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Blood Moon
by Lisa Kessler

Copyright © 2014 by Lisa Kessler. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

Prologue

From the Journal of Dr. M. Granger – Journal Entry 522

Today during General Miller Sloan’s debriefing, he revealed that a female human subject was bitten by the last surviving member of the second Lycan Green Beret Squad. The general reported the female survived the initial attack, and we have confirmed through outside sources that she displays psychic abilities and subsequently survived the conversion.

According to our primary research, a human mind cannot metabolize the sudden adrenal gland stimulation. Yet this woman is still alive. I am anxious to run thorough tests on the subject before her inevitable demise. The research could prove to be priceless to our mission.

Unfortunately, the female subject is under the protection of a werewolf Pack in Reno. Delivering her to our research center is currently impossible without attracting police attention. In order to study the effects of the altered werewolf DNA, I will be traveling to Reno, Nevada, to “assist” in her treatment. Nero is arranging the details with the general’s assistance.

Project Moonlight is alive once more.

Chapter One

Nadya

“How come I don’t feel anything yet?” I held my hand up toward the moon, waiting for the silver light to work its magic.

I’d been sedated after I was bitten, my blood infected with mutated werewolf DNA. Jason hoped that by keeping me unconscious, I could avoid the change during my first full moon, buying him a little more time to find a cure. For just over a month now, I’d been struggling with coming to terms with my fate. I went from being curled into a ball of self-pity, to gradually realizing that if I couldn’t change it, I’d do my best to embrace it. I could wallow in terror and be a victim, or I could do my best to really live with whatever time I had left.

I chose to live.

The closer we got to the full moon, the more my anticipation grew.

How many people would ever experience becoming a wolf? I could worry about the consequences later.

“You will,” Jason replied, but he gave off waves of concern. In fact, almost all the Pack members present were full of worry, tense and uncertain.

I sighed and dropped my hand to my side. “Why don’t you guys go on ahead? You’re making me nervous.”

Jason shook his head. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Let’s be honest. If something goes wrong, you don’t know how to help me, anyway.” Hearing me say the words out loud would ruffle Jason, but it was true. Even though he was the Pack’s doctor, no one knew how my body would react to the change since I’d been bitten by a genetically mutated werewolf.

My throat started to burn. Was I finally shifting? “Please go. I don’t want to do this with an audience.”

Jason ground his teeth together and looked over at Adam, the Pack’s Alpha. “You take the Pack. I’ll stay with her.”

“No.” I shook my head and stared at each handsome male until my gaze locked onto a pair of dark eyes set in a chiseled emotionless face. Perfect. “Gareth. He can stay with me and signal you if I have any trouble.”

I’ve been able to sense and experience others’ emotions since childhood, my “gift” as my mother called it. After years of practice, hiding my reactions to the emotions of other people around me usually came as second nature. But I almost laughed when waves of surprise and shock slammed into me from Jason and the rest of the Pack.

“Is there a problem?” I did my best to keep my expression neutral.

Jason opened his mouth to say something a couple of times before he gestured in Gareth’s direction. “Yes, there’s a problem. I’m the doctor in this Pack.”

Gareth walked toward Jason and crossed his arms. “You don’t think I’m capable of letting you know if she sprouts two heads?”

Jason straightened, the heat of his aggression prickling along my skin. At least it took his mind off being concerned about me dying during my first full moon.

“It’s not that simple.” Jason’s voice was low and menacing, not like the quick-thinking doctor I’d spent time with over the past few weeks. “We don’t know how Fonthill’s bite will affect her. She could suffer a brain hemorrhage or an outburst of paranoia. I’m pretty sure you’re not equipped to handle that.”

“Give me a little credit.” Gareth’s jaw twitched as he clenched his hands into fists. “You’d be surprised what I can handle.”

“All right, stop it.” I winced as an invisible vise tightened on my head. “If I do have some strange reaction, we don’t even know if you can treat it with medicine. If this is going to be my one and only shift, I don’t want to do it with a bunch of guys who are so worried about me that I can’t tune their emotions out. Is that too much to ask?”

“Sorry.” Jason met my eyes. “I was just… Why him?”

“Why not? Are you surprised I chose the only one of you that isn’t part of a matched set?” Until Lana and Adam’s twins were born, all werewolves had been born as male twins. Lana being the first female-born jaguar shifter seemed to change all the rules. Either way, I guess I’d been so wrapped up in dealing with my new…situation, that I hadn’t given it much thought. What had happened to Gareth’s twin?

Adam stepped up beside me, interrupting my thoughts. “Your sister will kill us all, literally, if anything happens to you.”

“I know…but standing around watching me isn’t going to keep me safe, either. Go do your wolf thing.” I lifted my head a little, hoping they wouldn’t notice my knees were starting to tremble.

Something was happening to me.

After a tense moment, Adam scanned the rest of the Pack.

“Go ahead to the lake. I’ll be right behind you.” He turned to Gareth, clasping his forearms in the traditional greeting of the Pack. “If there’s any sign of trouble, howl, and we’ll haul our asses back here in a heartbeat.”

Gareth nodded. Adam walked over and pulled me into a hug. I closed my eyes, grateful for the comfort. He and his twin, Aren, were quickly becoming the big brothers I’d never had. He whispered against my ear, “It hurts like hell, but there’s no better rush on earth than running with the wolves.”

“I’ll be fine.” My skin started to itch. “See you soon.” I left off the I hope.

He gave me a last squeeze and jogged into the darkness.

Wiping sweat from my forehead, I sought out a boulder to sit on and did my best not to stumble on my way over.

“Why me? That twin excuse is bogus and you know it,” Gareth said.

For a moment, I had forgotten I wasn’t alone. I looked up at him, unsure how to answer his question. Gareth was everything I wasn’t. My eyes were green; his were as black as a moonless night. My fair skin practically glowed in contrast to his, and tattoos wound around his biceps. I usually enjoyed the company of others, but Gareth seemed happy to stay in the shadows and keep his distance.

He looked dangerous, but in the short time I’d known him, he’d always made me feel safe. His strong body was impossible to miss, but underneath his hardened persona, I’d caught a glimpse of a different side of him when he smiled while holding Adam’s baby, Malcolm, on his motorcycle. His grin had lit up his face, warming my entire body for a brief moment, before he sobered. I caught myself wishing I knew how to make him smile again.

But I didn’t know him. Not really, anyway. Maybe no one did.

He towered above me, waiting for my answer. His broad shoulders blocked the moonlight, but I could still see him perfectly.

One perk to being bitten? I had amazing heightened senses now.

So why did I choose Gareth to stay with me?

“Because your emotions are buried. It’s like you care the least.”

His brow furrowed. “I don’t get it.”

“The others are making me crazy with their worrying. This is tough enough without feeling the fears of six other werewolves pressing on me. I’m an empath, remember?” I gasped and fell to my knees. It felt like someone jammed a hot poker into my abdomen.

Gareth knelt beside me in a flash, but he made no attempt to touch or try to help me to my feet. “If you want to wear those clothes again in the morning, you’d better get them off now.”

If I wasn’t in so much gut-wrenching pain, I might’ve been shocked he just told me to get naked.

“I’ll give you some privacy.” Gareth straightened and took a step back. “I’ll be on the other side of these rocks, waiting for you.”

I couldn’t read people’s thoughts, only emotions, so I didn’t know what my wolf chaperone was thinking, but what I felt coming off him surprised me. Almost like he cared. But at the same time, he walked away without even checking over his shoulder to see if I was all right.

Maybe I should’ve let Jason stay behind.

I tried to stand so I could remove my clothes, but my back gave out and I fell on all fours. The pits of Hell couldn’t possibly hurt this much. If I lived through this, I was definitely going to kick a few werewolves, just out of spite.

Bile burned the back of my throat when I heard the wet sound of my joints popping and mutating.So gross. I tried to pant like they teach pregnant women in Lamaze class, but it turned into a silent scream as my jaw jutted forward. I couldn’t imagine myself with a snout lined with sharp teeth.

Consumed by the shift, the pain swelled inside of me, so intense I could no longer tell where it came from. I hurt everywhere. My body trembled until I finally toppled over. Lost in the haze of agony, I had no idea how much time had passed. Gradually, the pain stopped. Was I a wolf now? I wanted to look myself over, but my new form wasn’t cooperating. Inside, I frowned. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t be able to control my body.

The wolf got to her feet and shook out her fur. I felt like a prisoner.

The more I panicked, the more the wolf paced back and forth, tail swishing. Suddenly it stopped, sniffing the night wind. Deep within the beast, I realized she recognized the scent. Gareth. The wolf turned, and through its eyes I saw a large jet-black male. The moonlight sparkled in his dark eyes.

Her hackles rose, lips pulled back, and a growl vibrated through her body…my body. Her fear swamped me. She planted her front feet farther apart, ready to launch into an attack.

Gareth yawned, unfazed by our aggression, but he never took his eyes off us, always alert. He didn’t return the aggression. I reached out mentally to my wolf. I wasn’t sure what I was doing but somehow she relaxed her stance. With a tentative step forward she…we…dipped our head.

I wasn’t a prisoner. We were connecting.

The male wolf chuffed and spun on his heel to run. I took off after him, following his scent even when I couldn’t see him with my eyes. The wolf was fast and agile. I leaped over rocks and dove under the thick brush.

All the scents around me told a story and somehow I could translate it. Like a new language I’d never understood before. I tracked Gareth with ease.

Okay, Adam was right—this was pretty amazing.

This experience was worth every bit of the pain. I chuckled inwardly. Now I sounded like a new mother who’d just given birth.

Maybe I wouldn’t kick the werewolves after all.

I skidded to a stop when we reached a clearing. Standing at the water’s edge were six more wolves. Big wolves. My beast growled, baring her fangs. Inside, I tried to communicate with the wolf, to tell her this was our Pack. These weren’t enemies.

Gradually, her fear dissipated like she understood and trusted my instinct. A large, brown wolf with bright green eyes approached. A silver bullet hung from a leather cord around his neck. It had to be Adam. I stood my ground as the Alpha circled me, sniffing and studying my scent.

Witnessing the ritual, I realized I was trying to hold my breath—as if I had any control over my lungs. The wolf was in charge now.

Adam came all the way around until he faced me.

His ears pricked forward and I lowered my head in a submissive position. He snapped gently at my ear and the wolf yipped. He nudged me with his body toward the Pack behind him. We’d been accepted.

The wolves ran into the forest, and I raced after them.

As a team, the Pack hunted rabbits and a deer. My wolf tackled a bunny, sending the fluffy furball into shock. I pawed at it, curious, but it remained still, its belly rising and falling rapidly.

Inside, I nudged the wolf forward, relieved when she gave up her quarry and ran. Mental note: be sure not to have an empty stomach on full moon nights.

If I even got another one.

We ran, sniffed and hunted for hours, stopped once in the trees to howl. As the evening waned, the Pack scattered. For a moment, I was confused, but the black wolf with dark eyes woofed, trotting over to look for me. I followed him back to a boulder that looked vaguely familiar. Then I caught a very familiar human scent.

My own.

We were back at the spot where I’d left my clothes. Or what was left of them.

I sniffed, pacing the area for any sign of danger. Finally, my wolf heaved a sigh and collapsed onto the ground. My flesh heated up, and I panted, bracing myself for more horrific pain.

Here it comes.

I writhed as my skin swallowed the dark fur, and my bones shifted. But the hurts-worse-than-chewing-off-my-own-legs pain never surfaced. It hurt, for sure, but nothing near as intense as when I contorted into a four-legged nocturnal hunter.

The pre-dawn chill stung my sensitive skin as I shivered and opened my eyes. I couldn’t resist reaching up to touch my face. The snout was definitely gone. I started to let out a sigh of relief when I remembered I was naked.

Covering my breasts with my forearm, I cautiously got to my feet. The world spun for a moment, but I didn’t fall over. Go me.

Once my vision cleared, I made a beeline for my clothes. My poor, ripped-up clothes. I held up the circle of elastic that used to be my underwear and sighed before tossing it over my shoulder. Other than what looked like blood stains on the thighs, my jeans appeared to have only sustained minor damage.

Sadly, my bra and tank top weren’t so lucky. What were once hooks at the back of my bra were now pulled out straight, making clasping impossible. Perfect. I threw it behind me with the remnants of my underwear and slipped back into my shredded tank.

Talk about peek-a-boo. Crap.

I tried to cover myself as best I could by tying a couple of strategically placed strips down to the front belt loops of my jeans like homemade suspenders. Classy. Oh well, it would have to do until I got back to my place.

Right now I was too elated to be brought down by fashion. Tonight, I ran in the wilderness as a wolf.

And I lived through it.

So far.