into a ponytail. I looked presentable, even without a shower.
I slung my bag over my shoulder. I should probably just get the heck out of here. I’d figure out my next move once I was away. I could possibly hitchhike into town. I needed to find out where Hudson lived, so that I could search his house for the necklace. Hopefully, I’d find it, and then I could be done with this whole mess of a place.
I opened the door to the bedroom and went into the hallway.
Climbing the steps to the front door, I met Kale. He was dressed, but his hair was wet. “Where are you going?” he said.
“Um.” I felt confused. “I’m leaving.”
“How? You still don’t have a car, do you?”
“Well, no. I guess I was going to walk. Maybe try to hitchhike.”
“To get where?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Hopefully, my car will be fixed soon, and then…”
He furrowed his brow. “Are you angry with me?”
“With you?” I was really confused now. “No, I thought you would be angry with me.”
“Why?”
“Because of…” I pointed at the door. “Hudson?”
Kale just laughed. “I don’t care about that. Seeing his face was priceless. I actually wish you had fucked him. That would have made it even better.”
I chewed on my lip. That was an odd reaction, wasn’t it? “So, you don’t want me to leave?”
“You can continue to stay here,” he said. “It might be better if you slept in the guest room again, however.”
I wasn’t sure how to take that.
Kale reached over and took my bag off my shoulder. “It’s fine. Stay. You don’t have anywhere else to go.” He started back for my bedroom.
I trailed after him.
He set the bag on the bed. “Thing is,” he said, “I’ve got some things to work on here, and I need the house to be quiet, without distractions.” He fished some keys out of his pocket. “Why don’t you go out and go into town for a few hours? Take my car.”
“Um…” So, he wanted me to stay, but he wanted me to clear out of the house. And he was giving me the keys to his car. What the hell?
“There’s a great little diner right on the main street of town,” he said. “You could go there and get something to eat. My treat.” He pulled out his wallet and pressed some money into my hand.
I gaped at him.
He smiled, but his smile was fake and plastered on.
“Do you really want me to stay here?”
“I can’t turn you out into the street, can I?” he said. “What kind of person would that make me?”
I didn’t have a response for that either.
He put the keys to the car in my other hand.
* * *
The closest town was nearly twenty minutes away, but I drove there fine using Kale’s directions. It was a tiny little place. It seemed to consist of only one main street, and the street didn’t even have a stoplight. The town was mostly populated by houses, with only a few places of business, and they were all restaurants. The diner was hard to miss. It had a big sign out front that said, The Diner.
As I parked the car along the street, I thought about it, and I decided the lack of other stores made sense. It was probably hard for specialty stores to stay afloat these days. No local hardware store could compete with big box stores like Wal-mart or Home Depot. There weren’t any of those stores very close, as far as I could see, but then nothing seemed close to me. This community was very rural and very spread out. I guessed that was probably why the werewolves had decided to settle here. Anyhow, I figured that—of all the small businesses out there—a restaurant was probably the easiest one to keep afloat in a small town, especially if there wasn’t much competition.
Growing up, I’d lived in a rural area as well, but it hadn’t been like this. It was more that the rural parts of my community were compartmentalized. If I drove five miles from my house, I was away from trees and surrounded by sidewalks. I realized that I’d taken it all for granted—the sweeping hills of my backyard and the convenience of a nearby drug store.
Back when I was a kid, I’d liked wolves. There had been these wolves that seemed to live in the woods behind my house. I used to play with them when I was a little girl. But then I guess I grew out of it. Whatever the case, after I was nine or ten, I didn’t see them anymore.
Those had been wild wolves, though, at least I’d always thought they had been. Werewolves were different. Werewolves were vicious.
And here I was, parking Kale’s car in the middle of Werewolf Town, USA. That wasn’t the name of the town, of course. But this was a community of werewolves. I didn’t know how many there were, but they were everywhere. Now that I thought about it, I should have guessed that Hudson was a wolf.
I stepped into the diner, and a bell announced my entrance.
A woman in an apron hurried over to me. She had huge, dangling earrings, made more prominent by the fact that she wore her hair up in a bun. Wisps of hair were falling around her face. “Hi there. Just one?”
I nodded.
She escorted me to a booth and got my drink order. Leaving me with my menu, she scurried off.
I perused the options. The diner was still serving breakfast, and there was the typical smattering of pancakes, waffles, and omelets. I felt a bit overwhelmed by the options.
The woman came back and set my drink down in front of me. “Got an idea, or do you need more time?”
“What would you recommend?” I asked her. “There are so many choices.”
“Oh,” she said. “Well, the French toast is really good.”
“Okay,” I said. “With bacon.”
She scribbled on a notepad, and then she lowered it. Her voice came out breathless and excited. “Um… look, I know it’s none of my business, but is that Kale Morgan’s car you pulled up in?”
Wow. This really was a small town if she recognized his car. “He loaned it to me. Said this diner was great.”
“So, you know Kale, then?”
“Not well,” I said. “He was kind enough to offer me a place to stay while my car’s getting fixed.”
She nodded.
I eyed her.
Maybe this was an opportunity to understand everything a little bit better. “Do you know Kale?”
“Oh, well…” She shrugged, looking embarrassed. “I mean, I know him to say hi, but we’re not close or anything.” She smoothed her hair back. “You want any coffee or anything?”
“I’m okay,” I said. “You were curious about his car. How come?”
She was flustered. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, it’s okay.” I smiled. “I have to admit, he’s a very mysterious sort of person. Hard to understand. Quiet. Keeps to himself.”
“Oh, yeah.” She nodded. “Well, he didn’t used to be that way.”
“No?”
“Uh-uh. Back when we were all in high school, he was pretty easy-going. Friendliest guy you’d ever meet. Not the least bit snobby.”
“Really?” I said. “I can hardly imagine him being like that.”
“I should put in your order,” she said.
“Wait.” I put a hand on her arm. “Did he change because of… Lila?”
She sucked in breath. “So, he told you about her?”
“A little bit. I know that he loved her. I know that she was pregnant. I know that something happened with another man? And then she passed away.”
“It was so sad.” She shook her head. “You know, when they were younger, they were all thick as thieves, the three of them.”
“Three?” I said.
“Oh, yeah. Lila, Kale, and Hudson Slade. They played together when they were kids. I was in kindergarten with them, you know? I went all the way through school with them. And they were like the three musketeers all through school. But then… I don’t know. I guess she just couldn’t decide between the two of them. In high school, it seemed like she was dating Kale, but the three of them were still always together. I remember one homecoming game, and seeing the three of them pull up in Kale’s car—different car back then, of course—and they all three got out. They’d been sitting in the front seat together, Lila in the middle, you know.” She sighed. “Oh, listen to me, going on. Let me put in your meal.”
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