An Unlucky Moon (2 page)

“Watch what you say about my son,” Gregory Lloyd snarled. The older council member tried to come at him, his teeth bared, but Alistair Jacobs—the remaining council member—held him back.

“It would do no good to fight like animals,” Alistair drawled. “We might have the wolves at our beck and call, but we
will
remain civilized.”

Hunter snorted at that. There had to be over a hundred wolves surrounding them in human form, each shirtless, ready to shift if necessary. Each adult male—and some of the juveniles—were marred with scars and tattoos that celebrated their victories in battle.

At any moment, since the circle was over, they could break out in brawls to release the tension. 

There were only two ways to release the tension riding through their bodies—fighting and sex. As wolves, they didn’t care about privacy and modesty. If there was a woman—or a man, if that was their inclination—in front of them, they’d fuck them hard, letting the stress and worries from the day seep away. 

Since there were no willing partners at the moment, Hunter was sure a fight would break out soon. Blood and sweat would soon permeate through the air, filling Hunter’s nostrils to override the stench of betrayal and anger that poured from the wolves that had lost their hope today.

Today, like most other days, fighting would rule over sex.

The females were back in their homes—what few females they had. Wolves were born, not bitten, in their world, unlike what the fandoms believed. Though it was easy to get pregnant, it was hard as hell to keep that baby and even harder to produce a girl.

Their absence at the circle meeting had been the council’s decision, not the Alpha’s. Their history had always held their women in deep respect. Not only were they wolves in their own right, but strong fighters as well. They were feared among the men if someone threatened their pup.

Yet the council had declared them weak in Hunter’s four-year absence. Apparently the women—and men—who had fought back against the council taking over had been beaten or killed.

Nothing was right in the Nocturne Pack. 

Hunter kept blaming the council for all of it, but he knew it wasn’t the five of them. No, it was three of them who held the power—or at least thought they did.

For now.

“Come on,” Liam whispered. “Let’s look at those cuts of yours at my place.  It will rain soon anyway. I’d prefer not to get my hair wet.” He grinned at his last remark, but Hunter didn’t respond. Unspoken was their need to talk about the undercurrents within the circle.

Hunter had been back in the human realm for a full month, yet change took time. After Ambrose, Jamie, and Balin—and of course the young demon, Fawkes—had rescued him from the depths of hell, he’d returned to the realm he’d grown up in. 

Unlike most supernaturals, wolf shifters and some other types of shifters lived within the human realm but were hidden deep within the forests. Their own magic kept the humans away and their secrets buried. Other supernaturals lived in other realms that were accessible through only the human realm. It was as if the humans themselves were the glue that held everyone together.

Fitting considering the humans weren’t really humans at all but merely diluted down versions of supernaturals themselves. They didn’t know the things that went bump in the night were real and had no idea that, within themselves, they held the ability to change into another being…if something were to alter their course, that is.

Hunter had grown up with the humans around him and his Pack at his side. They might be dark and depraved in the best of times, but he’d loved them like his own.

He’d thought he’d return to the Pack he’d known, but that had not been the case.

Four years was a long time to be gone.

Everything had changed and not for the better. Though one thing might offer the light on his horizon.

He’d left her alone so he could find his place and be better for her. Now it was time.

He’d find her soon. His Becca. 

“You must be thinking about a woman,” Alec teased as they made their way back to Liam’s home. “You’re smiling.”

Hunter grunted then walked inside the place with Liam and Alec following. He turned on the lights and stretched his arms over his head. He was damned tired after that run even though he still felt a bit on edge since he hadn’t hunted big game.

“I don’t smile,” Hunter growled.

Alec just shook his head and stole a beer from Liam’s fridge. Liam scowled and slapped the back of Alec’s head. 

“You never ask to take my shit,” Liam snapped.

Alec frowned. “I didn’t think I had to, Murray,” he drawled.

Hunter blinked at the two of them, their tension different than it had been before he’d been gone. While before the two had always bickered and annoyed each other, this felt different. Before they’d always smile and get over it, the tension dissipating after a few moments. Now, though, there seemed to be an underlying current between the two that Hunter couldn’t quite put his finger on.

“Guys? It’s beer. Get over it.”

The two men swiveled their heads at him and glared. They might have looked nothing alike, Liam with his dark looks and blue eyes, Alec with his brown hair and green eyes, but right then, they had the same expression. 

Hunger, anger, and confusion all rolled into one.

What the hell?

Looking at Liam, Alec twisted off the beer cap then took a long swig. Liam’s jaw clenched as he ground his teeth together, and then he handed Hunter a bottle.

Hunter looked between the two men but put his questions aside. He had enough to deal with without delving into whatever drama they had.

“Tell me about what I missed,” he said after a minute of awkward silence.

“Everything, Hunter,” Liam said.

“No shit,” Hunter snapped. “Give me specifics.”

“When you left—” Alec began then cut himself off. The other man clenched his jaw then took a deep breath. “No, when you were
taken
, things went to shit. We still don’t know how you were taken to the demons, Hunter. You have to believe that.”

Hunter nodded and meant that. He knew the two men in this room wouldn’t have sold him to the demons. That was all he knew though. He had his ideas of what had happened, but no proof.

Finding out how he’d been sold as a slave to the highest demon bidder was high on his list of priorities.

Liam cleared his throat then put his hand on Alec’s shoulder before sitting down on the couch. Alec shot him a look, and Liam pulled his arm away.

“When you left, Masterson, Lloyd, and Jacobs thought they found an opening for their plan,” Liam continued. “They’ve never hidden from those who’ve looked as though they want to take over the Pack. They want to bring the wolves into the twenty-first century, as they put it, and force a democracy.”

Hunter cursed. “We’re wolves. That cannot happen. None of the other Packs who have tried that have survived. We’re not humans. We have wolves wrapped around us, deep within the very aspects of our souls and beings. Denying an Alpha should hurt.”

Liam nodded. “You’re not telling us anything Alec and I haven’t said before. The amount of pain, though, depends on the Alpha.” 

Hunter held back a grimace. “Josiah is getting older, but we don’t age like humans. His power should only increase with age.”

Alec shook his head. “Not without a Beta who can support him or without the magics that got him the position anyway. An Alpha can’t survive without a Beta. Josiah holds all the magic and strength of the entire Pack on his shoulders, but he can’t rule and be himself without another to lean on.”

Hunter nodded. “He would have been fine if he hadn’t lost Clara.”

Liam ran a hand through his hair. “She’s been gone for a decade, Hunter. Josiah is stronger than he gives himself credit for, but he can’t do it alone. He shouldn’t have to do it alone.”

“And Samuel, may he rest in peace, wasn’t strong enough to protect him,” Alec whispered.

Hunter didn’t wince or move at the mention of his late brother’s failures. No, that wasn’t quite right. He couldn’t call his brother’s decision a failure since the boy had done all in his power to protect the Pack. It just hadn’t been good enough. There had never been any question that Samuel hadn’t been strong enough for the position, but the kid should never have been put in harm’s way to begin with. If Hunter had been there, Samuel would be alive.

That above all else would be something that would haunt Hunter until the day he died.

“Have you found his killer?” Hunter asked, his voice low, deadly.

Alec shook his head. “No, but we can make guesses.”

“The three bastards who think they can take over the Pack.” Hunter clenched his fists, his fury riding him hard.

“You’re here now and named Beta in truth,” Liam said. “We couldn’t do it alone, not and keep our families alive and the Pack fluid, but we’ll be by your side, Hunter.”

Hunter nodded but stayed silent.

“The struggle has only just started, Hunter,” Alec put in. “We don’t know what the others have in store, and we don’t know exactly what they’ve done in the past. All we know is that we’ll protect Josiah and you with our lives.”

Hunter inclined his head at the two men who had been his best friends since they were pups. The three of them had always been thick as thieves, and when they’d grown into adult wolves, they’d taken their positions as council members and Beta in stride. 

Alone they were strong.

Together they were stronger.

“This will cause a war if we’re not careful,” Liam murmured.

“We’re already in a war,” Hunter said flatly. “We just need to make sure it’s contained.”

The last thing he wanted was to bring their conflict into the other realms and hurt the humans.

Especially one particular human. She’d already been hurt once from a supernatural battle, and he’d be damned if he’d let another touch her.

He’d walked away from her once to ensure her safety.

He wouldn’t do it again.

Chapter Two

“Okay, you bastard, stay where you are,” Becca Quinn snarled at her enemy. She gripped her weapon and planted her feet, ready to take on the foul creature, even if it meant endangering her life.

It was past time for this bastard to die.

Her enemy twitched, but otherwise looked nonplussed. 

“I won’t let you win this time,” she vowed. “You and your little friends might have won before, but not this time.  Today I’ll be the victor, and you’ll be the one writhing in pain, helpless and screaming.”

Images of gold eyes and the faint sound of a wounded howl filled her mind, but she pushed those away. 

It wasn’t the time.

“Becca, kill the damn spider and get on with it,” Dante Bell, her boss and friend, barked from the doorway.

Becca groaned but didn’t let her gaze fall from her fierce enemy. The eight-legged nightmare that had to be as big as her hand merely lifted a leg as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

He probably didn’t.

She quickly looked at the plunger in one of her hands and bottle of bleach cleaner in the other. Fine, she might have gone overboard with her weapons of choice, but considering she was in the bar bathroom, she took what she could get.

“He could kill me at any moment,” Becca said.

“He’s a spider, Becca,” Dante growled. “A spider. You’ve seen demons, angels, and heard of who knows what else, and you’re afraid of a measly spider.”

Becca snorted. “He could be a spider shifter for all we know, ready to kill me as soon as I relax.”

“For the gods’ sake. There are no such things as spider shifters. Don’t even think about asking me to kill if for you, Becs. Get a damn shoe.”

Becca finally pulled her gaze from her enemy and turned to glare at Dante.  “You’d sit back and let me die?”

Something dark passed through his piercing blue eyes, and he set his jaw. She blinked as she remembered that her friend and boss wasn’t human. His long black and blue hair, his tattoos and piercings, and everything else about him hid who he was.

The dragon within him, the one she and her friends had never seen, was right under the surface.

Waiting.

“I’d rather walk through the fires of hell, the same hell I’m banned from, then sit back and watch any of you girls die. You know this. I’m standing back and letting you kill the fucking spider because you asked me to, Becca Quinn. You told me you wanted to face your fears, and I’m letting you. Never forget what I am and never forget that I’d die before watching you or the girls get hurt.”

With that, he turned on his heel and left her alone in the bathroom, her heart in her throat and her shame surrounding her.

Hell, she’d fucked that up.

Badly.

She turned back to the corner, only to find it empty. Panicked, she scanned the walls, floors, under the stalls, and her hair, only to come up short. The damned arachnoid-of-death had eluded her.  

He and all his little friends would be back though, and she’d be ready.

Maybe.

She put the plunger and bleach back under the counter and washed her hands. It wasn’t as though she could spend hours chasing after something that probably wouldn’t hurt her when she had to go back to work and be a perky waitress.

Becca groaned then put her curly mass of red hair back into its semblance of a ponytail.  Her body ached something fierce, and she really didn’t want to put a smile on her face and pretend that she loved her job.

Well, that wasn’t really fair. She loved meeting new people, and she loved Dante like the big brother she’d never had—the hot-as-hell big brother—but it wasn’t as if she was attracted to him beyond a glimpse of hotness. 

No, she had another man in mind when it came to whom she wanted. Not that she’d seen Hunter in a month.

No, he’d left her high and dry after saving her life in the alley when a man attacked her. Then Hunter had been there when she’d almost died in the attack from the djinn.

Hell, her life didn’t sound real anymore. She used to be the unlucky one of the group, which included her and her six friends. She was always tripping over something or tearing a hole in her shirt by just standing against a wall or something.