Bite of the Moon: Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance Boxed Set (3 page)

He headed toward his cruiser, walking with long, strong strides. "How do we know there were wolves?"

"They reported hearing bullets and howling."

"Who made the call?"

"Rose Clark," Danielle said, naming the town’s librarian. A petite woman with round, wire-frame glasses that made her eyes look big as an owl’s, Rose had a serious fixation on putting books back in the exact right spot. Kane knew her to be an honest and upstanding citizen. She wouldn’t pull anyone’s leg. If she said there were gun shots, then something had made a big noise for sure. And there was no mistaking a wolf howl, although he could only hope it was an actual wolf and not one of his pack mates. If they were lucky, it would be nothing. If not, Kane might be calling in the coroner.

Great. Now his day included the possibility of dead bodies. Fantastic.

"Where?" He shook his head. First, Charlotte, and now this. People were really gunning for wolves in Glen Vine.

"Out by Route Nine."

Kane frowned. Didn’t Charlotte live out that way? She’d been about to shift when she ran into him, but she’d seemed more stable after they'd talked. He’d even felt her wolf calm down with whatever new werewolf sense that allowed him to know those kinds of things. Had something else happened to throw off her wolf again?

Remembering the guys she’d claimed wanted to shoot her, he became even more concerned.

"I’ll take the call," he said, his voice terse. Reaching his cruiser, he slid into the driver’s seat.

"Should I send back-up?"

Starting his car, he put it in gear and eased onto the road. "Not yet. I’ll call in if I need help." Better to verify the wolf’s status before he brought in more officers.

"Yes, sir. Be careful out there," Danielle said, her voice somber.

Kane zoomed off, opting not to turn on his sirens or lights. That was like an open invitation for rubberneckers, and the last thing he needed. The people who made a hobby of listening in on the police radio were bad enough, but he usually had a head start on them, which was a good thing just then. Had someone been shooting at wolves or werewolves? Until he made the distinction, the fewer witnesses, the better.

Chapter Three

Just to be thorough, he passed Java Jump on his way out to Route Nine. Slowing his cruiser, he scanned the parking lot, checking for any sign of Charlotte or the men who'd had her in such a panic. To his surprise, the little green hatchback he knew she drove was still parked out front. Kane frowned. Charlotte said she was going home, which meant she should've been long gone by now.

Concerned, he stopped his cruiser and took a closer look. Her car sat, silent and empty, and peering through the café’s big windows, he didn’t see her inside, either. Aside from a bored cashier, the café was empty, too.

Where had Charlotte gone? Kane pulled into a parking spot and stepped out of his cruiser, discreetly sniffing the air, hoping to catch her scent. He recalled well the way she’d smelled like caramel and flowers. Thinking he caught a whiff of her, he walked to the side of the parking lot, where a line of bushes separated Java Jump from its neighbor, a high end art gallery.

"Damn," he swore under his breath as he picked a strip of pink fabric out of the bushes. A piece of Charlotte's shirt. He found her purse tucked well under a bush, visible only because of the way the sunlight caused the metal clasp to gleam. Her clothes must have been a lost cause, but she’d tried to save her purse. Taking it with him, he returned to the cruiser and headed for Route Nine at full speed.

Something had made her shift, and he feared that whatever it was put her life at risk.

***

On a desolate, empty stretch of road, he spotted a battered Ford pickup on the side of the road, its hazards blinking. The two men emerging from the brush that ran along the side of the road, guns in hand, caused Kane to slam on the brakes.

The men holstered their guns the second they saw him. Parking his cruiser behind their truck, Kane stepped out of his car, keeping the door between his body and the men just to be on the safe side.

"Morning, officer," said a man with blond hair. He didn’t raise his hands, but he did hold them palm up and away from his body, the gesture showing he was unarmed.

Kane tipped his hat in greeting. "You boys been firing your guns?"

The two men exchanged looks before shrugging in unison.

"Care to tell me what you were shooting at?" Taking in their construction crew gear, he added, "You should be at work by now, right? What made you stop and go hunting?"

The dark-haired guy looked sheepish. "We saw a wolf."

Kane gave them a blank look intended to prompt them to explain further. He’d perfected it over the years, and it never failed to keep a suspect talking.

"Fuckers are keeping us up at night with all their damned howling." The blond man spat on the ground. "It’s time to thin out the pack."

"Did you hit it?" Kane asked, his stomach clenching at the idea of a bullet tearing into Charlotte. A booming growl from his wolf filled his mind, throbbing like a bass drum.

The blond shrugged. "Maybe. It yelped."

Kane worked to contain his anger. His wolf continued to growl deep in his chest. Thankfully, the sound was mostly in his own head.

Through a clenched jaw, he said, "Hunting season is for deer, not wolves, boys, and you’re discharging weapons in Glen Vine’s city limits. For future reference, that’s against the law." Kane gestured to the men. "Take out your weapons and put them on the ground, nice and slow. I’m going to have to take you both in."

The dark haired one groaned at that, but followed Kane’s orders and set his gun on the ground. The blond stared at Kane, his expression hostile. When his gaze darted over to the trees, Kane said, "You could cut and run, but I would find you, and you’d be in even more trouble than you already are." He softened his voice, wanting to sound friendly, even though the wolf inside him would happily tear both men apart. "Look, just come in with me, we’ll get all the paperwork done and you’ll be on your way in no time."

After thinking it over for a few seconds, the blond grudgingly put his gun down on the berm.

Kane smiled at them. "Thank you. Now kindly walk over here and put your hands on the cruiser’s hood."

They shuffled over, walking slower and slower as they neared Kane’s vehicle. Eventually, they reached the cruiser and bent over, hands on the hood. Kane zip-tied their hands behind them and escorted them, one by one, to the back seat of the cruiser.

Removing the keys from the ignition and making sure the car was locked up tight, Kane said, "I’m going to go look for that wolf you saw. Sit tight."

He didn’t wait for a response and made for the woods, feeling an increasing sense of urgency to find Charlotte and make sure she was okay.

Chapter Four

Charlotte hunkered down under a bush, trembling with fear and adrenaline. Pain screamed in her leg, shooting up into her spine and raising her hackles. She’d reached her car just as the two construction workers came out of Java Jump, still talking about killing wolves. Feeling more stable after her run-in with Kane, she had tried to breathe through her emotions and not listen to what the men were saying. Her wolf had been there, but pacing quietly through her blood, not riled to the point of jumping through. At least, not yet.

Then they caught sight of her, and everything went horribly wrong.

"Hey, sweet cheeks," the blond said. "I’m Dylan, and you look lonely."

"Dylan," said his friend, with an expression of disapproval. "We got to get to work, man."

"Shut it, Stan." Dylan held up a hand. "We live in a small town, and there aren't that many pretty girls around. If I pass her up now, who knows when I’ll see her again? Maybe never." Dylan shook his head. "No, I need to get her number now."

And then he’d sidled up to her, his tar scent fuming in the air. Charlotte had taken a step back, but he'd just followed, eyes fixed on her chest. "Give me your number, baby, and I’ll make you a happy woman."

"Never going to happen," Charlotte said through clenched teeth. Revulsion crawled up and down her spine.

Dylan crowded her, cornering her against her car, boxing her in with his arms. "Come on, darlin'. I'm the kind of man who appreciates a big woman like you. I bet you don't meet too many guys like me." He bit his lip as his eyes practically fell out of his head to land in her cleavage.

"Oh, spare me," Charlotte snapped, disgusted. Guys who thought she was desperate because of her weight made her skin crawl. She might be big, she wasn't ugly. Finding a date wasn't the problem; finding
the
one
was.

She moved to turn away from him, but he grabbed her arm and held her in place. "Hey, now. I’m a good person to know here in Glen Vine. How is it we haven’t met?"

"Just lucky, I guess." Charlotte licked her lips as her eyes locked on the pulse jumping in his throat. Her teeth lengthened in her mouth. Her wolf was dying to rip the guy’s throat out. It wanted to shred its way through her flesh and then feast on this asshole until he was just a smear of blood on the concrete.

Charlotte tried to talk her wolf down, but animal instinct had taken over. Dylan was a threat, and threats must be dealt with. She’d reached the point of no return; a shift was imminent.

Clamping a hand over her mouth to hide her wolf teeth, Charlotte did the only thing that made sense to her panic-stricken brain, she slammed her knee straight up into Dylan’s groin. He dropped to the ground, hands clutching his crotch, howling in pain.

Stan came rushing over, eyes flashing with anger. "You bitch. I’ll teach you to do that to a man." He reached for her, but she was ready. With a quick thrust of her arm, she swung her purse up and clobbered him in the head. Stan staggered at the impact, but kept coming, his hands finding her neck.

Hair sprouted up and down her arms, legs, and back, making her itch between her shoulder blades. Her wolf was running to the rescue. Terrified they would see her shift, she head butted Stan with all her strength. For good measure, she nailed his crotch too, and then she ran behind some bushes.

Already she’d lost part of her humanity, her spine lengthening and stretching her shirt to its breaking point. The fabric ripped, splitting down her back. She had just enough time to shove her purse deep under one of the bushes before her human body disappeared, consumed entirely by the wolf that now lived inside her. Desperate to get away before anyone saw her, she raced off.

Thankfully, no one spotted her. Even if they had, she was moving so fast she was nothing more than a blur, a streak of darkness no one could identify in the split second it took her to run past them. Humans were stupid slow compared to wolves. Usually she hated it because she had to remind herself to slow down and look human all the time. Just then, though, she was grateful for the preternatural speed.

The business district of Glen Vine quickly gave way to tree-lined roads edged with sparkling blue lakes. Charlotte burrowed into the shadows of a tall pine and worked to catch her breath. She took stock of her situation as she recovered.

She’d have to go back for her purse, but not before she got her wolf under control. Maybe she’d call Tao to go back into town with her. His presence always steadied her wolf, much like Kane had earlier. Besides, she didn’t want to run into Dylan and Stan without back-up.

Decision made, she allowed herself to relax a fraction of an inch. The late fall air smelled heavenly and she inhaled the sweet dustiness of dried leaves along with the scent of water the wind always carried. There were so many lakes in the area that, even though she'd grown up in Glen Vine, Charlotte still hadn’t visited them all. She trotted along, sticking close to the trees running parallel to the road. The occasional car zoomed by, but no one saw her. For one, she blended in fairly well, especially given the dappled shadows the trees cast. Two, no one expected to see a wolf.

But then a car slowed behind her. She didn’t think anything of it at first. Even though tourist season was over, people still sometimes drove through to catch the autumn foliage. They often stopped to take photos, so it wasn’t unusual for a car to pull off to the side of the road.

A horn honked and she startled, but kept walking. It honked again. Car doors opened and closed which caused her to finally glance over her shoulder. What she saw made her heart sink: a battered pick-up truck carrying two men—one blond, the other brunette.

Dylan and Stan.

Just her luck, the road that led to her house would also be the same road Dylan and Stan traveled to work. She should’ve anticipated this. There were only two major roads in the area, and they both led to Traverse City. They hadn’t seen her shift, she was sure of it, or seen what direction she’d run off, so their presence had to be bad timing.

Huffing the werewolf version of swear words under her breath, she darted into the trees, but not before the men squeezed off a few shots. Bullets whined in the air, thudding as they hit trees or burrowed into the ground. Charlotte stretched her body to its limit, pushing hard with her hind legs to increase her speed, but it was too late.

Humans might be slow compared to wolves, but bullets could keep up once the trigger was pulled.