Moon Crossed (Werewolf Hunter Series): Season 1 (Episodes 1-6) (Crescent Hunter) (17 page)

“Yeah, I think
so.” I go through the mental checklist in my head. “I
just need to raise the protections.”

“Okay, good.”
He turns around. “Lets load and lock.”

One by one I hug each
of the boys as they go into their cubbies. Or as Tor likes to call
them, jail cells.

Kyle goes first.
“Thanks, Claire, for everything. I promise I'll try to be
good.”

I hug him tight. “It's
going to be fine. We'll get through the night, just like always.”

Trevor is hugging Aunt
Rain. “Love you, Mom.”

“Love you too,
son.” She always chokes up.

“Don't kill any
of us, snotface.” Trevor puts me in a head lock.

“You're first,”
I joke, slipping out of his grasp. “I'll kick your ass on the
morning run.”

“You wish.”
He gives me the finger, walking down the corridor to his cell.

Rabbit is next. “Try
to get a little bit of sleep before it gets too late, okay?”

“I'll sleep when
I'm dead.” I smile and press a kiss on his forehead.

“Don't get that
way tonight, okay?” he says with a goofy smile.

“I'll do my
best.”

Tor is taking his time
hugging Aunt Rain, so Locke takes his place in front of me. “Stay
safe, Claire, and remember: do what you have to.” He nods to
me.

“Got it.” I
smile and give him a tight hug.

Tor takes the few steps
to me. “Yeah, it's going to be fine.”

“It always is.”
I smile as he gives me a brief one
armed hug before turning and walking down the hall to his cubby.

“Did you drink
it?” I ask Brogan.

“I did and it
wasn't half bad.” His crooked smile always puts me at ease.

“Do you feel sick
or any different?” Concern riddles my tone.

“Nope, I'm fine,”
he answers, leaning and touching his forehead to mine. “It's
going to be fine.”

“I know.”

Cole's saucy tone
matches his grin as he stands in front of me. “Do I get a hug?”
Because of his size, no one can see my face.

“No, you get
nothing.” I wink at him.

“If I'm going to
be locked up like a common dog and not be able to drink like these
losers, I'm getting a hug like them, too.” He wraps his arms
around me and brushes his lips against my ear, whispering quietly,
“Watch the sunrise with me?”

A spark lights my
insides and I realize that this hug is going on a tick too long. He
pulls away, and I look up into his light blue eyes that I could swim
in forever and nod discretely.

“Alright boys,
you ready?” Aunt Rain asks, standing by the door to the
hallway.

A chorus of yes comes
from each of their rooms. They each slide the doors closed on their
rooms. We can all still hear and essentially see each other through
the bars. I press the button for the locking mechanisms and all the
latches catch.

Aunt Rain pulls down
the gate to the hallway. “Let's get the protections in place,
then I gotta run.”

“Where are you
going?” This concerns me. I don't like being alone on the full
moon.

“They don't have
any hunters two counties over and there have been
a couple of incidents,” she explains.

“So I'm going to
be alone tonight?” I try not to let the panic escape, but it
does.

“You're going to
be fine. You'll be down here, and you aren't alone. You have the
boys.” She hitches her thumb toward them.

“But what if–”
She cuts me off.

“Then you'll do
what you've been trained to do.” She puts her hands on my
shoulders. “Close the emergency blast door in case one of them
gets out of their cells. Do you have your sword and dagger?”

I motion to my desk.
“Yeah.”

“You'll be fine.
I'll see you in the morning. Put the protections on the house.”
She starts up the stairs. “Close the big door.”

“Stay safe.”
It comes out weak.

“Always.”

I turn back toward the
hallway. A few of the boys are sitting with their arms hanging
through the bars just like a jail. I hate this imagery, but know that
it's for the best. If they kill a human on a full moon, they will be
lost forever. Unable to quell the blood lust, unable to shift back to
human form.

Locke's cell is on the
outside, closest to me. He sits on the floor and puts his hand
through the bars. This is what we do. We sit and talk, sometimes when
he's feeling particularly uneasy he likes to have his hand held.

We sit, wait, hoping
that no one shifts. Praying that the silver-lined bars will keep the
wolves in.

Tor, Brogan, Trevor,
and Kyle have already started playing their first-person shooter
game. Cole is in the cell across from Locke. He's staring at Locke,
holding my hand. There's a jealous flare in his eyes. He's going to
have to understand that Locke is my best friend.

It's been about four
hours and is approaching midnight.
I
feel the pull of the full
moon; it's the hunter in me. I can't imagine what it's like for them;
it's so much worse. The need to wander out under the night sky is so
strong. It's bred into me.

This is when things get
most tense. Usually Rabbit and Brogan shift first. Locke is always
the last to hold out and usually makes it through the night, but the
last few cycles have been tough for all of them.

“Rabbit just went
down,” Brogan calls out.

“Thanks, Brogan,”
I acknowledge, and look at Locke with concern.

The whining and
scratching start almost immediately. This is the hardest part: when
they start trying to get out, to be under the moon. When they are in
wolf form, silver burns them, but we have to take every precaution we
can. I haven't lost one yet.

“Tor shifted,”
Brogan lets me know.

“Okay.”
Locke and I exchange a worried look. “They're going down fast
tonight.” He nods through his sweating and shaking. This is
going to be a rough cycle.

“Claire, you
should probably step away from the cage,” he warns.

“I'm going to
stay until you shift.” I cup his face with my hand. “Like
always.”

A growl comes from
Cole's direction. I half expect to see that he has shifted but he's
still in human form. I give him an inquisitive look.

Cole gives a
disinterested head shake in response.

“I don't want to
hurt you,” Locke pleads.

“I'm here with
you. You'll be fine and so will I,” I reassure him.

The whining increases
in the cells; Trevor and Kyle have shifted. “Brogan? You still
holding on?”

There's no answer for a
moment. Cole's arms are folded tightly across his chest. He's stoic,
standing statue-still. “Cole, can you see if Brogan shifted?”

He looks down the
corridor. “He's in bad shape, but he's still human.”

“Thank you.”
The pain in my voice affects him. He's so strong. I wouldn't have
expected for him to be able to hold out on shifting for so long.

Locke's shaking
increases and I know it's time for me to step away. The sounds of the
wolves testing the bars and getting burned on the silver and yelping
always drags through me, leaving a sad ache in its wake. Locke shifts
and starts pacing the length of his cell.

I move over to Cole and
say nothing. I'm just admiring him, his strength. He looks at me like
he's hungry, like he hates me. “What do you want, hunter?”
One single bead of sweat drips down over his brow.

“I just wanted to
check on you.” He doesn't mean what he says; he's not himself
right now.

“I'm fine, just a
little angry for allowing myself to be locked up by a hunter who will
likely kill me,” he says, popping his jaw.

“You don't mean
that,” I plead with him, and reach through the bars toward him.

He glares at my hand
with disdain. I'll rip that spindly little arm off if you don't get
it away from me.

I hang my head. “Okay.”

I go to my desk and do
what I always do: sit and read, record and pray.

All at once, all the
boys howl, yelp, and cry. It's not usually this intense and the sound
is deafening. They are scratching at the bars, whimpering at the
burning. They'll heal, but I hate the thought of them being hurt.

“What the hell is
going on down here?” Lili's voice comes from the stairs.

“Lili, no!”
I jump up from my desk; this can't happen.

She looks down the
corridor and sees some of the wolves and Cole in the cells. “What
the hell?”

“Lili, get out of
here now!” I run to her and push her up the stairs.

“Claire, what is
this? What's happening?” She won't move and I know we're about
to test just how strong the cages are.

A crashing sound comes
from the corridor. I look to see that Brogan has crashed through the
bars on his cell. I only closed the inner bars on the hallway, not
the blast door. If he broke through his cell, he can probably get
through the other door.

“Lili, run!”
I push her up the stairs. I can't leave Brogan, and I can't let him
get out or compromise the outer door.

Lili runs up the
stairs. I turn back and see Brogan throwing his weight against the
steel bars.

“Claire, open my
door,” Cole demands.

“No way, Cole.
One wolf is more than I want to deal with tonight.” I shake my
head and get the tranquilizer off my desk.

“Claire, do it.
He's going to get out,” he demands in a booming voice.

I walk close enough to
the bars where Brogan can hear me, speaking in a calm voice. “Brogan,
it's me, Claire. I need you to calm down.” I reach out to pat
his head to hopefully calm him, and he swats with his paw and gnashes
his teeth at me.

Dust from the concrete
in the ceiling starts to rain down my head. “Jesus.”

“Claire, now!”
Cole yells as me.

Brogan breaks out and
lunges, pushing me down; he's standing over me, growling. I jab him
with the needle and pump him full of tranquilizer. It has nearly no
effect on him.

Another crashing sound
comes from the corridor. Cole, still in human form, has ripped the
cell door off. He shifts into wolf and leaps at Brogan, pushing him
off me. They fight, ripping and tearing at one another. I'm screaming
for them to stop, but they can't hear me over the cacophony of animal
sounds.

With tears in my eyes,
I pick up my sword. I don't want to do this. “Please stop.”

Cole and Brogan
continue to fight; I try to contact my power and move Cole off of
Brogan. It finally works and I have Brogan pinned to the wall. My
other hand is pointing in Cole's direction, ready to keep him at bay
if needed.

He shifts back to human
form. “Claire, you're hurt.” Cole points to my stomach,
where my t-shirt is bloody and torn.

“I'm fine.”
I focus on Brogan. “We've got to get him into the collar and
shackles in the back cell.”

Cole goes and readies
the chains. Brogan's stiff body floats through the air as I guide him
back to where the chains are waiting. I clamp the collar on and lower
the gate to the cell.

Cole has put his pants
back on. He also has a gash across his chest. “You're not
healing.”

“I'll be fine.”
He puts his hand over his chest. “But you need to take care of
this.” He tugs at my bloodied shirt.

“Shit, Lili! I'll
be right back.” I run up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

“Claire, what the
hell is happening down there?” She stands from the couch,
shaking. She looks me up and down and her eyes stop on my shirt.
“What happened to you?”

“Listen, I need
you to calm down. Go upstairs to my room, lie down, and stay there,”
I insist.

“I want to go
home, but I don't want to leave you.” She's shaking and upset.

“No, you can't go
home right now. You have to stay here.” I just need to get back
downstairs to the boys.

“But...”

“No. Just please
do as I ask.” I try to put my influence on her again.

“Claire, you're
bleeding.” She motions to my shirt again.

“Yeah, I know.
Get upstairs and I'll be up in a while.” I
physically push her to the staircase and use my limited power of
persuasion on her.

“But you're
hurt,” she says absently.

“It's not my
blood. Now go,” I yell at her; she startles and jumps up the
stairs.

I run back down to the
basement, hoping that Cole is still in human form. He's sitting
against the wall, breathing heavily. He's bleeding a lot.

“Cole, why are
you not healing?” Panic hitches in my throat.

“I'll be fine.
Why are
you
not healing?” He pulls aside the torn part
of my t-shirt, looking at the four gashes on my stomach. “You're
going to need stitches if you don't heal soon.”

“You first.”
I place my hand above his wound and focus healing energy into him. It
slowly begins to close and the bleeding stops.

“Okay, now you.”
Cole puts his hand on my stomach; I can feel the warmth and
electricity of our power, combined. As soon as my wounds start to
close, the bleeding on his increases again.