Lisa Kessler - Moonlight

She opened the back door and yanked me out of the car. The crisp night air felt good on my skin. Above us, the sky was a stunning masterpiece of reds and purples, completely unaware of its contrast with my current predicament.

“Turn around,” she demanded.

I faced the car and then felt her messing with the cuffs. The metal bands released me, and I gasped at the pain that shot up my arms and into my shoulders now that my hands were free. My right wrist was bleeding, my left looked bruised, but it felt so good to be free that I didn’t care.

“Thank you,” I rubbed at my aching arms.

“Nothing’s changed. I just don’t want them to pull some stunt about you being harmed and then break their end of the bargain.”

“I thought they said alive, not unharmed.”

She ground her teeth, the muscles of her jaw clenched, but didn’t answer. I couldn’t prevent a small smirk from creeping onto my face.

“Are they paying you a lot to bring me in?” The writer in me wanted to know details and keeping her talking couldn’t be a bad thing, I gathered. If I lived through this night, I had some great ideas for a book.

Sasha grabbed my elbow and walked me toward the trees. “They’re not paying me money.”

My jaw dropped a little. “You’re screwing up my life for free? Is this fun for you?”

She tightened her grip, and I made a mental note that pissing off my abductor was probably not a good idea. When we got to a shadowed area she pulled me down to the ground. I watched her crouch and take a deep breath.

Time was running out though, and at this point, my best shot at freedom was finding some way to appeal to her humanity. Sasha was tough, but I couldn’t let go of that moment in the car when I saw, for a second, a flash of what might live behind her emotional battle armor.

“You said if there were some other way, you’d take it. If money’s not what you’re after, then what is it? Maybe the Pack can help you get it.”

She kept her attention focused on the growing shadows. “No one can help me but Nero. There’s no other way.” She glanced my way as she lowered her voice to a whisper. “They promised me a cure.”

“A cure? For what—” Then it hit me. “They can reverse the jaguar bite?”

Her eyes scanned the wilderness around us. “They say they can.”

“Then what will you do?”

“Go back to my life, I hope.”

“How long have you been gone?”

She rubbed absently at the scar along her collarbone. “He bit me a year ago.” She gripped my arm tighter, and I couldn’t be sure if she was trying to convince me or herself. “They’re not going to kill you, you know. They want to keep you healthy.”

Revulsion snaked its way down my back. They wanted me healthy to see if I could create more female-born jaguars. I opened my mouth to reply, but Sasha shushed me. Without a word she grabbed my arm and started dragging me farther into the forest.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Away from Sebastian,” was her only reply.

Then I heard the lone howl of a wolf, and my heart stuttered. Sasha slid her pistol free from her shoulder holster. I didn’t care if she was trying to get a cure for her jaguar bite; if she was planning to hurt Adam or his family, then I was going to hurt her first. The realization hit me hard, but on some primal level my fear vanished and determination and love filled the void.

I loved Adam, and I wasn’t going to let this bitch hurt him.

Not a chance.

Sasha pulled me through the trees, only stopping when we reached the edge of another clearing. With the bright full moon overhead, we couldn’t hide, so she opted for taking the offensive. She shoved me in front of her, pressing the barrel of her pistol against my spine as she guided me to the center of the clearing. When we were where she wanted me, she didn’t holster her gun, instead she circled slowly, keeping it aimed and ready for anything that might approach us from the forest. Finally she lowered her gun, and I heard her exhale.

“Maybe they’ll actually get here before Sebastian screws everything up for me,” she mumbled.

A howl cut through the night, making her gun fly back up to the ready position. With both her hands on her revolver I could have tried to run, but as much as I wanted to believe I was more valuable to her alive, I didn’t want to prove that theory. Besides, she could always shoot out a knee.

My leg ached just thinking about it. I’d stay put. For now.

When we found Sasha’s car near Lake Tahoe it was empty, but the backseat was ripe with Lana’s scent. I glared at the darkening sky, the giant silver moon rising, calling to the animal inside of me. My incisors lengthened, and when my hackles rose, I could feel each hair bristling underneath my shirt. I’d never fought my instinct to change before. My skin hurt, my bones ached, and my pulse pounded in my head. I ground my teeth and kept Lana’s face in my mind. I had to resist the shift until I knew she was safe. She needed me, and it was programmed inside of me to protect her.

The reality that I needed her just as much as she needed me didn’t escape my notice. The primal instinct to hunt down and kill the person threatening my family made rational thought practically impossible.

“I’ve got to find her,” I grunted, following the scent of Lana’s blood toward the trees.

Sebastian stepped back as I pushed past him. “You are already changing, wolf. I will find them. You should go to your Pack.”

I glared over my shoulder and noticed my muscles straining against the fabric of my shirt. “Not until I know she’s safe.”

He shrugged, but kept his distance. It was for the best. His scent was teasing the predator inside. Lana was a jaguar too, but the wolf recognized her as family. It recognized Sebastian as a bastard and potential threat.

We traveled silently through the underbrush and the shadows as Lana’s scent grew stronger in my nostrils. We were getting close. When a howl broke the silence of the night, followed by many more, my head spun in the direction of the call from my brothers, my Pack. My throat burned as I bit back my answering call. When I didn’t reply, another howl echoed. I recognized my father’s plea, my Alpha’s instruction, and primal animal instinct won out over rational human thought. The tenuous hold I had on my change was lost.

I fell to the ground, gagging as my bones popped and mutated, changing my shape from a man into a large black wolf. My shirt tore and the buttons burst from my jeans. When I could finally stand, I was on four legs, my jeans sliding free of my haunches. Panting, I swiveled my head, searching for Sebastian. His scent was still fresh, but I couldn’t see him.

Tilting my head back, I cried out to the moon and to my brothers, my Pack, my family. The answering call told me the Pack was here at the lake, including Aren. In wolf form, my human mind and memories resided along with the wolf’s primal thought processes, so even the wolf seemed to understand my twin was injured. And they were coming to find me. But this night I knew I wasn’t hunting for food or territory like they were. My mate was in danger.

I galloped through the brush, trying to place the pads of my feet on solid ground to keep from making any noise. It was easier to catch the jaguar’s scent in my animal form. There were three now. My ears twitched as the wolf realized that one of the jaguar scents was my mate. With a swish of my tail, I picked up speed until the trees thinned, opening up to a clearing. The moon was full above us, casting light on the three shifters. My eyes locked on Lana. I panted softly, pulling her scent into my lungs. The smell of blood was weak; her wounds couldn’t be serious.