By the time I’m done with my little speech, my limbs are shaking and my wolf is howling with fear.
That pep talk was crap. I’m more nervous now than ever before.
The sound of a two-tone doorbell echoes into the room, breaking me out of my worries. The barest scent of sandalwood and musk wafts through the air. My insides flutter with excitement.
Knox is here. My inner wolf starts yipping with glee.
I push the intercom button on Elle’s wall. “Be right there.”
Knox and Alec have an apartment in the same building as me and Elle. One of these days, maybe I’ll give him a key, but it’s like calling him my mate. I’m just not sure I’m ready for that yet.
Without waiting for a reply over the intercom, I shove on the dress in record time, pull my hair back with a clip, and make for our front door (or as front door as you get in an apartment high-rise. As I rush to meet Knox, I try giving myself a new pep talk in my mind.
Whatever happens, you can find a way to handle it. You spent most of your life trapped in a penthouse because of your aunties. Now, there’s no way you’ll stay confined now because of your own fears.
This time, the talk seems to work. As I march toward the front door, my wolf calms and my focus sharpens.
As they say on Broadway, it’s showtime.
Chapter Two
I whip open the front door. Knox stands in the hallway, his hands in his pockets. I’ve never seen him in a suit before, and wow, it’s a good look on him. The fitted black fabric sets off his dark hair, ice-blue eyes, and tall build. Meanwhile, the scars along his jawline and eyebrow make for a nice contrast to the uptown tailoring.
Knox steps inside, kicks the door closed behind him, and eyes me from head to toe. “You look gorgeous.”
“Thanks. So do you?” For some reason, that comes out as a question. I stifle the urge to face-palm myself. Even though Knox and I have been together for a month, I still feel tongue-tied around him.
My wolf has no such issues. Inside my soul, she jumps with glee. “Our mate has arrived! He’s so handsome and smart. Kiss him!”
“Not feeling it in this moment.” I’m more freaked out about tonight, actually.
“But look at his ice-blue eyes and delicious skin. At least, lean in and lick him.”
I hug my elbows. My wolf loves to go on and on about how awesome Knox is. Most times, I don’t mind. But right now? Her pushing me to kiss Knox is only pushing me to do more things that I don’t feel ready for right now. Like the art opening.
Knox’s nostrils flare. He’s checking out my scent. We weres can tell a lot that way. For instance, if someone’s lying, there’s always the distinct stink of rotten garbage.
Knox must get a particular smell because he immediately steps inside and pulls me into his arms. His body is firm and warm. I lean in to his chest and inhale his unique scent of sandalwood and musk.
His voice sounds low in my ear. “What’s wrong, Bry? Are the dreams back?”
As long as I can remember, I’ve had dreams of ancient Egypt. Knox has starred in them as well. In these visions, I’m translating papyri about the Book of Isis, the original book of magic. You’d think it would be nice to dream about Egypt, hot guys, and papyri, but there’s always a darkness over everything, like something bad’s going to happen. Happily, I haven’t had the dreams since I started dating Knox.
“No, the dreams aren’t back.”
“What is it then?”
Right here, this moment. This is what I like so much about being with Knox. He understands me like no one else ever has. I let out a long breath.
“I’m nervous about tonight,” I say.
“Your wolf.” The way Knox says those two words, it’s not a question.
For her part, my wolf is loving all this attention. She leaps and howls with ever increasing levels of joy. “Let’s take Knox running with us! A run with Knox… What could be better?”
Knox nuzzles into my neck. “Your wolf talking to you now, isn’t she?”
I nod. “She’s your biggest fan, you know.”
Knox leans back and locks his ice-blue gaze with mine. “What are you afraid of?”
“Shifting in front of my new classmates. Trashing the art opening. Ending up naked and on YouTube tomorrow.”
“I get that,” says Knox. “So you know, Alec has cast dozens of spells over the Belvedere. Humans won’t be able to take a picture of anything.”
“That’s good. It’s just so new, that’s all.”
Leaning in, Knox presses his forehead against mine. “I understand. Believe me.”
The barest hint of lemons fills the air. I smack my lips, trying to place the scent. “You smell…”
Knox leans back and bobs his eyebrows. “Irresistible?”
I chuckle. “No, worried.”
“Your sense of smell is getting better. Yeah, I’m worked up.”
“So what are you worried about?” My heart pounds a little harder in my chest. Knox is the first guy I’ve ever kissed, let alone dated. If he’s having some kind of emotional issue, I really have no idea what to do here. But I still want to help. That makes it worse.
“It’s Az. He wants me to take over as Alpha of the Northeast pack.”
Azizi is Knox’s father in all but DNA. Plus, Knox is not only a shifter, he’s also the warden of all shifter magic, which means he’s the strongest of his kind. By rights, Knox should be Alpha of all Alphas, starting with the Northeast pack, which has hundreds of wolves alone. Azizi certainly thinks it’s a good idea. But Knox spent a lot of time hunting down our enemies, the Denarii, and the experience made him a bit of a loner. Leading tons of wolves isn’t in the cards right now.
I loop my arms around Knox’s neck, feeling the cords of muscle slide under my skin. There’s something comforting in how solid he is.
“So we both have wolf problems,” I say.
“Yeah. But it’s good to have someone to share them with.”
A sense of warmth and belonging fills my chest. “Same here.”
Knox leans in to rub his nose along the length of mine. His barest touch sends shivers through me. “I never felt centered on anything before,” he says. “Now, you’re the rock in my world. It’s a good feeling.”
I can’t find the words to reply to that, so I go on tiptoe and brush my lips against his. Knox presses me against the wall, his body firm and unyielding against my soft curves. Our kiss deepens. Time seems to stand still until it’s only me, Knox, and our kisses. My wolf does this growly-purr noise she makes when she’s super-happy. It’s one of the few times she and I are in perfect harmony.
Minutes pass before Knox and I speak again.
“Did I mention you look gorgeous?” he asks.
A blush colors my cheeks. “You might have.”
“Before we go, I need to know one thing.”
“Shoot.”
“Do you and Elle have anything special planned for tonight?”
I know exactly what he means. “Elle and I aren’t working any schemes tonight.”
“Are you sure?”
“Come on.” I roll my eyes. “The two of us don’t make secret plans all that often, you know.”
“Last week, you set an enchanted snake loose in Alec’s office.”
That’s absolutely true. “Please, the little critter wasn’t going to hurt anyone. Besides, Alec started it. Mister LeCharme set loose an enchanted mega-spider in our apartment.” Like the snake, the spider was totally harmless, but still. Elle and I almost jumped out of our skin when it leapt out of the fridge.
“Nope,” says Knox. “The snake was first; the spider was retaliation.” Knox and Alec have an apartment in the same building as me and Elle. It really is too tempting to prank them.
I purse my lips, thinking. “Oh yeah. You’re right.”
“And before that, you blew up the Denarii League building in Midtown.”
“So?”
Knox shakes his head. “I should never hav
e told you that Reggie escaped.”
Here’s what happened. The Denarii leader, Jules, thought I was going to marry him and become the queen of the zombie-mummy people. As a result, Jules invited every last Denarii in the world to New York to celebrate our wedding. They all showed up except Reggie, who was jailed in the basement of Alec’s building. After Jules and his Denarii army were destroyed, Reggie figured it was his time to rise up and become the new zombie-mummy king. He escaped his prison and made for the Denarii’s old headquarters in downtown Manhattan. The Denarii HQ was deserted when we arrived.
I raise my pointer finger. “Hey, Reggie was the one who blew the building up.” We’re pretty sure that he killed himself in the process, which would be fine with me. More importantly, the explosion didn’t hurt any humans, either. “I consider that more of a public service than a scheme.”
The flicker of a smile appears on Knox’s mouth. “And yesterday, you stole a diamond tiara from LeCharme.”
“You know about that?”
In reply, Knox merely lifts his brows. That would be yes.
“Sure, we took it. But then, we put it right back. Elle just wanted to be sure her thief skills were still sharp.”
This time, Knox only narrows his ice-blue eyes in reply. He really is too cute for words.
“Fine. Elle and I have no schemes planned for tonight.”
“Cool.” Knox gives me one of his classic chin-nods. “Just keep me posted. I don’t want to miss out again.”
“Really? I thought for sure you didn’t approve of our little projects.”
“Are you kidding? I’d have given anything to see Alec with the snake.”
My wolf snickers inside my soul. “It was rather amusing.”
I giggle at the memory. “It really was awesome. We hid the snake in his top desk drawer. After he opened it, Alec ran around his office making yipping noises. That guy has the best scream ever. Elle and I laughed so hard, we both got stomach cramps.” My gaze lands on the wall clock. How did it get to be 7:30? “Hey, we should head out.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Stepping away from me, Knox calls toward the living room. “Are you two ready?”
Alec’s voice echoes in to us. “Just one more level.”
Knox focuses on me again. “How long have they been gaming?”
“Since last night.”
“He’s not going anywhere. We better head off solo or we’ll miss everything. So you know, Alec has cast dozens of spells over the Belvedere, yeah?”
At the mention of the word Belvedere, my inner wolf turns deadly still. That’s not good.
I force myself to sound calm. “Yes, it’s at the Belvedere.”
Knox inhales deeply again. If he catches any change in my scent, he doesn’t make a comment. “In that case, let’s hit it. Mind if I drive?”
My wolf restarts her pacing and growling routine. “Ask him to run. RUN!”
The urge to shift hits me again, hard. It’s an effort to keep my fake smile in place. “That sounds like a plan.”
In all honestly, I’d go anywhere with Knox. I just hope it doesn’t end up with my naked butt going viral on YouTube.
Chapter Three
Minutes later, Knox and I are tooling through Manhattan in a Mustang. For the record, most weres drive. Confined spaces set off our inner animals, so the subway is a no-go. With a car, you can always pull over if you start to shift. But when you’re on a subway train and your wolf goes nuts, people could get hurt. Mostly because they insist on cracking out their cell phones and asking for selfies. I used to wonder at how humans mindlessly expose themselves to danger in exchange for two minutes of social media fame. But then, I think about reality TV. Humans do crazy stuff all the time.
I glance into the rearview mirror. A black pickup truck with tinted windows seems to be following us awfully close. More howlers. Inside the vehicle, I imagine a half-dozen humans are waiting, cell phones in hand, ready to snap pictures of my wolf. I force in a deep breath.
No one is following you, Bry. It’s just your imagination.
My wolf disagrees. “Humans everywhere,” she growls. “This is not good.” This time, there’s a manic edge to her voice that I’ve never heard before. Something is seriously wrong.
Knox turns to me. “Your wolf’s on edge. What is it?”
I open my mouth, ready to explain how my wolf hates small spaces, but that’s not what leaves my lips. Instead, I say something else entirely:
“We’re going for a run, mate.”
I pop my hands over my mouth. Those words aren’t mine. The voice isn’t, either.
That was my wolf talking.
I grip Knox’s hand. “I didn’t mean to say that.”
“Got it.” Knox pulls an incredibly illegal U-turn in the middle of the Avenue of the Americas. “Change of plans. We’re going to the woods.”
My shoulders slump with disappointment. “That’s probably for the best.” Clearly, my wolf isn’t ready to meet my classmates. So why does skipping the opening feel like such a failure?
Because I hate to give up, that’s why.
Soon we’re speeding out of the city. There’s no question where Knox is headed. He owns some land up in the Adirondacks. We visit there a lot. It’s the perfect spot for shifters. Normally, when we ride to Bear Mountain, we chatter the entire trip. Not so much today, though. As we drive along, silence hangs between us. It seems to take forever to reach Bear Mountain (bear shifters owned the place before Knox got the rights). Once we arrive, it takes even longer to make the slow march to the main clearing where we usually start our runs.
By the time we’re ready to run, the sun hangs low in the sky. Shadows lengthen. Around the clearing, the fir trees stand tall and still. The chitter of insects fills the air. The scent of pine is strong.
We step onto the grassy space. Once we reach the clearing, Knox pauses and turns to me, his face set in serious lines. He pulls off his suit coat and tosses it aside. “We need to settle things, wolf to wolf.”
“What do you mean?”
“Back in the car there, your wolf spoke to me. That was a challenge, both to you and me.” Knox starts loosening his tie. “I don’t like how your wolf has been acting, making you shift all the time. Even so, I’ve let it slide because I know she’s been cooped up her whole life.”
Here’s the situation with my wolf. The powerful fairy, Colonel Mallory the Magnificent, cast a spell on me as a baby. It locked down all my power, including my wolf. In fact, I thought I was the variety of Magicorum who didn’t have any magic per se, but was just related to someone who did. Long story short, Colonel Mallory did this to save my life. If everyone knew how powerful I really was, I’d have been killed long before I turned seventeen. Even so, the whole experience has my wolf a little twitchy.
Actually, a lot twitchy.
“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” I say. “My wolf has been locked up for so long, all she wants to do is run.”
“But your animal is out of control now. You need to give her some structure.”
“Our mate is handsome,” says my wolf in my head. “But he talks too much. We need to run now.” The urge to shift moves through me, strong as an electric current.
“Not yet,” I reply in my heart. “We’re waiting.”
In reply, my wolf pushes harder against my soul. Fur ripples under my skin. Bands of frustration tighten across my chest. Why can’t my wolf just listen?
A muscle feathers in Knox’s neck. “Your wolf. She’s pushing you now, isn’t she?”
My fingers curl with a mixture of helplessness and rage. “No matter what I do, she pops out of my skin anyway.”
“That’s why packs have Alphas. You need to set her loose, and then, let her attack me.”
Every inch of my body goes on alert. “Attack you? Why?”
“Your wolf has been through a lot. Ritual fighting is how wolves work out their place in the pack. Your wolf needs a firm hand.”
I stare at my pa
lm. “Firm hand?”
“I’m not talking about physical power here. I’m talking magic. My power is Alpha energy, but you’ve got your own magic. Once I subdue your wolf, I think you’ll get the idea.”
My head feels woozy. “Ritual combat? Really?”
“Yes. Release your wolf and attack me. Now.”
I hug my elbows. “I’m not sure. If I’m patient, my inner wolf might just calm down on her own.”
“That’s not how wolves work, even when they aren’t of the magical variety. And a werewolf? Our animals are far more intense. I’m your Alpha, and if I let this go on for one more minute, I’m putting you at risk.”
Something in his tone sets my nerves on edge. “Meaning?”
“Your wolf will go feral. When it happens, it’s fast and intense. Your wolf will take over and you’ll disappear.”
I suck in a shaky breath. “She wouldn’t.”
My wolf’s voice sounds in my head. “We will run! I demand we shift NOW!”
That manic tone to her voice is now higher than ever before. Every inch of my body trembles with the urge to shift. I reply to my wolf in my mind.
“Didn’t you hear what Knox said?” Normally, my wolf can’t help but listen in on most of my conversations. “Our mate thinks you’re going feral.”
“Mate?” The manic tone to her voice hikes up an octave. “We have no mate. All we have is the need to run.”
A chill runs up my spine. “You don’t remember our mate?”
“No mate! Run, now!”
My blood chills. No matter what happens, my wolf always knows her mate. In fact, my usual complaint is that she won’t shut up about him.
This is really happening. My wolf is going feral.
All of a sudden, it’s like I can’t pull in enough air. “You’re right. My inner wolf is losing her mind.”
“Hey, I won’t let that happen.” Knox rests his hands on my shoulders. “Breathe, Bry.”
It takes serious concentration, but I slow my racing pulse a little. “Okay.”
“Now, you need to set your wolf loose and trust me. Can you do that, yeah?”
“I can try.”
“Good.” Knox pulls off his dress shirt over his head and tosses it aside. “Set her loose.”
Moonlight and Midtown Page 2