Omega Moon Rising (Toke Lobo & The Pack) (11 page)

As if Luke should be grateful. He seethed all the way to the bus. He dug out his laptop and searched for an Internet connection. Nothing. He was too wired to sleep, too pissed to be social.

Tokarz waited until the bus was on the Interstate to inflict round two of Luke shaming. “I realize you have some human blood. I have made excuses for your behavior based on that, even though your half-breed father is an honorable lycan and your human grandmother is a valued member of our pack. No more, Luke. While you travel with this band, you will behave as befitting a werewolf.”

“I’m an unmated werewolf,” Luke said.

“Unmated werewolves don’t go sniffing out sex.”

“What difference does it make?” Luke wasn’t about to confess the meds that had allowed him to impregnate Abigail no longer worked for him. Tokarz might misconstrue the symptom as mating.

“What do you plan to do about your wife?”

Fuck her
wouldn’t be an acceptable answer.

“Nothing.” He knew he sounded as sullen as an eight-year-old, but then he was being treated like an eight-year-old.

“What if one of the roadies lets it slip you’re cheating on her?” Tokarz asked.

“Cheating on her? We’re not mates. And nothing happened.”

“You married her in front of a judge. You told her that you would forsake all others,” Restin interjected. “If you go off with another woman, you’re breaking a vow. That’s cheating.”

Luke hadn’t thought of it quite like that before. He hadn’t paid much attention to the sad little ceremony at the county courthouse, to what he’d promised or implied.

“So Abigail finds out you’re a cheat and decides to divorce you.” Tokarz glared at him.

Well, divorce was part of his plan all along. After the baby was born. Or once he found his true mate.

“She could sue you for all sorts of things. And the only asset you have, not counting your cock, is the brewery.”

“The brewery isn’t mine.” He was omega. He had nothing but his cozy cabin.

“You’re a member of the pack. The pack owns the brewery. Use your brain, Luke, or do you need a computer to do the math? A slick lawyer could create all sorts of problems. Your quest to get laid is now endangering the entire pack. As pack alpha, it’s my responsibility to make sure that doesn’t happen. Keep your pants zipped. This is the only warning you’ll get.”

“Abigail wouldn’t do something like that,” Luke protested. “She’s a sweet girl.”

“Do you know that for sure?”

Actually, he knew nothing about Abigail. Thinking about her sent his cock twitching, but what did he really know about her morals and ethics?

The bus pulled up to the No-Tell Motel at four in the morning. The band would be playing in a minor league baseball stadium later that night. The high from performing had seeped away through the long night. Most of the band wanted to sleep. Including Ethan, who was Luke’s permanent roommate. Ethan was an old man living in a young body. Luke often tried to engage Ethan in things single human men their age did, but the pureblood Ethan wasn’t interested.

They’d worked things out over the years. Ethan didn’t grouse much if Luke was on his laptop as long as the sound was turned down, Luke used earbuds, didn’t pound the keys, and did what he could to diffuse the light from his screen. Sometimes Hank complained about the noise from the keyboard, but Hank Hawkins had the best hearing of any living werewolf on the planet. He and Stoker, his cousin and roommate, usually stayed as far away from Luke’s room as they could.

Ethan crashed as soon as he hit his sagging twin bed. They didn’t bother turning on the light in the room. They could see well enough to do what they needed to do.

Luke propped his computer on his lap after he rearranged his pillows to support his back. Since Restin and Tokarz had taken away one form of entertainment for the evening, he’d visit a few of his favorite sites on the DeepWeb, the Internet sites not indexed by standard search engines. Maybe, now that his cock occasionally functioned, he could indulge in masturbation. His human blood ought to be good for something once in a while.

His computer finally connected to the motel’s spotty WiFi service.

He tried his favorite adult site, but watching another couple having sex didn’t interest him. All it did was remind him of being with Abigail all night last night. His dick was a little sore from the friction, but he’d been in heaven. If there were such a place.

He switched over to a naked girl site. Some of the girls didn’t look old enough to be legally posing the way they did. That was kind of icky. Okay, a lot icky. He clicked through several photos, stopping on all the girls with long blond hair, then moving on when they didn’t look right. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, exactly.

But there it was. He stopped. Stared. His dick twitched in approval at the photo of a girl shaving her pubes.

Wait a minute
. Luke enlarged the photo. Whispered a curse.

The model was a dead ringer for Abigail. His wife. Her Doppelganger. The vivid blue of “Gail’s” eyes was barely visible through the thick brown lashes on her half-closed lids. He went into “Gail’s Bedroom,” feeling a little sick to his stomach. More photos of the model. His cock really liked this girl. Luke clicked on the video, his temper rising along with his penis.

The little gap between her front teeth confirmed his worst fear.

The Moonsinger picnic wasn’t the first time he’d seen her.

His
wife
was a porn star.

Chapter 11

Luke pounded on Tokarz and Restin’s door. He didn’t care who else he woke up, but he had to get back to Loup Garou.
Now
.

Tokarz was surly. Restin was nasty. Luke was livid. “I have to go home,” he said. His laptop hung from his shoulder. “I need to rent a car.”

“It’s five in the morning,” Restin snarled.

“I. Have. To. Go. Home,” Luke bit out each word between clenched teeth. Abigail had a lot of explaining to do. Ancient Ones, maybe the baby wasn’t even his. The whore.

“Is something wrong with Abigail?” Tokarz asked.

“Not yet,” Luke muttered. “I’ll catch up with you someplace.” He looked like he was going to have to hitch to a car rental place. If there even was one in such a deity-abandoned locale.

Tokarz’s head jerked. He scratched his bare chest. “Then what’s the hurry?”

Luke wasn’t about to tell his pack alpha he’d been tricked into marrying a woman who was nothing at all what she appeared to be. That he’d been all kinds of horny human fool.

“I have personal business that can’t wait.”

“It’s going to have to,” Tokarz said. “Where am I going to find a drummer on short notice?”

“I don’t give a vampire’s asshole,” Luke said.

Restin backhanded him across the face. “You forget your place, Omega.”

Luke lunged, pinning a shocked Restin against the doorjamb. “Do you want to die tonight?”

Tokarz ripped him off Restin and punched him in the stomach.

Luke doubled over and tried to catch his breath at the same time he vomited up his club soda and the peanuts he’d eaten at the bar. His laptop case slid to the ground.

Tokarz yanked him into his room. The door slammed. “We’ll finish this in private,” he growled.

Everything Luke saw was filmed over with a red haze. He wasn’t even thinking when he leapt toward Tokarz, shifting mid leap. He registered the shock in Tokarz’s yellow eyes before a fist in his snout snapped his head back. Tokarz shifted as quickly and pinned Luke to the floor, his sharp canine teeth snapping at Luke’s exposed throat.

“Say uncle, Omega,” Restin sneered.

Luke made an attempt to go for Restin’s jugular, but Tokarz had him solidly pinned.

Luke reluctantly returned to his human form. Tokarz followed.

“By the Ancient Ones, what is wrong with you?” Tokarz asked. He stood in a puddle of shredded gray sweatpants.

Luke’s own clothes were in tatters on the crappy motel carpet. Luke tried to calm himself. Tried to relax enough to come up with a lie. His
wife’s
Internet nudity wasn’t anybody’s business but his.

“I need to get back to Loup Garou. Now. It can’t wait. I’m sorry that leaves you without a drummer, but—”

Tokarz cuffed him again. “Wrong answer, omega.”

He should have simply gone, not tried to do the right thing and let his alpha know he was leaving. And that’s what he’d do now. He’d figure it out somehow. Hitch to a rental car place. Rent a vehicle to get back to Loup Garou. Confront the lying bitch about her newly-discovered-by-him hobby. If he were willing to leave his laptop behind, he’d shift and run all the way to Colorado.

Abigail had his head screwed on backward. He should have left the damned computer and gone. Which is what he would do if he ever got out of Tokarz’s room.

“Forget it,” he muttered, and headed for the door.

Restin stepped in front of him. Crossed his arms over his chest. Tokarz went to his suitcase and pulled out a pair of boxer shorts, which he stepped into. Luke stood there as naked as the day he was born. Kind of put him at a bigger disadvantage than he already was.

“What is wrong with you?” Tokarz asked again after a few moments in which the three of them glared at each other.

“Nothing,” Luke said. “I had a bad dream.”

Tokarz arched one eyebrow.

Luke jutted out his chin. He could feel bruises forming where both Tokarz and Restin had punched him. And while he healed quickly, Restin and Tokarz would heal faster. “I’m a quarter human. What do you expect?”

Neither alpha nor beta could argue with that.

“If you’re so anxious about Abigail,” Restin said, “why don’t you call her?”

He’d never considered calling Abigail. He’d heard Tokarz call Delilah, Stoker call Lucy, and Hank speak to Michelle, but it never once occurred to him to pick up his phone and make the connection. Another bit of evidence that Abigail wasn’t his mate. As if those Internet photos weren’t enough.

And even thinking about what he’d seen on his computer screen made him crazy all over again. He was careful to hide it. “Guess I’ll go back to my room and do that.”

Not that he knew Abigail’s phone number. Come to think of it, he’d never seen her with a cell phone. Never saw one charging on the kitchen counter. Not that a regular cell phone would even work in Loup Garou. It was a place of landlines and satellite phones.

He could call Granny, but it was early. The old lady liked to get her beauty sleep.

Tokarz eyed him as if he didn’t trust him. Restin didn’t budge from the door. “All right.” Luke gritted his teeth. “I just found out something about Abigail. I need to talk to her.”

“Like I said. Pick up the phone.”

“I can’t see her through the phone,” Luke snapped. “And don’t tell me to Skype with her, because I can’t smell her over the Internet, either.”

He was pretty sure neither Tokarz nor Restin even knew what Skyping was, and he wasn’t in the mood to explain. “Can I go back to my room now?”

“I don’t think so,” Tokarz said. “I think you and Restin are trading places for the rest of the tour. Restin, move your stuff to Luke’s room, then bring his things back here.”

“You don’t trust me?” Luke put all the incredulousness he could muster into the question.

“Nope,” Tokarz replied. “I think you’ve got a bad case of mating fever, and Ethan doesn’t know dick about mating.”

“Abigail is
not
my mate. I’m not even sure that baby is mine.”

Tokarz crossed his arms over his chest.

Oh, Luke hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

“Care to explain?”

Luke thought he was going to explode. Simply fly apart. There was no frigging way he was going to show the Internet photos of Abigail to Tokarz, Restin, or anyone else. In fact, he was going to kill whoever posted them, as soon as he forced that individual to take them down. And he’d bet his last byte that individual was Gary Porter. Who was going to die. No more idle threats.

And Abigail owed him an explanation or two, too.

“I don’t want to make any accusations until I know for sure,” Luke said in a calmer tone.
There. That sounded reasonable.

“How? DNA testing?” Restin snickered.

Tokarz grabbed Luke’s arm before Luke could try to savage Restin again.

“How about you tell us exactly what set you off?”

Luke pulled out of Tokarz’s grasp and sauntered to the bed furthest away from the door. “Goodnight, guys,” he said as he crawled under the covers. He smelled Restin, so he knew he had the right bed. He closed his eyes, even though he knew he’d get no sleep that night. No sleep again until he’d confronted Abigail about those pictures.

“We’re heading back to Loup Garou,” Tokarz announced over breakfast several hours later.

The roadies grumbled. “I need the extra cash,” one of the drivers muttered. But no one grumbled too loudly. Tokarz didn’t stand for insubordination.

“Is there a problem? Does one of your offspring need braces?” Tokarz asked.

More than a few snickers silenced that complaint.

No one dared ask why. Most of them had heard Luke brawling with Tokarz and Restin. Most of the others assumed Luke was in the throes of mating fever and due to his inferior human blood, couldn’t control himself. And that was one more reason why he wanted to keep his discovery to himself. And if he killed Abigail for deceiving him, perhaps no one would ever know.

“Did you call your mate?” Tokarz asked him.

Luke shook his head. He’d call Granny later. Maybe she could explain what Abigail had been thinking when she’d taken off her clothes for Porter or some other sleazy photographer.

Abby was bored to the edge of screaming out of her mind.

She was tired of drinking Granny’s hideous anti-miscarriage tea. Tired of being in bed. Tired of listening to the howling creatures in the middle of the night.

Gramps had stored Luke’s computer components in the bedroom they expected their grandson to share with his wife. Abby knew about computers because Gary was not only in IT at the brewery, he had a computer-based side gig at home. One she was intimately familiar with. There had been state of the art components in the house since Gary married her mother. If nothing else, she could play solitaire to pass the time.

Abby was on her hands and knees under the desk, trying to reassemble the unit when Luke’s Aunt Macy showed up.

“If Mom sees you doing that, she’s going to have a vampire,” Macy said. “Let me help. Luke always has the best stuff. He never lets me touch it. You get back in bed.”

Macy knew what she was doing. The computer was up and running in no time. “Too bad he didn’t leave you his laptop. You should ask him for one.”

Abby didn’t bother explaining Luke had promised her a new guitar, and that was nowhere to be seen. Sure, whatever instrument he bought couldn’t replace her father’s guitar—even thinking about that brought tears to her eyes—but it would give her something to do.

“Thanks.” Abby smiled at Macy, who sat at the desk and used the mouse to click through files on Luke’s desktop.

She paused at one. “Ancient Ones.”

Why did everyone say that? Abby was about to ask Macy what the words meant when Macy looked at her with shining eyes. Tear-filled eyes. “Your stepfather did this to you?”

Everything inside Abby froze. “Did what?”

Macy gestured at the computer screen.

Abby got out of bed and crossed the room. There, in full livid color, were pictures of the bruising on her face. And her belly. After she’d asked Luke not to photograph that. He must have snapped the shots while she was sleeping.

Fury poured through her, filled every crevice in her body. He was a liar, a sneak, and completely untrustworthy.

“Okay,” Macy said. “Back to bed with you. You look like you’re going to collapse. Are you okay?”

“Luke disappoints me.”

“He disappoints most people.” Macy slipped her arm around Abby’s waist and helped her to the bed. “You’re trembling.”

“I’m really mad at Luke.”

“I like Luke,” Libby said, bouncing into the room. She clutched her Santa Claus pillow, a sure sign she was feeling insecure. “Hi, Macy. Hi, Abby. Remember how Luke bought us the strawberry lemonade at the Moonsinger picnic?”

“I like Luke, too,” Macy said with a smile for Libby. “But he has a lot of growing up to do.”

All Abby could think about was how he’d betrayed her over and over—and they hadn’t even known each other all that long. Count the actual days, and it wasn’t even two weeks all together.

“You need to calm down, Abigail, or Mom is going to come in here with more of her herbal concoctions and force feed them to you.” Macy smoothed the sheet over Abby’s lap. “If I had known things on Luke’s computer were going to upset you, I never would have helped you set it up.”

“I would have done it myself,” Abby reminded her. “Like I was trying to do when you came in.”

“Give Luke a chance. He bears a tough burden, as did my brother. And me, for that matter.” Macy looked sad. “Marcus was lucky with Colette. Luke might not think he’s lucky with you, but the Ancient Ones have their reasons. Me? I’m alone. It’s worse for women.”

“What are you talking about?”

Macy studied Abby’s face. “I take it Luke hasn’t told you anything about . . . our family.”

Abby shook her head. “Is there something I should know? What are these Ancient Ones everyone mentions all the time?”

Macy glanced at Libby, who was playing Free Cell on Luke’s computer. “It’s Luke’s place to explain things to you. He may need some nudging. At least he had the good sense to have you stay with Mom and Dad.” Macy shook her head again. “I’ll talk to Marcus about having a chat with Luke. This isn’t right.”

Abby bit her lip to keep from shrieking everything was wrong with her relationship with Luke. Lies. The only truth was in the child precariously clinging to her womb. She should write a song about jerks who lied and made promises with no intent of keeping their words.

He was just another man who betrayed her.

Luke would have liked to pace the aisle of the bus, but figured that would only get him into more scat with Tokarz and Restin. He didn’t think Parker had ever driven as slow as he did heading back to Colorado. The bus should have flown over the flat desert highway and grumbled only as it climbed the mountains toward Loup Garou. There was no WiFi on the bus; there was only so much Luke could do on his super phone. Including call Abigail. Because he never got her phone number. Because they weren’t mated. The Ancient Ones wouldn’t pair him up with a woman who undressed to have her photo taken then posted online for the whole world to ogle. Maybe masturbate to.

Luke thought he was going to be sick.

He’d been intimate with her. Maybe it was psychosomatic, but he thought his dick was starting to itch.

The bus stopped around seven. Everyone stretched their legs. Caught a fish or two from a nearby stream for supper. The drivers swapped places.

Luke wanted to urge everyone to hurry, hurry. He had far too much time to think about what he was going to say to Abigail. Ask her why she would take off her clothes and pose, touching herself so intimately in front a camera. At least she was alone in the photos, Ancient Ones be praised. How he was going to tell her he found her dirty little secret?