Turn of the Moon (A Royal Shifters novel Book 1) (23 page)

Our food was brought out and he pointed to it. “Eat first, and then I’ll tell you everything.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I sat there and glared at him, desperate for the answers. He slammed his fork down and huffed. “If you don’t eat, I won’t tell you a goddamned thing. You need your energy for the full moon.”

Kade smirked and stared at me like a ravenous beast, his gaze raw. Meeting his gaze head on, I took the first bite and then the next. I wasn’t going to back down from his stare. The only problem was, he enjoyed the challenge.

“All right, done,” I said, finishing my plate. “I need answers. How is Kade your son if you never mated?”

He wiped his mouth with his napkin and sat back in his chair. “As you can see,” he pointed to the necklace around my neck, “magic can be a powerful thing. Add its power with the power of the moon and you’re talking a magic beyond belief. My brother, Soren, was a good man on all accounts. Little did he know, we fell in love with the same girl. I loathed seeing them together—true mates.” He shook his head in disgust. “At least until one day, when Maret offered up a solution. She promised me that I could have a son with Genna, with only one little consequence.”

“What was it?”

“He would have to take the form of his brother,” Maret announced, walking into the room. I jerked my head in her direction, loathing the smug smile on her too thin face. “In order for Genna to be willing, she had to believe she was with her mate. That’s why I had Rollin take the form of Soren. The only stipulation was, it had to be done on a full moon. Those were the only nights he could spend with her.”

“She was everything I’d ever dreamed of,” he murmured.

I snorted. “And then you had her killed. What kind of love is that?”

He slammed his hand on the table. “I didn’t want her dead. She died protecting that son of hers. If it wasn’t for him, she’d still be alive.”

My blood boiled and I stood, glaring down at him. “A lot of people would still be alive if it wasn’t for you.”

He smirked and lifted his eyebrows. By the look in his eyes, he had no remorse for all the people he’d killed. He picked up his glass and I smacked it out of his hands, shattering it against the wall. Kade shot up out of his chair and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me back.

“You want to know why you weren’t Genna’s true mate?” I shouted. Rollin stood and wiped the wine from his face. “Because you’re a worthless sack of shit, a cowardly one at that. Our magic doesn’t come from being evil, it comes from being good, pure of heart. Your pack is doomed. I hope you all rot in hell.”

He stared at me for a bit, before his lips pulled back into a smile. “Son, you sure will have your hands full with this one.”

I could feel the rumble in Kade’s chest through my back. “I will enjoy taming her. It’ll be worth the fight.”

Rollin approached me slowly and grazed a finger down my cheek. I jerked away, but Kade held me in place. “Once we build up our pack with royal blood, we’ll be unstoppable. I have you to thank for that.”

Eyes wide, I froze. “What are you saying?”

He grinned at Kade and then down to me. “I’m saying that when you give me grandkids, our blood will be mixed with yours, turning us into the next royal pack. Everyone will bow down to us.”

Chuckling, Kade leaned down and whispered in my ear. “And I’ll get to fuck you anytime I want. Who knows,” he said, putting his hands on my stomach, “you might be pregnant with our child by next week.”

“
Fuck you,
” I screamed, fighting him as hard as I could. “So help me God, I’d rather die than be your whore.” Everything came crashing down on me and I snapped. I tried clawing at my neck to get the necklace off, but nothing worked. Kade attempted to contain me and we fell to the floor. I hit my head, my vision blurring. All I could feel was the pain.

“Do something,” Rollin shouted. Maret appeared above Kade, whispering words under her breath.

My body grew heavy and the darkness crept in. Kade lifted me in his arms, and I could still feel Maret’s cold hands on my face. “Now she’ll sleep. When the full moon rises, she’ll wake up and see what her heart desires. You can have her then.”

No, you won’t.

Ryker

“T
hey’re around this area,” Sebastian noted, “but I never came up this far north. Do you remember where you lived?” We drove nonstop once we got past the border into Canada on up to the Yukon Territory. The rest of the packs stayed out of range except me, Sebastian, and Micah.

I shrugged. “I have ideas, but it was a long time ago. I remember Whitehorse though. This was our city.” For the past couple days, all we’d done was split up and comb the streets to see if we could find any of the Yukon wolves. So far we’d found nothing, not even a trace.

Micah turned the corner, shaking his head when he saw us. “Anything for you guys?”

“Not a fucking thing,” I grumbled.

“How is Faith?” Sebastian asked him.

“She’s fine. She just wants us to find her sister. The sooner we do, the sooner we can reunite them.”

“But for how long? What are your plans once this is over?” I asked.

Sebastian lifted his brows. “Good question.”

Smirking, Micah leaned against the building. “I guess we’ll just have to relocate. Besides, it’s not fun living with a female. It ruins my game.”

“So you’re moving to Wyoming?” Sebastian asked.

“Looks like it, unless you have any objections.”

“Nope, I look forward to pestering your ass. It’ll get me off of Ryker’s,” he said, pointing at me.

I snorted. “Thank fucking God for that.” We stood there for a few minutes shooting the shit, and my patience ran thin. Blowing out a frustrated breath, I peered up and down the street. I had to find Bailey. “We have one more day until the full moon and he’s already had her for five. Just the thought of Kade breathing around her makes me so goddamned furious.”

“I’m in the same boat,” Sebastian agreed, his jaw tensing. “We need to figure out where those fuckheads go during the day. Surely, they have jobs somewhere in this city.”

As soon as he said it, I had an idea. “When I was younger, there was a man in our pack who owned a bar right outside of town. His name was Abel. I could always smell the liquor on him from a mile away. It was years ago, but it might still be there.”

“And you think some of the wolves will be there?” he asked.

“It’s worth a shot. Right now, we have nothing.”

“All right, let’s go,” Micah announced. We jumped in my truck and started through town. We passed the ice cream shop my mother always took me to as a boy. Even Bailey went along a few times when she was staying with us. Everywhere I turned, there was a memory. Once off the main road, the bar wasn’t far. It was a Saturday night so it didn’t surprise me to see the parking lot packed with cars.

Shutting off the truck, I lowered the windows and breathed in. Nothing. “How the hell are there not any of them around? It doesn’t make sense.”

Sebastian sighed. “Maybe they are, but just cloaked like us. You know what that’s like. The Northern pack did the same thing, even though I knew you could sense Bailey. I’m almost positive the Yukons would be protected too. They have Maret alongside them.”

He was right. When I left Wyoming to check on Bailey, I knew their homes were surrounded by some kind of magic to keep them concealed. However, I could still feel Bailey’s magic through it, calling to me. “Do you think you’d be able to recognize anyone if you saw them?” I asked.

Sitting up in the seat, he focused on the door to the bar. “I’m sure I could.”

We all stared at the door, watching people go in and out, mainly humans. Each second that passed, the angrier I became. We had run out of options. After three hours of silence, I started the truck and put it in gear. “This is fucking useless.”

Sebastian held up a hand. “Wait.” He pointed to the door where two men staggered out and got into their vehicle. “I’ve seen them before. They’re part of your old pack.”

I studied them and my memory clicked. “They’re Abel’s sons, Calum and Devlin. They were my friends growing up. I can’t sense them at all.” They were cloaked.

Micah scoffed from the backseat. “And there we have our answer. There’s no telling how many have been around.” Once they got in their car, they drove right past us. Drunk as hell, they almost hit a tree.

“Fucking morons,” I mumbled. Putting distance between us, I followed them. Their brake lights came on and then the entire car disappeared behind an invisible wall. “I think we have our location.”

“Yeah, and they would get into some serious shit if Kade and his uncle knew they gave it away. When I was with the Northern pack, we had to make sure no one was around before we could enter. Luckily, the Yukons have the village idiots to help us out.”

We drove past the entrance and kept going. “How far do you think the wall goes?” I asked.

“Maybe a half mile in all directions. You’ll be able to feel it if you get too close,” Sebastian replied. I remembered it was like an electric current jolting through your body. I was zapped a few times when I tried to get close to Bailey. “I think we have what we need,” he said. “Let’s get back to your people so we can come up with a plan of attack.”

Turning the truck around, I squeezed the steering wheel so hard, my knuckles turned white. I already had a plan . . .
kill them all.

“Have you called everyone?” Tyla asked, sitting beside me.

Keeping my gaze on the dwindling fire, I nodded my head. “They should all be here soon.”

The sun had already started to come up, which meant our time was running out. The full moon was upon us. Our camp was about fifteen miles south of the Yukon pack, just out of reach of their senses.

Seraphina joined us, along with Sebastian, Micah, and Cedric. “How are we going to get inside the wall?” Cedric asked.

Seraphina answered. “After their explanation of the shield, I’m pretty sure I can breach it long enough to send a few people through. It’s just a cloaking spell, but Maret is stronger than me. I can open it in intervals each time I regain my strength.”

I glanced up at her. “Or you can just let two of us in first.”

“And who would those two be?” Sebastian asked.

“Me and you.”

Tyla punched me in the arm. “What the hell are you thinking? That’s suicide and you know it.”

Shaking her head, Seraphina spoke up. “Actually, it might be brilliant. None of them will suspect that I’m here to lower the wall, and they certainly aren’t expecting Ryker to come in alone. If you can slip in there unnoticed, we might have a better chance. If we go in baring our teeth, Kade will take Bailey and run, or worse, kill her.”