Hidden Moon (Hot Moon Rising #4) (12 page)

professionals.”

She slapped the dash. “I need to do something. I can’t just sit here and watch it burn.”

“I’m going to keep driving so we can see how bad it is.” Alan coughed from the smoke

and pulled back onto the country road.

“No, the other way.” She waved her hand. “I want to make sure Mom’s house is still

okay.”

He gripped her hand as he drove, hard enough to squeeze the blood out of it.

“Do you think Starwood did this?” she asked.

“I know they did.”

This was war. Not merely against the pack or Shelley, but him personally. They

wouldn’t have set the fire if he’d caved in to their demands and sold them the diner.
Not

your problem
, a little voice told him. The Moonlight pack had a strong Alpha and plenty

of capable men. They’d win the battle against the rival pack without him.

A vision of his brightly lit cubicle drifted through his mind as he drove in the dark.

Was he really going to sit at his desk all day and do his job as if none of this had ever

happened? Could he really bury the wolf in him again?

His fingertips dug into the steering wheel, a breath away from turning into claws. His

rage against Starwood for destroying his mate’s property made him want to shift so bad

he ached. He wanted to howl and scream until his throat ripped to shreds.

For the first time in his life, he welcomed the beast inside him. Even wanted to let it

loose.

Maybe he should take Dad home with him so he could keep him safe. Shelley, too. But

the way she perched in her seat and gripped the passenger door—as if she were about to

leap through the open window—told him she’d never leave.

At last, he scooped cleaner air into his lungs, glad to see the flames hadn’t touched the

whole grove. Yet. Her ranch-style home appeared in the distance, unscathed.

She clasped her hands together under her chin. “Thank God the house is still okay.”

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“I’ll drop you off so you can be with your mother,” he said. “Meanwhile, I’m going to

look for Starwood’s goons, evidence, or both.”

“No, I need to be involved.”
With you.
Alan heard her unspoken words as clearly as

the spoken ones.

She slid her cell phone out of her purse. “I’ll call her again and let her know what’s

going on.”

“I’m going to drive back to the blaze and see if the fire department found any

evidence.” He turned off onto one of the sandy dirt roads leading into the grove. “Be on

the lookout for anything unusual like strange tire tracks.”

“I wish it weren’t so dark,” she said with her head out the window as the truck

bounced and squeaked over the ruts. “We’ll need to look again in the morning. I mean, I

will.”

To hell she would. Before he could answer, she called her mother. The thought of her

being alone in the orange grove tomorrow morning, or ever again, sent a bolt of

lightning up his tailbone. His palms sweat, making the steering wheel slippery. What if

the Starwood pack decided to take her hostage or kill her on the spot?

Obviously, she’d given up on begging him to stay. Well, she didn’t have to convince

him anymore. He couldn’t leave. It was time to man up. Hadn’t Dad been telling him

that since he’d arrived?

Alan stopped the truck so suddenly the tires skidded in the sandy soil, sending them

underneath a tree. An orange, ripe and perfect, dangled over the windshield.

“What is it?” Shelley jerked her head back inside the window and faced him. “Did you

find anything?”

“No,” he said, ripping open his fly. “I need to take care of something, and it can’t

wait.”

Her eyes widened. “The bond? It’s all right. We don’t have to.”

“Yes, we do.” He shoved her wet shirt above her bare breasts. He swallowed. They

were cool to the touch and as perfectly round as the fruit hanging over the truck. The

nipples were already puckered from the wet fabric. His mouth watered to taste them,

but he didn’t have much time. He dragged his thumb across one, making her shudder.

“I’m sorry this is so rushed.” He freed his erection from the damp work pants he

wore. “Are you ready?”

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To answer him, she knelt on the seat and pulled his hand to the cleft of her shorts. He

groaned because the fabric was hot and wet from her juices. When he slid a finger

inside, deep and hard, she writhed and groaned. Only she could make such practical

clothes sexier than sin.

At least he’d made slow, tender love to her earlier. He should’ve done the bond then

when he was more in control. Would it be safe to take her now with the beast in him so

close to the surface?

He slid out from under the steering wheel. The simple movement clenched his balls.

The searing smoke in his nostrils, mixed with the scent of her ripe pussy, was going to

make him go off like a shot.

“Get on all fours and face the passenger window,” he ordered. “You’d better hang

onto it because I’m going to take you hard. I-I might lose control.”

“I hope you do. Don’t hold anything back.”

Her words lit him up like the gasoline that had probably ignited the blaze. The sight

of her bare, thrust-up derriere kindled another fire, this one in his groin. Between the

two rounded globes lay her juicy center, slick and ready for him. Riper than any orange

in the grove.

He pressed his hand sideways on top of her tailbone and lunged into her depths. The

force of it stole his breath. Combined with the smoke, he choked and dropped forward.

The movement set off a chain reaction in their bodies. His cock drove into her, high and

upward like a hook. Her strangled cry tickled his ears, unchaining the beast inside him.

Her breaths whistled through clenched teeth while he pushed and thrust with

unbelievable force.
Slow down. Be softer.
The warning voice yacking in his ear wouldn’t

shut up. The beast was loose, and he couldn’t be anything but hard and rough. So hard

the truck shook, shuddered, and rattled. He sunk his teeth into his bottom lip.

Please protect her from the beast because I am out of flipping control here.

Shelley’s hot cream gushed around his cock. Her walls clamped down on him.

Rippling like a roller coaster.

“Shit!” he bellowed as his own climax clenched his balls like a pit bull’s jaws.

Growling, he grabbed a sheaf of her hair and exposed her neck. He shuddered when

he ran his tongue across it, feeling her soft skin and tasting her orangey scent. His jaw

went completely slack then closed like a vise, slow and strong. Her hips jumped under

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his, and she yelped when his teeth slid into her tender flesh. The coppery taste of her

blood slid across his tongue.

So good. So right. Should have done it a long time ago.

After squeezing a last round of cum into her depths, his beast took over, blinding and

deafening him. The truck lurched with enough force to tip over when he shifted. Fur

struck his cheek. Shelley was shifting, too.

While their bodies jolted and transformed, he kept his teeth in her neck. If he let go,

he’d lose her. Lose everything. She growled and whimpered. She bucked him off and

leaped out the open window.

What the hell?

He leaped out after her. She tossed her head and loped away, a beautiful wolf with

wheat-colored fur. He chased her as she raced between the trees like a slalom skier.

Oranges dropped in the storm they left behind. With each yard she covered, she told

him she wasn’t easy. She was a challenge and a damn amazing one.

When he finally caught up with her, he lowered his head and aimed for a spot under

her belly, knocking her off her feet. She rolled over, the fight gone out of her. She raised

her feet, exposing her belly and her neck.

You’re my mate, Alan.

Nuzzling the bloody fur at her neck, he licked until the wound he’d made sealed over.

The wildness in him finally trickled out, and he shifted. In moments, he and Shelley lay

naked in the sandy dirt, their arms locked around each other.

“I’m staying,” he blurted out.

“Here in the grove?” she asked, blinking as if to clear dust from her eyes. “We should

keep searching for clues, shouldn’t we?”

He brushed back a damp lock of her hair. Her body was covered with a sheen of sweat

like his. Under the moonlight, it looked delicious enough to taste.

“No, here in Moonlight.” He started to add “after the crisis is over” but he wanted to

stay longer, as in forever.

She squirmed out of his arms and sat up. “Don’t feel obligated. I know how badly you

want to go back.”

“Not anymore.” He smiled as he shook his head. “I
want
to be here, with you.”

“Oh, Alan.” She clasped both sides of his face and leaned her forehead against his.

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“You’ve made me the happiest wolf in Florida.”

“I’m going to make sure you’re also the safest wolf in Florida. I’d kill for you.”

She brushed his cheek with her finger. “I know you would.”

A shiver went through both of them. Would he be able to focus his rage on the enemy,

or was the biggest threat to the Moonlight pack him? He hated to admit it, but the fire

was a blessing. Without it, he would’ve been on that plane tomorrow like the coward he

used to be.

After he grasped her hand, they stood. “Let’s put some clothes on.”

On their way back to the truck, she stopped short.

By instinct, he looped a protective arm around her back. “What’s wrong? Did you see

something?”

“No, I realized the prophecy I had of the pack needing you has come true.”

It took a while to get back to the truck. Had they really run so far in wolf form?

After they dressed, Shelley bit her knuckle with a cry. “The sky is still glowing orange.

What if the whole grove burns up?”

He started to say he wouldn’t let that happen, but even his beast was no match

against fire.

“I’m sure the fire department is doing everything it can,” Alan said instead as he

rubbed her shoulders. “Let’s keep looking for clues.”

He slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Now that he was Shelley’s true

mate, would the pack finally accept him as one of their own?

***

The pack met in the diner at dawn. Shelley’s eyes felt gritty and seared from smoke as

she prepared the dining room for breakfast, laying out homemade jams and warm

syrup. None of them had gotten any sleep last night. One-third of the grove had burned.

A third! Even if insurance reimbursed her, she felt as if an equal proportion of her body

had gone with it.

After breakfast, she planned to work the rest of the day in the grove, nursing damaged

trees and harvesting any salvageable oranges from the dead ones. She wished she could

shake the bad feeling—wrapping itself around her neck like smoke—she’d had all

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morning.

She stroked the scar there from Alan’s teeth. Had he really made her his true mate?

And was he really staying? Although she’d lost part of her farm, losing him would’ve

been a hundred times worse. They could handle this, together.

The Palmetto County Sheriff’s Department had found a gas can near where the blaze

had started, proving it was arson, but not Starwood pack’s involvement. While the

Moonlight pack mainlined the coffee she’d brewed, they shared recent incidents of

harassment.

Several members had received threats to sell their homes or they wouldn’t have any

left. An anonymous report had been made to the Manatee County Health Department

that the diner might contain harmful bacteria.

“We need to beef up security,” Derek said, attacking his steak and eggs. “Somebody

grab some paper. We need to make a list of everything needing protection. I’ll pass it on

to our security agency, but we all need to keep our eyes open.”

“We also need to send a couple of Defender guys into their territory to sniff around,”

Rand spoke up.

“Send Alan instead,” Shelley suggested. “He’s so upset about the fire he’ll tear those

wolves up.”

“I thought he was leaving,” Derek said.

“He’s decided to stay.” Pride for her mate lifted the fatigue from her shoulders.

Curtis made a sour face as he sipped some coffee. “He probably set it himself so he

could look like a hero.”

She clenched the empty jelly tray, restraining herself from knocking him over the

head with it. Had she really once considered marrying such a bitter man? He was the

reason Alan left the pack, and she wasn’t about to let him change her mate’s mind about

staying.

“No, Curtis, that’s something you would do.”

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she regretted them. The pack needed to

be united against its common enemy, not to have Curtis and Alan at each other’s throats

again.

“I’m glad he’s sticking around,” Derek said. “We need all the help we can get.”

Approval of her mating bond from the Alpha sent a cleansing tide through her body,

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washing away the lingering smoke.

“If you get tired of farming, Shelley,” Derek continued, “you might want to be a

fortune teller because your prediction landed spot-on again.”

“I could never compete with Riesa.” Derek’s human mate was a true psychic.

“When she’s out of town, helping find missing persons like now, you can act as her

backup.”

“I’ll try,” Shelley promised. “I wish I’d been wrong this time, though.”