Taint of Shadow
Heart of Darkness Book One
Cassandra Moore
Edited by
Cynthia M. Jones
Copyright © 2018 by Cassandra Moore
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover artwork by Mayhem Cover Creations.
Boundless thanks to the other half of my brain for constantly assuring me my words are worth reading.
Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Cassandra Moore
One
Howls rose in the air. Full-throated, lusty bays filled the woods and startled sleepy birds from their chosen perches. In the east, the brilliant golden edge of the moon peeked above the Cascade Mountains, greeted by several more eerie calls. The energy of the night changed, expectant to exultant. Full moon. Blue moon. Time to hunt.
Beneath the leafy canopy, a white wolf raced between the boles of the trees. She wove in an agile dance as she chased the sound of water. Faster, faster she pushed, ears flattened to her head, tail extended behind her like a banner. Noah had beaten her last time, but not tonight. Tonight, she had him.
A flash of gray fur caught her attention. He’d made up ground faster than she’d anticipated. Kayla’s claws dug into the moist earth beneath her paws, and beneath her fur, her muscles bunched, released. Oh, to run and run, free of the city, the constriction of skin and human ideas! Headlong, full of the moon in her blood, she hurtled through the forest.
He couldn’t keep pace with her. No one could. She was moonlight, quick like mercury. She was the wind, unstoppable as it swept over the earth. She was...
She was falling behind. The rotten bastard! He’d come into full view, more than a flash of gray now. A handsome wolf, strong and nimble as he dodged through the trees. From somewhere, she dragged up more speed and, as the trees thinned, passed him by.
Gasping for air, she skidded to a halt on the stream’s bank. He pulled up a bare second later, pink tongue flopped out of his mouth. Wolven body language allowed for many expressions, but she’d always liked to gloat with a human voice. It had the best effect.
The fur receded and gave way to pale skin and dishwater blonde hair. After her time on four legs, the tiny denim cutoff shorts chafed, and the tank top constricted. Shifts preserved clothing, which often came in useful, but tonight, it irritated her. Just beneath her human veneer, the wolf shifted restlessly. The moon called to it, made it hungry. Soon, she promised. Soon. We’ll hunt with the pack, once we’ve gathered. Once we’re mated.
It brought her back to the present, and she smirked at the gray wolf. “I win, slowpoke.”
He gave a low, playful growl.
“Oh no, you don’t. You get to cook dinner all next week. You lost, fair and square.” Unable to stand it any longer, she stripped off her clothes and tossed them onto a nearby tree branch.
Another growl. He licked his chops.
She laughed, even as hot moisture melted over her folds. The run had invigorated her, the competition excited her, and now she wanted to fuck, hard and fast. But the moon would be high before they knew it. “We have to meet the pack. Ugh, I’m sweaty. Suppose I have time for a quick wash? I don’t want to show up tonight smelling like— Oof!”
In a controlled tumble, she hit the ground. He’d thrown himself against her knees and knocked her legs out from under her. As she sprawled on the ground, mossy soil against her back, he prowled around her with slow, deliberate movements. Golden eyes watched her as he circled, head low to take in the scent of her hair, her skin. His breath, warmer than the May evening, gusted over her hip.
She shuddered. Fur brushed against her outer thigh as he wound around her and moved between her thighs. Once there, he didn’t touch her, just stood with his nose outside her cunt and breathed. In his wolf shape, he could smell her desire, her need, and he savored it. She could see it in the smolder of his eyes.
His body blurred, and then there he was, on all fours between her legs, smirk curled over his human lips. The fur had barely disappeared before he buried his face in her pussy, tongue lapping over her folds in long, bold strokes. She moaned, a deep, guttural sound, and splayed her legs wide.
Warmth circled her clit as he sucked it into his mouth. He wormed his tongue into her, then out again to circle around the sensitive button of flesh. Flashes of pleasure lit her nerves, magnified by the tides of lunar energy that washed through her. But she wanted more than just his tongue; she wanted his cock to pound into her, over and over, until she couldn’t take another thrust.
Just the thought of it sent the shocks of a small climax through her, a tease of an orgasm that only whetted her need. But it drove him beyond control. He lurched to his feet and hauled her with him, the momentum strong enough to press her against his chest. Their lips met, melded, and their tongues twined as his arms wrapped around her.
In the distance, they could hear the howls of the pack. Fierce passion clawed through her, and he tore his mouth from hers with a snarl. The small hairs on her neck rose, and she had to have him inside her. Reaching high, she grabbed a low branch on a nearby tree as he shed his jeans. His thick cock stood up from a nest of dark curls, but she saw it only in shadow as he moved between her legs.
Impatient, she wrapped her legs around his waist. Hard and insistent, his cock pressed against her pussy, slid along the wet slit to nudge her clit. She leveraged herself with her grip on the branch then dropped herself onto his shaft.
They cried out in unison, almost howling with the pleasure of it. He snapped his hips up, drove himself deeper, until she took the length of him. He felt so hot inside her, so wide, and her inner walls gripped him as he pushed her open. With him buried in her wetness, she felt complete even as she thought she could never take him deep enough. Her friend, her lover. After tonight, her mate.
He withdrew until only the flared tip of him stayed within, and then he drove in harder, his body wracked with shudders as the animal within him fought for control. She couldn’t see the moon, but she didn’t need to. She could feel it as it rose higher into the sky, not over the treetops, but not far from it. It stoked the burn inside her as much as the thrusts of his cock did, with a sticky, almost painful tingle that made her want to writhe.
Unable to help herself, she gave in and undulated her hips against his. She couldn’t get him deep enough, hard enough, but she tried, even as the lunar pull made her want to crawl out of her skin. His hips slammed against her as he pounded his shaft into her cunt over and over again. From behind clenched teeth he grunted, but he never closed his eyes. They stared at each other, gazes locked, even as she pulled herself up and down his cock and he thudded into her.
Release ripped through them as the moon tore free of the horizon and took command of the night. She screamed, every nerve alive, aware of every jerk of his cock in her depths, every jet of seed as it spilled into her. Their climaxes mingled, became one, and they shuddered in unison, linked by the magic that held them, and bound by a love deeper than those who could wear only a human’s shape.
Within her, his cock stayed hard, ready. He had too much energy to stop now. Instead, he took her into his arms, catching her as she let go of the branch, then set her o
n her feet. She whimpered as his shaft slid out of her, but it didn’t stay out long.
He spun her around and nudged her feet apart as she braced herself against the trunk of the tree. Behind her, he caressed her ass, grabbed hold of her hips. “Wider,” he growled as he leaned over her. His cock slid home, his balls swinging forward to nudge her clit. She groaned then spread her legs more, her hips canted up to receive him.
For a long moment he covered her, shaft deep in her pussy. One hand slid around her waist to stroke her cunt. His fingers explored her stretched folds spread by his girth, stroked around the edges of his shaft to test the taut skin. Alive with need again, she pressed back against him, caught between the urge to take more of him and the burn to rub against his hand.
She moaned with relief as he took her clit between his fingers. Then he rammed his cock into her with a merciless rhythm, while he pinched and tugged at the sensitive flesh. She backed against him, open and wet, met him thrust for thrust. They’d spent dozens of full moons together, but none had inflamed her this way.
The moon, the long, firm thrusts, scorched through her. Head thrown back, she shouted her climax to the sky, threw herself back to force him in as deep as he could push. A howl echoed from behind her, and he exploded, emptied into her pussy. Her spine tingled, every nerve smoldered, and within her, his cock still twitched. The afterglow was more like a sunrise.
The urge to take him over and over again still gripped her, but the pair of orgasms had dulled it. At the least, she thought as they slowly disengaged, they could get through the pack meeting without a loss of control. After that, it wouldn’t matter. The whole gang would have given up to the moon.
A series of summoning howls went up in the distance. “We’re late,” he said with a laugh as he rescued his jeans from the ground.
She pulled a leaf out of her hair. “We’re late, and we’re dirty. I can’t show up to my own handfasting like this. I look like I’ve been fucking in the woods.”
“Imagine that.” He grinned at her and stepped close enough to give her a deep, tender kiss loaded with promises for later. “You’re beautiful, baby. I still can’t believe you’re mine.”
“No one else’s. Not ever.” Her eyes closed as she nuzzled his nose with hers. “I love you, Noah.”
Strong arms enfolded her. “I love you, too. Tonight, you’re my wife. I mean, we still have to do the whole city hall thing tomorrow, but the pack’s what counts.”
He smelled wonderful, forest and wolf and aftershave. “The pack and you are all that really matter to me.”
The howl sounded almost reproachful.
“They’re going to skin us. Want to take a minute to get the dirt off? I’ll run ahead and let them know you’re coming.” He pulled away to beam at her, the huge, proud grin of a new husband. “I want to make sure the alpha remembers we’re doing it tonight. And that Todd’s there. He’s standing up for us.”
She laughed. “I know. You’ve said that at least fifteen times this week. Where else is he going to be?”
“You know Todd. He’d be late to his own funeral, especially lately. Between you and me, I think he’s seeing someone, and he’s not ready to admit to it yet. He’s been ‘busy’ an awful lot, when I ask him if he wants to come over.” He looked a little sheepish. “He loves you to pieces. That means a lot to me.”
“He’s your best friend. He wants you to be happy.” She gave him a quick kiss. “Go on. I’ll be right there.”
Fur overtook his skin, and then he was a wolf. With a bark of goodbye, he bolted off into the forest, tail high. Such an amazing animal, and an even more wonderful man.
Humming under her breath, she stepped into the stream. In May, the water ran warm enough, although earlier in the year the mountain’s chill would have made this bath unpleasant. The wolves wouldn’t care about the dirt, but she did. No girl wanted to show up to her wedding covered in mud, werewolf or no.
Here comes the bride, all dressed in white... When she’d imagined a white wedding as a girl, she hadn’t guessed it’d mean fur. She threw on her clothes and donned her wolf shape, a bright shadow among the dim ones. Of course, she’d never anticipated a case of lycanthropy, either.
Her mother had hoped the affliction would pass Kayla over, and hadn’t said much about it before she’d lost herself to the wolf within. Thank goodness my junior prom was the day before the full moon or Jimmy Davidson would have gotten more than a black eye for reaching up my dress.
“Kayla?”
Kayla spun at the woman’s voice. Once she saw who’d tracked her down, she pondered staying in her fur. Wolves could outrun humans. Better, they lacked functional lips for speech, and she didn’t have any desire to talk to this particular interloper.
But Regina was pack, and worse, Regina was the alpha’s girlfriend. A frantic sprint in the opposite direction would give the wrong impression. Or the right impression, but it would be totally rude. Damn it.
Regina had a good decade on Kayla, though she clung to her youthful appearance like a leech on a juicy leg. It, and her forced charisma, let her get her way far too often for her to give it up without a fight. Brunette to Kayla’s blonde, brash to Kayla’s deliberate kindness, the two women faced each other from polar opposite points on the scale. Kayla had never warmed to the alpha’s partner, even as Regina seemed to take delight in attempts at forcing Kayla out of her comfort zone. Kayla even wondered on dark nights if the woman didn’t heap emotional abuse on her lover, and Peter, who had enough battles to fight, couldn’t face one more on the home front.
Kayla shifted back to her human shape. “Hey, Regina. What’s up?”
“Peter wanted to have a word with Noah. You know, alpha to packmate on his wedding night. I said I’d come out and do the same for you.” Regina smiled her warmest smile.
It left Kayla cold. I will not be rude to the alpha’s girlfriend. I will not be rude to the alpha’s girlfriend. “Thanks, Regina. That was really thoughtful of you.”
“It was, but I won’t. Which is even more thoughtful of me.” Regina stretched a hand out to lean against a tree. Her tone held enough bitterness to wilt the plants around her, if a voice could do such. “In another pack, with another packmate, it would be my job. But Peter and I never got as far as a handfasting. Or vowing in front of the pack and the moon. So I won’t try to give you advice about it.”
The abrupt shift in direction surprised Kayla. “Um, all right. So why are you here?”
“Why do you think? Honest answer. Don’t worry about hurting my feelings. Just spit it out.”
“You’re here to save face. Make yourself look closer and more interested than you are.” Kayla would never have said those words to Regina’s face if she hadn’t asked for them. Even now, she wondered if she should.
Regina barked a sharp laugh. “You’re not far from the truth. I know what my place should be with the pack. What they should look to me for. Some do, you know.”
Kayla nodded, wary. “Some do. You have friends.”
“Friends are a dime a dozen, Kayla. I have a few supporters. But not the support of the pack.” Regina lifted a shoulder. “They’re different things. If I want both friends and supporters, I have to convince those who don’t support me that they should.”
Kayla thought she saw where this was going. “So you came out here to save face, and try to win me over. On my wedding night.”
“And to buy time for Peter to have a genuine, alpha-ly talk with Noah. The two of them have a real relationship. I thought they should have their moment. Talking to you was a convenient excuse to leave them alone.”
“I can’t argue that reason,” Kayla conceded. “What now?”
“Let’s take a walk.” Regina pushed off the tree. “Let me show you a place that means a lot to me. Maybe it will be the start of a new relationship between us.”
Kayla glanced toward where she knew the pack had already gathered, and toward the still-golden moon in the sky. Paternal marriage talk or no, they
didn’t have long before they needed to get started. “If it’s close.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll be right on time.” Regina gestured with her head for Kayla to follow.
Despite the full moon’s brilliance, darkness had settled into the trees. Kayla called on her restless inner beast to enhance her night sight as well as her sense of smell. A skinned knee or broken wrist didn’t fit her vision of her handfasting. Regina walked with confidence through the gloom, eyes on the way before them.
“I don’t know how we got off on the wrong foot,” she said without preamble. “When I met you, I thought for certain we would get along. You’re strong. You have ideas for how you want your future to look. We’re not entirely alike, but we’re similar enough that I thought you’d be someone I could forge a bond with.”
“I’m sorry to have disappointed you,” Kayla said. Though sarcasm colored the statement, she found enough truth in it to surprise herself. She’d tasted that kind of disappointment before.
Regina waved it off. “It happens. On paper, we should have been good friends. Reality’s a whole different bitch. But even though we never hit it off, I’ve still admired you. You’re tenacious about following where your moral compass points.”
Kayla glanced over at the woman beside her. “You’re talking about what happened with that raid on Kiplinger’s bleeder operation.”
Regina didn’t return the look. She kept her eyes on the forest in front of her as she spoke. “I am. I’m not sure you realize that most of the pack had given up on stopping Kiplinger’s blood harvesting enterprise. He’d even eluded the city’s vampire lord for years. But you? You wouldn’t let it go. Peter was so proud of you when you traced them to the rave in the warehouse. You saved all those teenagers.”
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