Moon Crossed (Werewolf Hunter Series): Season 1 (Episodes 1-6) (Crescent Hunter) (19 page)

“I saw that.”
She mocks me as I descend the stairs.

“Saw what?”

“The way you
stiffened when I asked about him. You
like
him.”

“I like them all,
Lili.” I don't give her any more than that.

As
soon as I reach the bottom of the stairs, I see that Locke is in
human form. He's on the bed giving Cole a hard stare, never taking
his eyes off of Cole. “Good morning, sunshine.” I try to
break the tension.

“Morning,”
he says stiffly.

“Are you feeling
okay?” I ask him.

“We'll talk.”
He diverts his gaze to me momentarily. “Why is his cell open?”

“Because he
ripped the door off saving me from Brogan.” I tilt my chin
upward as a show of strength. The wolf is strong after a night like
this; for the next few days, they'll all walk around with their
chests puffed out. I swear, if they ever actually start marking
inside the house, I'll cut them.

I open the emergency
door, then the main gate to the corridor, and head straight for
Brogan. He's still chained to the wall, and still in wolf form. Cole
is close behind me.

“Hey, Claire, can
you let me out, please?” Locke calls out to me.

I turn to Cole. “Can
you please open everyone's doors?”

“I'd rather be
here with you when it opens. If he's not right yet, those chains may
not hold him.” He ticks his head toward Brogan.

I give him a look.
“I'll be fine.”

“I don't doubt
you, but I'd rather be sure.” He gazes at me protectively, and
it just about melts me where I'm standing.

There's something in me
that just can't give in. So I brush past him to open the door myself.
Most of the boys are asleep in human form. Locke comes out and
immediately is by my side. He notes the chains on Brogan. “Rough
night for him?”

“You could say
that.” I lift my brow.

I walk in and kneel
down next to Brogan. I lift his head onto my lap and gently stroke
him behind the ears. He begins to stir. Cole and Locke are both on
edge. “He's going to be fine,” I reassure them.

“He hasn't
shifted back yet.” Cole's words are laced with warning.

“It's still
early,” I snap.

“What happened?”
Locke asks.

“Lili.” I
look up at Locke. I know he's going to be pissed about it, but
there's nothing we can do at this point.

“Did he...”
Locke's eyes are wide with concern.

“No.” I
don't want to tell him that he attacked me. That's going to cause the
kind of trouble that we don't need right now. “Lili's fine, but
she came down here and he lost it. Cole helped me get him under
control.”

Locke gives me a
questioning look. “You needed help with Brogan?”

“He caught me off
guard,” I defend.

“That's not like
you, Claire. What's going on?” He gives Cole a look.

“We'll talk
later; I want to focus on him.” I nod down to Brogan. He's
panting and restless. “Let's get him some water.”

Locke and Cole both
fold their arms across their chests. “Jesus.” The
frustration comes out in my tone. “Rabbit?”

“What do you
need?” He appears behind Locke and Cole.

“Can you get me
some water for him, please?”

“Sure can.”
He leaves to get the water.

“You know you two
are ridiculous.” I shake my head.

“We just want to
make sure everything is okay.” Cole defends his stances.

“Yeah, me too.”
I shake my head.

Rabbit gets back with
the water and I urge Brogan to drink. I continue to stroke his head
lovingly. The tension in the room rises as all of the boys gather
around. We're all waiting for the same thing, for Brogan to shift.

Everyone is worried
about him; we all know the ramifications if he doesn't shift back
soon. It will mean that I will have to add another crescent to my
wrist. I've had to kill wolves that I've known before, but never one
of my boys. My heart is breaking into a million pieces at the thought
of having to put him down. Trying to be strong for everyone else
right now is hard. I want to cry, scream, beg to whatever gods there
may be that he shifts. But I can't do any of that right now, because
my boys need me to be strong. They shouldn't see my struggle. I never
want them to feel guilty about our family and the choices I've made.

No one more than me
knows that my way of life, and choosing to live among wolves, has a
cost. My father always told me - ingrained it in me - that I must not
be a wolf. I'm sorry, Da. I'm a wolf. I love them all because I was
meant to.

The tension in the room
is coming to a crescendo, with everyone standing around just watching
Brogan. If he goes feral on me, then I have no choice but to put him
down. I look down to be sure that I have my dagger if I need it. And
if I do, I don't want any of them to bear witness to it. I will make
it as swift and painless as I can, but nonetheless I don't want any
of them to watch.

“Hey, guys, why
don't you get cleaned up? Y'all smell like a bunch of sweaty dogs.”
Levity is always my go-to in difficult situations. It's terrible; I
still can't help myself from giggling at funerals.

They all stare at me.
Locke pulls his lips to the side. “We're not leaving you right
now. If he goes feral, we don't want you to get hurt.”

“I've got this.
You guys go ahead. I insist.” I give Locke a knowing look and
contact him telepathically.
Locke, please, if I have to put him
down, I don't want any of you to see it.

But if he goes
feral, he could hurt you. We all know what you may have to do and
we're here for you
, he answers.

No, please, I'm
begging you to get them out of here.
I plead with my eyes.

We exchange a series of
looks, until he blows out a frustrated breath. “Okay, guys,
let's go get cleaned up.”

They all look from me
to Locke, and Rabbit chimes in with understanding. “Yeah, I'm
going to take a nap, then shower. Let's go.” He tugs at Tor's
arm.

Reluctantly, they all
shuffle toward the stairs with the exception of Cole. Locke looks at
me, then Cole. “Hey, man, you wanna clean up and head out?”

Trevor stops at the
door. “Come on, Cole.”

“No, I'm gonna
hang back. I think one of us needs to be here if there's a problem.”
Cole folds his arms across his chest to set his stance.

“Then I'll stay.”
Trevor comes back down the hallway.

“No, both of you
are going,” I insist. Brogan stirs, then rests his head back in
my lap.

“You shouldn't be
alone with him,” Cole protests.

“It's not going
to be you that stays with her.” Trevor sets his jaw and Brogan
growls.

“That's it. You
guys aren't making this any easier. Everyone out.” I wave my
hand, using as much control as possible, pushing them gently down the
hall toward the stairs with my magic. “I said everyone out.”

“Claire–”
Trevor's tone is laced with warning.

Cole looks at me with
worried eyes. The concern is sweet, but I need this time with Brogan
to be quiet and peaceful. Especially since I may have to do the
unthinkable.

“I'll be fine.
Come back and check on me, but please get some rest, and for the love
of God get a shower.” I was speaking to all of them.

They posture at the
bottom of the stairs for a moment to see who will lose by going up
the stairs first. Locke rolls his eyes and pushes Trevor up the
steps.

Thank you,
I
call out to Locke; he nods.

Brogan hasn't made the
shift yet. It's been three hours and I'm getting very concerned. I'm
not sure exactly why he wouldn't have. My thoughts go to the
possibility that it was my potion, which gives me hope that he will
shift.

No one has come to
check on me, which is odd. There's a good possibility that has
something to do with Cole. I feel his presence, and wouldn't be
surprised if he's sitting at the top of the steps.

“Come on, Brogan,
please come back to us,” I whisper in his ear while scratching
his belly. I'm not exactly sure why this is acceptable when he's in
wolf form; I would never do this when he was human. Laughter bubbles
up from my belly as I visualize doing that.

Brogan stirs and lifts
his head off my lap. He stands, and is eye to eye with me. “Brogan?”
I'm in a very bad position of weakness right now. My whole body
tenses, and I slide backward against the wall and push myself up into
a standing position.

Brogan stretches his
head upward like he's about to howl. I want to draw my dagger to be
ready.

Tears blur my vision.
“Please, Brogan, please shift.”

Movement in the
corridor catches my eye. I don't have to look; I know that it's Cole.
I can't afford to take my eyes off Brogan, who has assumed a sitting
position. His body begins to jolt and shake like he's having a
seizure. I drop to my knees to try to still him. His fur begins to
shorten and human flesh appears in patches. This is not a typical
shift. It's slow and looks painful. His seizing is getting worse, and
I can't hold him still.

“Cole, I need
you,” I call out.

He comes to the door
and is shocked seeing Brogan looking so broken. “Jesus.”

“Yeah, help me
hold him.” It's hard to figure out where to touch him, to give
him some sort of comfort.

Cole kneels on the
floor and uses his weight to hold him down without hurting him.
Brogan writhes and howls for ten minutes. His howls turn to screams.
Human screams of pain.

“Brogan!”
Tears are flooding my eyes. I can see that he's finally turned, but
he's in a lot of pain. “Hold him,” I tell Cole, and go to
my cabinet to get a sedative. It's all I can think to do to stop the
pain. I don't want him to shift back to cope with it.

Ten seconds after I
give him the shot, his screams quiet. He's covered in sweat and is
shivering. I throw a blanket on him. “Can you get him to the
cot?”

Cole lifts him onto the
bed, and I kneel down beside him. He's still conscious, but groggy.
“Brogan? What's happening?”

“Couldn't
shift...but shifted now.” His words are labored.

“Yes, you did.
Thank you.” Tears are still falling, but now they are tears of
joy.

“You stayed with
me,” he slurs.

“Of course I
did.” I smile and push the hair out of his face.

“Thank–”
He doesn't finish before falling asleep.

I lean my head back on
the wall and blow out a breath in relief. I try to run my fingers
through my hair, but it's too tangled. Cole sits on the floor beside
me, resting his hand on my shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

“I am now.”
I look directly at him, trying hard to stay strong, but I just want
to break down.

He slides his arm
around me and pulls me in close. Even though he hasn't showered, his
scent stirs a feeling of comfort in me that is indescribable. His
touch is like a salve on a festering burn. I nuzzle into him and feel
the exhaustion taking over. My eyes get heavy.

“Hey, you need to
get some rest.” He rattles my shoulder.

“I'm going to.”

“Let me take you
upstairs.” He starts to get up.

“No, I would be
more comfortable staying with him. I don't know when he's going to
wake up or if he's going to continue to be in pain,” I explain.

“We'll get one of
the guys to take care of him,” he offers.

“Okay.” I
get to my feet and find that I'm not as steady as I thought I would
be. Cole catches me.

“Whoa, you got
it?” He holds on to me.

“Yeah, just got
up too fast.” I feel the urge to pull away from him. Like I
don't want to be near him right now. I move down the corridor and up
the stairs, staying ahead of him.

Trevor and Locke are
sitting in the parlor. Locke stands and has an expectant look on his
face.

“He shifted.”
I press a tight smile.

“Oh, thank God.”
Locke widens his eyes and blows out a relieved breath, hugging me.