The Children of the Moon Read online

  India looked at the other two and nodded. In unison, they snatched the clothes from their bodies in two seconds and stood in their underwear. The red dress was held at the side by a single tie which slipped off her shoulders and onto the floor and the denim skirt and blouse had a row of velcro running down the side. The baggy blouse slipped off India’s shoulders the second she moved after it was loose. Roisin and Bree were clapping their hands and Garrett and Seann were equally impressed. He picked up the shorts his sister had been wearing but they were nothing more than an unusually shaped piece of fabric.

  “The shorts were the most complicated to make but now that we have a working pattern we can churn them out and they come off with one hard tug. The buttons on the shirt are just for show and the studs go all the way up the front and across the shoulders so as soon as he tugs it will come apart. The beauty of these clothes is that even if a teen is a little late or transforms suddenly the velcro or studs will give way and the garment will fall, they may be a little dirty but they won’t be ruined.”

  “These are great, I am so impressed you have done all of this already,” Seann studied the shorts and quickly figured out how to put them back together until they resembled every other pair of cargo shorts he had seen hanging in the stores.

  “I am working on a design for jeans, a bit trickier but I have a few ideas that might work. Some of the moms that can sew are going to help and we will kit out every teen with an outfit to try it out for us, the best way to get quick feedback.”

  “I think you just may have a lucrative business on your hands,” Seann was bursting with pride. India was the designer but Imogen was the organizer and between them, they made a great team.

  He reached into his wallet and pulled out a credit card, “Buy anything you need to get started,” he handed it to Imogen but she folded her arms against her chest, he recognized the stubborn look.

  “The business can pay me back when it’s up and running. It’s because of me you no longer have a job Imogen, this is the least I can do. Besides, you will have another job being the alpha's mate, that doesn’t come without its share of problems and responsibilities.”

  Imogen took the card, “A loan is fine, but the business will pay you back.”

  “Tomorrow I would like to show you a site Garrett and I think would make a great spot to build a workshop. Do you think you will be able to get the labor you need from the pack members, otherwise we will need to build it off-site but that would mean extra security to be with you every day?”

  “I think so, I spoke to two moms today who are skilled enough to get this up and running. India and I will finish working on the patterns and they will be easy to follow. We have decided to start small with the three outfits you saw, in different colors and another three coming soon. Each month we will add another one or two until we have a decent selection to choose from. We will wait for feedback to see which is more popular. We are also going to incorporate cotton gusset linings to do away with the need for underwear and built-in support in the ladies’ garments instead of them wearing a bra.”

  India and Hope had put their clothes back on but Imogen was still standing in her bra and panties and much as he loved looking at her she was on display to Garrett too. She picked up the red dress and slipped it back on, tying it quickly and he let out the breath he had been holding, less than two more weeks to go.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Imogen

  Trying to keep anything secret from Seann was almost impossible and she hoped he sensed her excitement as getting the business up and running and not that she was sneaking out to see Kandis mom behind his back.

  It had taken a bit of maneuvering but she had managed to pop in and see Faye Scott who was shocked to see her standing on her doorstep but she had reluctantly agreed to talk to her again today when there would be fewer people around to report back to the alpha. Her husband would be at work and India was going to keep Hope and Bree busy so that she could slip out.

  Sean and Garrett had a council meeting at nine and it usually ran on until lunchtime. She still had her visit to Kandis too but she was going to do that after she spoke to her mother. No one seemed to have mentioned to Seann that she had been to visit her but she was realistic that they would sooner or later.

  Seann and Garrett went into his office but she waited around until the other council members arrived and they closed the door before she made her escape.

  India took the twins to her room to show them the new designs she had sketched, giving Imogen the chance to leave by the back door undetected and jog quickly to Faye Scott’s house a few minutes away. Roisin had gone to her own cabin after breakfast so at least she didn’t need an excuse for her.

  She was barely even out of breath when she knocked on the door and she opened it and ushered her quickly inside. Kandis favored her mother in looks but the hardness in her eyes was absent from Faye’s.

  “Can I get you some coffee?” she poured her own and held up the pot,

  “Yes please, cream and sugar.”

  She slipped off her jacket and sat on the overstuffed sofa. The fire was lit and the room was warm and cozy. It was fairly large with French doors leading out onto the woods at the back of the house and a bank of windows looking out onto the houses across the other side of the street.

  Faye put her coffee on the table and tilted the blinds to give them a little privacy before taking the chair next to the fire, cradling her cup in her hand. Imogen could feel her sorrow but she was putting on a brave front.

  “I’m sorry about Kandis,” she said softly but the other woman smiled and shook her head.

  “She is my only child and I love her dearly, but I hardly recognize her as the girl she used to be. At first, I thought it was just teenage hormones, which in a wolf shifter can be much worse than a human child. I thought I would give her time to grow out of it but she just kept getting worse. She was rude, belligerent and downright nasty to the other kids here and she was jealous of them. That part I didn’t understand, she is beautiful and smart, she has nothing to be jealous of.”

  “What happened to her Faye? You said she changed when she came back from her summer out West.”

  “She finished top of her class that year and Lachlan thought it would be nice to give her a break, do her good to spend a summer with her cousins. We always went for a month each year as a family but Lachlan had a lot on at work and we thought she was old enough to go on her own. She would be staying with family and they would pick her up at the airport. She was so excited to be going she could hardly contain herself.”

  She stopped talking and stared into the fire for a while and when she looked back at Imogen there were tears in her eyes.

  “When she came back, she wasn’t the same girl at all but refused to say anything when we asked her about her trip. Lachlan’s cousin and his family were at a loss as to what changed in her. They said the last few days she locked herself in her room and barely said goodbye when they dropped her off at the airport. At first, they thought it was because she didn’t want to go back home, that maybe she had met a boy there and wanted to stay with him but her cousins said they didn’t think that was the case.”

  “But you know something now,” Imogen probed.

  She gazed at the fire for a moment, “A few years ago, she got into an argument with her father and he said he was sending her back to his cousin to try and sort herself out and she turned deathly pale. Lachlan was so angry he didn’t notice but when he went for a run to cool off, she started crying and begged me not to send her back there. She was inconsolable and I told her I wouldn’t let her father send her there but that first she must tell me why.”

  She jumped up to refill her cup but Imogen shook her head and waited for her to continue, “She did meet someone she liked, he was a few years older than her and she had a major crush on him. He kissed her and flirted with her until she was totally smitten with him and she sneaked out one night and they went to an empty cabin on the periphery of
the compound. He lit the fire and some candles and everything was cozy and romantic. She was young and naive and thought this man really liked her but when things got too heavy and she tried to get him to stop he held her down and raped her. She was in a situation she didn’t know how to get out of, she hadn’t shifted yet, she was still just a girl.”

  “Oh Faye, that’s terrible, she was only a child!”

  “He didn’t just rape her Imogen. When he was done with her, he opened the door and invited his friends in to violate her too. The three of them took turns and stuffed something into her mouth to muffle the sounds as she was pleading with them to stop.”

  She started to cry in earnest and Imogen went to her and put her arms around her, “Faye, I am so sorry this happened to her and to you.”

  She composed herself and stood up to pace the room, Imogen took her seat again.

  “In a pack, there are always unmated wolves looking for a hookup, but instead they chose to violate a fourteen-year-old virgin.”

  “What happened to the men?”

  “Kandis never told anyone what happened. They dumped her at the end of the street and drove away but he told her if you opened her mouth he would come back for her and kill her and her entire family. She went home and showered and told her cousins she was sick and she came home a few days later, this has been a living hell for us ever since. Her father doesn’t know because he would go after him and get himself killed in the process. She was having panic attacks and her schoolwork took a nosedive and I watched my beautiful, sweet young daughter turn into a stranger.”

  “Was she afraid that her cousins wouldn’t believe her? He couldn’t harm her if everyone knew.” Imogen was appalled.

  “The other two younger men disappeared a few days after the attack and no one had heard from them since, Kandis thinks he may have killed them and she thinks it was sent as a message to her. Lachlan’s cousin is the pack alpha and he would turn over every stone to bring them to justice but there is an added complication. Her cousin Aspen has a new boyfriend and Lachlan’s cousin, Colm, thinks they will be mated before the year is out.”

  She waited on Faye finishing her story but the silence stretched on and she realized why, “No, you can’t mean him! She can’t let her cousin tie herself to a rapist, she has to tell her.”

  “He already told Aspen that he and Kandis had a ‘fling’ that summer so she is unlikely to believe her now, she will think she is jealous and Aspen is a sweet girl but she is a little naive and is also the alpha’s daughter. When they are mated, he will rule the pack with Aspen if anything happened to her father, I fear for his safety. I know I need to do something, I just don’t know what.”

  “What a mess, Faye, I am so sorry.”

  “It’s why she pinned her hopes on Seann, he is one of the very few men she trusts, she is not in love with him, she thinks he is ‘safe’, they never had a relationship, I don’t think he even likes her very much and I can see why.”

  “Why did you tell me all of this, you now Kandis will be furious, she hates me and she will be furious at you for telling me.”

  “Because you defended her and probably saved her life, she desperately needs someone on her side and I don’t know what to do any longer, I can handle her fury, it’s her sadness I can’t deal with, it breaks my heart.”

  Imogen was at a loss for words but she stood up and hugged the older woman. “I am going to go see her before I go home. She has agreed to train me so we will be spending a lot of time together. I am guessing she took up Krav Maga to be able to defend herself after everything that happened to her. My heart breaks for that little girl that was violated and for the woman she had become.”

  She slipped out the back door and glancing at her watch saw that she had enough time for a quick visit to Kandis before she had to be back at the Den. She had carried this around with her for almost a decade but it would never be resolved as long as she had no closure and there would be no closure as long as he went unpunished.

  Liam raised an eyebrow but he didn’t say anything as she went downstairs and sat on the chair in front of the cell door. Kandis had the usual sour look on her face but put the magazine aside and sat up on the bed.

  “I went to see your mother this morning.”

  “Why can’t you keep your fucking nose out of things that don’t concern you?”

  “She told me everything, Kandis, I want to help you.”

  She came up to the door and grabbed the bars, pressing her face against them, “She didn’t tell you everything because she doesn’t know everything,” her voice was low and Imogen could sense she was struggling to keep it together, “I don’t need your help and I don’t need your fucking pity Miss Goody two shoes,” she was angry, “I am not answering any questions either, it sounds like my mother gave you enough for both of us,”

  Imogen knew she would get nowhere today and stood up to leave, she could hear the door at the top of the stairs opening, Liam would be coming down.

  “I don’t pity you, Kandis, I pity the fourteen-year-old child that you were and the awful things that happened to you, but I don’t pity you. You are a strong, capable woman but you are going to allow someone you love to be mated to a monster and you won’t lift a finger to help, that makes you a coward, so no I don’t pity you.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Seann

  “Thanks, Liam,” he shut off his phone and dismissed the council, they had pretty much finished up for the day anyway, he clenched his jaw shut, trying to keep his anger in check.

  Why the fuck would Imogen be going to see Kandis and to make it even worse, she was sneaking off to do it. He went into the kitchen and caught India’s guilty look as he stared her down.

  “Where is Imogen?” he asked, curious to see if she was going to lie to him.

  “In the village,” she responded evasively.

  “Where in the village?” he put the weight of his alpha command behind his question and he saw her struggling not to blurt out what she was so desperately trying to hide. He suppressed a grin, her transition was progressing. He wondered if his commands would work on Imogen as easily as they did on her sister.

  The door opened and she came in with a cold blast of air and Garrett took India’s hand and pulled her out of the room before Seann could muster a complaint.

  She took off her jacket and smiled, planting a kiss on his lips and he had to concentrate to stop from folding under her sweet lips.

  “Why did you go to see Kandis?” he asked softly but she could detect his anger simmering below the surface and turned to face him.

  “I wanted to find out why she is so angry and mean all the time. Everyone says that she was so nice and then, bam, she was like a different person. I also went to talk to her mother, do you have a problem with that too?” she put her hands defiantly on her hips.

  “Imogen, she attacked you and Liam said she wrecked the cell after you left, I want you to stay away from her. I think this training thing is a terrible idea.”

  “I was goading her, I want her to get some of her anger out before I am opposite her in the training field and I am not staying away from her, she will be training me, you agreed Seann!”

  “I am alpha, your alpha and I can change my mind if I think it puts you in danger!” he yelled which ticked her off more than anything he could have said.

  “I am not your fucking property Seann, I am your mate but that doesn’t give you the right to boss me around. I will not stand for it, I am a grown woman and if you are looking for a yes woman who will obey you blindly then you bit the wrong fucking girl…are we clear?”

  Her eyes were glowing bright blue and his breath caught in his throat as she stood her ground with him, it should have angered him further but instead, he was so turned on he couldn’t see straight. She was a firecracker and he knew he would have his hands full but he wanted her no other way.

  He reached out and pulled her against him and when she opened her mouth to say something, he shut h
er up by kissing her, she pulled away but he held her tight and she snaked her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He was playing dirty but she couldn’t find the strength to care as he lifted her into his arms and ran upstairs with her. She was weak, all he had to do was kiss her and she fell to pieces in his hands.

  She was naked in seconds and she helped him strip too but he stilled her hands when she reached for his shorts.

  “It’s both of us or nothing Seann,” she argued but he held his ground and she knew this was a battle she wouldn’t win.

  “If I had attacked you as Kandis did, you would have been dead. I am the alpha male and carry about four times as much strength as she does, it is just too risky honey.”

  She sighed and he pulled her towards him and captured her throbbing nipple in his mouth as his thumb and forefinger played with the other one. She closed her eyes and selfishly enjoyed what he was giving her, her mind fantasizing about the things she wanted to do to him after her first change. She wrapped her legs around his back and he groaned as his arousal pressed against her bare skin.

  He grabbed her hips and ground against her and she threw back her head, her body on fire at the slightest touch from him.

  “Seann please, I need you,” she groaned as the heat in her core became too much to bear and when he curled his fingers inside her, caressing her sweet spot she unfurled and called out as her orgasm erupted. He expertly drew it out until she was replete and smiling and he gathered her into his arms and pulled her beneath him.

  “I wish I could show you all of the things I want to do to you baby, but it would be pushing the limits of my self-control.” His eyes were glowing brightly and Imogen wanted to touch him so badly. She lightly ran her finger down his hard shaft through his shorts and the guttural growl that erupted from him made her jump but he trapped her hands in his to stop her from going any further.