The Twin Moon (The Moon Series) (7 page)

Ian tossed his head back and roared to
grab
everyone’s attention.
They were going to do this one of two ways
:
the easy way or the hard way.
The easy way was the cubs subsiding to Ian and changing back.
The hard way was him beating every last one of them and pinning them to the ground by their throats
until they submitted
.
The cubs behind
Gavin
stopped at the sound and dropped to the ground.
Each one of the
m stretching out low and laid
their heads between their paws.
Each one
,
except Gavin who stared
at
the cubs and
hissed
.
Then growled low at Ian.
He stalked closer to Ian and lunged toward him and back, obviously trying to get a response from him.

Ian would have grinned if he could have.
The cocky little punk.
Ian was ready to fight him if
that was what the cub wanted
.
Somebody need
ed to put the cub in his place.
Ian tensed the muscles in his body and without so much as a whisper lunged at Gavin, using his larger body to knock the cub to the ground.
Gavin lay unmoving for a minute and Ian suspected he
had knocked the wind out of him.
B
ut when Gavin came back he was all claws.
Gavin swatted at Ian’s head and Ian snapped his teeth at Gavin’s paw.
The cub reared back obviously startled by the quickly display of violence and squirmed to
move
away from Ian.
Ian planted his weight on Gavin’s smaller body pinning the cub under him and barred his teeth in a growl as he went for Gavin’s throat.

Gavin’s eye
s
widened as he thrashed to get away but Ian pinned his shoulder with his paws, effectively stilling him.
Ian was seconds away from ending the fight when Gavin seemed to remember he had teeth too and
snapped his teeth
at Ian.
Ian dodged the
sharp points
and came back with a quick bite of his own locking his teeth around Gavin’s throat.
Gavin thrashed wildly in Ian’s gripped tossing his head from side to side
obviously
trying to dislodge his jaws, but Ian held tight.
Ian clamped down harder and shook Gavin by the throat
.
So help him he woul
d draw
blood if he needed to
.

Gavin stilled under Ian and his body
finally
went limp.
Ian shook again for emphasis and
then released Gavin.
Towering
over Gavin’s
still
body
,
he
roared.
The sound echoed off the walls of the gym and bounced back to Ian’s ears.
The noise was a commanding sound and Ian realized in that minute he truly had grown up into a real male.
He looked down at the cub and then over at the other ones still quiet.
Ian moved off of Gavin and paced over to the door back to his clothes.

Ian willed the change again, allowing the bone and muscle to pop and shift, his arms and legs grew.
His spine snapped back into place and hi
s finger elongated.
His muzzle
recessed as his teeth disappeared.
His ears reformed and his fur was pulled back into his pores.
Ian panted as the pain rolled one more time and his joints popped into place at once.
His gut churned and
he
breathed through his nose
before he
forced him
self to his feet.
Gavin
laid still.

“I want you back in your human forms.
Now.”
Ian grabbed his gym shorts and pulled them on as he waited for the cubs to change.
Slowly the cubs bones popped and shifted and the change came over them.
Each
of them came through it
, slowly but finally it was done.
Even Gavin
.
Gavin stood up his head down as he tugged on his loose fitting gym shorts.
Ian didn’t say anything to the cub.
There was no reason to point out the obvious.
The cub had learned his lesson.
Ian unlocked the door and stood to the side as the cubs shuffled out the door.
Gavin was the last to leave.
He hesitated as if he might say something.
Ian clasped him on the shoulder and squeezed, but said nothing.
T
he cub walked out of the room w
ith his shoulders back, but his eyes down cast.

Ian followed them out and shut the gym door.
Edge waited in the hall
leaning against the opposite wall.
They stood together for a minute until it was obvious the cubs were out of earshot.

“What happened?
The door was locked.”
Edge always knew what went on in the Haven.
He made it his business to know.
These were his people.

Ian quickly explained what had transpired between the cubs.

“What do yo
u think he meant by ‘She’s mine
?
’
”
Edge crossed his arms over his wide chest and leaned against the wall kicking up one foot.

“I’m not sure.
It could be he just scented her heat and lost control.
I would hope at their age they aren’t mates.
Knowing that young could cause some
problems, especially for him.”
Gavin had recently lost his father and even though he had Warren, it was hard to substitute a dad.

“We’ll have to keep an
eye on him.
I’ll speak with Warren about
it
today.
He needs to know what Gavin is up to.
The cubs are all important to their parents and none of us want wild cubs.”

“I can help.
I know he just lost his dad.
I’ve been working with him for a while.
If Warren needs any help tell him to let me know.”
Ian used his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face.

“Will do.”
Edge pushed off the wall and stood up straight.
“You coming to the Barbeque?”

“Yeah, I told Ivy I’d be there.”
Ian ran a hand through his
sweaty
hair.
He needed a shower.
That class had run longer than he expected.

“Bringing someone?”
Edge gazed at him with obvious curiosity.

“Did Ivy send you over here?”
Ian instantly
went
on alert.
Ivy knew how to play him and sending Edge in was a way to get information under the table.

Edge shook his head.
“No, why?”

Ian hesitated.
His heart sped up as he waited for the sense of threat to kick in.
Edge just stared at him.

“Nothing, never mind.”
Ian just shook his head.

“We have a staff meeting in an hour.
I’ll see you there.”
Edge clasped him on the back and moved down the hall.

Ian stared after him.
He needed a shower and to clear his head.

***

Andy came awake in her comfortable bed surround by pillows. Dreams of Ian had haunted her every sleeping moment.
She kept picturing him in the shower, pleasuring himself.
In the dream she stood outside the
clear glass doors
and watched him.
Andy was wet between her thighs when she woke.
She wondered if he
had thought
of her.
Andy could picture his charmi
ng smile and remembered the firmness
of his hands on her body.
The urge to touch herself was strong.
She
thought about what it would be
like to have him in bed with her.
To have his hands on
her body again and whispering in her ear.
She threw off the covers and
rolled
out of bed.
She needed a shower.
A cold shower.

Andy had stayed out late with her girlfriends, but meeting Ian had been worth it.
She breathed in a deep breath and caught the faint smell of smoke.
Andy was wide awake now and headed for her front door pulling it open all thoughts of Ian sent to the back burner.
On her car sat Rich.

“Damn it,” she grumbled and d
ouble checked the security gate that Rosie’s brothers had installed for her.
She watched as Rich stretched and kicked her tire before sauntering toward her door.
Andy prayed he was sober.

“Morning.”
Rich stopped at the bottom of her porch.

“What do you want?”

“Can’t I just come by and say hello?”
Rich
crushed his cigarette under his foot.

“No Rich, you can’t.
That’s why it’s called a
restraining
order.
You need to leave.”
She should have
put on a robe.

“Why not?
I miss you and I wanted to see you.”
Rich pretend to pout.

“The restraining order says you can’t.
You’re breaking the law. Please leave.”

“Come on
,
Andy.”
Rich climbed the steps.
“You just get up? Remember when you used to wear those lacey little things to bed, man I loved those.”

“
You liked them better on the neighbor.
Look
, just leave.”
Andy wrapped her arms around herself and glanced to her left.
The phone was only five feet away.
She shifted toward the wall closer to the phone.
Oh screw it
.
Andy lunged and grabbed the phone as he rattled the door handle.

“Damn it, Andy, let me in.”
Rich pounded on the security gate.

Andy punched in 9-1-1 and held it to her ear backing away from the security gate.
God love Rosie and her brothers
.
Rosie had sent them over last night after dropping off the key with Manuel, her oldest brother, before they went out to the club.
They had installed the gate while they were gone.
Andy wasn’t sure where they
found
it at the late hour but she was glad for the extra defense.
She had also learned long ago not to ask questions when it came to Rosie’s brothers.

“911, what’s you emergency?”
A nasally woman’s voice sounded over the line.

“Who are you calling?”
Rich demanded his face turning red.

“The police.”
Andy turned the phone away for a moment.
“Yes, my ex-boyfriend is breaking his restraining order.
Could you please send a police officer out?”
Andy recited her name and address for the operator.
With that security gate Andy felt a hell of a lot safer than she had last night.

“What is he doing exactly?”

“Andy, God Damn it.
Put that fucking phone down now!”
Rich tried the knob again and slammed the flat of his palm into the door.

“He is supposed to stay one hundred feet away from my home or place of business.
He’s on my front porch.”
Andy stood about four feet from the door and was tempted to shut the wooden one with her foot.

“Is that him?”

“ANDY!
I said hang up the fucking phone now or you’re going to be sorry.”
Rich slammed his hand into the door over and over punctuating his words.

“Oh
,
yes and he’s threatening me now.”
Andy was very matter fact when she said it.
Man
,
that gate felt impenetrable.

“Yes, I heard him.
I have an officer on his way.”

“The police are on their way, Rich.”
Andy kept the phone to her ear as she waited for the police.

“Fuck!
Andy I swear!
You’re gonna’ regret this.”
Rich backed away from her door as a siren sounded in the distance.

“Alright, I’m going to hang up now.
If you need anything else call us back.”
The nasally woman hung up.

Andy rolled her eyes.
She was lucky the police were even responding immediately.
Must be a slow morning.