Children of the Moon: Book Three Read online

  CHILDREN OF THE MOON

  Book Three

  Copyright © 2020

  Any unauthorized reprint or use of the material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express written permission of the author. All rights reserved.

  This is an original work of fiction and the contents are a product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to places or actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  Contains language and adult themes, suitable for 16 years+

  For Deb Bellamy,

  It takes a long time to nurture and grow good friendships

  and my “Maintenance-free” garden is rich and blooming.

  Happy birthday dear friend xx.

  CHILDREN OF THE MOON

  Book Three

  PROLOGUE

  He had been watching her carefully now for many weeks but there hadn’t been a chance to get close to her, not with all the wolves monitoring the compound and the never-ending drama that plagued this pack. It seemed to have settled down for now and he knew the times of the patrols off by heart. The guards on the gate were mainly teenagers and he had no qualms in disposing of them, but it would be simpler to sneak in unobserved.

  Getting inside the compound was easy.

  She was sitting by the fire pit with the other two women and a sleeping baby. He could smell the seasoned pine and her distinctive scent filled his head, it had tormented his soul for years.

  He barely allowed the other two a glance. He was aware they were both beautiful and on another day certainly worthy of a second glance. The redhead was fiery and her green eyes flashed when she was annoyed, her senses were sharper than average. The dark-haired one was undoubtedly the white wolf and she could run like the wind. He was surprised she hadn’t seen him coming.

  He had watched them interact with their mates, Donovan, Adair and the wolf who was constantly trying to get close to his girl, Liam McGuire.

  He would kill him first.

  He ignored the sisters and his eyes sought the third woman.

  Kandis!

  Her soft blonde hair hung down her back like spun silk and her gorgeous smile lit her whole face, he could still taste her sweet skin and he closed his eyes for a moment to savor the memory. It had been ten long years and hundreds of other blondes, but they couldn’t hold a candle to her. She filled his mind every single day and he knew he would never be satisfied with anyone else.

  She was absolute perfection and she belonged to him.

  She spun around suddenly, her eyes scanned the surrounding trees.

  He suppressed a chuckle, she was smart and she sensed someone out here.

  He had been wearing the other shifters discarded clothes for weeks now to blend their scents and his own faint smell was slowly permeating the air around them until everyone became accustomed to it.

  She wouldn’t remember his scent, she was still human back then without her wolf’s enhanced senses, but she would remember his face.

  He climbed down and took a last look at her before he walked quickly to the perimeter to slip unnoticed under the gap in the fence and down the hill to where he parked his car.

  He had waited ten long years, another few days wouldn’t kill him…

  CHAPTER ONE

  Liam

  Imogen and India met him as they were walking back toward the Den. They had the baby in the pram and Liam stopped to look at little Everly. He was clueless about babies in general but thought this one was pretty neat. She had a shock of dark hair and huge blue eyes and at only a few weeks old, already the spitting image of her mother. Just like Imogen, Everly Grace Donovan had her father, Seann wrapped around her little finger.

  India was pregnant too and she would soon join the ranks of motherhood. Garrett’s little daughter, Kali, adored India and she loved the little girl as if she were her own child. Liam was never envious of anyone, but he found himself wishing he too could join the exclusive ‘Happy Families’ club... if only Kandis would give him a chance.

  He was the first to admit he hadn’t always been her biggest fan and he was ashamed that he had always thought her vain, selfish and spoiled when in fact she had been desperately trying to protect herself after being brutalized by three wolves when she was still little more than a child.

  Liam felt a flash of pure hatred and anger so strong he had to stop and clear his mind, force himself to calm down as his shirt strained against his body's need to unleash his wolf and run.

  Dan Kellas, the man who raped her all those years ago was dead. Kandis had exacted her revenge on him months ago and his body was buried deep in the woods, he would never be found. The other two bastards who were with him had disappeared shortly after the attack and it was believed Kellas had killed them to keep them from talking.

  Kandis wasn’t even close to the same woman she had been a few months ago. She still carried around a ton of baggage, but she was working through it with the help of a great therapist who Dr. Rafe Gallagher, one of the pack's newest members, had recommended. The therapist was also a shifter so it should have been easier for Kandis to be completely truthful with her.

  The problem was that he wanted to help her, but she was keeping him at arm’s length and he was frustrated beyond belief. He ached to touch her, to hold her and he was even dreaming about her when they were apart. She had crept into every facet of his life and everyone else seemed to realize it before he did.

  He was in love with her!

  With no-one to direct his fury toward, he gave in to his instincts as his clothes shredded and he took off through the trees as if the bats of hell were on his tail. He ran the perimeter twice, allowing his wolf to completely take over until his aggression was back under control. By the time he made it back again he was calm and in control. He shifted in front of her cabin and she was sitting on the porch watching him, her beautiful face expressionless.

  Completely naked and unconcerned, he walked up the few steps toward her and she threw him a pair of shorts which he snatched out of the air with one hand. Her eyes shifted for a moment and he caught her staring before she jumped up and mumbled something incoherent, letting the screen door slam behind her.

  Liam’s heart slammed against his chest. She was just as affected by him as he was by her, she just wasn’t ready to admit it yet, not even to herself. He forced the triumphant smile from his face before he opened the door and followed her inside.

  They spent most of their time together, at work or on patrol for the pack. She was as capable and strong as any of the male fighters on his team and was now his second in command. He had been an enforcer for the last few years and command of the pack fell on his shoulders on matters of pack safety and security, or when Seann and Garrett were off-site.

  Despite his early misgivings, Seann had been right when he sent Kandis to work with him, but it was killing him to spend so much time with her and not be able to touch her. Wolves were very tactile and mated wolves would have sex multiple times each day.

  They had fallen into a pattern of eating together and she was making breakfast now. His stomach growled as the smell of bacon filled the air and running always made him super hungry. He poured them both coffee and pulled out a chair at the table, pretending to scroll through his phone as he surreptitiously watched her working at the stove.

  She was all long limbs and lean muscles and had the strength of any man, hard to believe if you didn’t know her because on the outside, she was completely feminine. Her soft blonde hair was braided and hung down past her waist and her large blue eyes were a little wary beneath her dark brows.

  He watched her move silently about the kit
chen, her denim shorts showed off her shapely legs and her white cotton blouse was tied at her small waist. Liam had to pull himself closer to the table to hide his arousal. He wanted her more than he ever remembered wanting any woman, but he knew she was skittish and he understood why. He hadn’t had sex in months now and it was beginning to show.

  She put their plates on the table and they spoke about pack business as they ate and the wariness that had crept into her eyes earlier, slowly disappeared. He needed to tread very carefully but he would need some help if he was going to win her over, he was way out of his depth with this one. She had seamlessly slotted into his life as his best friend, but he wanted, needed, so much more from her. He craved her so much it was a constant ache in his chest and his groin.

  “What do you think?” she asked, clearly waiting for an answer.

  “I’m sorry, I was miles away.”

  “What do you think about taking a trip to see the new cabin that Seann bought for the pack? It's much closer than the other one, just under two hour’s drive and it’s bigger too, three bedrooms I think and a mezzanine which he plans to turn into a bunkhouse of sorts.”

  “Sounds good, he said, “When do you want to go.”

  “I guess we will need to ask Seann when he can spare us both but it’s not too far so we could get there and back on the same day.”

  His heart sank into his stomach.

  He counted on them being able to spend the night there, giving him the perfect opportunity to test the waters to see if there was a hope in hell she would want to be with him as more than just friends.

  “I’ll ask him, I’m going up to the Den for a meeting soon,” he said and stood up from the table and turned to go before she could see how disappointed he was.

  “I promised to take Sophia into town to get a few things this morning but we should be back by lunchtime,” she called out as he opened the door to leave.

  “I will see you later then, thanks for breakfast.” he smiled and closed the door behind him. He hurried to his cabin a little further down the street to get some clothes before walking up to the Den.

  Fuck! He was going to work out a way to spend the night up there, it was the perfect opportunity and he may not get the chance again anytime soon.

  Dressed in faded jeans and a clean t-shirt he sprinted up to the Den, Seann hated to be kept waiting.

  He tried to school his features into a neutral expression but these two knew him better than his own mother.

  “Who bit you on the ass,” Seann growled as he took his seat.

  It was only the three of them this morning and he knew Seann and Garrett would tease him something rotten, but he needed their help.

  “I am going to go with Kandis to check out the new cabin, can you spare us both tomorrow?”

  “Sure, how long will you be gone?”

  “Only for the day, I wanted to spend the night up there with her, get a chance to talk without all of the constant interruptions but she shut it down before I had a chance, she wants to come back the same day.”

  Garrett and Seann both knew how much he wanted her and Garrett grinned as he glanced at Seann.

  “I think maybe you could invent some car trouble, you’re a decent mechanic, Liam. Break something, pull a plug, disconnect the battery,” he said.

  Seann shook his head and he too was smiling.

  “I will have the cleaner give the cabin a freshen up and stock the refrigerator before you get there, spend a few days up there if you want. It’s about time you two got your shit together, everyone is sick of looking at your pathetic sad face,” Seann added.

  Liam felt hope bloom in his chest. He wasn’t delighted about lying to her but hell he needed to do something. His heart was beating furiously at the thought of the two of them alone up there in the mountains and his blood pressure spiked as his brain filled with images of what that might look like. His groin tightened in anticipation and he knew he had it bad, he only hoped Kandis didn’t know shit about cars.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Kandis

  He had been in a strange mood this morning, she thought as she and little Sophia headed into town. She and Liam hung out together all the time, so she knew him pretty well, probably better than he realized. They ate together, trained together and spent their leisure time together but something was off with him today. She knew how he felt about her and she had strong feelings for him too but she was afraid she would never get over the awful things that had happened to her and she wasn’t about to saddle him with years of her emotional baggage.

  She was coming out of the darkness she had been living in for years and her therapy was helping her tremendously but what happened to her was her burden alone. She cared about him more than anyone else alive and it wouldn’t be fair. She didn’t know if she would ever trust anyone enough to have an intimate relationship and she would never expect him to live platonically, she doubted if that was even possible for a wolf.

  Sophia chatted non-stop and she smiled as she listened to her. She was a human girl who lived with her shifter sister and her boyfriend on the compound. Normally that would never have been allowed but Seann had a big heart beneath his gruff exterior and the girl would have been left all alone in the world otherwise. There were certain restrictions on her being allowed to stay and one was that she could only leave the compound with Liam or Kandis as an escort and the other was that she wore an ankle bracelet to alert the guards if she left the compound and so that they knew where she was at all times. It was for her safety as well as theirs.

  It had been turned off for their trip outside and Kandis tried to get out with her at least once a week. She was very uncomplaining for a teenager, but it must be hard for her not to have the freedom that her peers enjoyed. She was mature for sixteen, but she wouldn’t be changed until her eighteenth birthday and two years was an awfully long time to give up your freedom, especially at her age.

  “Where do you want to go first?” Kandis asked.

  “I need some toiletries and I want to buy a gift for Anjelica's birthday,” she said. She and Seann’s young cousin seemed to have hit it off and were together most of their free time. Anjelica was now working part-time shipping out the orders for ‘Wolverine’, Imogen and India’s clothing company and Sophia was working with Bethany in the pack daycare.

  “How are you managing your schoolwork? It must be hard not to go to school with the other kids each day.”

  “The work is easy enough, but yeah, I am jealous when I see them leaving the compound each morning, everyone seems to be having fun but me. I wish Seann would let me transition now.”

  “You are just a little too young Sophia, eighteen seems to be the optimum time for a bitten wolf, no one wants to keep you prisoner honey, it’s for your own good.”

  “I know,” she smiled sadly and Kandis felt a pang of pity for her young charge.

  “Why don’t we have lunch in town before we go back to the compound.” she offered and Sophia smiled.

  “Can we have pizza? Bethany hardly ever makes pizza!”

  “Sure thing.” Kandis agreed.

  She picked up a few things for herself including some new makeup. She rarely wore any, but she always wanted to look her best whenever Liam came over and it did her battered heart good to see the appreciation in his eyes, what girl didn’t like to feel beautiful now and then.

  Sophia bought Anjelica a colorful bracelet for her birthday and filled a basket with hair products, makeup and toiletries. She would have enough to last her for a year, Kandis hid a smile and picked up a few things of her own.

  They ate lunch and Kandis polished off three-quarters of the large pizza and a huge plate of fries. Sophia ate like a bird in comparison.

  “I am surprised you are still so slim,” she whispered and Kandis shook her head warning her not to say too much in front of other people.

  “I burn a huge amount of energy,” she whispered back when the waitress went back to the kitchen with their plates, “You will t
oo when it’s your turn.”

  She threw some bills on the table and they picked up their bags and left the restaurant to walk back to the car. She enjoyed her trips into town with Sophia and she realized how boring it must be for her to be trapped in the compound, not even allowed out to go to school. It wouldn’t be forever though and she thought the teenager took it all much better than she would have at that age. She had been a nightmare in her teens and must have put her parents through hell.

  “Can we pop into the bookstore before we go home? There’s a book I have been wanting to buy for ages and I think it’s out in paperback now.”

  Kandis cranked the engine and drove around to the next street and stopped right in front of the store. She unclipped her seat belt and followed Sophia into the small store. There was only one exit, so she picked up a newspaper and sat down to read while Sophia took her time choosing several other books as well as the one she had come in for.

  She joined the line to pay for them when Kandis’s cell phone rang and she stepped outside. She gestured to Sophia that she would be waiting in the car and hurried outside before she answered it. She didn’t recognize the number but that in itself wasn’t unusual.

  “Hello.”

  No-one answered and she clicked off the phone and opened the car door and put her window down. She could see Sophia at the front of the line and put on her seatbelt as she waited for her.

  Her phone rang again with the same number and she answered.

  “Hello.”

  “Hello, Kandis.”

  The voice was familiar but she had a hard time placing it when the passenger door opened and she looked up expecting Sophia and she felt the blood drain from her face as she saw the face of a man she only ever saw in her nightmares. He was wearing a woolen hat pulled down low on his forehead and over his ears, but she would have known him anywhere, even all these years later.

  She reacted but not quickly enough and felt the hard steel of the pistol jammed against her ribcage as he grabbed the hand, she tried to punch him with.