Read Bite of the Moon: Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance Boxed Set Online
Authors: Michelle Fox,Catherine Vale,Elle Boon,Katalina Leon,Erika Masten,Bryce Evans
Chapter Twelve
My last stop was the gym. There was nothing there for me to get, but I wanted to say good-bye to Jack. I felt like I owed him something, an explanation, or a thank-you. He’d been in my life for only a short time, but it was his voice I heard most often. Could be that he reminded me of an older version of my dad. Or it could be he didn’t take any of my shit, and I appreciated that.
“Hey, Red. About time you show up. You missed some sessions.”
I leaned on the counter, watching the guys in the ring. Jack came around, stood next to me.
“Yeah. About that. I need to cancel the rest of my contract. I’m moving.”
He looked down at me, and I swear the air between us changed. I thought he was going to yell, or give me the silent treatment. But after a moment he broke into a smile. I had to admit, it was the first time I’d ever seen Jack smile. He leaned forward, and I tensed, expecting a smack to the back of my head. But instead he kissed my cheek. I wasn’t sure which startled me more, the smile, or the unexpected show of something resembling affection.
“About time you found your pack, Red, whoever they are. You’ll fit in just fine.”
He stepped back. I stared. Had I just heard him say what I thought he’d said?
“You heard me.”
I stared harder, a ripple of energy rushing through my body and I felt goosebumps crop up on my arms. I’d heard his words, but I swear his lips hadn’t moved. He simply smiled, and walked back behind the counter.
“Just let me get the cancellation form, and you’re good to go.” He shuffled papers. I watched, stunned, a million questions on the tip of my tongue. But I knew I couldn’t ask them. I signed the form he pushed at me.
“Forwarding address? You might have a refund coming.”
I shook my head. “Not…really.” I didn’t think our road even had a name.
“Off the grid. I understand.”
“Here…” I scribbled Maggie’s address. “My friend. She’ll see that I get it.”
He glanced at the paper. “Works for me. Listen, Red. You take care of yourself. It’s a different life, but if there’s ever been anyone who can handle it, it’s you. You’re one of the toughest broads I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”
Someone in the ring called Jack’s name. He nodded.
“I got a client waiting. Take care, Red.” He smiled at me again, and then he was gone.
* * *
I was back at the cabin just before sunset, which made the walk up the trail much easier. The boxes from my old apartment could wait until tomorrow, until Colt and Jericho could help me.
My guys…my wolves.
Even though I’d only been gone twelve hours, I missed them terribly. Missed their scent, the way they moved, looked…the way they looked at me. Touched me. I was smiling long before I saw the cabin, before I saw Jericho and Colt sitting on the porch.
They came down the stairs and I got the biggest bear hug.
Or I guess wolf hug would be the proper term. Whichever, it was just what I needed.
“Glad you’re back. We missed you.” Colt kissed me on one cheek, Jericho the other. The kisses might have been chaste, but their hands were making it clear they had something a lot less innocent in mind. And that suited me just fine.
“I missed you guys, too.”
“Where’s your stuff? Do you want to bring it up? We cleared room in the loft.”
“Boxes can wait.” I pulled Colt close, kissing him hard, a big wet kiss with plenty of tongue. Before he could say anything, I did the same to Jericho, tugging his bottom lip, putting just enough pressure on him to remind him I’d bitten him before.
“But I can’t.”
“Whatever you want, Red. Inside or out?” Colt spun me away from Jericho, pulling me into his arms.
“Out. And I know a place…” I pushed away from Colt, skipping out of his grasp. I ran around the cabin, following the trial we’d taken the first night I shifted. I wanted to be in that space with them.
Colt caught me easily, grabbing me around the waist. I was laughing as he pulled me down onto the soft pine needles that carpeted the ground. It smelled cool and fresh, like Christmas warmed by the sun. I rolled onto my back, looking up at Colt, backed by the clear indigo of the coming twilight.
“Your eyes look silver at night, did you know that?”
“And your eyes shine like diamonds.”
“Isn’t she the most beautiful thing in the world?” Jericho dropped down onto the ground beside us. “You’re a beautiful woman, and you make a beautiful wolf.”
My face went hot. “You’re making me blush.”
“And it makes you all the prettier.”
“Did we come out here to talk, or did we come out here for something else?”
It turned out we were there for something else. I let the guys take the lead, my wolf content to bask in the attention and the love. It was darker, but I could still see if I wanted to, if I kept my eyes open. But I closed them, seeing them in my mind’s eye as they worshipped my body.
They took turns, moving over me, nuzzling and kissing, sucking my breasts until my nipples were hard and aching. I arched against them, winding my fingers in their hair, holding them against me.
Jericho broke away, moving slowly down my body, leaving a trail of fire on my skin with his kisses, his tongue, his sharp teeth brushing against the edge of my navel. He moved lower, and I gasped as those lips and tongue, and sharp teeth brushed against something else, something far more sensitive.
Hands spread my legs, but I was already letting them fall open. Fingers caressed the soft skin of the insides of my thighs, playing over my heated flesh. I grabbed at the pine needles beneath me, crushing them, the smell of pine filling the air. I wanted those fingers to move higher, to touch me at my core. But they only teased me, only fanned the fire they’d started. I could have begged them, silently, just with my mind. I didn’t. I let them play.
A kiss softer than a butterfly’s wing touched me, and I drew in a sharp breath. The kiss was followed by another, lips firmer, pressing against me. Then the flick of a tongue, at the edge, closer. But not there yet.
The other stayed at my breasts, sucking, stroking, gently, in time with the kisses between my legs. I shuddered, slowly my breathing, unable to slow my heart. It bounded, and leapt in time with the touch of the man between my thighs, with the one at my breast.
And then there was more, kisses becoming deeper, the flick of a tongue, circling, testing. Then suddenly plundering, probing, delving deeply into me. I sighed, ass pressed against the ground, fingers wound through thick hair.
Deeper and harder, licking and sucking at me until I couldn’t stand it. I arched violently, digging my fingers into the earth, but didn’t cry out, didn’t scream my ecstasy to the sky. I kept it inside, kept the power contained, turning it inward.
My wolf danced with me in sheer joy, feeling everything I did, loving every second of my pleasure. She wasn’t controlled or contained, held back, or held down. All was as it should be.
I opened my eyes, watching the stars overhead, turning on the great wheel in the sky. I’d touched that wheel, thanks to Colt and Jericho. I smiled and my wolf did as well.
She and I were one.
About Catherine Vale
Catherine Vale has been writing fiction for as long as she can remember, but it wasn't until she wrote her very first paranormal romance story that she found herself hooked on the raw, edgy love affair of shifters, vampires and other dominant alpha males, and the captivating women that love them.
Catherine Vale writes both contemporary and paranormal romance for readers who are willing to take a walk on the wild side of love. Her stories always include powerful alpha males, smart and sassy heroines and a happily-ever-after (even if she often puts her characters through hell to get there!)
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Other Books By Catherine Vale
On The Prowl
(Jaguar Series)
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Iron Wolves MC Book
By
Elle Boon
Dedication
To the best crit partner and truly the greatest lady I’ve met in this industry…Caitlyn O’leary. You are without a doubt the best partner in crime. Look out world, we are so going to take over. I honestly don’t think I’d be as sane “snort” as I am without your support, friendship, and endless supply of help. I can’t thank you enough for all that you’ve done for me and for all the late night, early morning, phone calls you’ve taken from this erratic gal. You are my “brain” lol. Tell your hubby thanks for sharing you with me (hehehehe). Truly, I LOVE YOU SOOO HARD <3
There are so many people I’d like to thank, beginning with my awesome beta readers Debbie Ramos, Trenda London, and Jenna Underwood. BIG HUGE thank you to Kate Richards of Wizards in Publishing, you are truly fabulous, and went above and beyond on this book for me. Y’all totally rock and without your input, and help, I’d still be at square one with this book.
Many thanks to my hubby for his unwavering support, my oldest, Jaz for being so damn awesome, and to my Goob who is still my baby even though he’s six-foot tall. Without their love and support I’d never be able to do what I love, write.
To the amazingly talented cover artist Valerie Tibbs of Tibbs Design. I love this cover sooo hard, and I know I am now marked down as “that client” with squinty eyes, I Love You.
Chapter One
Lyric Carmichael eyed the trio of giggling women on the dance floor, then looked at her best friend Syn Styles. “Tell me again why we hang out with them three?”
“Should I count them off, or do you just want the number one reason?” Syn sipped on her margarita, laughter sparkling in her blue eyes.
They both knew the main reason they came in a group was their big brothers would never let them come to a nightclub alone, but they also loved the three women. Renee shimmied her ass in a tight red leather skirt against the groin of a random dude, making him grab her around the waist. Lyric watched the couple for a few seconds, making sure her friend hadn’t gotten into a situation she couldn’t get out of. Only when Renee tossed her long brown hair back, laughing, and the grabby dude eased off, did Lyric turn back to Syn.
“Maybe we should rescue them?” Lyric pointed her beer bottle toward Magee and Jozlyn, who were the center of attention of what looked like a frat party.
Syn looked at her like she’d grown two heads. Renee—better known as Nene—Magee, and Jozlyn were great friends, but they definitely didn’t need anyone to rescue them. They’d come to party wearing tiny bits of fabric, while Lyric had on a pair of comfy jeans similar to Syn’s that fit like they’d been made for them. Strategic rips kept both just this side of decent. While Syn wore a tight V-necked T-shirt, Lyric wore a tank top with a lace back. Since they’d driven their motorcycles, she and Syn had worn boots, unlike their friends, who were sporting heels that screamed
fuck me.
“Excuse me, but I like my freedom. Could you imagine the look on Kellen’s face if he saw me try to walk out of the house dressed like that?”
She thought of Syn’s brother Kellen and the look of horror he’d have, if he saw his baby sister dressed in a miniskirt short enough to show her ass and a crop-top barely covering her voluptuous breasts. Kellen wasn’t only the head of the Iron Wolves MC, but he was also their alpha. What he said was law, and nobody, not even Syn, crossed him. Her own brother, Xander—better known as Xan—was his second-in-command, and was just as scary if not scarier. Both stood at over six feet two inches tall, but that’s where the similarities ended. Kellen was black haired and blue eyed. He and Syn looked very much alike in their coloring and tall stature, while Xan had blond hair and brown eyes.
“I think we’d have to go into the witness protection plan if we tried it.” Lyric laughed.
Raising her glass, Syn clinked her drink with Lyric’s. “True that,” she agreed.
Lyric got up from the table. “Let’s dance, girl.”
“Bottoms up, baby.” Syn downed the rest of her drink before standing. Their shifter metabolism kept them from getting drunk, but they enjoyed the slight buzz they got from the alcohol, even if it was only short-lived.
They ignored the college guys who called out from several tables as they passed on their way to the dance floor. Lyric was tempted to flip a few of them the bird, or toss a couple backward but restrained herself. “Seriously, do they think yelling hey baby, come sit on my face, will get them laid?” Lyric asked, scooting between the tight tables.
“I’m thinking the answer is yes,” Syn tossed over her shoulder.
The DJ played a mix of country, hip-hop, and rock. The song that came on was for a popular line dance that had half the people on the floor sitting down, including Renee, Magee, and Jozlyn. Syn shrugged her shoulders and got in line. Lyric smiled as their three friends flipped their middle fingers from one of the tables, even though she couldn’t hear what was said over the music. She got lost in the dance steps, enjoying the beat and movements.
Several songs later, all five of the girls were on the dance floor. Lyric loved letting loose; she loved feeling the loud bass vibrating all the way up, from her toes to her head. She rolled her body with the music, imagining what it would be like if she was with a lover, and thought of the amazing orgasms it would cause. Of course, living with her older brother, she’d not had the chance to experience anything of the sort with anyone, other than her trusty vibrator.
“What’s put that frown on your face?” Renee asked.
She bit her lip, but a nervous giggle escaped. “I think it’s time for me to get my own place.”
Jozlyn and Magee stopped dancing, their eyes looking ready to pop out of their heads. Only Syn seemed to understand her need for independence, since she had just recently been given a cabin by her older brother. It was still on his property, but not in his home. Kellen was giving his sister a little breathing room, unlike Xan, who Lyric swore still thought she was in grade school.
“Xan will never allow that,” Jozlyn and Magee said at the same time.
Syn growled at both younger girls. “And when did either of you become so in the know when it came to the second of the MC?”
Oh shit!
Lyric recognized the anger blazing in her best friend’s blue eyes and was shocked to see it aimed at their friends. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think Syn was jealous. Which was absurd, since they each thought of both Kellen and Xan as brothers.
Renee stuck her finger in her ear and shook it. “Excuse me, but did you just growl at us?”
Before a fight could erupt, Lyric stepped between them. “I gotta pee. You need to go with me.” She jerked on Syn’s arm. By the time they wound their way through the throng of gyrating people and into the bathroom, Syn seemed to get herself under control.
“What the fuck was that all about?” Lyric jerked her thumb toward the closed door and the club beyond.
A deep sigh left Syn in a gush as she leaned against the counter. “I have no clue. There’s this wild feeling inside me that seems to be growing lately. I feel like I’m going to snap, and if I’m not careful, I’m liable to bite someone’s head off. Ya know?” She placed her palm over her heart, tears swimming in her eyes.
Lyric did the only thing she knew how to do and wrapped her arms around her best friend. “I understand, truly I do. Maybe that’s what I’m feeling, too.”
“You should move in with me.” Syn pulled away, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.
Laughing, Lyric shook her head. “You think Xan would let me?”
“If it’s safe enough for me, then why not you?”
The logic wasn’t lost on her; however, she wasn’t sure her brother would see it the same way. “When do you move in?”
“Next week. Well, I guess it’s more like nine days, but who’s counting.”
“You owe the Bitches an apology.” They were all referred to as the Bitches by their friends; each one had a nickname that ended with Bitch.
“Fuck me running, I know. I was such a beotch.” Syn’s voice sounded chagrined.
Lyric walked back toward the last enclosure, she really did need to go to the bathroom. She shut the stall door and let the silence stretch.
“You know, you could’ve disagreed with me,” Syn groused.
“We pinky swore when we were kids we’d never lie to each other.” Lyric laughed when her friend kicked the door on her way out, calling her a name as she went.
Straightening her blinged-out belt, Lyric stared at her reflection. People always assumed she colored her blonde hair—having dark brown eyes and tan skin it didn’t seem natural—until they met her brother, Xan. He shared her coloring. Even in wolf form, they were blonde wolves, a rarity in the wolf world. Syn and Kellen were both black as night with the bluest eyes. Alpha eyes. Although, Xan had the same brown eyes in his human form, when he shifted to his wolf, his eyes also turned a beautiful shade of blue, while hers shifted to amber. Had he wanted to be alpha, Lyric had no doubt he could’ve been, but Xan was happy being second. Their parents had been best friends with Kellen and Syn’s, who’d all been killed ten years earlier.
She shuddered and pushed the memories away, grateful her brother, along with Kellen, had been there to protect her. Xan, all of twenty-five at the time, had been left to raise his fifteen year old sister. Now at twenty-four years old, Lyric felt like the world was passing her by. She’d gotten her degree at the local college instead of going away. Texas was a huge state, but with the club being so tight-knit, and shifters even more so, she’d wanted to stay with her pack. Now she wished she’d at least gone off to one a couple of hours away.
The MC built custom bikes on one side of the shop and was the local mechanics on the other. She and Syn ran the office, while she did more of the creative side of the business.
She planned out what she’d say to her brother about moving in with Syn, and before losing her nerve, pulled her phone out of her back pocket. Knowing him, he’d be with his flavor of the week and not see it till the morning, but at least it would give him a few hours to simmer down before she had to face him, since she was staying overnight at Nene’s. Once she hit send, she turned her phone off, and put it back in her pocket.
Butterflies danced in her stomach as she walked out into the dark hallway.
When she got bumped from behind for the third time, she finally turned around and met the steely gaze of a truly mean-looking wolf. She had smelled him and a few of his pack when they came in earlier but hadn’t thought anything of it.
“Excuse me, darling. Can I have this dance?”
She saw the way he looked her up and down, stopping at her chest and continuing down to her boots and then back up. “Sorry, I was just going to get a drink.” She pasted on a fake smile, trying to step away from him.
His quick-as-a-snake reflexes caught her bare arm, squeezing hard enough to bruise. “Now, that’s just rude. I watched you shaking your ass for the last half hour. I think you can dance just one more.”
Looking around the crowded dance floor for Syn, Lyric knew she was no match for the wolf, even in his human form. “You are so fucked if you don’t let me go. Do you know whose territory you’re in?” Although she wasn’t strong enough to take him on, any wolf with an ounce of smarts knew better than to come into another’s territory and threaten their members. She was technically property of the Iron Wolves; therefore he’d just stepped over the line. If she could get Syn’s attention and a little help from her friends, he’d move along, and all would be well. Or she hoped he would.
He leaned in close. “Your little friends ain’t gonna help you, bitch.”
Lyric tried to pull away from him, coming up against another solid form behind her. “What is wrong with you? Do you know who my brother is? Do you know who the Iron Wolves are? If you let me go now, there will be no harm, no foul. I’ll pretend like you don’t exist. But, if you keep fucking with me, I will bring the wrath of my pack on all your asses.” The last wasn’t an empty threat. Her brother Xan would kill any man, or wolf, for putting his hands on her without permission, some even if they had her permission.
“Do you hear her? She’s gonna call her big brother.” He sneered.
At some point during her struggle with the large man, they had maneuvered her closer to a side hall. If they got her outside, she had two choices. Let her wolf out and fight, or run. Either way, she had little chance of escape. Pack law stated you couldn’t show yourself to humans, and the bar was filled with way too many for her to shift inside. She opened her mouth to scream for Syn, or anyone to help her, but one of the men slapped his hand over her lips before she could make a sound.
She counted three men with the leader, but the smells from the bar made it hard to be sure. Lyric pretended to be docile, allowing them to maneuver her outside, while she planned what she’d do as soon as the door opened. She’d only have one chance, and that was a slim one.
The lights from the parking lot speared into her face as someone opened the door before they could drag her outside. “Excuse me, boys, looks like you got a problem there,” a man said in a deep rumble.
“Mind your business, punk,” the leader growled.
Lyric felt the hair on the nape of her neck stand on end. The man standing by the door was tall and muscular, but was one hundred percent human. She wanted to ask him to help, but changed her mind at the simultaneous growls surrounding her. Although the newcomer was every bit as big as her brother and Kellen, in a fight against a group of wolves, he’d be massacred.
The man held the door open like a gentlemen, nodding as they passed. Lyric had to tilt her head way back to look up at him. The arms holding her captive didn’t allow her to do any more than get a quick glimpse of black eyes. She tried to memorize his features, breathing deep to take his scent in before she was shoved outside and the door was shut behind them.
“Beck, I don’t think this is the best place for us to take care of business.”
She stumbled when the man named Beck released her, shoving the one who’d just spoken against the wall. “Are you questioning my leadership, Raul?”
Claws erupted from Raul’s fingers. “Get the fuck off me, Beck. I’m pointing out the fact we should just take the bitch back to the hotel and have some fun with her.”
“I agree with jackass, for once. Let’s just simmer down. We can take the chew toy and play with her for a while.”
Beck released Raul. “Kristof, go get the van and take Raul with you while Dean and I get acquainted with our toy. Call Marcus and have him get word to her brother. I want him to sweat knowing his baby sister is with us, and there’s nothing he can do.” He turned his cold gaze back to Lyric, licking his lips. “I was just going to kill you and leave you for Xan to find, but plans have changed.”