Blue Moon (14 page)

Her eyes searched mine, and I prayed she understood. If she ran off on her own…I didn’t want to think about it.

“Adam and the others will take me into their Pack?”

I traced my finger along her soft cheek. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re the other half of my soul, Anna. You’re my one true mate. My parents would say Fate chose you for me. Either way, you’re part of me and my Pack.”

Anna brushed a kiss on my cheek and walked toward the barn. I couldn’t move until Lana came out to meet her. My instincts to keep her safe were on overdrive. Raking my
hand through my hair, I turned and went back inside.

Everyone was seated around Adam’s dining room table. I took a seat beside Gareth and all eyes turned my way. “I’m all right.”

Adam shook his head. “Hate to say this, but we might be better off if Vivi’s friend is already dead. Bad enough he’s a newscaster, but he’s a jaguar now, too.”

Sasha leaned forward. “Sorry, Adam, but as the one person at this table who was bitten against their will, I have to disagree. None of this is… What’s his name?”

“Chandler.” Saying it out loud picked at the tender scab. He’d asked Anna,
my
Anna, to marry him.

Sasha went on. “This isn’t Chandler’s fault. His life is changed forever now. The least we can do is try to get him out of there alive and help him figure this out.”

“What if he talks? How do we keep him quiet about shifters?” Adam ran his fingers back through his unruly hair. “He’s not our responsibility.”

“He was only there because Anna asked him to come with her.” I ground my teeth
,
forcing my voice to stay even. “She feels responsible. Anna is my mate, and I’m helping her save him, with or without your help.”

Sebastian smirked. “Without your Pack’s assistance, you’ll never make it out alive.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You underestimate me.”

His gaze slid down to my stitched up arm. “It looks to me like
you
underestimated my brother’s men.” He met my eyes. “Damian has been quietly rallying support for his takeover of Nero. At least two of our men, loyal to his cause, are here
in Nevada with him. It appears you encountered one last night during the new moon.” He rolled his shoulder back. “My brother is desperate, but he is far from stupid. He won’t be unprotected.”

Adam rested his forearms on the table and leaned in. “Does your father know what Damian’s plotting?”

“I’m not sure yet.” For a split second, Sebastian’s mask of indifference slipped. “A year ago, he would have sent me to silence him. But today? I can’t be certain.”

Adam leaned his chair back. “If he does know, then why hasn’t he ended this?”

“I came here to find out.” Sebastian steepled his fingers. “You alerted me about my brother’s return to Lake Tahoe, and in return, I’m letting you know the two men with him are deadly, two of our best. Now we’re even.”

I stared at the stitches on my wrist. “Before they shifted, they argued about Damian exposing them.” I raised my gaze to meet Sebastian’s. “And they mentioned Sedona.”

He stood in one fluid motion. “I’ve already been here too long.” His eyes locked on Adam’s. “I’ll handle my brother and his hostage. Stay out of my way.”

I shot out of my chair. “How exactly are you planning to ‘handle’ it? I promised Anna we’d save her friend.”

“Then you made a promise you can’t keep.”

Before I could dive across the table for Sebastian, Sasha stood.

“I’m with Logan.” She walked toward Sebastian
.
“This guy may be a newscaster, but we can deal with that once he’s safe. He didn’t ask to be bitten. This wasn’t his fault.” She crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at Sebastian. “How long can you keep killing innocents for your family?”

“Save the preaching. You know me better than anyone at this table. I do what must be done. I always have.” A muscle in his cheek clenched, and his voice dropped to a menacing growl that had her mate rising from his chair. “I was
raised
to kill.”

Without another word, he turned and left. Sasha sighed and met my eyes. “Grab your mate. If we don’t get there first, her friend will die.”

“If he isn’t dead already.” I clenched my fist and got up.

“Damian will catch your scent before you get close to his hostage.” Adam looked from Sasha to me. “Or if he doesn’t, his two bodyguards will.”

We both stared at Adam. He was right, but it didn’t change what I had to do. “What do you want from me? I always put the Pack first. Always. But this one time, my mate comes first. We’ve all killed when we had to. It changes you.” I pointed toward the barn. “Anna isn’t from this world. If this guy dies because we did nothing…” I shook my head. “I won’t let her have blood on her hands. With or without you, I’m helping her.”

Sasha cleared her throat. “I’m with Logan.”

Aren, her mate, sighed, but he got up. “I’ve got Sasha’s back. I’m in, too.”

Adam stared up at his twin brother and clenched his jaw. “All right. Enough. Sit down. We don’t have much time to come up with a plan.”

I went back to my seat, biting the inside of my cheek to keep my expression neutral. I owed Sasha one.

Chapter Eighteen

Vivianna

Luke wrapped me in a tight hug as I approached the horses. “How are you holding up?”

I laughed, rolling my eyes. “You mean since finding out people could turn into giant jaguars and wolves, or seeing my friend being kidnapped by one, or the revelation that the one guy I’ve ever really loved is a werewolf?”

He stepped back, shrugging his broad shoulders. “Good thing you’re tough.”

I nodded, wiping my nose. “Yeah. I’m not sure anyone is tough enough for all this.”

“Hi, Vivi.” Lana came toward us with an adorable toddler on each side. “I couldn’t help but overhear.” She glanced at Luke then back to me. “Some of our older Pack members like to say that Fate chooses a wolf’s mate, and even though we sometimes think there’s no way it could work out, Fate seems to know better. You wouldn’t be Logan’s mate if you weren’t strong enough for this world.”

I raised a brow. “You believe that?”

“With all my heart.” Her lips curved into a barely-there smile. “Every new woman who has come to this Pack has contributed something, and we’re more formidable than before. I have no doubt the same will be true for you, once you accept it.”

“Accept it? I’m not sure what you mean.” I crossed my arms around my middle.

“Luke, can you take the rug rats so we can talk?”

Her daughter tugged Lana’s hand. “We’re not rug rats, Mama.”

Her little boy joined in. “Yeah, I’m a wolf, not a rat.”

She grinned and kissed each cheek. “Be good for Luke.”

He swooped the girl up onto his shoulders and grabbed the boy’s hand. They wandered farther down the barn, and Lana walked me over to the tack room.

“Have a seat.” I sat in one of the canvas director’s chairs, and she took the one beside me. “I’m sure you’re worried about your friend, not to mention on mental overload after finding out there are things in this world that we can’t explain.”

“Yeah.” I nodded, staring at the saddle racks. “But after the carnage in the coffee shop, maybe the world needs to know so people can be safe.”

“What you saw was a mistake born of desperation.” She shook her head. “No shifters—not werewolves, not Nero, nor any others out there we haven’t crossed paths with yet—would ever want our existence to be exposed. As journalists, you and I understand better than most what happens when people are afraid. We’d be studied, monitored, and eventually hunted. All in the name of safety.”

My gaze wandered to the house. Logan had thousands of fans, maybe hundreds of thousands. What if they turned on him? Even with heightened senses and extra strength, he couldn’t beat the bullet from a terrified gunman.

I ground my teeth, my stomach tied in knots at the thought of anyone hurting him. Maybe there was more to this mate thing than I wanted to admit.

“So how do you handle all this?”

Lana chuckled, shaking her head. “I wish there was a simple answer. Sometimes I sing ‘just keep swimming’ with the twins.” She sobered. “I can’t tell you it gets easier. Recently I found out Sebastian is my half brother.”

My jaw slackened. “Whoa. And you never knew you were related?” The new information spun around in my mind and made another connection. “Wait a second…so Damian is your brother, too?”

“I never knew I had any family.” She sighed. “I grew up in foster care, abandoned on church steps as a newborn baby.”

I’d read some of Lana’s work before, but hearing her story… I had no idea she overcame so much. And now she was…

I frowned and spoke before I could stop myself. “You’re not a werewolf. Logan said Adam was out with you last night during the new moon.”

“Right.” She nodded. “Until I met Adam, I didn’t realize shapeshifters existed, let alone that I was one of them. I’d wake up after the new moon in strange places, with no memory of how I got there. That’s how I ended up on Nero’s radar. I thought I had a brain tumor or something. Apparently, my CAT scan showed an abnormality, and Antonio Severino has eyes and ears everywhere. Someone sent him the films, and he ordered Sebastian to collect me.”

“But Adam saved you?”

She almost smiled. “We saved each other, I think.” Lana met my eyes. “Our twins are the grandchildren of the same man who wanted to experiment on me.”

Luke was playing with the kids over in the arena. Their innocent laughter made the danger very real. “Does Damian know?”

She shook her head. “Not as far as we can tell, and we need to keep it that way.”

“Does Sebastian?”

“Yes.” She watched her little ones chasing after Luke.

“Won’t he tell his brother?”

“I don’t think so. Sebastian is first in line to inherit the entire Nero Organization. Damian has been doing his best to win their father’s favor and take Sebastian’s birthright.”

“Why didn’t Sebastian bring you to his father?”

She shrugged. “I still don’t really have an answer. When his father sent him after me, he kept it secret that I was Sebastian’s younger sister. When Sebastian found out on his own…” She sighed and glanced at me. “You have to understand that Sebastian is very intelligent. I think he’s well aware there’s no unconditional love from his father. He always has to watch his back because there could be a target on it anytime.”

“He hides behind the arrogant asshole mask pretty well.”

“He does.” She chuckled. “Life’s a chess game to Sebastian, and I never know which side of the board he’s on.”

“Not the big brother you always dreamed
of.”

“Definitely not.” She glanced toward the house. “Aren, Adam’s twin, has that spot. I couldn’t imagine a better brother.”

“Logan was trying to tell me that I’m already part of the Pack.”

“Only if you choose it. Choose him.” Lana smiled. “He’s played the recluse rock star for so long that we’re all relieved to meet you. Of all the Pack members, he’s the one I know the least. Always ready to protect the others, but distant. Lonely, but not looking to change it, if that makes any sense.”

More sense than I wanted to admit.

“You all would take me in? Just like that?”

“It’s not that simple, but I think most of us have learned to trust the animal instincts inside. You wouldn’t be his mate if you weren’t worthy.” She paused. “But you have to want it. You still have the choice to leave. But Logan…” She shook her head. “You’re it for him.” Her gaze pinned me to my chair. “Do you love him?”

“Yes.” There it was, with no hesitation.

My vision blurred with tears I wouldn’t let fall. “I never stopped loving him. It’s trusting he won’t walk away again that’s eating me up inside. I don’t know how to get past it.”

“Luke told me you two were high school sweethearts.”

I nodded. “Yeah. He walked out on me the day he kissed me and realized I was his mate. He never spoke to me again. Just turned and left like I never mattered.”

“Don’t kid yourself. There’s a reason his songs are so painful and angry. It must’ve killed him to let you go when every instinct was telling him to keep you at his side.”

Speak of the devil. Logan stepped out the back door and started walking toward the barn.

“You were in love with a teenager before.” Lana pointed in his direction. “Get to know the grown up Logan. There’s not another wolf in this Pack who is more loyal. He’ll be there when you need him.”

The coffee shop flashed in my mind, Logan bursting through that door before Damian got to me.

Right when I needed him most.

Chapter Nineteen

Logan

As I approached the barn, Anna met me halfway. I pulled her into my arms as naturally as if we’d never parted five years ago. Closing my eyes, I breathed her into my lungs, wishing like hell we weren’t about to walk into the lion’s den.

She stepped back. “How’s your arm?”

I barely gave the stitches a glance. “It’s fine.”

“I need to get over to Damian’s.”

The muscles in my shoulders bunched with tension. “You’re not going alone.”

“If he figures out you’re there, he’ll kill Chandler.”

“And if you go alone, he’ll have you both.”

She crossed her arms. “Is Damian’s brother going to help us?”

“Probably not.” I gestured to Luke as he walked over to us. “Luke and I are bringing our rifles with the scopes, and Sasha is going to slip inside and take out Damian’s jaguar bodyguards.”

She shook her head. “She can’t come in. Damian will know. He can smell things like you guys do, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, but not quite as well, and Sasha’s a jaguar, too. She’s never had much contact with Damian. If he catches her scent, he’ll recognize a jaguar, but he won’t realize she’s Pack.”

Luke met my eyes. “Once she takes the two bodyguards out of the equation, we go in?”

“That’s the plan.”

Anna looked between the two of us. “I just need to keep Damian busy.”

This was the part of the damned plan that bugged the shit out of me. “Yeah. Once Luke has Chandler, I’m coming for you.”

“What about Damian?”

“Damian is still Severino’s son. If we kill him, it could bring a war with Nero to our doorstep.” She pressed her lips together, and I went on. “Sebastian may do it for us.”

“He’d kill his own brother?”

“Only if it would help his cause somehow.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “Nice guy.”

Luke pulled his phone out of his pocket. “We’ve got to get our weapons and ammunition. We’d better get out of here.”

“Just a second.” I took Anna’s hand. “You sure you’re ready for this?”

“No.” She tightened her grip. “But I’ll get through it.”

“Just keep him talking.” I kissed her forehead. “I’ll be right there.”

…

A half hour later, rifles in hand, we were almost to Damian’s place. About a mile away, Anna pulled her car over to let us out. We’d go in on foot with Sasha, while Anna arrived at his house alone.

I fucking hated this plan.

She got out of the car and came to my side. Her fingers laced with mine, drawing my gaze to hers. “I can do this, Logan.”

I nodded. “I still wish there were another way.”

“You guys have the tough job. I’m just talking.”

I squeezed her hand. “You’re going to be alone with the enemy. Whatever he says, remember that jaguar you saw tearing up the coffee shop. He’s working an angle; we’re just not sure what it is yet.”

She rose up on her toes, and I bent to brush my lips to hers. When I straightened, her dark eyes searched mine. “Be careful, okay?”

“Always.”

The corners of her mouth curved to match the sparkle in her gaze. “We have unfinished business back at your place.”

I kissed her again, growling against her mouth. “Like I could forget.”

“I intend to collect.”

I rested my forehead on hers. “I love you, Anna.”

She brought her hand up, her fingers caressing my jaw. “Come back to me. Safe.”

“I will.” I wasn’t going to be able to let her go.

My pulse pounded in my ears, and I crushed her to my chest, my lips claiming hers. If anything happened to Anna…

Luke cleared his throat behind us, and grudgingly I lightened the kiss. “Just keep Damian talking. I’ll come for you as soon as it’s clear.”

She nodded. “Get Chandler out first.”

Hearing her say his name still grated on me.

Anna got back in her car, and I turned to my brother and Sasha. “Let’s do this.”