Love's Protection (Passion Moon 3): (A Shifter, Supernatural Romance) (11 page)

“Forrest, I love you!”

A golden light appeared before me. It pulsed with the beat of my heart. The black fog pushed back, the ferns and shadowy forest reappeared. The raging, bloodthirsty howls grew quieter. The beast retreated.

Color appeared, painting the ground. The ferns were a vibrant green. The pine needles covering limbs were a darker green. The tree trunks were warm brown. The mist that remained was white and thin, drifting along the ground, not trying to swallow me.

The golden light darted away from me, bobbing and weaving through the trees. I followed, racing heedless through the ferns and around the tree trunks. I didn't trip on any unseen roots or step in any hidden holes.

The light led me to Forrest.

He was bound naked by red barbed wire against the thick trunk of a massive fir tree. The wire's barbs pierced his strong flesh. It cruelly wrapped about his chest. Tears burned my eyes as I witnessed the blood trickling from a hundred small wounds.

I realized where I was. I had fallen into Forrest's soul, the wolf head medallion somehow acting as a conduit.

“Oh, Forrest.” I fell to my knees before him, touching his chest. “What did my father do to you?”

“He saved me,” Forrest answered. “I'm a beast! A monster! He rescued me from my barbarity and protects those around me.”

“No, Forrest.” I shook my head, my tears burning. “He's controlling you. You're his puppet. He's chained you like a dog. You...you hunted me.”

I seized the barbed wire and pulled.

“Stop!” Forrest roared. He somehow grabbed my hand. The barbed wire had moved, allowing his arms to come free of the restraints. He wrenched my hand from the wire and held me in his powerful grip. “You can't do that! You can't let the beast out! He'll kill you, Kotie!”

A bloodthirsty howl drifted through the forest.

I struggled in his grip. “I need to free you.”

“Please, Kotie! You have to stop.”

“I can't.” I pulled my hand free of his tight grip. I reached for another piece of barbed wire. Golden light flared about my hands, attacking the blood-red of the barbed wire. I seized the wire and pulled. The wire groaned. A barb ripped from his skin. “I'll set you free.”

“Noooo!” Pure panic and fear covered Forrest's face. I had never seen my strong mate look so afraid. He grabbed my wrist and wrenched me away from the barbed wire. He pushed and I fell onto my back. “Stay away, Kotie! You don't know what you're doing.”

A beast snarled.

“God, he's near. You can't stay around me. He'll kill you. I can't let you get hurt! Run!”

“You would never hurt me,” I said. “You love me.”

“I do love you, Kotie.” His golden eyes met mine. “That's why I can't let you free me. I can't let my beast tear you apart.”

“You won't, Forrest.” I crawled towards him. I reached out and cupped his face. “You would never hurt someone you love.”

Tears filled his eyes. “But I have, Kotie.” His words were wounded, a ragged gasp that burst out of him. “I killed them. The beast took over. And...” His free arms seized mine. “I can't ever let that happen again.”

My heart broke. Such agony filled his face. “Who did you kill, Forrest?”

A log cabin appeared amid the towering trees. Smoke rose from the chimney and light poured out its windows. The light flickered red-orange, driving back the cold and the night, a welcoming fire for those lost in the darkness. A moon hung in the sky. Crimson. A passion moon.

The beast howled in the dark.

A woman's face appeared at the window. She was aging but still had traces of her youthful beauty. Her hair was graying. She was motherly as she peered out into the darkness. I recognized her. Forrest's adopted mother.

“Oh, no,” I whispered, my eyes filling with tears.

“We loved to come out to this cabin.” Forrest's voice was hoarse, almost dead of emotion. “My adopted parents had owned it all my life. It was up in the Olympic Mountains in Washington State. I loved the woods. I would always go out in them when we visited. I felt connected to them.”

The beast appeared, watched by green eyes. He was large, covered in black fur. The eyes glowed red in the moonlight. Saliva dripped from his teeth and fangs. The beast was Forrest's shifter form, but twisted into something monstrous.

“I was seventeen. Eager to start my senior year of high school. I had big plans. They were so proud of me. I wasn't their son, but they loved me like I was. They were my parents whether or not we had the same blood.”

The beast prowled forward. He snarled. I shuddered. There was such hunger in that growl. He sniffed the air, smelling the warm bodies in the cabin. The beast reached the porch before the front door, creeping up the stairs. Through the window, Forrest's father began playing a banjo while Forrest's mother sang.

“Like always, I was out in the woods. I had no idea what I really was. I was just enjoying nature. The sun set. I knew I should go back, but I was comfortable in the woods. I had spent so much time up here, I wasn't afraid.

“And then the moon rose.” Forrest trembled. “It...sang to me. It overwhelmed me. I became a beast. There was nothing in my mind but the need to kill. I knew where there was prey. It didn't matter to me who the prey was. It didn't matter how much I loved them. I just had to feast.”

The beast burst through the front door. I squeezed my eyes shut. Forrest sobbed as his parents screamed in agony. I shuddered, holding Forrest tight. I wanted to close my ears. They screamed for so long while the beast snarled and growled.

“I enjoyed it. When I was the beast, I reveled in their warm flesh and coppery blood. I feasted on my parents.” Forrest shuddered, tears pouring down his face. “God forgive me, Kotie.”

“It wasn't your fault.”

“When I woke up, I knew what I had done. I remembered every sickening moment of my rampage. The beast had seared their deaths into my mind. I fled into the woods in horror. I ran deeper and deeper. I didn't stop until night fell. The change came upon me again. The beast took over. I hunted. I found a pair of men camping. I ripped apart their tent and feasted again.”

New screams roared through Forrest's mind. I clenched my eyes tight. I didn't need to see any of this. I wish I didn't hear it. “I'm so sorry, Forrest. I had no idea.” He never liked to talk about his parents or why he needed the tattoos to control his change. All those times I asked him, I had no idea I was bringing up this pain.

“The third night, I killed three. Two guys and a girl. Out camping. College students.”

My heart was pierced by each new scream.

“When I woke up, the guilt consumed me. I was covered in their blood. I found a cliff. A river flowed far beneath it.”

I opened my eyes. A naked, younger Forrest, covered in dirt and blood, stood on a mossy cliff's edge.

“I was prepared to jump. I wouldn't kill anyone else. The beast would never hunt again.”

My father appeared. He looked the same, his green eyes locked on Forrest. He strolled up, smiling like a used-car salesman.

“The Traveler chained the beast. He saved me. He sent me to Moonrise to guard something precious. To make amends for all the lives I took.”

Green eyes. I frowned.

“That's why you can't free me, Kotie.” Forrest turned my face so I stared into his eyes. “I can't ever hurt you. I need the barbed wire. I need it to hold the beast in.”

Green eyes. Why was that important?

“Show it to me again,” I whispered.

“What?”

“Please, Forrest. Show me why the beast is dangerous.”

My heart thudded. The cabin returned. The passion moon burned. The beast stalked forward. Green eyes watched.

Green eyes.

“Why was my father there?”

“He wasn't.”

I pointed. “Look. Green eyes. He was there standing in the woods.”

“I...”

“Show me what happened before. What happened when you changed?”

Forrest's forehead furrowed. “I...I was just just looking at the moon and...”

“And then you were the beast. My father watched you. Oh, Forrest. He made you into the beast. He set you up.”

“What?” Forrest shook his head. “No. I'm the beast. I wasn't created.”

“This is what he does, Forrest. Remember. Remember the moon rising.” I cupped his face and peered into his eyes. There was something in there. Another spell. It was so subtle, clouding his memory. I kissed Forrest and fed my love into him.

Forrest spasmed. The world blurred and changed. A young Forrest walked through the woods dressed in a pair of surplus army pants and jacket. He was so young, reveling in the beauty of the woods. It grew dark, the shadows long, but he was still enjoying the woods. He romped and played through the lush ferns.

“You were a puppy,” I smiled.

“The moon's about to rise,” croaked Forrest, his body trembling.

Green eyes appeared. My father stepped out of the shadows.

“Who are you?” the young Forrest asked. The moon crested the mountains. It was red. Young Forrest was captivated by it, his eyes transforming gold.

“Spirits of control, bind this beast's flesh and set him on his hunt,” my father chanted. 

Green Life spirits swarmed the young Forrest, binding his flesh to my father's control. The real Forrest growled as his younger self transformed into a werewolf for the first time. “That bastard!” Forrest snarled. “He made me kill them!”

The beast howled and set off to find prey. My father smiled as he followed, his green eyes watching.

“My father destroys everything good!” I hissed.

Forrest strained at the barbed wire as he tried to reach for my father.

“You have nothing to fear from your wolf, Forrest. You are not a monster. He is!” I seized the barbed wire. Golden light burned. “Now help me set you free!”

“Yes!” Forrest howled in righteous rage.

The golden light poured into the barbed wire. The crimson energy was driven back. Forrest's hands grabbed the restraining spell. His hands glowed golden. Together, we ripped the barbs from his flesh and set him free from his fear.

Forrest stood up, his arms crushing me to his chest. Our lips met. I closed my eyes and savored the passion of my wolf. He would never hurt me. Our kiss was fierce and loving.

The world turned golden around us.

Chapter Ten: Green Eyes

I never broke the kiss. My lips were glued to Forrest as the golden light lifted us away. We were wrapped in it. A cocoon of love. It pulsed and beat in rhythm with our hearts. Despite my father's attempts, he had failed to destroy the one good thing the both of us had created together.

Our love was so much stronger than him.

The golden light vanished. The Whitefroth splashed beside us. Forrest's wolf head medallion burned between us. The werewolves howled around us, rejoicing that their leader had been freed. I wanted to howl with them.

I broke the kiss, a smile a mile wide painted on my lips. “I freed you, Forrest.”

Tears stained his cheeks. “You did so much more than that, Kotie.”

I understood. The guilt had left him. It wasn't his fault. It was my father that killed Forrest's adopted parents and those other people. Forrest had just been his weapon. Another person manipulated down the path my father wanted.

That ended tonight. All his plans would fail. I would see to it.

I broke the kiss with Forrest. He stood naked and strong. His chest was free of the barbed wire tattoo's black stain. I touched his sculpted pecs, tracing where the tattoo should have been. I had fully freed him. My hand trailed down his body. He did look good naked.

And then I realized he wasn't the only one not wearing clothes. I gasped and looked up at the night sky. Vanessa was the only female werewolf of the pack, the rest were men, and they were very naked.

My cheeks burned. They were also very muscular. I resisted the urge to peak more.

“He's waiting at the Moon Tear Spring,” Forrest growled. “We need to hurry. He has Penny, Miss Maggie, Connie, Evelyn, and Augustus. He'll kill them all if you don't show up by midnight.”

I nodded my head. “Then I better not disappoint him.”

“Do you have any idea how to stop him?” Forrest asked. “He's powerful.”

“Love.” I said, taking Forrest's arm. “Our love will defeat him.”

“Then let's go,” Vanessa snarled. She seemed completely unconcerned that she was naked.

“We're not far from the trail and the cars. We can make it.”

I ran at the center of a pack of naked men. It was disconcerting at times. I tried to keep my eyes focused squarely on Forrest's perfect ass, but there were definitely distractions on all sides. I focused on the problem of my father as I tried to ignore what bounced in my peripheral vision.

I was panting when we reached the top of the trail. A few cop cars and Forrest's SUV were parked at a lookout on the side of the highway. Luckily, they had left their clothes with their vehicles. The wolf shifters quickly dressed and then Forrest and I hopped into the his SUV and tore off, his deputies following.

The sirens blared. I was bounced up and down as we raced across uneven roads. I didn't mind. I wanted to save my friends and stop my father. It was worth a sore butt and a little bit of whiplash. In a short time we reached the highway that led to Moonrise, racing across the bridge over the Whitefroth.

“We were supposed to be married today,” I sighed as the dark landscape zoomed away.

“We still will be,” Forrest answered. “I want to see you in that dress again.”

I blushed and sat up. “Oh?”

“You were just delicious.”

“Wait until you see what I plan on wearing beneath it,” I laughed.

“We'll have to reschedule as soon as we can,” he grinned.

I reached out and rested my hand on his thigh. “I know we will.”

If we could defeat my father. I still had no idea how we would. He was strong, and he had my friends' lives as hostages. I couldn't give in to my father's demands, but I couldn't let him hurt my friends either. I wanted everyone to be there for our wedding. It wouldn't be the same without Penny or Augustus. And Miss Maggie would be walking me down the aisle.

I just had to trust my momma's words. Love would defeat my father. It had already freed Forrest from his guilt and fear. There was nothing Love couldn't do. Golden hearts danced through the car, drawn by my passion for Forrest and my desire to save my friends.