Blood Moon

by A. D. Ryan

  “Showing off again?” he quipped, leaning against the wall and tilting his head toward Nick’s hand.

  Nick released a warning growl, shooting a glare at our unwelcome interruption. Within seconds, and with far less effort than the initial transformation took moments ago, Nick’s hand was back to normal. It raised the question of increased difficulty when maintaining control over a partial shift when you lost focus. I guess that was something I’d have to ask about.

  “Why are you back here already, Jax?” Nick demanded, an edge of authority in his voice. “I’m pretty sure you haven’t accomplished what I’ve asked of you.”

  I looked between the two of them to find Nick’s eyes on Jackson, but the gesture was not returned. Instead, Jackson’s brown eyes were fixed on me. Partially shielded with Nick’s body between us, I took the opportunity to look the man over. He was tall, but not as tall as Nick, falling two—maybe three—inches shorter, and he wasn’t as broad-shouldered either. It was obvious that he kept himself in pretty decent shape. I noted the cocky smirk and how his brown hair, long and wild like he’d been caught in a windstorm, framed his slim, hard-angled face, and when his smile broadened, I realized how perfect and white his teeth were. If his presence wasn’t so upsetting to me, I might have found him attractive.

  Big “might.”

  His eyes scanned down the length of my body appraisingly before Nick shifted two inches to the right, blocking me further. “Lost the scent. The guys are still out looking, but thought we could use you and your superior sense of smell to help us out.”

  Notes of jealousy and sarcasm haloed his words, and the way Nick’s arms and neck tensed indicated that I was right. There was definitely animosity between these two. Did Nick blame Jackson for forcing this life on him too? I would understand that and jump right on the bandwagon.

  “L-lost the scent of what?” I asked, stepping forward slightly and placing a hand on Nick’s arm. I hadn’t even realized I’d been thinking it until I heard it out loud.

  Jackson chuckled darkly, dropping his eyes to his dirt-covered fingers as if inspecting them. “The bastards we’re here to kill, kid.”

  Kill? He wasn’t serious. No. Clearly, I didn’t hear him correctly, because that was a pretty brazen admission to be making in front of a cop. I had to ask, though, but just as I prepared to prod him for a little more info, Nick cut in.

  “Jax…” The rumble returned to Nick’s deep voice. “Leave her out of this. She’s not ready for that shit.”

  I pulled back on Nick’s bicep to get him to look at me—his big, strong bicep…

  I gave my head a quick shake and chastised myself inwardly. Now is not the time. “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  With an aggravated sigh, Nick turned around. “There’s still so much you don’t know,” he explained, looking increasingly nervous as he shot an angry glare over his shoulder at Jackson. “And until we know more about what we’re up against, I think it’s best I keep you as uninformed as possible. I’m afraid that if I tell you too much too soon it could put you and…” cue awkward pause “…your loved ones at unnecessary risk.”

  Frustrated, I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at Nick. “And you think that by keeping me in the dark, I’ll be safer?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll be waiting outside,” Jackson interrupted, and I heard the satisfaction in his voice at having ruffled our feathers. Bastard. “Nice seeing you again, kid.”

  “Go to hell,” I muttered under my breath, the hairs on the back of my neck prickling again.

  “Oooh,” he replied with a smug laugh, his voice fading as he made his way back to the front door. “She bites.”

  Anger pulsed through my veins, and I took a threatening step forward. I tried to move around Nick, but he gripped my upper arm firmly, holding me in place. “Brooke,” he warned softly, “let it go. I don’t need you going head to head with my second in command.” When I continued to scowl, Nick smirked. “I don’t think he’d appreciate you kicking his ass and taking his place. He doesn’t take too kindly to those who do that to him.”

  There was a mischievous glimmer in his eyes, leading me to believe that Nick knew this from personal experience. “Did you…?”

  His shrug mirrored his expression, which was equal parts smug and confident. “He pissed me off about a year after I’d joined the Pack. Marcus had us all out on a mission, and one night Jax put Marcus in jeopardy—not intentionally, he says—but I was having none of it. We fought. I won. Marcus promoted me to Jax’s position. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there.”

  It was obvious that he used this ridiculous pun as a ploy to take the edge off my existing anger…and damn him, it worked. My lips curled up into a smile, and I rolled my eyes. “Funny.”

  “I’ve always tried to keep you entertained,” he quipped before reaching forward and taking my hand in his. A look of shame flashed in his eyes, but this didn’t stop his thumb from moving back and forth over my skin. And I let him, breath shuddering and heart beating faster as I glanced down between us.

  “So, honestly, how are you with everything?” he inquired nervously. “Did I freak you out?”

  “Surprisingly, no. Even though the idea should sound preposterous—I mean, werewolves? Come on. There’s a part of me that, I think, always knew the truth. I just wouldn’t let myself make sense of it,” I confessed. “But I think I’m ready to learn, and I have to admit, the added strength and heightened senses kind of kick ass.”

  Nick laughed heartily. “Yeah, I didn’t think you’d have a problem with that part.”

  He continued to hold my hand, slowly bringing it up between us, and when his eyes caught mine, looking at me with a longing that mirrored my own, I grew flustered. I tried to tamp it down, to extinguish it before it burned out of control, but it was a wasted effort. Every time I pushed him from my thoughts, he forced his way back in, regardless of whom my heart might belong to at the moment. Maybe it had something to do with our past, or maybe it was just hardwired into my new self—some kind of primal need to be close to others like me. Whatever the reason, I wanted to deny the pull he had over me, but I just…couldn’t.

  Then my guilt crept back in, because I remembered how David was back at home, sleeping. Completely unaware of where I was or who I was with.

  Tugging my hand away from Nick, severing our physical connection—though it did nothing to break the emotional one that was reforming day by day—I wrapped my arms around my middle and turned toward the living room window. “I should head home,” I whispered, focusing on the yellow-orange glow of the streetlight on the asphalt. “In case David wakes.”

  The air in the room shifted from pleasant to hostile in less than a second. “Yeah,” Nick agreed, his voice clipped. “I suppose you should. I’ve got shit to do anyway.”

  “Right.” Leaving it at that, I walked around Nick and headed for the door. I couldn’t help but feel rejected and like he was pushing me away—even if I was the one to push first. It was completely unfounded for me to even feel this way, but I did.

  I pulled the front door open and was about to leave when Nick appeared beside me, his hand gripping the side of it and holding firm so I couldn’t slip through. “Let me walk you home,” he offered, his apology unspoken but visible in his warm eyes. “While I’m sure you can handle yourself, I’d hate if you encountered any more assholes… Really, I’d be protecting them.”

  Unable to contain a light laugh, I accepted. “Sure. Thanks.”

  The instant we walked out onto the front stoop, Jackson turned to us expectantly, his eyes wide. Then he spotted me and rolled his eyes. “So now she’s tagging along?”

  “I’m taking her home,” Nick barked. “Go on without me. Gather the others and I’ll catch up.”

  It looked like Jackson might try to argue, but one sharp look from Nick and he kept his mouth shut. But not happily. Turning on his heel with far more hostility than a grown man should be able to muster, he stalked off in
to the night, picking up the pace as he crossed the street and disappeared into the darkness. Nick and I walked side by side down the sidewalk, and a few seconds later we heard a wolf howl in the night. Shortly after that, and from a little further in the distance, more joined in.

  “How many of you are there?”

  “Total?” Nick asked. “Or in town?”

  “In town.” Though, now I was curious and wanted to know the answer to the former, too.

  “Just the five of us,” Nick informed me as coolly as if he was talking about the weather. “From the Pack at least. There are others of our kind out there, but they just stick to the shadows when any of us are around since they don’t really abide by Pack Law.”

  “Pack Law?” It amazed me that there was this whole other world existing within our own, and I’d never even realized it. Ignorance apparently was bliss, after all. “So, these others…they’re the seedy underbelly of your organization?”

  Nick chuckled, shaking his head and pushing his shaggy hair off his forehead. “I suppose that’s one way of looking at it.”

  “And there are certain rules you all follow?”

  He nodded once. “Yeah. But we don’t have to worry about that too much right now. They’re really just a basic set of principles we live by. Don’t tell anyone about our existence. Listen to your Alpha. Don’t kill humans. That sort of thing.”

  I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard that last “principle,” forcing Nick to do the same. “Have you ever…” I swallowed thickly, unable to form the rest of my question.

  Nick read me, though. As always. “Killed someone?” My head bobbed, nervous. “Not a human.”

  Not a human, I mentally repeated. That wasn’t exactly the “no” I had been hoping for. “Wh-who?”

  With a sigh, Nick urged me back on our way. “It was a while ago, and believe me when I say they all had it coming. But they weren’t human.”

  “Were they your—our kind?” I asked, my curiosity still not satiated.

  Another headshake, and I was even more confused than before. If they weren’t human, and they weren’t werewolves, then…what?

  “Look,” he spoke up, interrupting the cacophony in my head. “As I said before, there’s still so much I have to tell you, but this is one of those things I need to keep from you until you’re ready. Can you trust in that…trust in me?”

  If I was being totally honest with myself, I could trust him. Even though he betrayed that trust the day he walked out on me, something deep down told me he would be here for me through this. So I agreed without pause. “Yeah. I can. Just…promise you’ll tell me sooner rather than later.”

  “Deal.”

  With three blocks between us and my house left, Nick asked me about work. At first, I missed any and all undertones, thinking he was only trying to fill the silence between us with casual conversation. But then his attention focused solely on that club we’d been unable to locate.

  Gianna’s.

  “It’s still nowhere to be found,” I informed him. “We found the location it was believed to be, based on a witness’s encounter with one of the clients—”

  “Encounter?”

  “She was approached in another creepy-ass ‘vampire’”—yes, I even used air quotes—“club, and was given a business card. Unfortunately, we were unable to lift any prints, DNA, or any useful information from it. Other than the address, of course.”

  “And when you got there?”

  “That was the night I blacked out,” I reminded him, blushing as the memory of us stumbling naked down his hallway and falling into his bed rushed back. “The place was abandoned. Almost like they knew we were onto them… We just don’t understand how they found out.”

  Nick fell silent for a minute, his eyebrows pulling together contemplatively. “It’s possible they knew,” he agreed, “but I told you it moves around a lot. It could be that they just switched locations. Got bored of Arizona.”

  I shook my head, disagreeing wholeheartedly. “No way. That place was trashed—as in midnight-move trashed. They panicked. Unfortunately, they’re not sloppy under pressure like every other criminal out there.”

  “That they’re not,” Nick muttered under his breath. There was a good possibility he never meant for me to hear him, but I did.

  One question that kept me going this entire time rested on the tip of my tongue, and before I could weigh the pros and cons of asking it, it just slipped out. “Is Bobby’s death related to all of this?”

  It was Nick’s turn to stop walking suddenly, and I followed suit, turning and standing directly in front of him. “Brooke…”

  “I know you want to keep things from me—out of safety or whatever—so I’m not going to ask for specifics if you have them…yet. But I think I deserve to know if I’m even going after the bastard who killed my brother.” A pause. “Your best friend.”

  After a moment’s hesitation, Nick conceded. “Yes. But trust me when I say that’s all I can tell you right now.”

  While I wanted to know more—needed to know more—I was content enough with his answer. I believed he would tell me when the time was right. Until then, I would just keep using my super-sleuth prowess as a detective and hopefully uncover a few clues of my own.

  When we arrived at my house, Nick walked me to the door. Normally, this would be pretty risky, but we both heard David’s gentle snoring from the upstairs window. That same unreceptive look returned to his face, like he was building a wall around any emotion he might have toward me, and before he turned to leave, I reached out and grabbed his wrist.

  “Thank you,” I told him. “For being there earlier and keeping me from doing anything stupid.”

  His resolve slipped, but only for a second. “I promised I’d look out for you, and that’s what I intend to do, Brooke.” His tone held firm, but I heard the subtle notes of affection underneath.

  I slipped my key into the lock, and just as I pushed the door open, Nick stopped me. I turned to acknowledge him. His eyes were hard—steely—and it made me shiver. “You know it can’t work, right?” Confused, I looked at him. Even though I was happy and in a relationship with David, it still cut me deep to hear him just come right out and tell me he and I would never work.

  It was stupid to think this way—I knew that. I loved David, but I couldn’t deny the growing emotions I had for Nick either. I was a terrible person.

  “You and him,” he clarified. “He’s human. You’re not. It’s dangerous for you to be with him.”

  And just like that, any warm and fuzzy feelings I had for Nick evaporated, and my defensiveness reared its ugly head. The emotional whiplash I’d been put through lately finally took its toll. I stalked toward him, menace and fury blazing in my eyes. “Excuse me?” I demanded, keeping my voice low so as not to alert David to my absence. “Who the hell do you think you are to think you can just prance back into my life and tell me who I can and can’t have a relationship with? I’m pretty sure you gave up that right the day you walked out on me.”

  “And I told you why I did that,” he argued. “Having almost hurt my own mother, I knew I couldn’t put you at risk. Just like, if you love him as much as you say you do, you won’t put him at risk either. What we are…” He sighed, his resolve finally slipping away completely. “We’re unpredictable. Dangerous. Just…think about it, okay? If not for him, then for your own peace of mind. You wouldn’t be able to live with yourself if something happened.”

  Speechless, I stood there and watched him disappear into the darkness. Once again, moments later, I heard a wolf howl, but this time it wasn’t to locate the rest of his pack. This sounded almost broken.

  While I knew I should, I couldn’t seem to find it in myself to care that he was hurt; telling me that my relationship wouldn’t work pissed me off. If I could survive losing my brother and who I thought was the love of my life within weeks of each other, I could figure out how to make my relationship with David work. I was resilient. I was strong. But, m
ore importantly, I wasn’t Nick.

  He’d proven himself to me time and time again, and it was time I did the same.

  Chapter twenty-two | affirmation

  David was none the wiser as I slipped into the bedroom and removed my yoga pants and shirt, leaving me in the same skimpy tank and sleep short set I was in when we crawled into bed. I placed them in my top drawer before settling into the cool sheets next to him, and his body barely shifted as I pulled the blankets over myself.

  I should have been tired considering it was just past three in the morning, but I was wide awake, and it was all Nick’s fault. I was still raging over what he said about my future with David. Hurt him? Did he really think I could do something like that?

  I understood that he left because he lost control, but how could he compare the two of us like that?

  The bed dipped beside me, and it startled me when David draped his arm over my waist, pulling me toward his body. His body was warm as he pressed it along the length of mine, and he groaned as he pressed a kiss to the spot just below my ear. “You cold?” he asked, his voice still thick and heavy with sleep. “You feel cold.”

  “Hmm?” I hummed softly, trying to make it sound as though I just woke up. “Oh, a little, maybe.”

  Yes. I hated myself for lying. I was a terrible person. I know I should’ve just told him, but what would that accomplish besides a fight of epic proportions?

  Ever so thoughtfully, David tugged the duvet up over my shoulders before getting up and closing the bedroom window. Because the chill lingered in the room, he grabbed the throw blanket I kept at the end of the bed and pulled it over us as well. I really wasn’t uncomfortable with the temperature, but he was probably feeling the chill of the night air on my skin.

  “Better?” he asked, slipping back in behind me and sounding a little more awake.

  Looking over my shoulder as he pressed against me, I smiled and nodded. “Toasty. Thanks.”

  “I’m nothing if not considerate,” he murmured, resting his head on my pillow. His breath fanned across my neck, blowing a few strands of hair over it that tickled. I expected him to fall right back asleep, but when his hand roamed over my belly and down between my thighs, I knew he had other plans.