The Children of the Moon Read online

  Garrett looked like hell. He was the pack beta and had been Sean’s best friend since they could barely walk. Going by the growth on his face and the crumpled jeans and shirt, he hadn’t slept in days.

  “How is she,” he barely whispered, gesturing to the sleeping form on the bed, knowing that Garrett would still hear him clearly.

  “Her fever spiked last night but she has been awake on and off since then, she is definitely in transition and has been trying to talk but can’t seem to get the words out.”

  “Go get cleaned up Garrett, you don’t want to scare her if she wakes up and sees you staring at her,” he smiled but Garrett knew an order when he heard it, “Send one of my sisters to sit with her, she won’t be alone.”

  Left alone with the girl he took a closer look. Now that the blood had been cleaned off and the gash on her face had healed, he could see her properly. She was pretty with long, dark red hair and he wondered if it was natural, it would determine the color of her fur when she fully transitioned in a few weeks’ time.

  He stood up and rubbed his hands over the stubble on his face. He needed to tell her what had happened to her and what she was about to become and hoped she would embrace it after the shock wore off because the alternative wasn’t something he could accept. He wondered if she had a family, someone who would miss her when she dropped off their radar, it was safer that way. The other girl too, his mate! He winced at the enormity of what he had done.

  For years his sisters had been trying to fix him up with anyone they thought suitable to be the mate of their pack alpha but he barely showed more than a passing interest in anyone, except when he was horny and he preferred the company of humans, strangers who would forget about him when he moved on. There were single women in the pack who he had slept with too, but it became apparent they were all hoping for the same thing, that he would choose them to be his mate. It was in their nature and he didn’t blame them, but he also hated disappointing them.

  Hope slipped quietly into the room and squeezed his arm before taking a seat on the bed. She touched the girl’s face and she opened her eyes for a moment, but they were unfocused and she drifted off again.

  “Her name is India, India Rose. Liam found her purse in her car with her driver’s license in it,” she said handing it over to him, “The car has also been disposed of in case anyone is snooping around looking for her.”

  “What about the other one,” he asked and Hope turned her gaze to his.

  “Your mate, Seann,” she teased.

  He growled and she just smirked some more, completely unfazed that she was disrespecting her alpha, she knew how to push his buttons.

  “Liam has gone out with a couple of the others to retrieve her car too, hopefully, we will have some identification for her as well. Two in the space of two days, Seann, this mutt needs to be stopped. It won’t be long before he goes into town looking for more victims now that he has a taste for human blood.”

  “I know,” he said sadly. “It’s been a very long time since we had a rogue wolf and there is only one cure, we have to kill it.”

  Hope nodded in agreement.

  “Go sit with her, I will alert you when India wakes up,” she said.

  “I suspect Garrett will be back here very soon anyway, he has barely left her side, I think he may be smitten,” Seann smiled.

  “At least he didn’t mark her,” she rolled her eyes and he left before he was tempted to throttle his sister.

  The girl was sleeping in his bed and Bree was still with her. He should have put her in another of the guest rooms, but it was too late for that now. Bree had finished cleaning her up and when he sat down and studied her face, she looked vaguely familiar. He must have seen her on one of his infrequent visits into town for supplies, maybe she worked in one of the stores.

  The townsfolk knew about their compound, but the pack kept to themselves and didn’t cause any trouble so for the most part they were left alone. They probably assumed they were some sort of religious group but that didn’t matter either, as long as they were ignorant of the truth. Their kids were homeschooled until high school age when they could be trusted to keep quiet about what they really were and then many of them went to the local high school. Their speed and agility made them good picks for the football and baseball teams which gave them certain popularity that the strangeness of their living conditions didn’t. He had heard people call them a cult, but he didn’t care as long as they kept their distance but if humans were disappearing however, he knew the police would come knocking on their door eventually.

  Aware that his sister was watching him closely, he kept his expression neutral.

  “Could you bring me some coffee Bree, I need to try and stay awake,” he asked her and she bounced off the bed and went downstairs to do his bidding.

  He smoothed his hand over the girls face, her injuries were already healed apart from the one on her shoulder blade where he marked her as his. That would never completely heal, it would fade to pale pink, but it could only be removed if another wolf replaced it with his own bite and took his place. That would only happen if their mating was never consummated or if he died.

  The involuntary growl rumbling up from his belly surprised him and he recognized it as jealousy. The thought of another wolf replacing him as her mate tasted like ashes in his mouth, god he was in trouble.

  Her long dark hair was a stark contrast to the white pillow she was lying on but even as pale as she was Seann admitted to himself that she was stunning. She had full lips and her dark brows were a perfect arch above the thick, dark lashes resting on her cheeks as she slept. He wondered what color her eyes would be, dark chocolate brown maybe, he hadn’t been able to see properly before in the semi-darkness and she had her eyes half-closed. It didn’t matter, she was beautiful anyway, regardless of their shade.

  He leaned in closer and sniffed, committing her intoxicating scent to memory just as Bree came back into his room with his coffee and a pastry.

  “You need to eat something too, Seann,” she handed him the cup and plate and left him alone with her again.

  “Thank you,” he said, knowing she would still hear him before the door closed properly. He sipped the strong brew and ate the pastry without really tasting it.

  She mumbled something in her sleep, her face creasing anxiously. Seann sat down on the bed took her hand and shushed her like a child. She was dreaming and he guessed it wasn’t pleasant by the anxious scent she was emitting. He lay down beside her and pulled her against him, soothing her until her face relaxed and she was still once more.

  He was bone tired and needed to nap for just a few minutes to regain his strength. Closing his eyes, he kept an arm around the girl, not wanting to disturb her.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Imogen

  She was running for her life, the black wolf was chasing her and she had no way to outrun him and nowhere to hide. She stopped in the clearing and turned to face the beast if it was going to kill her, she wanted to see it coming. In a last-ditch effort, she cried out for help but there was no one there, only the pack of wolves that had come through the trees and surrounded her. They circled around and the black one made a lunge for her but the large brown wolf snarled and attacked him, catching him by the neck and overpowering him. She cried out and the black wolf used the distraction to escape and ran off into the trees.

  The brown wolf came back and crouched down in front of her until its huge head was level with hers and nuzzled her. She closed her eyes and stroked her hand over the soft brown fur on his head and she felt the vibration as he softly growled in pleasure. She tangled her fingers in his shaggy fur and leaned her forehead on his. She was safe with him, she could sense it.

  She slowly became aware that she had been dreaming and opened her eyes a fraction. The room was dimly lit but she could tell she wasn’t in her own bedroom. The arm around her was warm and comforting and the scent was pleasant and seemed familiar.

  “India,” she tried to
say but she only croaked an unintelligible sound from her dry throat,

  “Shush, you’re alright,” the arm around her tightened and held her.

  Her brain was trying desperately to make sense of this. The voice belonged to a man but she didn’t recognize it. She was shifted into a semi-sitting position and felt the cool glass on her lips. Water, she took a few sips to soothe her parched throat and lay back against the pillow as her head spun making her feel nauseous.

  “Where am I?” She tried to speak again and this time it was a little clearer.

  “You’re safe, you need to rest and build up your strength, we can talk later,” the voice said. Imogen liked the warm rich timbre; it was deep and soothing.

  “Who are you?” She asked him turning her head to get a better look.

  “Seann, Seann Donovan,” he said, “Can you tell me your name?”

  “Imogen,” she blinked a few times, trying to clear the mistiness from her eyes, “What am I doing here?”

  “Do you remember what happened in the woods?” He asked instead and gave her another drink of water. She drank half of the glass and handed it back to him.

  She closed her eyes again as the memories came flooding back.

  “The wolves, I was attacked by wolves!” She cried out and he rocked her as he pulled her into his broad chest.

  “You were attacked by a black wolf, the others were trying to protect you,” he soothed her but she pushed away from him and her hand flew to her collar bone and she felt the partially healed scar,

  “No, the black one hurt me, I had blood pouring from my head, I think he wanted to kill me but the brown one, a large brown wolf bit me on the neck, look at the mark.”

  She turned to face him and saw him properly for the first time.

  Damn, he was gorgeous! His messy collar-length hair and unusual amber-colored eyes caught her attention first, but she couldn’t stop her eyes straying to the broad muscled chest beneath the white t-shirt. Imogen met his gaze and her heart squeezed painfully in her chest, she felt a strange affinity with him, but that was ridiculous, she didn’t even know him.

  “You saved me,” she stated, and she wondered how she knew that and why he winced before he answered.

  “In a manner of speaking.”

  ‘Thank you, but I need to go. I need to find my sister,” she started to get up but the room moved and she was forced to lie back and count to ten until the dizziness stopped again.

  “You need to eat and drink something, it will make you feel better and then we can talk some more.” He sent his sister a text and cradled her into his side once more.

  She had a sister, he would ask about her parents later but it would be some time before she could have any contact with her family again she would need to learn to control her changes first, sometimes it was best to cut the ties permanently.

  Eventually, people would wonder why she wasn’t aging as fast as she should be. The few people he knew in town thought that he was Seann Donovan's son and he let them believe it because he wouldn’t be able to explain how he was almost sixty years old and barely looked half that age. In another ten years or so they would move up to their mountain home for a few decades and come back when the people in town would no longer remember them and pretend to be the next generation. It had worked for a hundred years and if they were careful it could work for a hundred more.

  Her head was tucked into his neck and he breathed in Imogen’s scent. His heart raced a little faster as his wolf recognized her and he felt him squirm inside him, he wasn’t looking forward to telling her the rest, especially the part about them being mated.

  The door opened and a young woman about her age came in balancing a tray with bread and soup on it and a glass of orange juice. She put the tray on Imogen’s lap and smiled. Her cropped dark hair and beautiful dainty features reminded Imogen of a mischievous pixie. She was lovely.

  “I’m Hope,” she said then turned and leaned over and kissed Seann on the cheek and Imogen clenched her jaw as the growl erupted from the depths of her belly and her anger flared. She covered her mouth in shock but Hope just grinned and gave Seann a pointed look that had her emit another growl, what the hell!

  “This is my sister,” he explained quickly, and she felt the rage that had risen inside her calm down as she no longer perceived the other woman as a threat. A threat to what, she asked herself! He didn’t belong to her; she didn’t even know him for god’s sake. She must have hit her head harder than she thought she did.

  “I have a twin sister, Bree, but you will tell us apart easily, she had purple hair, at least for now,” Hope said before bouncing out of the room, grinning like she had a huge secret that everyone was privy to but Imogen.

  Despite wanting to get out of this bed the smell of the soup was too tempting to resist, and she ate it all and the four chunky slices of bread that went with it.

  “Do you want some more,” he asked as she polished off the last crumb.

  Imogen wasn’t full but she shook her head. She was feeling better by the minute and needed to get out of here and find her sister. It occurred to her that she didn’t even know how long she had been here and India could be back home already wondering where she was.

  “How long have I been here,” she turned back to find Seann watching her carefully.

  “A little over three days,” he said.

  “I need to get out of here,” she threw back the covers and then pulled them up again when she saw she was only wearing underwear. The tank top covering her top wasn’t hers and was a little snug, she guessed it belonged to Hope. “I need to find my sister.” She turned her pleading eyes on him, and she saw something close to pity in his eyes.

  “You can’t go home, not yet,” he said.

  “I feel better already,” she argued.

  “You still can’t go home, Imogen, there are things you don’t know about, it would be dangerous for you.”

  “You don’t understand, Seann. My sister went missing, the day before you found me, I was in the woods looking for her when the wolves attacked me.” She was anxious now that India was at the forefront of her mind again. “She is all I have, I need to find her,” she added softly.

  “Why were you looking in the woods, where are your parents?” He asked, handing her a pair of pajama bottoms that she shimmied into. They only reached her calf and she guessed these too belonged to Hope.

  “My parents died a few years ago, there’s just the two of us now,” she said.

  “Why were you in the woods looking for her?” He repeated.

  She took a deep breath and turned to face him.

  “For a long time, my sister has been obsessed with finding a man she saw years ago. On my twelfth birthday we went camping with our parents, around the area you found me, and she swore blind she saw this man change into a wolf right before her eyes and has been trying to find him ever since. I knew she was searching but she promised me she would never go there on her own, but I guess she lied. She told a friend she was going to look for him again and I haven’t seen her since,” she held his gaze, expecting to see ridicule but there was none, instead, he looked shocked.

  “Imogen, what’s your sister’s name?” He asked slowly.

  “India, her name is India,” she said sadly.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Seann

  He opened the door and yelled for his sisters, “Hope, Bree, come up here, now!”

  He turned back to her, “I will be back in a minute, I swear,” he said and closed the door behind him.

  He heard their footsteps running upstairs and when his sisters came down the corridor towards his room, he went to meet them,

  “Is India awake yet,” he whispered so that Imogen wouldn't overhear.

  “Yes, she has eaten, showered and is looking for some answers, she is recovering quite well,” Bree said.

  “They are sisters,'' he gestured to the closed bedroom door, “Imogen and India are sisters.”

  The girls looked a
t each other in surprise and Bree said, “This will be hard on their parents if both of them go missing.”

  “They only have each other, their parents are dead,” he answered.

  “Then maybe it’s a blessing,” Hope added,

  “Bring India upstairs, Imogen will be more receptive if she knows her sister is safe,” Seann said but Bree laughed.

  “Yeah, you wish, brother. She will skin you alive when she finds out you marked her without her consent.”

  He ignored her and went back to his bedroom. He stood outside the door for a moment to get his head together before going in.

  She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her color was coming back to her face but she had a way to go before she would be fully healed. He knew he should tell her everything as soon as he could but he wanted to rid her of the anxiety over her sister first, then he would need to explain to both of them that they had been bitten to save their lives and that life as they knew it would never be the same again.

  It was hard to concentrate when she turned her gaze on him, her eyes were a startling cornflower blue, he had expected them to be dark with her hair coloring, but they were bright, alert and stunning, like the rest of her.

  It would be a tremendous shock for anyone, but he was confident that being as close to immortality as you could get might be a bonus for them, as would the increased strength, agility and enhanced senses they would develop. Having no family to speak of was a definite advantage but they would need to leave their old lives behind and start a new one with the pack.

  He would keep the last part to himself until it was absolutely necessary, Imogen didn’t need to know about the mating thing for now.

  Coward!

  He heard their laughter and he would never tell them for fear of their heads swelling but he really did appreciate everything his sisters did on his behalf. They had looked after his mate and her sister and would accept them with open arms into the pack, not everyone would be as welcoming, one person in particular he could think of.