by Sammie Joyce
Forbidden Wolf
Full Moon Protectors - Book 3
Sammie Joyce
Copyright © 2020 by Sammie Joyce
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.
Contents
Sammie Joyce
Forbidden Wolf
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
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Forbidden Wolf
Full Moon Protectors - Book 3
Sammie Joyce
Prologue
Marcel
For the first time since I could remember, the Council had the full attention of the Protectors. No one sat in their animal forms, waiting for the time to pass with sleepy, half-closed eyes. Instead, we were all on high alert, ears honed to the words of our elders, a blanket of tension hovering over us uncomfortably. Their attention was almost unnerving, considering how we usually sat back with disinterest until we were called upon. For the most part, we found these meetings cumbersome, almost insulting to our precious time.
The bonfire shot up into the sky, just as far as the eye could see, the magic thick and uncomfortable as if the spirits were battling for supremacy as we all sat forward, our eyes locking to make sense of what we were being told.
This night was different from any other meeting I could recall, the half-moon riding high in the winter night. I could almost taste the snowfall in the air yet I didn’t notice the cold unfolding around us, my blood rushing to keep me warm as I stared about dubiously.
I couldn’t remember a time when we were all dangling on a razor’s edge, prickles of alarm shooting down my spine as I heard the words but didn’t quite believe them. I found myself thinking that this was reminiscent of ancient gatherings, ones when we had openly feared the humans and not seen them as our equals.
And they are our equals. The group targeting us is the exception, not the rule…aren’t they? We don’t want them judging us based on a few rogue shifters. Shouldn’t we return the favor?
I was still having a hard time trying to reconcile what we’d been told, that the vigilante group was not only active but growing in numbers. There was no way. We had already dealt with this issue…hadn’t we?
I could still remember the scene as clearly as if it had happened yesterday, the bold kidnapping and the daring rescue a select few of us had made.
And yet they were telling us that it had been for naught.
“That’s impossible,” I said flatly without weighing the repercussions of my words. “We took care of them.”
There was a sureness in my words, ones I should have known better than to utter aloud but the cat was out of the bag now and I couldn’t very well recant them. I could feel the baleful looks boring into me, not only from the Council but from the Protectors also.
Yes, this meeting was certainly much different than any other we’d ever had. I could almost feel us turning on each other without a word being exchanged.
“And I’m telling you, the matter is worse now because of what you did,” Fernando growled, setting me back a bit. It wasn’t commonplace for the wolf councilman to be so intense, so upset. I knew then that we were dealing with a real threat. If Fern spoke, we all listened—with our tails literally between our legs.
“How could we have known there were more of them?” Landon insisted, taking my side.
He better take my side. I’m only in shit because of him. We all are.
Not that it was a fair assessment. After all, we’d done a public service by shutting down Anticlaw—or rather, by thinking we’d shut them down. If I had the opportunity to do it again, I wasn’t sure I would have done anything differently.
“You don’t speak,” Nia hissed and Landon instantly clamped his mouth shut, not that I blamed him in the least. No one wanted Nia’s wrath. “We know why you did something so stupid, but…the others?”
The question hung in the air, the innuendo about Landon’s mate unspoken but causing a great deal of stress regardless.
“We’re Protectors, Nia,” Anthony, the other leopard Protector insisted, backing his partner. “That’s what we were doing—protecting the shifters.”
“You were protecting a human. Again. Even after we have warned you time and again what will happen.”
Her words flung into the night like pellets, striking each of us as if she was speaking to us individually.
“What is happening?” Inigo interjected and I could tell he was trying to keep the peace. “What makes you think matters are so much worse?”
“I just told you!” Nia hissed at the wolf. Instinctively, I stepped forward again, sensing that she was going to attack my partner but Lorna also moved to step between us and Nia’s flashing eyes.
“Settle down,” the wolf councilwoman said flatly and Fern joined her side in solidarity. For a moment, the three members of Council held each other’s gazes and I could see Fern’s jaw twitching as he tried to gauge what level of crazy Nia was approaching.
In truth, Nia was always angry, if not at us then at the other members of Council. The leopard female had aggression issues that no one but her mate could handle; although, why Jack bothered, I had no idea. The beast had the patience of a saint. Anyone would have run off long ago, I was sure.
“Don’t tell me to calm down,” Nia snarled, her eyes darting over the wolves as if she was deciding whether or not she could take them. Jack finally stepped forward in his usual fashion to set her back but for once, his touch did nothing to calm her. Sparks seemed to be flying out of Nia’s eyes and I was concerned. I shot the other Protectors a quick glance and I could feel the tension radiating off of them.
“This is getting us nowhere,” Bula sighed and we gratefully looked to the bear councilwoman for the distraction, but her words weren’t any more comforting than Nia’s had been. “Nia is right. Things have gotten considerably worse since you did what you did.”
Bula’s eyes rested on the Protectors, skipping between me, Inigo, the leopards and Cronin.
“There’s nothing we can do about what’s done now,” Homer said but he was angry too. There wasn’t a friendly face in the crowd, which was another first. Usually someone was pleasant enough at these things. I wondered if they would ever smile at us again.
“Their numbers are growing,” Jackal offered. My jet-black eyebrows rose and I looked at the panther leader, slightly surprised to hear his voice. He and Amity rarely had anything to contribute. Hearing him speak only added to my chagrin, as if their words were solid confirmation that we had done very badly. “Last we heard, they’d doubled and spread out all over Oregon and they’re growing. If this continues, we’ll expect to have a nationwide crisis on our hands.”
“T-that’s impossible,” I sputtered but I didn’t know why I was arguing with them. They wouldn’t have said anything unless they were sure but I was grasping at straws. I didn’t want to believe that me and my comrades had been singlehandedly responsible for bringing a war upon ourselves. After all, we’d been again
st such a thing from the start. Our belief had always been that the humans and shifters should live together in harmony. It was the Council who was wary of the humans. The Protectors were more progressive, optimistic. We believed that in this day and age, everyone could live together peacefully.
That’s a pipe dream now, isn’t it? A national shifter crisis? We’re going to be hunted by our own kind!
I gritted my teeth to keep from arguing and willed myself to listen. That was my job. It shouldn’t have been so hard to heed what we were being told, yet I wanted to fight it with every fiber of my being. Inigo nudged me, presumably to keep me from saying anything else but it wasn’t necessary. I had said everything I was going to say.
“What are we going to do about it?” Cronin asked, lazily shuffling forward like he was only just tuning in. I didn’t admit it aloud but I was slightly annoyed at him. This entire mess had started because of his unpredictability and he was acting like it was no big deal.
Of course, he was a huge bear and didn’t really foresee a problem with the humans. He could hold his own better than any of us. Not even a demonic vigilante group was going to risk going after a bear his size. I swallowed my resentment and turned my eyes back to the Council.
“We need to nip this in the bud,” Lorna sighed.
“It’s a little late for that. It’s not a bud, Lorna. It’s a full-fledged forest now,” Jack reminded her.
“Well clearly we’re reinforcing the no-human contact rule,” Nia barked. “In fact, I don’t want anyone talking to humans at all.”
No one groaned aloud but I could tell everyone was doing it in their own heads.
Leave it to Nia to overdramatize everything.
“Nia, you know that’s not even possible,” Fernando grumbled but I understood Nia’s position for once. We had a group of vigilantes after us, a group who was growing in numbers and was a genuine threat to our existence. Even so, what she was asking for would never happen.
“Make it possible,” Nia shot back, her eyes narrowing on the two leopard protectors. “We need to segregate ourselves.”
“That’s too suspicious,” I said quickly, again without thinking. I had to wonder if the spirits had somehow taken over my tongue, rendering me unable to shut up.
“What’s that now, wolf?” Nia snarled. I almost gulped but I finished my thought anyway. There was only one way out and that was by surging through.
“It will single us out if we alienate ourselves. We’d be ripe for the picking.”
“How do you figure that?” Jack asked, his face genuinely interested.
“What would they expect us to do? They know that we know they’re onto us,” I offered. “They’re going to look for changes in behavior with their friends and neighbors. If a huge group of us suddenly cut ourselves off from everyone else, we may as well wear a neon sign.”
“What do you propose, Marcel?” Jack asked, still in his patient way. I inhaled and darted my eyes down, knowing how my answer was going to be received by the Protectors.
“We need to find them before they find us.”
This time the groan was loud and from the Protectors, all but one who spoke up on my behalf.
“He’s right,” Dalton added and I was grateful for his vote of confidence.
“We are the Council,” Nia shouted, her face flushing red with anger. “We decide what is going to be done. You are the Protectors. Your job is to protect, even if you’re failing miserably at it.”
“The wolves are right, Nia,” Jack sighed as pained to admit it. “We have to find another way.”
“We need to go on the offensive, not the defensive,” I offered and there was a slight murmur of consensus even though I could hear the wariness among the Protectors.
“The moment we see anything out of the ordinary, we react. We make them as cautious as they’re making us,” I continued, the plan warming in my mind.
“That will just make them more secretive,” Inigo protested, shooting Landon a look. The leopard darted his eyes away and I knew why but I didn’t comment. Their love lives were going to have to wait. The safety of the shifters took precedent over all else.
“It will deter their numbers from growing,” I said quietly. “And yes, it might force them back into the shadows but it will also cut down on the brazen attacks they’re administering.”
“Yes,” Nia agreed slowly, a smile forming over her lips. It was so odd to see such an expression on her face and I didn’t like it one bit. “We go at them hard and scare them back into submission.”
That wasn’t exactly what I meant but I didn’t fight her analysis. I still considered it a win if I had Nia sort of on the same page.
“We can’t just go around randomly attacking humans,” Inigo barked and Cronin growled in agreement.
“We’re not going to go around just attacking humans,” I sighed, wondering if he was deliberately being dense. “Only the ones who pose any kind of threat.”
“How can we even make that determination?” Inigo insisted. “Since when are we judge and jury?”
But the Council seemed to like my idea.
“I don’t think it will be hard,” I remarked dryly. “We’ll only target the ones who are targeting us.”
“Marc, this is a bad idea,” Inigo muttered and I eyed the other wolf. “This will only inspire other shifters to attack humans, not just us. There’s no way to monitor what’s going to happen.”
“Do you have any better ideas or just negative reactions?” I snapped, my patience wearing thin with the back and forth. “This is a solution, at least, if only temporary. They’re getting too confident without retaliation.”
“I thought they were getting vengeful because of our retaliation,” Inigo shot back and I almost rolled my eyes.
“This is getting us nowhere,” I said sharply. “Until we can find another solution, our defense is offensive. Are we in agreement?”
I turned my attention away from the Protectors and looked to the Council for approval. I saw nothing but concession on all their faces.
“Yes,” Fernando said, speaking for everyone. “That’s what your instructions are going forward. If you see suspicious activity, you are to react.”
“To what end!” Cronin growled.
“To whatever end it takes,” Nia answered for him. “Kill them all if that’s what is required.”
I shuddered slightly at the ice in her tone, knowing that she meant it, but I also knew that the rest of the Council wasn’t going to sanction murder, no matter what was happening. We would incapacitate them but we didn’t go around murdering humans, no matter how much they might deserve it.
Or at least I didn’t think they would. I wouldn’t, anyway.
“This is bull,” Inigo muttered more to himself than anyone else, but I heard him. When he raised his head, he glowered at me, sending shivers of apprehension through me.
I’d never seen my wolf comrades look at me with such disdain and they weren’t the only ones. Cronin and Landon cast me looks of anger too before shifting and disappearing into the tree line. I realized then that they hadn’t even waited to be dismissed, their anger guiding them far away from the Council.
And from me.
I swallowed the thickness in my throat as Fernando and Lorna approached me, the rest of the Council also dispersing without officially calling an end to the meeting but no one seemed to question it.
“You’re going to need to keep a sharp eye out, Marcel,” Lorna told me softly. I got the sense that she was worried about being overheard.
“That’s my intention,” I assured her but the elder shook her head and glanced quickly at Fernando.
“Not just for Anticlaw but for our own kind, Marcel.”
The warning was beyond alarming and I eyed her uncomprehendingly.
“Are you saying that you think shifters are attacking other shifters?” I asked in disbelief.
“I’m saying that if they aren’t yet, they are apt to start,” Lorna replied and
Fernando dropped his gaze to the ground. I didn’t understand and said as much, shaking my head.
“What do you mean?” I demanded.
“She means,” Fern offered, putting a hand on Lorna’s arm. “That matters are about to get very complicated, so be prepared.”
He guided her away without a goodbye, leaving me to stare after them, wondering what it was that they knew and I didn’t.
I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but their prophecy had just shaken me to my core and all around me, the magic swirled as if to mock me. Suddenly it seemed to be choking me.
I dismissed the feeling of foreboding and spun to leave the bonfire also but the sense of danger weighed heavily on me as I fell forward and bounded into the woods on all fours.
Whatever was coming, I could handle it.
I was a Protector, after all. It was my duty.
1
Vivian
Friday night in the trauma center is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy—not that I had any of those. It was a messy, loud, and heartbreaking time with absolutely no guarantees. On any given Friday, I could end up with a dozen abused children or a woman so high, she would claw off her face. I could have a perfectly healthy teenage boy drop dead or a hundred-year-old man walk for the first time in a decade. I didn’t understand the dynamic of the ER on a weekend night but it was harrowing and certainly not for the faint of heart.
I often wondered if I’d known just how stressful and overwhelming life as an ER nurse could be if I wouldn’t have pursued another career. Sure, they try their best to prepare you during schooling but even with clinical hours, one can never fully condition one for the long hours and the literal blood, sweat and tears that go into the job. They say it’s rewarding, but I certainly had sobbed more than I’d laughed in my short career.