Blood Moon Rising Box Set (Books 1-6)

by Lola Taylor

  Something tells me you like flowers. See you at the gala tomorrow night.

  —Yours, Malachite

  Gage wasn’t seeing red before, but he sure as hell was now. And the color of those damnable roses wasn’t helping.

  His fists shook at his sides. How dare he? How cocky can that bastard get?

  If this didn’t qualify as throwing down the gauntlet, Gage didn’t know what did.

  Danica pursed her lips as she stared at the bouquet and glanced at Gage. “I’m… just going to throw these away,” she said, taking them out of their vase and tossing them into the garbage. Though he could tell she was trying to hide it from the way she ducked her head, he knew getting rid of the flowers made her sad.

  He choked up for a second in surprise. In an attempt to hide his discomfort, he ran a hand through his hair. “Did you, um, want to keep them?”

  She sighed as she stared at the garbage can. “Of course I don’t want to keep them if they’re from him! It’s just that nobody has ever sent me flowers before, and I got kind of excited.” She mumbled that last part as her voice got softer and softer. She stared at her shoes and wrung the hem of her shirt.

  He blinked, feeling like an idiot. Of course he’d heard women liked to receive flowers. The she-wolves never cared for such things, so he’d never learned to think of something like that. A wave of guilt slammed into him. It didn’t surprise him she loved flowers, considering the amount of time she spent outside. And sending flowers was such a simple, romantic gesture.

  He felt bad for making her throw out something that brought her joy.

  Sometimes, he thought he would never understand human women.

  But she’s not human now. She’s officially one of you.

  That brought him some satisfaction, but he realized she wasn’t like normal she-wolves. She had been human first, and thus, he would have to take her more humanly desires into consideration when trying to make her happy.

  It made him feel incredibly dense to only now come to that conclusion. She’d risen to the task of becoming Queen of the Moonstruck Pack quickly. Despite her reservations and fears, he’d begun to think of her as one of the pack from the way she acted.

  “I’ll get you flowers,” he said. “I promise. But first, there’s something I need to address with Malachite.”

  He started for the door when Danica grabbed his arm. “Don’t! Just drop it.”

  Gage raised a brow. “Alpha’s don’t ‘drop it.’ It’s a sign of weakness.”

  “I should think that knowing how to pick your battles is a sign of strength.”

  He stared at her. That didn’t cross his mind. With wolves, it was always bite first and ask questions later.

  “What happened to the vow against violence you took for your pack?” Danica went on. “Didn’t you say that after everything you went through during Malachite’s reign, more fighting was the last thing you wanted?”

  That made him go perfectly still with shock. His mate was right. Didn’t he, King of the Moonstruck Pack, make a vow to set an example for his people? What kind of example would he be setting if he constantly came to blows with Malachite?

  “Don’t let him turn you into something ugly, because it’s not who you are. You might be an Alpha, but you’re also Gage Johnson. And I know you’re not a bloodthirsty person. You need to stand your ground when provoked because we both know that’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s provoking you.” She poked him in the chest for emphasis.

  He was quiet while he digested all of this. “You’re right,” he admitted at last. “I can’t seem to think straight when it comes to him. All I feel is anger.”

  “That’s natural. It’s only expected after what he did to you.”

  It was hard for him to admit this next part. “I’m not sure I’m strong enough to fight the urge to slaughter him, to cause him as much pain as he’s caused me.”

  “Hey, you don’t have to do this alone.” She took his hands and squeezed them. “We’re in this together. If you stumble, I’ll be here to catch you. That’s what people who love each other do for one another.”

  Gage’s heart ached with pride and admiration. His mate really was a strong woman, much stronger than the world gave her credit for.

  Danica smiled and lightly kissed him on the lips. “Okay, how about this? Anytime you start to feel angry, think of me. Think about how much I believe in you.”

  I believe in you.

  Gage slowly smiled back. “Okay.”

  Danica grinned with pride. “That’s my man.”

  After that, Danica managed to convince him to stay for a while and relax. Since there weren’t any meetings to attend and no one had disturbed them, they could simply lounge in one another’s arms. It was a welcome reprieve from the busy lives they’d led since mating.

  Around ten o’clock that night, Danica dozed off. Though fatigue tried to pull Gage under, a restlessness hummed under his skin. Sometimes he couldn’t shut off his mind.

  His thoughts wandered to the political fight for High King. It had only been a day, but already the race had taken a deadly turn. One of the candidates had abruptly resigned and fled back home with his mate, who had been pale as a sheet. Later that day, one of the maids who’d been sent to clean his guest room had screamed. The walls had been covered in blood, and furniture was strewn everywhere, like a battle had taken place. Gage hadn’t heard any fighting, but then again, he’d been busy. With Alara gone and Nik not any chummier with the palace guards than he was, Gage had no idea what was going on. All he knew was something violent had happened in that room, and it had scared the hell out of an Alpha who was known not to frighten easily. Gage hadn’t told Danica for fear of her freaking out over it and demanding he pull out of the race.

  He couldn’t back down, not now. He was already in too deep.

  Speaking of the race, there was also the matter of what he’d do with his Moonstruck Pack if he actually won the crown. Worries about how to best deal with Malachite’s advances and protect Danica from harm gnawed at the edge of his brain.

  That last thought also brought on an onslaught of guilt. He hadn’t been there to protect Danica when she’d needed him most, and it killed him. Damn, he wished he had a journal to write in. Ever since he was little, he’d found it easier to sort through his feelings when he could write them down. For some reason, it made his problems easier to figure out, like solving a word problem in the grade school math classes he’d loathed.

  He’d scoured the room earlier and found no paper anywhere. And since his mate was asleep, he had to settle for the next best thing.

  He needed to talk to his brother.

  Nik had always listened to him. Ever since Gage was a little kid, Nik had been there to guide him. He was a beacon in many dark nights of Gage’s life. Maybe it was because they were close in age, but Gage had always found it easier to relate to Nik than his oldest brother, Elijah.

  Thinking about Elijah brought on a fresh sting of worry and the heaviest guilt of all. Truth be told, Elijah was never far from Gage’s thoughts. No matter how many bad things had happened between them over the years, siblings could never seem to completely forget about one another.

  When Elijah had vanished and Gage or Nik never heard from him again, they’d assumed the worst.

  Gage still hoped someday his eldest brother would walk back into his life, but he knew there was a slim chance of that actually happening. He’d never been that lucky in life to begin with.

  He glanced at his mate. Except when it came to her, but he couldn’t even have a normal relationship with her due to their circumstances. Sometimes, it felt like the world was out to get him. It was a paranoid way of thinking, but hell, most couples their age would be starting a family right now, not fearing for their lives because some psychopath was trying to kill them.

  He sighed, then bit his lip to stifle the sound. Luckily, Danica slept like the dead. Gage delicately brushed back a strand of hair that had fallen across her face. She l
ooked so beautiful and peaceful.

  And so vulnerable.

  Feeling a lump of anxiety in his throat, he gingerly untangled himself from Danica’s arms and stood. Casting one last look at his mate and vowing not to be gone long, he quietly shut the door behind him. He wasn’t surprised to find six guards outside their doors. With his wolf hearing, he’d heard them come by earlier.

  “No one enters,” Gage said, and they all nodded.

  Still feeling nervous about leaving her alone, Gage forced himself to walk down the hall toward Nik and Alara’s quarters.

  The hallways were quiet tonight. In addition to the candidate who had resigned, one other candidate had been sent home immediately after his panel. It must have gone poorly indeed to warrant that kind of dismissal. There were three candidates left. The Council seemed to be pressing for a quick coronation so as not to leave the werewolf nation without a leader for too long.

  The air in the castle seemed… thicker, somehow. It seemed the tighter the race for king, the thicker the tension in the air. Though werewolf politics didn’t carry all the glamour of a human political race with TV ads, televised debates, and fundraising parties, they were just as intense.

  More guards waited outside the rooms his brother shared with his new mate. Recognizing Gage, they let him walk up to the door and knock.

  “Come in,” called a feminine voice he knew to be Alara’s.

  Gage grabbed the latch and gently pushed open the door.

  Their suite was actually Alara’s room, so it was fairly girly for Nik. Mirrors set in extravagant silver frames lined the walls, along with a plethora of lilacs and white lilies. The four-poster bed had a white gauze canopy that flowed over the sides of the silk, lilac-colored comforter. All the furniture was white with silver accents.

  Gage couldn’t resist giving Nik a hard time about it the first time he had seen the room.

  Alara sat on the cushioned window seat on the other side of the room, right in front of the huge bay window that overlooked the gardens below. She looked like a normal woman, wearing jeans, a simple purple blouse, and black ballet flats. Probably the most surprising find of all was that her hair was pulled up into a ponytail. Her legs were drawn up, and an open book sat on her lap. He’d never seen her looking so casual.

  “No dress today?” he said lightly, smiling.

  She smiled back and closed the book. “Nah. Decided against it.”

  He raised a brow. She never said something like “Nah” either. Nik must be rubbing off on her already. Speaking of…. “Have you seen Nik?” he asked, looking around and noticing his brother was nowhere to be found.

  “He went to go make some calls to try to find out some more information about the shooting. Apparently he has a contact in the DPI?”

  Gage nodded. “Yes,” was all he said. On the chance she didn’t already know, he decided not to mention that said contact happened to be Nik’s old lover.

  Alara cocked her head and studied him with a twinkle in her eyes. “Something on your mind?”

  “Um….” He shifted his weight and pushed his hands into his pants pockets. “I was—”

  Alara rolled her eyes and smiled. She swung her legs over the side of the window seat as she turned to face him and patted the now empty spot beside her. “You and Nik are so alike. Neither one of you wants to talk very easily.”

  “I believe that,” Gage said wryly as he sat down. They sat in silence for a beat while he gathered his thoughts. He still didn’t know Alara very well, but he trusted her because Nik did. And he desperately craved people to trust. They were a rarity in this world. “I feel… guilty.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Alara pressed her lips together. “Is it because of Danica?”

  Gage nodded.

  Alara sat quietly for a few seconds. “I think I know how you feel. You feel guilty because you weren’t there to protect her at the mall. And you feel bad for what happened to her before. Nik told me she was kidnapped.”

  Gage winced. “Yes. I should’ve been there to protect her then, too, but I wasn’t. I keep screwing up.” All his pent-up frustrations came pouring out. “I feel like if I don’t watch her night and day, I’m going to lose her. But I know I can’t do that either because she hates being babysat, and I don’t want her to resent me.”

  Alara gazed at him with understanding. “Sometimes being in charge means a lot of people are going to depend on you. You’re not always going to be around to defend the ones closest to your heart simply because as a king, you can’t afford to focus on only a select few. You have to focus on the people as a whole and what’s best for them.”

  Hearing those words only confirmed what Gage had suspected earlier. The closer he drew to the crown, the farther away he felt himself drifting from Danica. Alara’s advice didn’t make him feel the least bit better. Instead, it felt like her words had cemented the weight on his chest.

  “How do you do it?” he asked. “How do you watch over everyone and not lose your mind?”

  “Oh, I’ve evolved and have grown eyes in the back of my head.”

  He looked at her then to find her smiling.

  “I’m teasing,” she said, poking him. “But in all seriousness, it’s unrealistic to expect you to be everywhere at once. That’s why you delegate.”

  “Delegate?”

  “Yes. You have guards and advisers help those you love. That way, you can make sure everyone is always safe.”

  Gage frowned. From the weight of his expression, he knew he had his “brooding face” on as Nik called it. Delegating had always been hard for Gage. Truth was, there weren’t that many people he trusted. He could count the number of people he had absolute faith in on one hand, which consisted of Nik, Alara, and Danica.

  Alara cocked her head. “You look scared.”

  “I… don’t trust many people,” he admitted.

  “I can’t blame you,” she replied without batting a lash. Ever since her family was murdered, he’d noticed a hardness in her eyes that had never left. He realized, more than anyone, she probably understood best how he was feeling since she was also an Alpha of sorts. “But trust me, you’re going to need some friends in order to be a good ruler,” she went on. “You can’t do everything and be everything to everyone, and you can’t be afraid to trust people. Not everyone’s a Malachite.”

  He could argue that point, but he knew it would only make him sound paranoid and bitter. Sure, a shit-ton of people had let him down in his life. But had they always let him down because he never bothered getting close enough to them in order for them to find out his expectations?

  Everyone wears a mask….

  More like, he wore armor in the form of his cool demeanor. If he could keep people at a distance, they couldn’t disappoint him. Yet, there was a part of him that yearned to trust someone, to find a few friends to share his burdens with.

  He wasn’t nearly as together as people thought he was. He was practically a walking contradiction.

  Alara leaned forward, a slight smile on her lips. “It’s okay to be imperfect and be afraid to trust people. I’m still working on it myself.”

  That reminded him. “Speaking of trusting people, do you still have that disc Violet gave you?”

  “Sure. Why?”

  He braced himself for rejection. “I thought we could use it to summon Violet and see if she knows who might have sent a shooter after Danica.”

  Alara tensed and took a deep breath. “Gage, I understand why you would think that, but this is the only way we have to contact her. We only get to use this disc once, and she’s a valuable resource.”

  “Then why not use her? She gave us the disc for a reason. If this doesn’t qualify as a damn good one, I don’t know what does.”

  Alara stared at him, taken aback. She searched his eyes, deliberating. At last, she breathed, “Fine. I’ll go get it.” She went over to her dresser and pressed a button on the side that looked like one of the scr
ews. A hidden drawer popped out, and she reached in and grabbed the disc. Gage wondered if Nik knew about her little treasure cove of secrets. Not that he planned on telling his brother anything. He certainly wouldn’t want someone to spill his secrets. The fact she trusted him enough to get it out in front of him touched his heart.

  Alara walked back to him and held up the disc. “What do you think will happen?”

  “I don’t know.” He grabbed hold of the other end. “But I guess we’ll find out.”

  “On three?”

  He nodded and they held each other’s eyes. “One.”

  “Two.”

  “Three,” they said together.

  The disc easily broke with a delicate snap. The lights in the room seemed to dim to the point that the room was almost completely submerged in darkness. Spooky white mist poured out of the broken pieces of the disc, coalescing in the middle to form a figure. The rough outline of Violet’s body appeared.

  Her wide eyes darted about the room, as if trying to get her bearings. “Hello?” she whispered. “Is anyone there?”

  Gage and Alara looked at one another. “We summoned you here for a reason, Violet,” Gage said.

  Violet finally locked eyes with him, as if she hadn’t seen him before. Her mouth dropped open in horror. “You shouldn’t have summoned me. Mistress will find out.”

  “But you told us to if we had to,” Alara cut in, stepping forward. “We have something we need to ask you.”

  Violet shook her head, the terror growing in her eyes. “I can’t do this. I can’t do this, no, not now, not ever. She’ll find out. Mistress will find out. She knows I left. Oh, God, what if she’s watching now?”

  Sensing they didn’t have much time, Gage decided to be blunt. “Do you know anything about a recent hit placed on my mate?”

  Violet blinked, as if startled out of her terror by his question. “Your mate?” she breathed, frowning. “No, they have no further use for her.” She glanced over each shoulder and crouched. “Can’t stay. Always watching,” she muttered, over and over.