Turn of the Moon (A Royal Shifters novel Book 1) (15 page)

Bailey

“H
ow far away do you think? Four miles?” I asked, peering at Sebastian. Brows furrowed, he closed his eyes and breathed in.

“Roughly,” he replied with a nod.

Ryker put his arm around my waist, grabbing my attention. “Why don’t you stay as you are and we’ll shift? That way you can help Kami and get her out.”

“Good idea,” Sebastian agreed.

I couldn’t argue with them there. “Okay. Let’s do this.” I could always shift if I needed to, but they had a point. If I was her, I wouldn’t just trust any wolf, especially two, unmated males.

Ryker and Sebastian took off their clothes and left them on Tate’s back porch. They shifted into their wolves and we were on our way. We ran through the woods and I could smell Kami’s scent as if she was right beside me. I’d never tracked anyone before—never had the reason to. Sebastian took the lead and Ryker stayed by my side. Once Sebastian slowed his pace, I knew we were close.

Crouching down, I crept up beside him and focused on the camp in the distance. There were three tents and four wolves from what I could tell. “She’s in one of those tents,” I whispered. Sebastian nodded in agreement and padded off slowly.

Ryker nudged me with his nose.
“Stay out of sight during the fight. When all is clear, get Kami out of there. Shift if you have to.”

Grabbing a handful of his hair, I leaned into him. “I will. Be careful.”

Without wasting any time, he took off with Sebastian, their howls piercingly loud. Ryker killed one of the wolves instantly while he was still in human form, but the other three had already shifted. Masking my scent, I crept along the camp edge to the first tent. Kami wasn’t in there, she was at the far tent, but I had to get past the fighting wolves first.

Ryker attacked first and the fighting began. Their teeth ripped at each other and the smell of blood filled the air. As much as I wanted to fight, I had a job to do. However, blood wasn’t the only scent in the air. I finally reached the tent and rushed inside, only to find Kami gagged and bound, surrounded by wolfsbane. Her head jerked in my direction, tears falling down her cheeks.

Holding my breath, I rushed over and untied her, careful not to touch the plants. Grabbing her arm, I wrapped it over my shoulder and lifted her up. Her brown hair was knotted and dirty, her body covered in bruises and fucking bite marks. I growled low, wishing I could rip every single testicle off the dirtbags who did it to her. Quickly, I carried her outside and we both sucked in a huge breath of air.

“Thank you,” she gasped, “I thought I was going to die in there.”

“We need to get out of here. Can you shift?”

Her face contorted in pain when she moved. “Not yet. Once my adrenaline pumps up, I should be able to.” I could only pray that came soon. The fight was still going on, but I had to trust that Ryker and Sebastian would come out on top. Usually we could heal pretty quickly, but Kami was so weak, her body couldn’t catch up. We were almost a mile away from the fight when I got the whiff of something foul—another Yukon wolf.

“Fuck me,” I hissed.

“I’d be glad to,” a voice spoke up from behind.

Kami tensed in my arms, but I squeezed her hand and slid out from under her arm. Whispering as low as I could, I said, “I want you to get away from here as fast as you can.”

“She’s not going anywhere and neither are you. Now I have two wolf whores to fuck.” Anger boiled through my veins and I didn’t even bother masking my power. He was going to know who I was, but I didn’t care. I turned around and his eyes went wide. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

I recognized him from the day Kade came to get me. His name was Ansel, one of his friends. I shifted into my wolf and went on the attack, but he was faster than anticipated and ducked. He was bigger than me, yet I was stronger. We circled each other and I lunged, snapping at his neck; he knocked me away, right as I took a bite out of his backside. He growled and nipped my shoulder, but I tore away before he could lock down. Kami was by the trees, trying to shift. I could see the fight in her glowing gray eyes. She wanted revenge.

Ansel attacked and knocked me on the ground, the breath whooshing out of my lungs. He bit down on my shoulder and I howled, the pain radiating through every nerve in my body. I raked my claws over his face, blinding him for only a few seconds so I could get out from under him. He fell over, and then a beautiful gray wolf landed on top of him and attacked. Kami latched onto his throat and jerked as hard as she could. His blood sprayed across the ground and his eyes lost their glow.

Kami huffed and turned her back on him. Before we could take off toward the ranch, Ryker and Sebastian joined us, both smelling of the enemies’ blood. Ryker found the wound on my shoulder and growled, but it was already starting to heal. We needed to get out of there before more wolves showed up.

Tate’s wolves were all congregated in the back of his house. When they saw us, they grabbed a blanket and raced out to Kami, who collapsed onto the ground. She immediately shifted back and Tate picked her up in his arms, covering her with the blanket.

“What the fuck did they do to you?” he thundered.

“I’ll be fine.” Then she looked down at me. “Follow us inside. I’ll get you some clothes to wear.”

I was thankful, considering I ruined mine when I shifted with them on.

Ryker and Sebastian both turned and fetched their clothes from the back porch. I padded past them into the house and followed Tate and Kami into one of the back rooms. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked her.

She clutched the blanket closer. “Yes. I just need some time.” When he left, she opened the closet and pulled out an old high school T-shirt and a pair of shorts. I shifted and put them on. “I’m sorry it’s not much, but this used to be my room before I moved out on my own. The only thing left in my closet are things I wore in high school.”

I looked down at them and smiled. “No worries. I’m not picky.”

“I didn’t know you were a royal. I couldn’t tell right away when you came to save me. I already know Ryker, but the other wolf, he’s a royal too, isn’t he?”

“Sebastian? Yes. We can hide our essence from other wolves. It works well if you want to sneak up on someone.”

“It feels like I learn something new every day. I don’t know if I should bow or curtsy.”

“Neither,” I exclaimed, holding my hands up, “I’m a wolf just like you.”

“With a lot more power and royal blood,” she added.

“I didn’t know I was a royal until a couple of weeks ago, when I found out my parents were murdered. I didn’t have a fairytale life.”

She nodded, her expression sad. “I can see that. You must be the one they’re after. I heard them talking about you, how they were going to take you up north.”

I snorted. “They can try, but I’m not going anywhere. Right now, my concern is for you. What did they do to you?”

Sighing, she averted her gaze. “Things I don’t want my brother knowing. He trained me to be a fighter, but I let him down. I couldn’t fight against them.”

“That’s not your fault, Kami. There were four of them and one of you.
They
were the cowards. They were the ones who had to use wolfsbane against you. You’re a survivor.”

Tears fell down her cheeks. “But they touched me, humiliated me. Their bite marks are all over my skin.”

I put my arm around her. “They will heal. The dipshits who did this to you are dead.” I paused for a moment. “Did they . . . rape you?”

She glanced up at me. “No, they didn’t. With it being so close to the full moon, none of them wanted to chance it. I can’t imagine being mated to one of them.”

“But you’re not of age. The magic of the moon wouldn’t have worked.”

“That’s why I told them I was twenty-three.” She smirked.

“Smart girl. I was almost forced to mate with their pack leader. I don’t know what I would’ve done if that had happened.”

A knock sounded on the door and Ryker’s voice echoed from the other side. “Bailey, can you come out here for a minute?”

“I’ll be right there.” I squeezed Kami’s shoulder and stood. “You sure you’re gonna be okay?”

She nodded her head, determination in her gaze. “Of course I’ll pull through. I’m more amazed than anything. You came out here and risked your life to save me. I’m worth nothing compared to you, and I am grateful.”

“Every life is important and worth just as much as the other. What kind of person would I be if I didn’t clean up after my own mess? Your life was in danger because of me and I sure as hell wasn’t going to leave you to the wolves.”

“What are you going to do to the others tonight when they come?”

“After what they did to you, there’s only one thing we can do. Kill them.”

Night had come and I was ready to face the others. Tate had called the Yukon pack and let them know where we were.

“What if this is only the beginning?” I asked.

Ryker sighed, his focus on the woods beyond. “Then we’ll keep fighting. You’re my mate and I will protect you until my last breath.”

The back door opened and Sebastian sauntered out. “That’s good. It takes the pressure off of my job.”

“No one said you had to keep protecting her,” Ryker challenged.

“No, but I’ll stay by her side until she tells me to leave.” He took the seat beside me and lifted my sleeve. “Wow, you’re already healed. That’s amazing.”

I looked at him and smiled. “The joys of finding your mate.”

He rolled his shoulder and hissed. “Maybe I should find mine. My shoulder would feel a lot better if I did.”

“You don’t have to be my protector anymore, Sebastian. I release you of those duties. You’ve spent your whole life protecting me. It’s time you went out and did something on your own. Maybe even find your mate.”

“You could try a dating site,” Ryker teased.

Smirking, Sebastian leaned forward. “I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten more play than you, my friend. I don’t need any help. Besides, I kind of like giving you a hard time. I think I’ll stick around for a while. That is, if you’ll still have me?” he asked, turning to me and grinning wide.

Rolling my eyes, I sat back in my chair. “Is it always going to be like this with you two?”

“Worse if I didn’t have you,” Ryker replied. “Two unmated, alpha males constantly together isn’t a good thing for anyone.”

I glanced over at Sebastian who smiled, blinking innocently. “Still want me to join your pack?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I’m probably going to have to rethink my decision.” I elbowed him in the arm and smiled. It didn’t last long because coming from the west side of the woods, a group of wolves approached.

Tate came outside, his body tense, eyes focused on the land. “It’s time.”

Everyone started for the woods, but Ryker stood back and took my hand. “When the fighting starts, stay as far back as you can. They’ll be gunning for you.”

“I know. I’ll be okay, I promise.” We caught up with the other wolves just in time to see the Yukon pack filing in. There were twelve of them and only eight of us. “We’re outnumbered.”

Ryker leaned in to me. “Yeah, but we have four alphas. We can beat them.”

We could, but not without casualties.

“Where is she?” a voice demanded. Immediately, I recognized his voice and gasped. Sebastian glanced back at me, his expression torn. It wasn’t just any wolf, it was Darius Whitehill, the father I had known for most of my life. What the hell was he doing leading the Yukon wolves? “Come forward, Bailey. It’s time to go home.”