

### Hunter's Moon

Copyright 2020 Stephanie Kelley

Published by Stephanie Kelley at Smashwords

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# CHAPTER ONE

There are some sights you never want to see; fresh road kill, vomit, a quarter of the wildlife in Australia. My oldest nephew's bare ass, while he was having intimate relations with a vampire, ranks pretty high on that list. It was only eclipsed by the time I walked in on my father becoming well acquainted with the new postmistress when I was a teenager. It hadn't been stamps she'd been licking that day.

Despite seeing that flash of permanently golden tanned, bare skin, I had a job to do. He did too, but that sure as hell wasn't what he was doing. My family hunted the supernatural. Others, as we called them. It had been the family business since before the Alaskan Gold Rush. It was my familial obligation to make sure my idiot of a nephew left the barn alive after his vampire hunt. Personally, I'd have left him to his own devices if my brother wouldn't have had my head for not watching out for my own kin.

Valdez, my nephew, hadn't asked me to come hunt with him and now I understood why. I'd found out from Ms. Minnie Hayes that Dez had gotten himself in to more trouble than he could handle lately. My twenty-three- year-old nephew didn't realize just how much of a guardian angel Minnie was for him. She'd called me to tell me he'd planned to go after a nest of three vampires by himself. It had "bad idea" written all over it before I'd seen for myself what his idea of taking care of things meant.

I'd followed Dez at a distance when he'd left for his hunt. He downed a half bottle of whiskey while staring at the beat-up barn. He'd been bolstering himself with liquid courage. But now, I had to do something before he got us both killed.

I crept around the support pillar of the second floor of the barn for a better view. Hitting my own nephew with a bullet while trying to exterminate a bloodsucker was not something I wanted to have to explain to my brother.

The barn was too small. There were too many pieces of equipment, too many piles of hay. That equated to too many places where things that wanted to kill me could hide. I quietly crept around to make sure nothing more would surprise me, but there was another unwelcome surprise. There were now three naked bodies moving on those hay bales; a male vampire had joined my nephew and his partner.

Nausea gripped me, making it hard to focus on the task at hand.

What I saw and heard would haunt my dreams. I wasn't ready for a new nightmare.

I smelled blood; metallic and sweet.

No more waiting. No more watching. I couldn't wait for Valdez to come to his senses, he'd have fangs before then. I shoved down the bile rising in my throat. My hand moved to free the knife from my belt as I stepped behind the newest addition to the pile of flesh. Its fangs were buried in my nephew's shoulder. All three were so engrossed in their venture they hadn't noticed me. With a practiced motion, I reached between the vampire and my kin and drew the blade across the bloodsucker's throat, bathing my nephew in hot blood.

"Dez, move!" I yelled, kicking the writhing vampire off my nephew while it clutched at its throat. The thing shuddered on the floor, grabbing for my ankle as I pointed my gun at it. I fired a round of silver into its heart, then turned to kick Valdez off his conquest. I unloaded two more bullets into the head of the vampire my nephew had been fucking. Both vampires stilled; my nephew clutched at his ear, rocking in pain from gun firing right beside his head.

I gave him a quick once over. When I was satisfied that most of the blood that painted his skin wasn't his, I turned my attention to locating the missing third vampire.

He howled in pain as I huffed in frustration. Valdez would be high as a kite soon from the hallucinogenic properties of the vampire blood I'd baptized him in.

Shaking my nephew, I tried to get him to focus on me. "Dez, where is the last one?"

He only blinked at me; pupils dilated and lost somewhere else. I cursed my brothers, both of them. Ray would never know the bad example he'd been for our nephew, but Michael and I were going to have a long conversation when he was back from his stint on the fishing vessel.

I tried again, but Dez only groaned, absently holding his ear as he continued to rock in a fetal position on the hay and blood-covered barn floor.

"Well, well, Simon Sesi," a sing-song female voice said. The melodious sounds drifted down from a dark corner of the rafters. "I hadn't expected to see you. I thought the Nightmare of Cordova had given up on hunting. Rumor has it, you retired to the white picket fence life in South Dakota. Guess you couldn't take the cold out of your veins for long, could you?"

My lip twitched in a snarl. I hated that name. Nightmare. And I hated that this creature had known where I'd spent the last five years. How much more of my past did the vampire know?

"Show yourself," I demanded, searching in the dim light for it.

She laughed. "Only if you promise to let me taste you. Is it true that no one has made you bleed, Nightmare?"

My teeth ground together, sending a flash of pain through my jaw. Fingers of light stretched through the cracks in the barn walls. The hidden vampire would soon be forced to show her hand or flee. A tiny bit of me hoped she'd flee so I could drag Valdez from this place, but that was a false hope. I'd done this long enough to know that when the Others are cornered and start rattling off what they know about you, they have every intention of trying to take you out. Some Others wanted to make you just another slash in their bedpost. Some wanted bragging rights. But they all wanted you dead in the end.

"Answer me, Nightmare."

And given this one's use of my hated nickname, she'd probably rather have my head mounted in her trophy case.

"Truth," I ground out. Closing my eyes, I drew a slow breath, willing my heart to stop racing in my chest. No Other had drawn my blood by fang, blade, or claw since I'd begun hunting as a teenager. My reputation amongst them was a legend and my family hated it. Those whispers about me had put a large target on my back before I'd left Alaska.

"Then I will enjoy this," she said, her voice breathy like that of Marilyn Monroe's Happy Birthday Mister President. "You will taste sweet."

I blocked out the sound of my nephew's pants of pain. I pushed aside the sound of the breeze rustling the drying tobacco in the rafters above me. Then I heard it. The faint scrape of rubber on wood. I took a deep breath, raised the gun above my head, and aimed toward the soft, out of place sound. I exhaled and squeezed the trigger. The sound of a gunshot again reverberated off the weather-beaten wood in the small space. My nephew's renewed cries of pain didn't drown out the high-pitched squeal of the vampire as the silver-coated bullet seared its skin. The vampire crashed to the barn floor beside me. It lashed out. I kicked it, then pinned its flailing arm to the ground with the heel of my boot.

"Nice try." I emptied the rest of the silver rounds in my handgun into that damned thing, splattering myself with the vampire blood.

"Dez, are there any more?" I barked at him.

He groaned. I rolled him over, my foot on his wrist to hold him steady as I pointed my empty gun at him. "Are there any more?"

He shook his head. It took everything I had not to kick him in the ribs.

I holstered my gun and sheathed my knife before heading outside to the water trough. I needed to clean off the vampire blood before it had a chance to get into my system. I didn't want to hallucinate, tripping on vampire blood was not my idea of a good time.

It was October in Alaska, but the snow was late. This was the first time I'd been thankful to not have a blanket of white covering my homeland. The water in the tub was a few degrees above freezing as I dunked my head into it. The bitter cold shocked my system. My adrenaline spiked, overriding the effects of the vampire blood in my system. I hadn't come in contact with enough to worry about lasting effect, Dez wouldn't be so lucky. His choices were going to leave him with a massive hangover when he came down from his high.

Dripping wet, I grabbed an old bucket and filled it with the icy slush before heading back inside to try to help my nephew.

"Did you have to do that so close to my ear, Uncle?" Valdez whined, one hand still clutching his ear in pain as he sat there naked, propped up against a bale of hay.

Bastard.

I tossed the icy water over him. He cursed me, desperately trying to wipe the cold water from his eyes. I snatched his jeans and flannel shirt from where they lay and tossed them at him. One of the pant legs caught him across the face with a satisfying snap.

"Put your goddamn pants on and get your drunk ass in my truck," I growled. "Just what the hell were you thinking, Dez? Letting them bite you? They could have turned you!"

He growled at me, his dark brown eyes fighting to focus. "I've done this before. They don't take enough to turn me. It's just enough for us all to get high, then I take them out."

I snorted.

"Spoken like a true addict."

"I am not an addict."

My blood boiled. He didn't get it. Valdez hadn't lost a sibling to vampires like his father and I had. The kid didn't understand that what he was doing was dangerous. I'd bet my prize muscle car that he didn't know they could slip into his mind and make him do what they wanted.

In my fit of anger, I kicked at his knee. Something snapped and he hissed in pain.

"I know you loved Ray, but god damn it, stop acting like him. You're just a toy to these things. They will kill you. Do you hear me?"

It was hard to assert myself as his elder when there was barely more than a decade between our ages. Before I'd left Alaska, he'd been more like a little brother to me than my nephew.

Valdez snorted at me. "These vampires aren't like the nest that turned Uncle Ray. These just--"

I cut him off. "All vampires are like the ones that turned him. This insanity ends now. Do you hear me?"

He didn't answer, just went about pulling on his jeans while I glared at him.

"You gonna tell Pop?" he asked.

I might not like my older brother much some days, but I wouldn't lie to Michael about his son's actions. "Of course, you idiot. Keeping secrets is how you get killed in this line of work."

"Secrets, huh?" He pointed to the vampire that had fallen from the rafters. "That one called you Nightmare. What is that about? I've heard it whispered about from those I've hunted since you've been back in Cordova. Care to explain that?"

"Let it go."

"And never bled? What was she talking about?" He pressed as he shrugged on his shirt, drawing himself up to his full height of six-foot-two in an attempt to intimidate me. He reminded me of my father in his younger years, puffing up like a bear defending its territory. Dez took a step toward me, trying to emphasize his point. All I saw was a child trying to bully me. I wasn't in the mood.

"It is exactly what it sounds like. Not a single one of them has tasted my blood. Ever. Unlike you. I get my mark, clean up, and go home. End of story. I don't get attached. I don't get my rocks off. End of story. So yeah, I'm telling Michael what happened here. You could have gotten us both killed. It's your mess to deal with now. Find your own way home."

I gave him a not so gentle shove. My puffed-up nephew lost his balance and fell hard on his ass. The ember of anger I still held toward Ray had flared to life, the sting of it still like thorns from a briar bush grabbing at me as I stormed out of the barn.

"Hypocrite," Dez called after me. "What about you and Maia?"

That question froze me in my tracks.

I didn't bother to look back at him.

"Your father knows about Maia," I ground out, praying to everything I'd ever believed in that Dez didn't see through my lie. I didn't need the rest of my family knowing I was sharing a bed with a werewolf.

# CHAPTER TWO

It was early fall in Cordova, Alaska and there were barely ten hours of daylight this time of year. I was still keyed up when I got back to my place and tried to make the most of it. Out behind my cabin was a little two-story horse barn that housed my old muscle car. I was slowly rebuilding the beauty. There weren't many places with stretches of pavement long enough to give the car space to run in this part of Alaska, but I hadn't been willing to leave the midnight blue car back in the lower forty-eight when I'd returned home.

That beautiful car had made the trip to Alaska twice now -- once when it was brand new in the seventies and again when I'd returned home. She deserved to be here just as much as I did.

To work off my frustration from the morning, I fought with the rusted lug nuts. But every time I thought about what to tell Michael, I almost threw my wrench. Sure, the chill in the air helped to stabilize my mood, but I needed a plan. The kid's drinking was bad enough, but Dez's willingness to use himself as bait was a liability to himself and the rest of the family. We wouldn't survive as a family if we kept letting ourselves get picked off one at a time.

My older brother, Ray, had done the same thing and not lived to be thirty. I'd been in my early twenties at the time and it had hit me pretty damn hard. It seemed like a lifetime ago; in a sense it was. My niece, Kodiak, or Bear as I called her, had been born a few months later. She'd just turned thirteen this year. But thinking about Bear made me miss my late sister-in-law; she'd been a bright spot for us as a family. We'd suffered in our lifetimes, and who knew how much longer my father would be with us. When he was gone, it would just be me, Michael, and the kids.

There had to be a better way. Was it time to stop putting our necks on the line and think about calling a truce with some of the Others? Maybe. There had been rumors when I had first returned to Cordova that a few of the more friendly Others had been hanging around Broken Tusk Inn, but everyone cut and run once a Sesi showed up. No one would even risk talking to us. It made me want to take my girlfriend and run away again. South Dakota hadn't been that bad, there just wasn't enough snow.

I didn't want to lose Maia; I just wasn't sure how to tell my brother that I'd been sleeping with the enemy.

There was a soft thud of paws on metal above my head. I glanced up to find a wolf the size of one of my family's huskies. The wolf settled itself on the hood of the car, nearest the windshield. It hung its head down toward me. I frowned, then went back to trying to free the rusted lug nut.

"Claws off the paint, Maia. How many times have I told you about that?"

The wolf licked the side of my face. I softly batted her away. She tried again, nuzzling the side of my face. It was an attempt to get me to pet her. If I gave in and scratched her ear she'd win and I'd be on the hook to figure out what was for dinner. It had been our "thing" since we'd started dating. I had a hard time not chuckling when she tried to play dirty with her pitiful whimpers. Everyone says their girlfriend has puppy dog eyes that they can't say no to, mine really had them. Maia had used her puppy dog eyes to get what she wanted from me since day one.

"I'm not giving in this time," I said through clenched teeth.

"How about a naked girl on your car?"

The wrench hit my foot when I looked back up.

She'd shifted back and was lazily stretched across the hood of the '72 Chevy Nova. I swallowed hard but reminded myself that company could arrive at any moment. My younger nephew, Kenai, and his friend were coming to help me with the car, yet my brain was trying to calculate if the hood would hold mine and Maia's combined weight. I wouldn't mind banging some dents back out if there was time for a midmorning romp.

The morning sun ran off Maia's high cheekbones like daybreak rising over a ridge, making the golden undertones of her naturally deep tanned skin sing like prized silk. That same light made her nearly black hair glitter like chipped obsidian. To look at her, her indigenous American heritage was quite apparent. The branch of her family that became shifters changed their surname to Randall; the name meant shield wolf. The day she'd told me that, I explained that my family's surname of Sesi meant snow and how it had been adopted by my ancestors because they couldn't stop complaining about the Alaskan snow.

Maia and I had our differences but somehow, this beautiful soul trusted me with her heart and her life despite knowing my past.

I tilted my face up toward her and stretched to kiss those berry lips from my crouched position. "Acceptable. Naked girl on my car is better than the naked ass I saw earlier."

"Excuse me?" she pouted. "Whose ass were you looking at?"

"Dez. Vamps." I shuddered, picking the wrench back up as I shoved the unwanted picture out of my head.

"Oh, right. I'd forgotten that's where you'd gone."

"You're back early though," I teased. "Thought you were having a family run this morning?"

"We did," she said, lazily curling one foot up over her back like she was sunning on a sandy beach. "Owen found a deer and decided he needed venison. I helped him take it down and back to his place, but told him he was on his own to butcher it. I was hoping to catch you in bed. Guess I'll just have to make you wait till full moon tomorrow night."

She bit her lip and winked at me.

"For the Hunter's Moon?" I asked, attempting to stifle my yawn. I didn't want to seem disinterested in whatever carrot she was dangling in front of me.

"Yep. I'm thinking sexy fun time, but I'm glad to see you are finally learning the names of the full moons. Why aren't you sleeping?"

I shrugged, half-heartedly fighting with the wrench and lug nut again. "Couldn't."

Maia cocked her head at me, the gesture very reminiscent of her four-legged furry self as she sniffed the air. "I don't smell anything but vampire blood. Things not go well? Do I need to sew you up?"

I gave her a half-smile. "Have you ever needed to sew me up?"

"No, you're quite the lucky hunter." She pulled me forward and licked the tip of my nose. "I still want to see you with fuzzy ears when you finally decide to retire from this life you lead."

It wasn't luck that kept me safe, but I'd never found the right words to explain it to her. "Valdez knows about you," I blurted out in an attempt to change the subject. I wasn't wholly comfortable with the idea of me being a wolf.

She sucked in a deep breath, sitting up on the hood. The morning air still had the bite of a chill to it. "Well, that lasted longer than we thought. Are we telling your father before this has a chance to get back to him?"

I pursed my lips, debating my options as I stood. Willingly telling my father I was a traitor to the family legacy made my stomach turn. Maybe it was lack of sleep more than fear, but it didn't sit well.

"No, we aren't telling anyone yet," I said looking back toward the woods. "It's too dangerous."

She reached for me, pulling me closer. Maia stroked my cheek, pulling my attention back to her.

"Simon, Valdez isn't going to keep the info to himself very long. He's going to use it as soon as he can to his advantage, you know that."

Maia knew my family better than I gave her credit for. If I outed Valdez to my brother about what had happened with the vampires, there was a good chance my nephew would out my relationship with Maia for what it really was. I pulled away from her, but she tugged me back.

"I shouldn't have brought you back to Alaska," I said looking down at her.

"I didn't give you a choice," she said matter-of-factly.

"I could have left while you were sleeping."

She jerked the fabric of my shirt. "I'm a wolf, Simon. I'd track you."

I took her face in my hands the best I could without covering her skin in dirt and grease, then kissed her softly.

"Maia, women don't survive in this family. One by one they become bait to lure us into traps. It's just a matter of time before the same happens to us."

Her dark eyes searched my face. "I don't know about that. Your niece is pretty spunky. I doubt someone could use her as bait."

"Kodiak? She's gonna be trouble for someone later for sure. She's got her momma's spunkiness."

In the distance horses whinnied, followed by a hollow imitation of a wolf's howl. My nephew hadn't quite perfected his imitation yet, but it was close enough to make Maia frown.

"Boys are almost here. You might want to head in."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm sure they've seen a naked woman before, I'll stay."

I squinted at her, not at all certain she was teasing me. "They're teenagers. Do you really think if they see you in this golden glory that they will be fit to help me tear this engine down?"

She gave me a coy smile as she ran her hands over my chest. "I'd at least get someone's engine revving since you don't seem too keen on a quickie."

"That's hardly fair," I whined as she slid off the hood of the car, pressing the length of her body against me. Even though she was nude and the air was chilly, her warmth radiated into me, making me wish we had more time.

She lifted her shoulder in a tiny shrug. "Well?"

I playfully smacked her bare backside, leaving a greasy handprint.

"Hey!" She yelped.

"Mosquito," I said with a wink.

"Liar."

"That's what they all say. Scoot. I mean it."

"You're gonna pay for that later, Simon."

I gave her a wink. "I expect that."

She shook her head and laughed. "How many are coming? I might as well start lunch."

"Two. Kenai and the Ravenwhite boy."

"Oh, the one that smells like the ocean? He's a nice kid."

I snorted. "And you smell like pine trees and dirt."

"But you like it." She stole another kiss then headed toward our small cabin. I didn't take my eyes off her until she pulled the door closed. I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and snuggle with her. Before this morning, I thought I could keep her safe from my family. Now, I wasn't so sure.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of blue-white light, but I wasn't fast enough to see what it had really been. My body tensed as the tinkle of bells drifted to me from the tree line. It could have been anything, but my mind jumped the worst-case scenario; the creature that had made me into the Nightmare. I wasn't ready to see it again. I hadn't made a deal with a demon at the crossroads to gain my nickname, but what I had done hadn't been much better.

# CHAPTER THREE

The Alaskan sky opened up and soaked the boys and me before we could manage to undo the bolts and remove the hood. The boys helped me pull the tarp over the car, then we took shelter beneath the small overhang of the barn.

Kenai leaned against one of the posts. It was a bit difficult to believe he was going to be seventeen in the spring. Whatever training my brother had given him was starting to put a bit of bulk on his frame. Kenai was leaner and lither than his older brother, and his hair a wavy mess much like his mother's had been. His eyes, however, were something to give a man pause; he had one sky blue eye and one dark brown eye. His little sister had the same genetic anomaly, but her eyes were mirror images of his. When they sat side by side at family dinners, the effect was unnerving.

"How skittish are the horses?" I asked, my eyes on the sky. If the horses didn't need coddled, maybe we could do something to wait out the storm. Purple and grey thunderheads rolled over the mountain. The last thing I wanted to do was chase after horses in the rain.

Kenai shrugged; his mismatched eyes trained on the horizon. "They're grandpop's, they shouldn't spook because of the storm."

That was at least a boon. My father's animals, both dogs and horses, had been raised around guns and other loud noises. A little thunder, lightning, and the three of us throwing axes in the barn loft shouldn't bother them.

"New plan, boys," I said pulling off my soaking wet hoodie.

Kenai raised an eyebrow at me.

"Who wants to get some target practice in?"

Rhen eyed me skeptically. He and his twin sister were selkies, seal shapeshifters. My brother's dogs were raised not to care for Others, and he and his sister were no exception. He'd been attacked years ago during one of the kid's birthday parties, still had the white "v" shaped scar on this cheek. As a result, the Ravenwhite kids hadn't spent much time over at my brother's place through the years. The horses hadn't seemed to mind the boy, but he wasn't a land predator.

While selkies fell into the category of Others, they weren't something we generally hunted. You couldn't be bitten and turned into one like a vampire or werewolf, it was just in your blood. All of the Fae-- mermaids, selkies, kelpies, and fairies-- worked that way. It was either in your blood or not. And just like all the fae creatures, selkies were highly seductive creatures when they wanted to be, their moods often influencing the weather near bodies of water if their bloodline was pure enough.

The Ravenwhite family had moved to Cordova when the twins were about two. My late sister-in-law had been the reason our families originally met. She had taught English at the local school, while Mr. Ravenwhite taught at English at college before taking a few years off. Sky, brother's late wife, had also been the one to make us play nice with our new neighbors. With the exception of my father, we all eventually came around to like the Ravenwhite family.

"I'm in," Kenai said. "Come on, Tulugaq."

Rhen shrugged.

I smiled at the nickname; tulugaq meant raven in Inuit. Kenai had called his friend that for as long as I could remember. I'd teased my nephew one night, saying he should have called his friend nattiq, the Inuit word for seal. He said he liked raven better.

"Follow me." I climbed the ladder to the second floor of the barn; the boys close on my heels.

The loft was a room barely tall enough to stand in and about thirty feet long. A thick slab of an old tree was mounted on the far wall that Maia and I had both used as target practice.

"Throwing axes?" Rhen asked skeptically. "When would we ever use that skill?"

I crooked a smile at him as I strolled across the floor to retrieve the ax. Selkies were lovers, not fighters, but that didn't mean the kid shouldn't know how to defend himself. Granted, his biggest predator was probably an orca, but still, better to be prepared.

"You never know, kid. Besides, you're not heading home till this storm passes. What else are you gonna do?"

Kenai snorted.

I flipped the ax over in the air, catching it by the handle, then held it out to my nephew. "You're first."

Kenai couldn't hide the shock on his face as he took the three-pound ax from me. I'd acted as if it had weighed nothing.

"You're not gonna show me how to do it?" Kenai asked.

"Where is the fun in that?" I said with a smile.

Rhen laughed as Kenai eyed me suspiciously.

"Go ahead, Kenai. Let's see what you can do." I took up a spot leaning against one of the support beams, sufficiently out of the way from any wildly thrown axes.

My nephew aligned himself with the target, threw the ax, and missed. Rhen did the same on his turn. I watched in silence as they tried half a dozen times each while the rain poured down outside, leaking through the roof in a few spots. I mentally added the leaky spots to my to-do list.

An ax flew wide and stuck into the pine siding of the barn a few feet left of its intended target. I snorted. Kenai glared at me, his multi-color eyes blazing.

"Go get it, I'll show you how it's done, kid." I lazily pushed myself off my perch.

"I don't believe you can do this, Uncle Simon," he chided, fighting to pull the ax free from the wall. "I think Maia did those first ones."

I grinned wildly at his attempt to insult me. "You're right. She did throw those, but she also taught me."

"Uh-huh." Kenai handed me the ax, handle first. "I'll believe it when I see it, Uncle."

I flipped the ax in the air, catching it by the handle just to show off. I waved the teenagers to the side of the loft as I lined myself up with the target. In my head I ran through Maia's instructions; right foot a bit behind me, steady my breathing, feel the weight of the ax in my hand so I knew where the balance point was. I swung the ax above my head and then flipped it forward, releasing it when I felt the weight of the weapon shift forward in my grip. The weapon flew across the loft and sunk, blade first, into the cross-section of the old tree with a satisfying thunk.

Both spectators gave a cheerful whoop and clapped.

"And that's how you do it," I said with a flourished bow. I retrieved the ax, flipping it in the air. "So, who's next? With instructions this time?"

I tossed the ax in the air again while I waited for an answer; but before I could catch it, lightning flashed outside, close enough that the hair on my arms stood on end as thunder rattled the walls of the barn. One of the horses screamed from downstairs, taking my concentration with it as I tried to catch the ax. The blade caught me across the palm, then clattered to the floor. Power zipped through my hand and up my arm, making me suck in a breath. The pain was incredible.

"Are you bleeding?" Kenai was by my side, trying to assess the damage. I kept my hand closed tightly, shaking it so he couldn't see that I wasn't bleeding.

"I'll be fine," I said through gritted teeth. My arm tingled. I might not be able to be injured, but the pain was always sharper to remind me what I'd bargained for.

Before I could shoo him away, the horse screamed again. Maia's voice following close behind it. The three of us scrambled for the ladder without a word.

# CHAPTER FOUR

Lunch was scattered across the floor. The dark brown and white horse Kenai had ridden earlier had Maia pinned in the corner, pawing at the barn floor.

I cursed under my breath as my feet hit the floor. It must have smelled that she was a wolf.

Maia's eyes flashed dark. Shit. She was close to shifting.

"Maia!" I snapped, hoping to distract her. Her eyes darted to mine, but they were rimmed with panic.

Kenai whistled for the horse as he made it down the ladder. The creature's ears flicked toward the sound. The horse snorted, took a step, but stopped again, not willing to let what it perceived as a threat get away. My anger rose at the thought that my father had trained these half-ton beasts to attack and protect their riders on hunts. This was not a hunt.

The thunder rumbled in the distance and the rain slowed. The damn storm had rolled out just as quickly as it had rolled in.

"Try to get it to go outside, Kenai," I said softly. I slowly made my way toward Maia, creeping along the wall and trying not to draw the horse's attention. The bay horse the selkie had ridden had bolted out the door on my way down the ladder. It currently danced right outside the barn door.

Kenai didn't answer. I glanced toward them. Rhen blinked at me, his eyes solid black. On his second blink, they were back to his normal amber color. Damn selkie. It hadn't been a normal storm rolling through; it had been the seal shifter and his ability to control the weather messing with it. I'd never seen his father impact the weather, leaving me to assume he had no role model to help him learn control. The boy had a hell of a life in front of him if he didn't get his emotions in check.

The brown and white horse stomped its hooves as I snuck another step closer to my girlfriend. The beast rolled its eyes, then sidestepped and pinned me against the wall with its shoulder. My ribs bent. My spine popped. I made a noise that didn't sound human.

Kenai grabbed for the beast's bridle and yanked the creature's head toward the door to try to lead it away. The horse pressed harder against me in an effort to turn away, a rib snapped from the pressure and I couldn't breathe.

The horse caught sight of the open door and bucked. A back hoof caught me in the thigh as it bolted for freedom, causing Kenai to lose his hold on it. The boys ran after the horses. I collapsed to the ground unable to breathe. Maia fell to her knees beside me.

"Are you okay?" she asked, panic filled her words.

"I'll be fine," I ground out as I tried to pull myself back to my feet. I couldn't. My leg wouldn't hold me just yet, the nerves were on fire. Maia had to help me up.

My lungs ached, reminding me of the already healing ribs. These injuries were going to aggravate me longer than the simple bruise on my hand would.

When Maia and I stumbled outside arm in arm, Kenai was doing his best to calm the skittish bay horse he'd managed to catch. Rhen was in the field trying to catch the paint horse.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Simon, I don't know why Cameo acted like that. Are you okay?"

Cameo. At least my father was naming his animals better than my brother was. Michael was still giving his dogs names like Monster and Gremlin.

Before I could answer, Maia said, "It's okay, Kenai. I probably startled the poor thing. Horses don't like me. I wasn't sure why I thought this one would be any different."

Cameo whinnied and stomped its hooves at the sound of her voice. I heard the tiniest growl rumble in Maia's chest. I leaned more of my weight on her to get her to stop.

She looked up at me. "I'm going back inside, Simon. Can you stand?"

I nodded, shifting my weight to stand on my own as she snuck away.

"Are you really okay?" Kenai asked, stroking the muzzle of the bay. "Should I go get the doctor?"

"No," I grunted. I hadn't been in this much pain in years. "I've had worse. I'm just going to be bruised up. Maia is here if I need anything. Probably best you both head back before the rain returns. I won't be up for much else today."

My nephew narrowed his eyes at me. "Uncle Simon, you should really get that that looked at."

"Who's the adult here, kiddo?"

"That's my point, Uncle," he snapped.

I laughed but immediately regretted it, my body lit up with pain. "I have Maia. Trust me, if it gets bad, she'll make me get looked at. Get going before the rain starts. I think your friend could use some help catching Cameo."

Kenai opened his mouth to say something, but I raised a hand to stop him.

"Kenai, I'll be fine, promise."

He nodded and climbed up on the back of the bay. With a click of his tongue and a light tap on the horse's belly with his heel, the creature turned and walked into the field.

Maia met me at the cabin door as I limped in.

"You should have told them long ago," she chided, closing the door behind me. She meant well, but the pain I felt did nothing for my mood and her tone rubbed me the wrong way.

"About what?" I grunted, leaning against the wall as I tried to strip off my jeans. Taking a full breath was a chore as my ribs creaked with every move.

"Simon," she snapped, hand on her hip. I knew exactly what she meant. I did. I just didn't want to voice it. Those words didn't need the power of being heard by the universe.

"Michael knows."

It wasn't a total lie; I'd made an attempt to tell my brother years ago about the deal I'd made. He'd cut me off before I could explain the whole story and I'd never brought it up again. I hadn't seen the harm in keeping the secret that I'd made a deal with a djinn. It wasn't as if anyone was going to come to collect my soul in a decade, I hadn't made a deal with a crossroads demon like that famous jazz player.

"Stop lying. You said the same thing about me being a werewolf, that you'd told them."

"I said I would tell them about you being a wolf, not that I had," I corrected, leaning down to untie my boots. Regret instantly flashed through my mind as I hissed in a breath. "The time just hasn't been right."

A tiny growl bubbled out of her as she knelt to undo my boots for me. "You need to tell them before Valdez does and makes this worse. We've been here too long. If Kenai says something about today, and you know he will, what are they going to think? That I've made you a wolf too? That's why you didn't need to see a doctor?"

I sighed as I straightened back up. "Are you okay? Did the horse get you?"

She gazed up at me, cocking an eyebrow. If I hadn't been in pain, I would have made a smart comment about this being one of my favorite positions. But I knew Maia would be all too happy to act on the suggestion as a way to punish me for my refusal to see a doctor. I couldn't handle that sort of activity.

"You decide to ask me that now?" There was a tone in her voice again as she helped me out of my remaining clothing. I'd taken off my shirt at some point and tossed it across the room.

"Better late than never?" I quipped with a bit of a shrug as I stood there in my boxers.

She growled at me. Goosebumps prickled along my skin.

"You know that growl turns me on," I said, trying to distract her.

"Don't change the subject, Simon."

"Then we're done talking for now."

She poked the purple and yellow bruise on my thigh, making me jump and squeal in pain.

"Fine, I deserve that," I panted as she stood up.

"And much more. I'll never get over your ability to heal. That looks like you've had it a week already."

"Says the werewolf."

She smacked my thigh and I groaned, stumbling toward the bed.

"Can you finish this while I make you some tea? You need to sleep."

I wasn't sure what needed to be finished, but I nodded, flopping onto the worn quilt. The pain settled as I lay still, but my thoughts hadn't followed my body's example.

"I need to talk to Michael about Dez," I said, scrubbing my hands over my face.

"Agreed, but you've put it off this long, it can wait a few more hours."

"No," I said, rolling off the bed onto my feet. "It can't."

"Sit," she snapped.

I obeyed, sitting back down on the edge of our bed.

"I'm making you tea, and that's final."

By tea, she meant a sleeping draught. Herbs and leaves. I swore there was dirt in it, but she'd claimed there wasn't. One cup and I'd be out for hours. Any other day I would be happy to drift into that dark oblivion of her family's concoction.

My fingers twitched involuntarily. The red line across my palm was still angry. "Maia, I really should talk to Michael before the kids do."

"It's waited this long. You're not going anywhere except to bed now that I see just how bad you are," she grumbled as she slid onto my lap with the mug full of warm liquid. I flinched at her weight, but my leg was already markedly less tender. "You need sleep and to heal. You go over there half bruised and he's going to ask more questions than you're ready to answer. Besides, he won't be back till later tonight."

She was right. Telling my brother about my situation was one thing, explaining how it all worked, well, that was even beyond my comprehension.

I took the first sip of tea and realized just how tired I was. I'd been awake nearly forty-eight hours. And now with the rapidly healing injuries, I was the equivalent of a narcoleptic rabbit running from a predator.

Maia raised an eyebrow at me as I huffed in frustration. It was always something.

"Drink up."

I did, downing the rest of the warm liquid. It hit me hard on an empty stomach and my head barely touched the pillow before I slipped into darkness.

# CHAPTER FIVE

Ten hours later, the sound and smell of sizzling ham roused me from my sleep. My golden angel smiled over me. I gave her a sleepy wave, not willing to move from the comfy bed as I tried to hold onto the last moments of rest.

"You were mumbling in your sleep again," she said softly.

A groan slipped past my lips before I could stop it.

"You did a lot of that, too." Her words were harsher this time.

I rubbed my eye with the heel of my palm. "What was I mumbling about?"

Maia didn't answer. When I turned my head to look, a frown played across her face.

"I really try not to be jealous, Simon..."

"Maia," I said in a placating tone. We'd only ever had one true fight, but it played on repeat every time I talked in my sleep.

"But I always am jealous. This same girl that you always talk about in your sleep...this time you were talking to her about wishes... but you still didn't name her."

This was ridiculous, but my anger boiled up anyway. I closed my eyes and tried to shove it down. "Maia, I don't want to argue about this."

"Fine. We won't." Her words were clipped and tight as she threw the wooden spoon into the cast iron pan. Maia didn't bother with another word to me and stormed out the door.

The heavy door slammed behind her, her sharp howl quickly following. My werewolf was going to blow off some steam. I covered my face and screamed into the pillow.

There was no girl. There never was. Maia always accused me of not telling her what happened with the nameless girl, assuming that she was some lover I'd kept on the side. I'd often wished that had been the case because at least I would have been able to give her an answer that she would have been satisfied with.

The sleeping potion Maia brewed always made my brain run back to that day with the djinn. I guess it was part of my karma, no good deed goes unpunished. Not everyone is meant to be saved. I still had a hard time believing it now. Young and naïve are the two worst things a hunter can be, and I'd been both.

My body screamed at me when I tried to stretch. Parts of me ached. Other parts refused to cooperate. But at least I could take a full breath. Not having to worry about puncturing a lung was a good start.

The hoof print on my thigh made me cringe. The horseshoe bruise was nearly every color of the rainbow with a halo of color spread across the top of my leg. Being nigh-invulnerable had its limits and repercussions and my body begged me to go back to sleep.

I tried to listen to my body as sleep pawed at me, but something wasn't right. My nose twitched at a familiar smell. It was sharp, acrid smell. I jumped from bed cursing. The ham in the iron skillet had burned. Never the best way to start the day, no matter what time of day it started. I tossed the pan, contents and all, into a snowbank outside and headed for a shower. I needed to talk to my brother and smelling like grease and horse was not appealing.

On my drive to my brother's place my mind drifted back to Maia. I keep reminding myself she was a grown woman and could handle herself, but with Dez knowing she was a werewolf, the stakes were higher.

Michael didn't live in town anymore. He'd moved to a few acres off the back of our father's property outside of town after Sky died. Valdez lived in Michael's old house in town.

I was barely through the door of my brother's house when my freckled face niece gave me a flying hug.

"Uncle Simon!" she said as I spun her around.

"Hey, Bear," I said then kissed her cheek. "Your dad home yet?"

She rolled her bi-colored eyes at me in typical teenage fashion. "Yeah. His boat got in this morning. He's home for three days before he leaves again and jerk face is back in charge."

Damn it. There was a good chance Valdez had talked to Michael while I slept. But it explained why Valdez didn't greet me when I pulled onto the property. I wouldn't be here either if I only had a few free nights before needing to watch my siblings again. There was a good possibility my oldest nephew was already somewhere drunk.

"Simon, you shouldn't have come over so late." My brother grumbled, wiping his hands on a towel. There were traces of something dark and rust colored on his skin, reminding me of dried blood.

"Dez not feed the dogs?" I asked, assuming my brother given them fresh meat tonight.

"No, I sent him on a job." Rings of darkness heavy beneath his eyes as he stood at the end of the hall, glaring at me. His skin was tanned dark and weather beaten from his time in the sun. He had deep creases at the corners of his dark brown eyes. Michael's once deep mahogany hair was light brown in spots, almost blonde, bleached from the sea and sun.

"I wanted to help them, but Pop wouldn't let me, Uncle Simon."

"Kodiak," he snapped, "get to bed. You have school in the morning."

"But Pop, Uncle Simon just got here!" She whined, clinging to me.

"And he should have known you'd have school and come over earlier. Bed. Now, Kodiak."

She huffed, but spun on her heel as I tried not to laugh. Her braid whipped behind her and the freckle-faced girl stomped down the hall to her bedroom.

"I'm impressed, Michael. She usually puts up more of a fight."

"I haven't been home long enough for her to really start with the sass. But that doesn't mean I need it from you, Simon."

I snorted. "Yeah, well, the babies of the family unite. I miss when your kids were young enough for me to sugar them up and hand them back to you."

He frowned at me. The door slammed back the hall and he rolled his eyes.

"I can't wait till you have kids so I can torment you and teach them bad things like you did mine."

I laughed. There hadn't been that many awful things I'd taught them through the years, they had mostly just helped me prank my brother. Michael sighed and inclined his head, indicating the kitchen. "Come on, I just put some coffee on."

I followed him into the kitchen, taking my normal seat at the end of the counter.

"What did you say you had Dez do?" I asked as he poured the coffee.

"Dez and Brian are taking care of an errand for me that I was too tired to deal with. Nothing to out of the usual. Good chance they are drinking at Minnie's right now, or will be shortly. You need him for something?"

I fiddled with my mug as I attempted to calm my heartbeat. "You know about his latest hunt, the vampires?"

Michael nodded. "Said one bit him. Banged up his knee pretty bad during it all. I tried to tell him to get it looked at but he wouldn't listen."

I swore and shook my head. "I hadn't meant to injure him that badly."

Michael narrowed his eyes at me over his coffee cup. "What's this about, Simon?"

"He's not telling you everything that went down."

My brother sat back in his chair, the crow's feet at his eyes more apparent as he squinted them at me. "How would you know?"

"I followed him, Michael." I paused and raked my hair back out of my eyes. "I thought he might need help."

"Sounds like you got there a bit too late." His words were clipped and tight, disappointment laced into every word. He reached for his ashtray and pack of clove cigarettes as he glared at me.

"Late?" I growled. "Dez let them do that to him."

"Why would my son do something that stupid? He had his siblings to look out for."

"Really, Michael? You have to ask?"

He lit a clove cigarette, shaking out the match as he took a drag. "Enlighten me."

I took a swig of my coffee and sat the mug down too hard, the sound echoing in the quiet house.

"Because he doesn't care, he's got issues. Marie took his kid and left the state. Do you even remember how bad you were when our father separated you from Sky when Dez was a few months old? You had a death wish and it took everything Ray and I had to keep you alive."

Michael took a long drag on the cigarette, blowing out smoke rings as he thought. His eyes darkened a bit as he sank back into those memories. The silence stretched out long enough that I finished my cup of coffee.

"I didn't think you were old enough to remember that."

I snorted as he raised his own mug to his lips. "I was young, sure, but I wasn't that young. My two older brothers coming home cut up and bloody? Of course, I remember. But how much worse do you want it to get with Dez before you step in and talk to him?"

Michael waived me off. "He's fine."

"You really think so? Did you say that when Ray did the same thing?"

"What are you talking about?"

"He's using himself as bait, Michael. Did you hear me? Bait."

Michael closed his eyes. I watched his chest slowly rise and fall as he took measured breaths.

"He's been fine," His words were steady, but I wasn't sure he believed them. "He knows what he's doing."

He's been fine.

I turned the words over in my head.

He's been fine.

An ember of rage flared in my chest as my brother's words settled in. "You knew about this?" I asked, my disgust clung tightly to every word that rolled off my tongue. "Did you tell him to do this?"

My brother stared into the distance as he smoked the rest of his cigarette, not responding to my question. But his silence said it all. If he hadn't told Dez outright, he'd said enough to encourage my nephew's behavior. And now, the man I'd looked up to all my life sat there and refused to meet my gaze. My remaining brother was no better than the monster that had raised us.

I ran a hand back through my hair, trying to calm myself. I didn't understand how my own flesh and blood could sit there and not think this conversation was anything more serious than discussing how horrid our step-mother's pot roast had been.

I couldn't look at him as I nervously tapped my fingers on the table.

"You're just going to ignore this like you did with Ray," I scoffed. "You want to have to kill him too? Is that what you want? You want to have to kill your own son?"

"Don't bring my brother into this," he said softly, his words barely audible.

"He was my brother, too!" I yelled, my anger taking over. "I should have known. I should have god damn known. You should have seen him, Michael. Didn't even flinch, took that bite like the addict he fucking is."

My brother groaned as he rubbed at the creases on his forehead. "Valdez would never let it get as far as Ray had."

I scoffed. "I can't believe you. You're just going to keep denying it? You're telling me that my walking in on him screwing one of the vampires while it had fangs in him was a figment of my imagination?"

"Simon, I'm sure it was not what it looked like."

"I wish it hadn't been."

"I'm positive it wasn't."

"Umm, look, I know you have three kids, so I know you know what sex is, even if it's been a while."

"Simon-"

"There was certainly enough, moaning and flesh on flesh. Fuck, he didn't even care when the male vampire came up naked behind and joined them."

"Simon," he said, trying to stop my rant. I didn't care. I was on a roll.

"Granted there was one in the rafters, so he was almost in a full-on fanger orgy, but shit, yeah, what do I know?"

My brother's fist landed heavily on the countertop. The ashtray and mugs jumped from the vibrations. My hand instinctively went for my knife on my hip.

"Get out," Michael growled.

I didn't move. The silence stretching between us until the husky under the table yawned.

"It's not going to go away, Michael," I said slowly.

"You weren't there the day Ray died. You didn't watch the life drain from his eyes. You don't get to bring him into this."

"But I had to help you and Dad burn his body," I ground out. Every nerve in my body was electrified, screaming at me to do something. The soft tinkle of glass came from somewhere in the distance. Goosebumps ran up my arms. The last thing I wanted to do was fight my brother.

"I'll deal with my son." He rumbled. "Get. Out."

"You'd better, or I will."

Michael grabbed me I passed him. He squeezed my wrist, forcing my hand open. The angry pink line still visible on my palm from the blade of the ax.

"You're worried about what my oldest might be doing, but what the hell are you up to?" His words were rough as sandpaper from his years of smoking, but his slow-burning anger made it deeper. "I didn't want to believe Kenai, but he is the one child I have that I don't have to worry about lying."

I yanked my arm from him.

Michael shook his head. "You try to play your cards close to the chest, little brother, but you wear your heart on your damn sleeve. Never thought you'd be fucking with the Others after Ray. Kenai said you'd caught an ax by the blade and didn't bleed. I didn't want to believe it. You are the Nightmare they all talked about all those years. Here I thought you'd just been lucky."

"How are you still in denial?" I forced through clenched teeth. "You knew what I did. I told you before, Michael."

"Deal with the devil, Simon," he snarled. "Not sure if I should call you a hypocrite or a martyr."

"Djinn." I corrected. "I made a deal with a djinn to save my life. Not a devil. Not a demon. A god damn djinn.""

Michael's eyes went a shade darker as he glared at me. "That true? Or you just saying that to make yourself feel better about what you did?"

"The truth," I said curtly.

"Call it what you will, they all want something. What did you give it in exchange?"

"Its freedom."

He snorted. "Those monsters are never free and neither are you. Get out of my house."

He didn't have to tell me a third time. I wasn't a fae.

I let the door slam as I left.

"Uncle Simon," Kenai called as I yanked open the door to my truck.

"Yeah, kid?" I managed to keep my tone civil as anger broiled in me.

"I'm sorry about what happened with Cameo. Are you and Maia okay?"

Sucking in a deep breath, I felt my broken ribs flex. "We're good, Kenai. He didn't get her. I'm just bruised."

My nephew nodded in the twilight, not willing to meet my gaze. "Good. Tell her I'm sorry, please."

"I will."

"Thanks. I don't know what got into him." Kenai continued solemnly, fiddling with the cuffs of his jacket. "He's usually a pretty solid horse. He even likes Rhen. Only spooks like that when we're out and come across a wolf scent or something."

I twitched at the word.

The kid hadn't connected the dots yet. Valdez must not have said anything about Maia to his brother or father.

"Best laid plans, kiddo," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We're good and you've got school in the morning. See you this weekend?"

He nodded and walked away, head still down.

"Hey, Kenai," I called after him.

He looked at me over his shoulder, those bi-colored eyes unnerving me as the brown one seemed to disappear in the receding twilight.

"Yeah?"

"Come by after school tomorrow. I'll teach you how to throw the ax, okay?"

My nephew smiled a half smile, looking more like his deceased mother than my brother. "Alright, but can I ask you something, Uncle Simon?"

"Sure, kiddo."

Emotions that I didn't recognize from him played across his eyes as he looked toward the horizon, then back to me. His eyes a shade darker than they had been a moment before. "Are we right to do what we do? The hunting?"

My mouth opened before I could stop myself. "Yeah."

He nodded and headed into the house.

The muscles in my forearm started to twitch at my lie. It wasn't right what we did. It was the family line, ingrained in me, and I couldn't even bring myself to be honest with him. I climbed up into my truck and headed to go see Minnie Hayes, my family's guardian angel. I needed to blow off steam and see what she knew about Valdez and his escapades. My brother might not care if his kid was in danger of becoming a vampire, but I sure did. And I was fairly certain Minnie did too.

# CHAPTER SIX

I hadn't gone far when my headlights fell on another of the local teenagers I knew.

"Hey," I said, half hanging out the window as I pulled along the side of the road. "You shouldn't be walking alone out here in the dark. Someone or something might make a meal out of you."

Willow Ravenwhite turned and smiled at me, her ruby red hair caught the light from the nearly full moon. She was dressed in her typical style, a speckled cream-colored oversized fisherman's sweater, blue jeans, and boots. I swore the selkie kids never wore coats.

"Hi, Simon," she said cheerfully as she leaned on my door. The young woman looked so different from her brother with her red hair and green eyes versus his black hair and amber eyes. It was hard to remember they were twins.

"Do you need a lift home?"

She shook her head. "I'm headed to Ms. Hayes' house. Sunday night bonfire, first one of the year."

I'd forgotten about that. Many of the local teens would be there. Valdez and Brian would be keeping watch to make sure no Others try to pick off a teenager. That's if they were done with whatever errand Michael had sent them on.

"Save you some time, I'm headed there, too. Want a ride?"

Willow's smile broadened and the redhead scampered around to the other side to hop up into the cab of my small pickup.

The cabin smelled like salt and lavender as she settled into her seat. We made small talk as twilight quickly faded into dark. Nothing much about anything; town was quiet for once.

The truck rocked and swayed over a particularly deep rut, bouncing Willow to the middle seat next to me. We both laughed a bit. The roads around here could be bad any time of the year as road maintenance was difficult given our location and weather.

"Might as well stay there," I said absently as I tried to pick out the best path to drive down the road. "We've got about a half-mile of this."

She didn't say a word, but she relaxed beside me. It felt like sunlight radiated from the selkie where her body touched mine, just like it felt when Maia pressed against me. It spread through me like I'd taken a shot of smooth whiskey, warm and comforting. I had to shift in my seat, my jeans uncomfortable as I thought of Maia naked on the hood of the car this morning with the sun backlighting her, making her look like an angel. I hoped she'd be home naked in our bed when I finally got home tonight. I wasn't sure how long I could take her being angry with me.

A pale hand came to rest on my knee. I gritted my teeth as Willow dragged her painted nails along the inside seam of my jeans, working her way up my leg, then squeezing the top of my thigh. My body fought against my mind, wanting to respond to her touch. I needed to stop the teenager but couldn't form the words "no" or "stop". My head swam with every attempt, the road blurring a bit, the need to look at Willow growing stronger. She shifted in her seat beside me and I slowed the truck.

"Were you that someone who was planning on eating me up?" Her breath was hot on my ear as she whispered the words.

I swallowed hard. Selkies weren't known to be the type to drown a human in seduction, but I was keenly aware of their ability to turn a human mind to more pleasurable activities. It was a struggle to shove the thoughts down as tingles raced up my spine. She was a teenager for Christ sake, but Willow had guts, I'd give her that.

Shifting gears, I slid my hand to my knife sheath and pulled the black blade. Willow's hand was on my chest, toying with a button on my shirt as she placed a kiss on my cheek. The Ravenwhite girl stiffened when I pressed the flat of the blade to her denim-covered thigh.

The truck hit another bump and I felt the blade scrape down her jeans.

"Care to rethink what you're trying to do, kid?"

"I won't tell," She said and licked my cheek.

I slammed the brakes on, letting the engine die when I didn't bother to downshift and use the clutch.

"Last chance," I said raising the blade to her throat.

Willow pouted, taking her hand from my leg, she slid back across the bench seat.

"Better," I ground out, my jeans a bit more forgiving. "Drop the magic, selkie, I will get out of this truck and hunt you if you try it again. You're a kid, play in your own age bracket. And leave those things that can bite back alone."

Willow huffed at me, tossing her head. Her ruby red hair obscured her features as she slumped in the seat. The warmth in the cab dissipated. It felt as if someone had dunked me in an icy lake, but I'd take it. I didn't need to add infidelity with a minor to my long list of misdeeds.

At Minnie's, Willow hopped out, running off to join the group of teenagers around the bonfire before I had the truck shut off. One of Willow's companions was a girl about a year younger than she was. I recognized the girl's wavy, raven hair. She was River Morgan, the daughter of my brother's boss. I hadn't known the two girls were friends. I did a double-take when I saw a flash of blonde and blue hair on one of the teenagers. When the girl turned around, I recognized her too. Her name was Rory, she was one of my niece's friends. I shook my head. A few of the teenagers waved as I made my way to the back porch looking for Minnie.

Ms. Minnie Hayes had been a family friend since before I was born. My family did our best to keep threats under control while Minnie did her best to keep us patched up and in fighting condition. It was a symbiotic relationship our families had fostered for generations. She also didn't see the harm in letting the kids party on her property. Her logic had been that her family's property was the safest place for them. I couldn't argue there. The Others knew the Hayes family was our ally and that it was an unspoken "hands-off" zone. Sure, a few had tried through the last century and a half, but we'd come down on them with such wrath that none dared try us. It was our hallowed ground. It also didn't hurt that Minnie was a hell of a markswoman. She'd been the one who taught me how to shoot.

Minnie was sitting in her favorite chair on the back porch watching the festivities.

"You shouldn't let all these kids party out here, Minnie," I teased as I limped up the porch stairs.

"Don't make me chase you with a wooden spoon, Simon, doesn't look like you'd get too far." She laughed, then added, "besides, it's just a bonfire."

"One that can be seen from Broken Tusk Inn. That's at least a mile down the road."

She waved her hand at me, brushing off the comment. Of course, the fire wasn't that large. The Alaska State Troopers would have already been out here if it that had been the case. But I'd bet money that they were just as happy to not have to chase the teenagers.

"Well good, maybe Benny will take the hint and come join me." She sat up taller in her chair, her small frame dwarfed by the size of the Adirondack style rocking chair she sat in. "It's about time his moth found the flame over here."

I shook my head, fighting laugh. "I don't think he's a moth, Minnie. Want me to go invite him? Rumor around town is he's single again."

Cookie, her big shaggy gray dog, picked his head up off the floor enough to huff at me.

Her dog didn't care for Benny. Benny wasn't a bad guy. Just couldn't keep his hands off the tourists and was always on some summer love adventure.

She laughed, eyes never leaving the kids. "He'll come 'round or he won't. I'm too old to chase him."

I smiled and made a mental note to drop a hint with the owner of Broken Tusk Inn next time I stopped in for dinner. One of these days I hoped he'd take Minnie's interest seriously; they were a good match.

"Why are you here, Simon?"

"Have you seen Dez?" I asked. "Michael said he sent the boys on an errand."

"Your nephew and my grandson aren't here yet. They had to take care of something for James."

Something for my father and Michael? I cringed. Taking care of something for my father could be a task that ranged anywhere from picking up sticks in his driveway to getting rid of bodies. And if they had a job for both by my brother and my father, it couldn't have been anything good.

Turning my eyes back toward the partying kids, I tried to focus my thoughts. "How is my nephew after this morning?"

Minnie sighed. "An idiot. But he'll live. I got him sewed back up but he spent most of today going through blood withdrawal before James called. I'm not sure when he talked to Michael. His fever had me worried, it's never been that high. Thought he might actually end up with fangs this time."

I scrubbed my face and gave a frustrated groan. That was my fault. I never should have bled that vampire onto his open wounds.

"I almost gave James a piece of my mind when he insisted the boys come to the house this afternoon."

"You should have, Minnie. You're the only one who holds any sway with him."

She snorted. "That man listens to no one."

That may be what she thought, but Minnie Hayes could have had my father wrapped around her pinkie if she ever desired to do so.

"Did my father say what he needed them to do?" I asked tentatively, wishing I had more pieces to the puzzle.

The little gray-haired lady made an unladylike sound that made me snort.

"I'll take that as a no."

"Come on, Simon, let's go inside, I hear Brian's truck pulling down the drive. Those two can take over watching the teenagers."

She picked up the shotgun from beside the chair as she stood. I followed her into the house, looking back over my shoulder as a rusted pickup fishtailed around the corner of the house. The teenagers cheered as mud flew. The partially furred body of something familiar bounced in the bed of the truck. They'd been sent hunting. Valdez's eyes met mine across the yard. I shuddered at the emptiness I saw there.

# CHAPTER SEVEN

Minnie started a pot of coffee as I took a seat at the big slab kitchen table. It had been in the house for nearly as long as the house had stood in Cordova. The Hayes family home had been built a bit like the Winchester Mystery House and it was forever being added on to. The place never quite was the same as the last time I visited. Biggest difference between the famous house down in the lower forty-eight and the Hayes house, was the builders that had worked on the Hayes house had managed to keep the style consistent; everything flowed together smoothly as if it was the original intent.

"So, what is your real reason for stopping by, Simon?" She asked, retrieving the cream and sugar.

I covered my face with my hands, taking a deep breath before laying my cards on the table.

"Michael and I were fighting about Dez. He thinks I was wrong when I stepped in this morning. My brother doesn't believe that what Dez is doing is anything bad. He doesn't want to believe that Dez is using himself as bait."

She sucked in a breath. "Oh boy."

"Am I wrong to worry, Minnie? I just keep thinking about Ray and what happened to him."

"No. I worry about the boy, too, Simon. This wasn't the first time he's done it. Brian and Dez went out about three months ago, right after Marie left. They came back here; both had a couple of bites. When I questioned them, they just said they were taken unaware and refused to discuss details. I didn't believe it; the wounds weren't ragged like when someone gets bit in an attack. They were nice, neat bites that needed cleaned and a stitch or two to seal them up. I didn't push it. Then Dez came back from a job a month ago with more bites, angry at me when I tried to question him about what really happened."

"Probably the only thing that has kept him from gaining fangs himself is it's been different vamps," I said offhandedly. "Or at least I hope."

Minnie shrugged. "That and the amounts of garlic I stick in his food. Or maybe the colloidal silver I stick in his coffee when he's here acts as an inoculation."

I glanced down at my coffee cup, wondering if she'd done the same to me. "Did you--"

She shook her head. "If Dez can get this crap out of his system, I think he'll be ok. Maybe not today, but I've been around long enough to know the patterns. I don't agree with his self-destructive mindset, but I understand it. He just needs things to start going right for him."

Didn't we all?

"Not sure that will happen. We've both seen too much, Minnie," I said absently, thinking about all Valdez had been through in his life. Life in our family was rough, but he'd been dealt a shittier hand than most of us had. Valdez had saved his sister from a car accident only to watch his mother die, then kept my brother from committing suicide only to have his own kid's mother leave the state with their son. I'd run away when things had gotten to be too much. My nephew hadn't had that option. Not sure I would be acting much different than Valdez had I stayed in Cordova.

"Well no kidding, child, you grew up in a family that chased death. It's in your blood."

"I know." I shook my head. "I'm not sure how long I can keep doing this."

"Hunting?"

I nodded. I didn't know who I was kidding when I brought Maia home, things were quickly becoming unsafe for her here.

"Why?" Minnie didn't bat an eye as if she'd known what I hadn't said, filling my mug back up out of habit.

"I'm not sure we're doing the right thing all the time."

"You're falling for one, aren't you? An Other? Please tell me it's not a vampire."

I cleared my throat but didn't answer, I focused on stirring the sugar into m y coffee.

Her long wooden spoon came crashing down on my knuckles. A yelp escaped before I could stop myself. "You done?"

"With what?"

"Trying to lie to yourself that you're somehow in the wrong. That you shouldn't want it."

I opened my mouth to argue, but nothing came out.

"You're not the only one to fancy someone they shouldn't."

That gave me pause. I narrowed my eyes at her, trying to make the sentence make sense.

"What?" She asked innocently. "All of you act as if I've always been this nearly dead woman who is just here to sew you up, feed you, and send you on your way. I had a life before all of you, kiddo."

Her dog looked up at me as I choked on my coffee.

I wasn't going to argue with Minnie Hayes, she was definitely past middle-aged. She was one of my father's peers. He'd often lamented that Minnie was the one that got away but knowing Minnie, my father never would have been on her radar. Despite my father's high-risk life, he wasn't the type of adventure she'd wanted.

"I was young, Simon. And he was such a smooth talker, I didn't care that he wasn't human."

When I spit out my coffee this time, Cookie didn't bother to look up at me.

"I-I wouldn't presume," I stuttered a bit taken aback by the thought of Minnie and anyone, let alone an Other. She'd never had a love interest that I could remember. Her late son was Michael's age, but his father was long gone. Rumors flitted about town like fallen autumn leaves as to who it had been, but she'd never affirmed or denied who the child's father was. "But I never "

"They aren't all a threat to humanity, you know that. Take the selkies for example."

Another snort escaped me after my encounters with the Ravenwhite twins today. Minnie cracked me across the knuckles with her wooden spoon again. "Hey!"

"They aren't, Simon," she said sternly. I'd stepped on some metaphorical toes with my reaction.

"The Ravenwhite girl is. She was trying to sedu—stuff—she was trying stuff on the way over." What the kid had tried was wrong. And the kid was just that, a kid. Someone would end up taking advantage of her and not think twice.

"Trouble isn't the same as a threat. Same thing could be said for your Maia."

"How so?" I tried to act nonplussed, but she swung that damn spoon at my head. I barely made it out of the way in time. Minnie was a feisty old woman when the mood struck her.

"Really, Simon? You think that clueless act will work on me? I'm not James."

Defeated, I took a deep breath. "How did you know?

"Please, I'm old, I've seen it all."

I wrapped my hands around my coffee mug trying to keep my focus.

"Besides, her brother wandered over here shortly after you moved back and told me what they were. Owen said he'd do what he could to keep the shifters away from my chickens if I'd add some more to the coop for him. Neighbors helping neighbors and all."

A grin tugged at my lips. "That's cheating."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, kiddo," she said with a smile of her own. "But they aren't all a threat, despite what you were raised to believe. Change starts when you learn a better way."

"Fine, I concede." I heaved a heavy sigh. "You know about mine, what about yours? Who caught your fancy?"

"Mine? Mine what?"

I shot her a sideways glance. "Minnie, it wasn't a selkie, so who was it?"

"Oh, fine. Another cup of coffee first."

While I waited for her to tell her story, I contemplated how long it would take for the caffeine to wear off. My bed was calling to me again but I wasn't ready to sleep again.

"I don't know how to tell this without feeling like the old woman at the beginning of Titanic," she joked as she sat down across from me, her wooden spoon still within reach.

"As long as you don't have a jewel-encrusted necklace that we are going to slip into the harbor off the ferry, we're good."

Minnie scowled at me, but couldn't hide the laugh she was trying to stifle. "Jonathan is a bit older than Michael, so it's maybe forty-two or forty-three years now. I was twenty-two at the time. My mother had just left with my new step-father to go down to Washington state. James was still coming by to be sewn up on a regular basis. He was nearing thirty and still couldn't do a job without at least one injury."

She spoke the truth, yet somehow my father was the only one of his siblings left alive. Injury and loss were the legacy of the Sesi family.

"You know he did that so he'd have a reason to talk to you, right?" I said it partially in jest.

"Your father never does anything without a reason, Simon."

"True." I cleared my throat. My father had always been a conniving asshole. "So, what did you hook up with? Wolf? Selkie? Vampire?"

"Mermaid."

I blinked at her. "A mermaid? In Alaska?

"His name was Cadfael. Or at least that's what he said his name was when I found him down at the coast. He was tangled in the fishing nets and bleeding badly. I'd never seen a creature so mesmerizing. Black hair, silver eyes, swirling tattoos on pearlescent skin that was tinged blue. Oh, was he ever a yummy thing."

"Uh, Minnie, while I appreciate your lust for days gone by, he was a mermaid, that's kinda what they do. Well, that and eat the occasional human." And that was why Hunters didn't like them. I could forgive alot until it started eating a human.

She waved me off. "Cadfael wasn't just the typical mermaid, Simon."

"Uh-huh." I said, swirling my coffee. Minnie ignored my disdain.

"His blood was blue."

I froze and met her gaze. Nothing in her countenance told me she was being anything but truthful. No smirk, no raised eyebrow, now upturned corners of her eyes. She meant it.

Mermaids were troublesome creatures and encounters were rare. But blue-blooded mermaids were as rare as a unicorn. Their own kind hunted them. The blue bloods, mimics as they were called, could not only shift between mermaid and human forms, they could also assume the likeness of any mermaid or human they'd encountered. Very handy for them. Not a good thing if you needed to find a particular one of them.

"What?" she said raising her own mug to her lips.

"And you're sure that fancy pants finboy really looked like what you'd first seen?"

"I know what I saw. He was too injured to use magic, there was no glamour there."

I scrubbed my hands over my face. This was too much.

"Minnie, you want me to believe there was really a mermaid in Alaska? Aren't those things warm water only?"

"Will you hush your mouth, child? If you don't believe me, ask your father. James didn't bother to ask me who the new guy in town was, but he was pissed the mermaid was here. And I don't know why Cadfael was here, I didn't much care. But I do know if you keep interrupting me, I will give you a rundown of everything we did in the week he stayed with me while I nursed him back to health. In detail, Simon. D-e-tail. And let me tell you, there is something to be said for sleeping with a shifter who can control what body parts shift and what doesn't."

I held up a hand to stop her. I wavered somewhere between amused and appalled at her threat. "Okay, Minnie. I get the point."

"Not sure you do. I'm just saying, they aren't all bad, Simon. But sometimes, it's not meant to last. Enjoying it for what it is while you have it."

"You telling me I should stop what I have going on with my shifter?"

She shook her head. "I'm saying enjoy it while you can."

I tried not to grumble. Just because hers left didn't mean I needed to let mine go. I couldn't fathom it and didn't want to try. "Fine. Then back to your fish. So, are you telling me that your son, Jonathan, was half mermaid?"

Jonathan Hayes had been a playmate when Michael and I were kids. Searching my memory, I tried to remember any moment of him seeming anything less than human. Minnie didn't answer. As if she was finally admitting to it might make her world crumble.

"But he drowned." I blurted out.

Minnie only gave me a soft smile. "Can you be certain? All your father ever said was he watched my Jonathan be pulled under. We never found a body."

"Your son's half mermaid and he just swam away? You sure they didn't just eat him? Slim pickings in cold water you know."

Minnie opened her mouth and closed it again. "You're awful, Simon. I said no such thing."

"You implied it was a possibility."

"And you and Maia will have a litter of pups before you come clean about what you want. You'd be just as happy as I was not to admit the real situation to anyone. Keeping it a secret doesn't keep everything safe. It just doesn't, Simon."

She'd never spoken truer words.

"Minnie, that doesn't help me." I laid my head down on the table.

"Simon, if I could have turned into a mermaid and joined Cadfael, I would have. Don't ask me if you should ask your girlfriend to change you, that's your choice."

I lifted my head to protest, I'd never said a word about Maia changing me. "What? I never—"

But Minnie wasn't having it and plowed on. "If it makes you happy, do it. Its eaten at me all these years. I never told Jonathan who he really was. For all I know, he figured it out and left out of fear of your family. Or at least that's what I hope happened."

That stung, but it was the truth. He would have been in danger.

"I'd be the biggest hypocrite ever," I scoffed. "Asking to be turned into the thing that I once hunted."

"Child, please, you already are, but it is a fun club to be part of. You've brought her into the family, knowing what she is, willingly living with her and not telling them. Go big or go home, right? They will hunt you both, wolf or not once they realize what you've done. But being a wolf, you can hide."

I shook my head. "You're suggesting I turn wolf to convince my family that Others aren't all bad?"

"No. James would never accept that, but you could get out from it all. Go home. Get some sleep. Let me talk to Dez about keeping your secret. If James hasn't come after you yet, I may still have time to convince your nephew to keep quiet."

I prayed to whatever being was listening that Minnie was right.

# CHAPTER EIGHT

Driving home, I had too much time to think. My nephew was farther down the rabbit hole than I'd thought. I'd been so caught up in myself and Maia since I'd been back that I hadn't recognized his behavior. It was bad enough Dez was doing these things on his own, but my brother was still sending him out on hunts.

And my father. What was he up to tonight? He hadn't been one to typically send Valdez out on an errand or a hunt. My father just handed things down to me or Michael and told us to figure it out.

But my father and brother sending him on errands on the same night? Something was off. And after talking with Michael, I was wondering if they were purposely keeping me out of the loop. The more I thought about the why behind their reasoning, the more my head began to pound.

Maybe Minnie was right, maybe I should just enjoy what I'd had with Maia. But my brain added, "then let her go before they all realized what she was." Once they knew, I was as good as dead to my family, just another notch on their hilts.

My thoughts were so all-consuming as I drove, I didn't see the moose step onto the road. It stood taller than the hood of my truck. To avoid hitting it, I swerved, but the passenger-side tires sunk into the slushy ground alongside the road. Mud flew behind me as I tried to get my truck out of the ditch. The moose wasn't fazed by the incident and kept up its pace, disappearing into the tree line.

I ran through all the profanity I knew, but swearing wasn't going to help me out of this situation. By the way the truck leaned, the tires had sunk almost halfway up the hubcaps. There was no hope for it tonight. I double-checked my knife and gun, then set out on my near three-mile walk home. I'd never been more thankful for the light of the nearly full moon. I'd deal with the truck tomorrow.

Wolves howled through the trees as I walked. It sounded like Maia and her brother, but this was late, even for them.

My words with Michael played back through my head as I walked. Deal with the devil he had said, I wasn't sure his statement was too far from the truth. When I'd turned sixteen, I'd bought that old Chevy from drunken Mr. Romans. He was a collector of all things, supernatural entities included. Mr. Romans had always paid my father for bits and pieces from our hunts--a bone here, a tooth there, the skull of an aswang that had somehow made its way to Cordova. The old drunk had the strangest collection of Others I'd ever seen. How he'd gotten the car or brought it to Alaska was anyone's guess.

It took a summers' worth of work to get the Chevy running the first time, but I was soon keenly aware that it needed more TLC. The interior was the first thing I'd overhauled. It had sat so many Alaskan winters exposed to the elements that the interior had crumbled at the touch. In the process of gutting the upholstery and other miscellaneous interior panels, I'd found a heavy object tucked in layers of newspapers and wedged behind a door panel.

The black ink on the first few layers of yellowed paper was so faded there was little I could decipher. Three layers in and a few words caught my eye. Titanic. White Star Line. The papers were from nearly one hundred years ago. Layer after layer was peeled back revealing a spherical perfume bottle swirled with shades of blue and streaks of gold and white. The unusual creation resembled a faraway nebula that I'd seen in one of my elementary school science textbooks. The glass stopper had been sealed in place with red wax, a coat of arms with two stars and a wave that I didn't recognize stamped into it. A pale gold glow illuminated the ball of glass from the inside. I turned it over, admiring how the glasswork looked like water marbled paint. The bottle grew white-hot in my hand. I dropped it to the ground, my palm blistered from the brief amount of contact.

The glass orb fell to the ground, but it didn't shatter. The bottle only bounced and rolled away, the light inside blinking out. I wrapped it back in the newspaper and stashed it on a shelf in my cabin.

Two weeks later when I returned home, the bottle was sitting unwrapped on top of my pot-bellied stove, the wax seal slowly melting into the bottle. Once it had cooled, I replaced it on the shelf. It no longer glowed, but I'd catch something out of the corner of my eye. It was nothing ever concrete that I could pin down until one day there was a blonde girl sitting on the car.

I shook my head, shoving the memory of that day down. I never wanted to see her again, it was bad enough she haunted my dreams.

A twig snapped behind me. My breath caught in my chest as my heart stilled. Wolf eyes met mine as I spun toward the noise. My hand went for my knife.

Yellow eyes stared at me from the dark owl-like mask across the wolf's face. I knew that face. That was my wolf.

"Why the hell are you still out here?" I yelled at the petite wolf as she crept out of the trees. My reaction was more shock than anger. She'd always been the better tracker between the two of us; I'd yet to see her before she saw me.

My girlfriend stared at me, her fur taking on a dark hue as she crept in the shadows.

"Get in the cabin, now," I snapped.

Maia sat on her haunches, tilting her head in challenge.

"I'm serious Maia," I said, taking a step toward her.

The wind shifted, blowing at my back wafting my scent toward her. She snarled at me, moon glinting off her fangs, fur rising down the ridge of her back as she slowly stood and paced toward me.

Damn it, she must have smelled the selkie. This was not helping me.

"Maia, it's not what you think."

She gave a barking snarl. Her fangs snapped together, reminding me that she wasn't a house pet. She was a predator, even if she treated me gently on a daily basis.

"Maia—baby "

She snarled and lunged at me. I wasn't fast enough. Her teeth sank into my calf. She yanked, throwing me off balance and acquainting me with the slushy ground.

Flat on my back, she climbed up my chest, heavy canine paws pressing into my breast bone as I tried to catch my breath.

"Baby," I gasped.

She snarled in my face, having none of it. A paw raked at my shirt where Willow had touched it, the wolf nose shoving against the fabric to capture the scent. There was a deep growl in her throat as the wet nose followed the line Willow's hand had taken. Maia shoved my face to the side with hers as she sniffed my cheek.

"Maia," I said softly, reaching a hand up to stroke her fur.

She jerked her head back and grabbed my arm. The wolf shook my arm like she as trying to snap the neck of a rabbit. I managed to smack her nose with my free hand. She released me in her momentary shock, then snarled as she backed away.

"If you let me explain," I said forcefully as I sat up.

She growled at me again, then ran off into the woods.

God damn it. I ached, but nothing felt broken. Mud soaked through my clothes and forced me to my feet. In the distance, Maia howled. I expected an answering call, but none came.

The door slammed behind me, knocking something off the wall. I didn't care enough to see what had fallen. My stomach growled as I peeled off my muddy clothing. Too much caffeine and not enough food. I wanted to sleep and not think about the shit show that my evening had become.

# CHAPTER NINE

My heart thundered in my chest. Pain shot through my limbs. I couldn't make out what I actually felt.

Sometimes I'd wish sleep never came for me.

I watched the light from the pot-bellied stove dance across the walls, the shadows joining the wild movements. The silhouettes moved together, writhing to some unheard drum. I hadn't remembered lighting it before bed. The longer I stared at the undulating shapes, the more my brain saw.

Blinking a few times, I saw the round perfume bottle sitting on the pot-bellied stove, its gold spots glowing and pulsing. The red wax that held the stopper in place warmed and slowly dripped over the blue glass. I dug my nails into my palm as I waited for the glass to break. This time it didn't. The glass ball only sat there on the stove When I blinked again, then it was gone, leaving the spicy scent of amber and sandalwood behind.

A scream ripped from my throat. Every injury that had ever been healed with the magic I'd been cursed with burned like I'd touched a piece of iron still glowing orange from the blacksmith's forge. I felt the sharp edges of knives. I felt the sting of freshly sharpened claws. I felt the piercing bite of unholy fangs. My body fought against me as I tried to shove it all down and lock it away. I needed to focus. Shock was not my friend.

But I didn't win. Pain contracted my muscles. My chest tightened as my body bowed forward. I needed to move.

Snow drifted past the window panes as Maia made soft sleeping sounds as I crawled out of bed. My anxiety settled a bit knowing she was back beside me. I leaned over and kissed her temple then headed outside in my sweatpants, not bothering with a shirt or jacket. I needed the cold.

The sparkling flakes melted as they touched my skin, the newly formed tiny droplets running down my skin. My bare feet tread across the cold ground, the nearly frozen mud giving beneath my weight.

A pale light twinkled in the loft of my small barn. No one should have been there. I made my way as quietly as I could up the ladder. In the middle of the loft was a couple naked on an old quilt in a tangled pile of writhing limbs. The guy looked up at me as he slipped an arm behind the girl's neck.

I was looking into my own eyes.

I was staring at sixteen-year-old me.

But it wasn't me.

"No," I muttered to no one, the girl's blonde hair fading into a blue ombre. "No. I didn't-"

My voice gave out as the scene shifted. Anger flooded me. This wasn't a dream. Ankle deep snow surrounded me as I stood beneath a cloudless night sky near my horse barn. The Northern Lights fluttered and danced green and pink above me. I glanced out at the horizon, expecting a setting sun, but instead, all the colors inverted like I was moving inside a film negative.

"Where am I?!"

"Purgatory. Limbo. Perdition. The Underworld. The abyss. It's one of those. My favorite is the in between. I did hear someone call it Hell's waiting room once. That made me chuckle."

My stomach flipped. I knew that voice.

"I am not here to be your plaything. That did not happen!" I yelled to the heavens as a challenge, trying to keep a grip on my sanity. The world shimmered, like heat rising off a bonfire on a cold night. The dancing Northern Lights became bright dripping streaks of blood diffusing themselves across the star-speckled sky.

"I know. That would have been more fun than saving me from that Collector," the bright voice said from behind me. "Being stuck in a bottle would have been a tad easier with that memory to sustain me."

My eyes darted toward the voice as I spun. A tiny girl with platinum blonde hair streaked with cobalt and midnight blue on the hood of my car. Tattoos of glimmering gold stars ran down her exposed neck, dancing over her cleavage and disappearing below the fabric of her low-cut top.

"You would have preferred to go with the Collector who had come through town and be locked away as an exhibit?" I bit at her. "Be some exhibit in their sick zoo?"

She shrugged, her foot bouncing to some unheard rhythm. "Oh, the what-ifs that abound. Freak shows have come from some rather savvy Collectors. At least it lets the individual live in the open rather than in the shadows, Master."

I sneered at the word master. I hadn't liked the word when I'd been forced to claim her in an attempt to keep us both safe. When her bottle had gotten shoved in the car door for nearly a half-century, people and things had come looking for her when rumors had started that she was in the frozen north.

My lip curled in a snarl. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, Simon," she said, her tone placating. "Ever the dramatic soul. Can't I just swing by to say 'hi'?"

"You have only brought me trouble. You expect me to assume whatever you are here for now will be any less problematic?"

She shook her head, blond tresses falling behind her shoulders, those gold stars sparkling. "I'd love to say you're wrong, but this is you and me, Simon."

"Don't play games with me. Why are you here?"

There were those tiny fangs in her smile. When I didn't return it, she sighed. "We have unfinished business."

"No. We're done, Azara. And I'm waking up now from this dream

She hissed at my use of her name, but I was beyond her reach as thunder cracked in the distance.

# CHAPTER TEN

Bitter cold air filled my lungs as I took a gasping breath.

It had only been a dream I told myself as I tried to calm my racing heart. When I stretched, I felt every ache and creak of my bones. I'd need to rebuild the fire in the stove, but I wasn't quite ready to pull myself from the bed. I rolled over, sunlight streamed through pinprick holes, landing right on my eyes. Another twist and the bed beneath me was not soft or smelling like cottonwoods. Shielding my eyes with my hand, I squinted up at the light. It was streaming through the roof.

Moonlight was coming through the roof.

Panic gripped me as I sat up. My adrenaline crashed back down when I saw my target for ax throwing. I'd been sleeping in the loft of my barn. I pulled my knees up to my chest as I tried to remember how'd gotten here.

"Hey, baby, it's okay," my girlfriend whispered in my ear as she wrapped her arm around me. "I'll do it, just like we talked about."

I kissed her forearm, trying to stop my trembling as my brain raced, unsure of what she was talking about. She kissed my cheek, then shoved me down on the board floor. The corner of her mouth turning up in a wicked grin as she straddled my waist and started to shift into a wolf.

"Maia?" I whispered. She nuzzled my neck, her fur soft against my skin. I knew what she was doing, but it didn't stop my heart from racing. Part of what allowed a werewolf to create another wolf, was the virus in their blood and saliva mingling with the blood of another. The virus used adrenaline as a catalyst to replicate and invade the new host. If there wasn't enough adrenaline in the victim's system, they could potentially develop an immunity to the lycanthropy virus - if they survived the infection. Many that weren't turned, didn't survive.

"No, no, Nightmare," she hissed in my ear, tiny fangs nipped at the side of my neck. "But I can give you what you want."

"You don't know what I want," I said from behind gritted teeth, fear lancing through me. This wasn't her safe sandbox of purgatory. She'd placed herself in my playground. This is where she was in danger. This was where she was powerful. I wasn't getting away from her as easily as in her dream realm.

Azara leaned down, her nose touching mine as she wove her fingers into my hair. "But I do," she whispered. She kissed me. I tried to pull away, but she held me steady, those golden stars on her skin glowing and shifting my reality.

The scent of wet dirt made me open my eyes. I was in a small dark space. I shook my head to clear my vision. A wolf was curled beside me, a dark mask of fur covering her face. Maia was asleep beside me, a bed of soft leaves and pine needles beneath us. The human me was gone, I was fur and claws and teeth. Pulling myself to my feet, I padded out to see my surroundings. From the top of the ridge, I could see the lights of town. It was my land I'd purchased just outside of town, the gold mine was running, even in the dark of night by the light of the full moon, manned with a crew that I'd never seen. I could smell the congregation of misfits below. Wolves. Elk. Cougar. Merfolk. Something tugged at my soul. A piece I hadn't known was missing fell into place. It felt right. I felt whole for the first time in my life. I threw my head back and screamed into the night in relief and celebration; my words lost in the ghostly howl that issued from my canine mouth. Steam swirling in the dark, offering itself up as an exalted prayer to the Hunter's Moon overhead.

But this wasn't real. Nothing was ever real with a djinn until a deal was made. This was only what could be. I didn't want to leave but as I tried to return to the den, everything was being ripped from me as the world faded just as abruptly as it had swallowed me.

I pulled away panting from the djinn's kiss. Azara crossed her arms, resting her forearms on my chest as she stared down at me, a neutral expression on her face.

"Tell me you don't want that," she cooed.

Her weight on my chest forced me to take deeper breaths as I tried to focus, but it made me a bit light-headed. I couldn't look at her. It all felt like a betrayal to do this without Maia. If I didn't look at Azara, I could pretend I didn't have a choice, that the consequences weren't the fault of my decisions.

"Why?" I managed.

"I told you I owe you a favor for what you did for me. You want that?" she purred. "Do you want that life with your furry girlfriend by your side away from the humans? Do you, Nightmare?"

My face flushed, cheeks burning. I wanted nothing more than to be with Maia, to feel like I belonged somewhere. I drew a shuddering breath at the thought of it all slipping through my fingers like silt.

The words poured from my trembling lips. "Do it."

Azara kissed me again, then sat up. We were back in my cabin. She started chanting slowly in a language I did not understand. Swirling smoke and colors filled the room as she slowly rocked her hips against me. My body responded even as I tried to fight it. Heavy paws came down on my chest as the weight of the creature pinned me to the bed. A rough paw pushed my head to the side baring my throat. Instinctively, I tried to reach to protect myself, but my hands were tied to the bed. The wolf's tongue slowly licked the line of my throat as my body shuddered. It growled as I tensed. Sharper teeth tugged at my skin and I jumped.

My brain screamed in protest, but I was past the point of being able to say any words.

The wolf flexed its paw, its thick nails digging into my chest. Something warm and slick ran across my skin.

Claws dug into the side of my rib cage as the cold nose of the canine nudged my chin up, exposing my throat. I fought down the instinctive need to fight back, to not become prey, but couldn't stop the sound that escaped my lips. It was fruitless, pathetic. I sounded like a wounded animal as teeth pierced my throat.

My vision went black.

The cabin door slammed open, filling the room with a crack of thunder as I regained consciousness in my bed.

Maia stood there, smeared in something dark, the moonlight streaming in behind her. "Did you know?" she snarled, her chest heaving.

I blinked a few times, then rose from the bed and went to her. Maia's dark hair was matted about her shoulders. Her deeply tanned skin streaked with what looked like dried and cracked rust-colored paint. The scent reached me and I moaned. It was sharp and metallic, kicking my instincts to hunt into overdrive as I rose to my feet. She was covered in blood.

"Get away from me, Simon!" she yelled, shoving me away as I reached for her. "Did you sleep the entire day away so you didn't have to say anything to me? Answer me, did you know?"

"Know what?" I snapped back, glancing at the clock. It was eight in the evening. I'd lost most of an entire day because of the djinn. Goosebumps prickled along the back of my neck. Claws raked at my skin from the inside, the sensation almost bringing me to my knees. I didn't know what it was. I didn't know how to fight it.

"Who gave the order? Huh? You? James? Michael?"

I reached for her again, but she threw something at my feet. It bounced and disappeared under the bed.

"Don't touch me, Simon. I can't believe I let myself trust you." She stormed to the small bathroom and slammed the door.

My hand hit cold, slick metal as I retrieved the object she'd thrown. I didn't have to look at the black Damascus steel twice to recognize my brother's knife. I tossed it on the bed and chased after her.

I pounded on the bathroom door, the wood splintering beneath my palm. I didn't care. "Maia! Who hurt you?"

She snarled at me from the other side of the door. My human brain said don't open it, something dangerous was on the other side. But the idiot side of me wanted in.

"Maia," I said. "Open this door."

"Fine!"

The door opened. A wolf barreled out, knocking me to the ground.

Bones popped in my body. Muscles burned. White flashes filled my vision. I was standing on four-pawed feet, claws curling into the softwood of the floor of my cabin.

Paws.

I had paws.

I nearly bit my tongue as she slammed into me again, sending me against the wall of the cabin. Her teeth sank into my exposed throat. I frantically tried to get my paws beneath me to push her off.

Dislodging her from my throat, I tossed her and she skidded across the floor. I righted myself and stood my ground. Maia's fur stood on end; her ears laid back as she slowly stalked toward me.

My voice was gone; every word I tried to make was a bark or growl as she closed the distance between us. Saliva dripped from her fangs. There was dried blood smeared across her muzzle.

Maia snarled at me again, teeth snapping. Then she lunged again.

I wasn't fast enough to avoid her. I could only step to the side. My teeth caught the ruff of fur at her neck. I used the momentum to carry us to the ground. I threw my weight on top of her, desperately willing myself to shift back even though I had no earthly clue how it worked.

I thanked every being I knew that I shifted back to human. I managed to keep my forearm over her wolfy throat to keep her snapping teeth away from my face.

"Whatever you are accusing me of, I wasn't involved," I growled down at her. My strength quickly being sapped as the full-sized she-wolf thrashed beneath me. "Shift and talk to me."

She gave one last snapping bark but shifted back to human beneath me, still covered in dried blood. She shoved her hands against my chest.

"Talk to you?" she yelled. "We're past talking, you asshole."

Maia flailed at me, making a concerted effort to get me off of her. I pinned her arms above her head by her forearms. "Whose blood?"

"Whose blood? That's what you're worried about, you traitor? Who changed you?" She snarled in my face.

"It doesn't matter. I am what I am now."

"You weren't a wolf when I left."

She tried to wiggle free from my hold. Less than twelve hours ago she would have overpowered me. Now I held her still. Tears making the corners of her eyes glitter like diamonds.

"You smell like that seal girl. Did you have fun with her?"

"No," I said softly.

"Liar. Just more betrayal," she hissed. "Was this part of the plan? Get Owen to change you first?"

"First? What are you talking about? Whose blood is all over you?"

"My brother's," she said as the fight left her. Tears glistened at the corners of her eyes.

"Did you patch him up?" I asked helping her sit up.

"Patch him up?" There was a hitch in her voice that tightened my stomach. "Simon, he's dead."

I backed off her as if I had just touched the hot wood stove. I tried to stand but my legs wouldn't obey me.

Dead.

I fought desperately to keep the pieces from falling in place in my brain. Dez and Brian driving back to Minnie's place, the tarp over the bed of the truck.

Maia pulled her knees to her chest as she stared at me. If her eyes could have started a fire, she would have reduced me to ash.

"Are you absolutely sure?" I barely heard the words as they left my mouth.

"I followed the god damn trail, Simon! It was Owen's blood."

"Did you "

"Yes, his hide was pinned up to the back of your brother's shed. They used him as bait for the damn dogs!"

My palms were slick with sweat. My face flushed. It had been Owen's blood Michael had been wiping from his hand when I showed up. I desperately didn't want it to be true.

"Did you provoke my brother, Simon? And then let them kill him after he turned you?"

In my mind, I saw the furred tail sticking out again from beneath the tarp. I moaned when my mind wouldn't let me deny it anymore. The body beneath that tarp had been Owen.

I wanted to vomit.

"No." My voice trembled as the word rolled off my lips.

"No what? It wasn't Owen that turned you?"

I forgot how to breathe and could only shake my head.

"Then who?"

I'd never told Maia about the djinn, so how did I explain that my wishes had been used to not be like my brothers? How did one explain that it had left me near invincible and at the mercy of the djinn? That I'd been owed a boon for freeing her and it had been used to reverse my wish and turn me into a wolf?

"The girl we fight about--the one from my dream. She did it."

"What?" She narrowed her gaze at me, eyes going dark as if she was going to shift again.

"She's a djinn, Maia."

"And she turned you into a wolf? Why?"

"She owed me a favor."

"Of course." Maia only nodded as she processed the words. "And she probably was the one to bring back your truck too. And in all of this, you conveniently didn't know about Owen, so you couldn't use it for him..." Her words were barely above a sob as she started to tremble.

"No." There was more confidence behind my voice this time. "I didn't know. I'm so "

"Don't you dare," she said, cutting me off. The fire of her anger spilling into her words. "Don't you dare say those words, Simon."

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from speaking. 'I'm sorry' was the last thing I'd wanted to hear when Ray had died, but yet it was all anyone could say. I tried to stay calm, there had to be a more reasonable explanation. But I knew my family. I knew what they were capable of. And the thought of Owen's skin stretched out to dry like some sick trophy fanned the ember to a white-hot blaze that I couldn't stop myself from walking into.

I stood, reaching for my jeans that had been draped over the back of the chair.

"What are you doing?"

"They won't get away with this. Get dressed."

Owen didn't deserve what my family had done to him.

If that damn djinn was insistent on keeping her word and keeping me from becoming like my brothers, she'd done a poor job. All I could see was my brother and father lying in their graves as I pissed on them for what they'd done.

# CHAPTER ELEVEN

The moon hid behind wisps of clouds, only the edges of those piles of fluff betrayed that the moon was full. There was an odd tug in my soul to run to the woods and breathe the air deep within my lungs as we bounced along the road. I hadn't bothered to turn on the headlights, my eyes adjusting to the dark on their own. The part of my brain that insisted I was human was both amazed and frightened at how easily my body had adapted to its new abilities.

"Stay in the truck," I said, shifting the truck into park on the edge of my father's property. I'd parked away from the house and the fleet of vehicles. I'd take any advantage I could get tonight.

"I'm coming with you," she said, reaching for the door handle.

"Maia, please, by now Dez has told my father that you are a wolf-"

"But so are you."

"He doesn't know that yet. Give me fifteen minutes--"

"You really think you're going to get James Sesi to admit he had my brother hunted and killed in fifteen minutes?"

I sighed; my blood pounded in my ears. My clothing felt odd against my skin as magic no, the wolf my wolf tugged at me. "Fifteen minutes or gunshots, promise me you'll leave."

"Gunshots? Simon, I just lost my brother, I'm not losing you too!"

"You won't, my father would never do anything to me." I didn't believe the words as they left my mouth.

She scoffed.

"What makes you so sure? Didn't he kill your older brother?"

"No, that was Michael," I said dryly. "And he didn't have a choice. The vampires had taken them both by surprise and changed Ray, then tried to feed Michael to him as a first meal. Michael didn't have much of a choice. And my father doesn't like to get blood on his hands."

"No. No, this won't end well. Let's just leave. Forget revenge." Maia reached over and tried to start the truck. I grabbed her wrist, locking eyes with her.

"They're not getting away with this." I kissed her forehead and grabbed my knife, shoving my brother's in my boot. "Stay. Please."

Maia turned away from me, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn't say a word as I slipped from the truck.

Goosebumps rippled along my arms beneath my flannel shirt as I stalked across the stone driveway to my father's door. The wind shifted. I could smell blood on the breeze. From the barn, one of my father's horses screamed. It knew we were here. My wolf growled; my stomach rumbling with its own hunger.

From the corner of my eye, I caught the dancing of strands of yellow hair. Along with it was the soft tinkling of bells, but when I turned, both were gone again, as if it had never really existed.

That damn djinn.

With every step, a memory from a hunt my father had sent me on crept back. So many gone. So much blood on my hands because I hadn't questioned what was right. My heart was in my throat when I touched the doorknob. I didn't dare look over my shoulder, what little resolve I had would crumble and I'd take Maia back to South Dakota. I turned the knob and stepped across the threshold.

Do it, Nightmare. Set things right.

The voice had a crystalline quality and I shook my head. Go away, Azara.

"Why do you smell like wet dog?" My father bellowed from the kitchen.

Me? The old man's sense of smell wasn't that good.

"Had to clean out the dog houses for pop." Dez's voice came from another room.

Damn it. I hadn't thought he'd be here.

My father snorted. "Should have made your little sister do it."

"She was busy."

Dez went silent as we made eye contact in the hall. James Sesi, my father, followed my nephew's gaze and turned to look at me. I couldn't remember the last time I'd actually looked at my father. His skin had always been the color of lightly tanned leather, freckles and sunspots dotted his worn cheeks. His once black hair was now snow-white shot through with shades of gray. His face and hair had changed with age, but not even time could change his cold steely blue eyes. He was every bit the menacing patriarch he played on Sundays at church.

"Valdez, excuse me. I have some business to attend to with your uncle." The old man's words were measured and frigid, more bitter cold than any air I'd felt from the Arctic Circle.

I felt my resolve waver, the wolf inside me paced and snapped. I thought of the warm fields of waving hay filled my mind as I tried to bolster myself with the thought of the place I'd rented in South Dakota. Maia spinning circles in her sundress in the spring rain. I grabbed onto whatever I could to stop my heart from thundering out of my chest as the wolf inside me threatened to tear free.

My nephew nodded then headed back into the living room. His footsteps disappeared. I assumed he'd gone into his room to change clothes.

"The two you brought back from the lower forty-eight are wolves." The old man was blunt as a sledgehammer and as quick on the trigger as a prize-winning thoroughbred out of the gate at the sound of the starting gun. "Is that why you're here, Simon?"

I nodded, unsure how my voice would sound if I tried to speak.

"Valdez told me last week. Are you here to tell me you just found out? Or to lie and say you didn't willingly shack up with the bitch?" He paused but I didn't respond. "No? Maybe it was more you thought you could get a better handle on the situation from the inside?"

My lip twitched at his foul joke. Dez had given him just enough information to let me hang myself when my father chose to confront me. "They're not like the Others were "

"They are ALL the same!" my father thundered, his voice reverberating off the walls.

"All the same? Yeah, all they want is to be left alone like the rest of us. Is that so wrong?" I said yanking my brother's knife from my boot. It clattered on the table in front of my father.

My father's whole body shook as he snorted. "She must have quite a talented mouth to get you to say that."

Anger ripped through my body, my muscles twitched. I never liked how he talked about any of the women in our family, but this was too far. This was my woman. This was my mate. My father sat back in his chair, glancing me over, regarding me as if I was only a fly to be taken down and he was waiting for me to land.

"So, you did this all willingly then. I thought you had better sense than that, Simon."

"Don't make yourself out to be the good guy here; you didn't even pretend to get to know her. You hated her on sight, just like you hated Sky. You just see them as an obstacle between you and your orders to kill."

"My issues with Sky had nothing to do with whether or not she was human. Your sister-in-law was a liar. I was glad to see the bitch go."

A growl that threatened to spill off my lips as Dez's shadow appeared in the hallway. If he'd heard my father talk badly about his mother, it didn't show on his face.

My father continued. "I should have known from the moment you brought her and her brother back that she wasn't human. She was just too perfect. Should have taken her out at the same time. He's just one more wolf gone. No one around here will notice. He'll just be another one of the missing that is never found."

My lip curled, fangs beginning to elongate as I shoved down the urge to shift. I wanted to rip his throat out. "How could you? Without saying a word to me?"

His sunken eyes followed me as I took a step toward him, calculating his approach. "So I could hear you whine about it? No. Why are you really here? Asking for my forgiveness for fucking one or permission to let her bite you?"

"Why would I ask you for anything?" I spat, forcing the wolf down.

"True," he said with a twisted smile. "You've never asked for anything. Just ran away. You gonna take her and run again? That it? You know we'll find you."

"I just want to know one thing then I'll be gone. You'll never see me again. Who made the decision to kill Owen?" I growled, wanting him to hear the name one more time. "Was it you or Michael?"

"Such a damn bleeding heart." The old man laughed. "Maybe you aren't my son after all. It was me, you fool. Everything in this family is because I say so."

"Not everything," I said under my breath as blood thundered in my ears. I turned to leave. Nothing good would come of me staying.

"Blood has killed blood in this family," my father snarled as I placed my hand on the doorknob. "If she turns you, you'll be next. I'll make her watch you die before killing her. Not a threat, son, that's a promise."

I eyed him over my shoulder, anger smoldering in my soul as the wolf in me rose to its feet, wanting blood for the threat. The floor in the hall creaked, drawing my attention. Dez shifted his weight, nodding at me. "I think it's time you left, Uncle Simon."

"Yeah, me too." I yanked the door open and stepped into the cold air.

"You're no son of mine!" My father roared as I stepped off the porch.

"Not anymore," I mumbled, heading for my truck.

I never should have come home. I'd brought this down on those I cared about by having them here. It was time to leave, time to disappear again. I had property on the edge of town I'd purchased the land before I'd left Alaska the first time. I'd made damned sure my name wasn't attached to the place when I bought it. There would be nothing to tip my family off. There were promising gold deposits and a cabin. We could go there for now. Then move back to South Dakota. My original plan had been to hire a crew and run it from afar so I wouldn't have to come home again. We could still do that, but for now, the land sat unoccupied and unmanned. It would give me time to get used to being a wolf. We could spend the winter there and move in the spring.

# CHAPTER TWELVE

Maia walked across the gravel as I stormed down the porch, raised voices from inside the house chased after me like ghosts. Headlights from an SUV illuminated both of us. I shielded my eyes from the light as the vehicle swerved and parked between Maia and me.

"I thought you might be here," Michael said as he jumped out of his vehicle near Maia, not bothering to kill then engine, just putting it in park.

"We were just leaving," I snapped. "Back in the truck, Maia."

"No," Michael said grimly as he grabbed my girlfriend. "You're not going anywhere, Simon."

My lungs press so hard against my ribs when I inhaled, I worried more bones would crack as the adrenaline coursed through my veins. A growl rumbled past my lips as he pulled a wide hunting knife from its sheath. With one smooth arc, it was against her throat. Maia grabbed his arm with both hands to keep the steel from pressing into her skin.

"She's a werewolf, just like her brother."

"Don't do this, Michael." It wasn't a plea, but a soft command as I clenched my fists at my side.

"What? You don't want to see her hide tacked up on the cabin wall? She's an Other, Simon," he hissed in her ear. "A thing. She's not human. It has lured you in and made you believe that it's fine. She made you believe that she won't kill you in your sleep and take out the rest of the town if the mood strikes her."

That's all he'd ever see.

He'd never seen her as I did, fun-loving and full of life. She worried about her loved ones just like I'd worried about mine.

"So that makes it okay to kill her, Michael? Owen was a person, a good person. I think you've spent too many days on the boats listening to mermaids."

"She's a werewolf, Simon." He spat, his words full of venom as he dragged her back toward the open door of his truck. "You were worried about Dez? You've been living with a werewolf!"

"I wouldn't expect you to understand, you murderer," Maia said, taking care to keep her movements small as Michael muscled her backward.

"I didn't ask you," my brother growled in her ear.

"Let her go, Michael," I said, raising a hand. "We'll leave. You'll never see us again."

"No, you know I can't do that, Simon. Couldn't let Ray go, I can't let her go. You can go. You can run away again to where ever you want with your tail between your legs. Well, no tail, cause if she's bitten you, you're not going anywhere. But she's not going anywhere."

My lover's dark eyes swirled gold for a moment. My stomach dropped. She turned her head slightly, the moonlight flashing off her fangs as she partially shifted. Michael was too close to her. He never saw it coming. She sank her sharp teeth into his cheek. My brother grunted in pain, jerking away from her. She sunk her teeth into his forearm, making him drop the knife.

Michael kicked at her feet, knocking her to the ground. Blood welled in the wound on his cheek, running into his beard, matting the hair.

"Bitch," he snarled as she scrambled to her feet. Maia was looking fully again human in the few seconds it took for me to grab her.

I shoved her behind me to protect her from my brother. My own wolf scratched and bit at me to be let out. Our mate had been disrespected and threatened. We both wanted to make Michael pay for what he'd done.

"That how you wanna play it? Let's play." Michael reached into the cab of his truck and yanked a shotgun from the gun rack on the back window of his truck.

I tried to usher Maia back toward my truck so we could leave, but she stood her ground behind me. Goosebumps rippled up my spine, I didn't need this. I didn't know how long I could hold out shifting. The moon was rising and I was a newbie to this, my timing was shit as always.

Michael's grimace turned to a frown as our eyes met, his knuckles went white as he gripped the shotgun tighter. "Your eyes--damn it, Simon. How long?" He asked, his lips curling into a snarl.

I blinked a few times, but everything became sharper. The wolf was trying to overrule me. "How long what?"

My brother's cheeks blushed with his anger; he was beyond reasoning with.

"How long have you been a wolf, you little liar?" Michael asked as he stalked toward me, pumping the shotgun to load the shells. "A day? A month? How long?!"

"Not long enough," I said stepping toward him, trying to keep my focus. I couldn't risk shifting yet.

"Shame," Michael said half-heartedly as I stepped within arm's distance of him. "You were always my favorite."

He was quick. I was quicker. My hand was on the barrel of the gun, directing it toward the sky a moment before he pulled the trigger. My hand seared with a quick flash of heat and I smelled burnt skin. In the confusion, my brother had lost his grip on the weapon as I yanked the gun from him, jerking him toward me.

Holding the shotgun by the barrel, I swung it at Michael, connecting the solid wood stock of the weapon against his ribs. A satisfying snap followed by a metallic thud filled the air. My big brother slumped to the ground where he'd hit his head on the door of his truck.

"Yeah, that is a shame," I said dryly as I flicked open the latch, snapped the gun open and ejected the remaining shells. "Cause you killed mine."

With a flick of my wrist, I snapped the gun back together then chucked the gun into the tangle of trees and brush.

"Get in my truck," I said to Maia, my eyes still focused on Michael. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon by the way he was snoring and sucking in a breath.

The storm door slammed on the porch.

"One more step and I shoot."

Son of a bitch. I looked back over my shoulder. My father had joined the mess, shotgun in hand, a bruise forming on his cheek. Dez strolled out on the porch, flexing the fingers of his left hand. Good for the kid for defending his mother, but this damn family of ours. So much violence. So much anger.

"Simon, this is your last chance. Kill her and all will be forgiven," my father said as he leveled a shotgun at me from the porch.

I wheeled on him. "Really? I can't believe I shared the same blood as you, old man. I'm done with all of you! She's not dying tonight."

"Fine, have it your way." He squeezed the trigger. The air cracked with the sound of the shotgun. Maia collapsed beside me. My world froze as I fell to my knees next to her. I couldn't contain the wolf any longer. I saw red. I felt things snap and pop. Fur pressed through my skin. Gravel dug into my paws. The scent of the cool night air permeated with pines and alders and blood filled my nose.

My claws found purchase in the dirt beneath the gravel. I launched myself at my father as he stalked toward us. His eyes went wide as I flew through the air toward him. My jaws locked around his upraised forearm. It didn't take much force but with my momentum, I bore him to the ground. I dug my claws into his chest for leverage, then I shook his arm like one of my brother's huskies trying to kill a rabbit. Something gave in his arm, there was a snap and my teeth sank further into flesh. My father screamed, then jerked and went silent, his unblinking eyes staring up at me.

I let go of his arm and growled in his face. He didn't move. He didn't blink.

Sounds swirled around me. Boots on wood. Shouts. Shallow gurgled breaths. The snap of twigs. Flapping of bird wings. I couldn't focus as I backed off my father's unresponsive body.

My claws dug into the cold ground as I flexed my paws. A yelp of pain escaped me as my brother got in a wild swing with his knife. He'd managed to catch my ear with the blade, I could feel the part of it flop downward, blood trickling into my ear.

"Get away from him!" Michael yelled as he pulled me farther back by my tail. I swiped at him with a paw, but he'd already released me to fall to his knees beside our downed father.

I was back to human and on two feet in the blink of an eye. Damn djinn and her skirting the rules of nature. Michael started CPR. My heart tugged at me, begging me to go help Michael. But my brain said this was for the best and to take the opportunity to run.

I scooped up Maia from the gravel. Damn my father for using homemade silver-plated buckshot. She was still whimpering in pain as she attempted to dig out the silver pellets.

Loading her in the passenger side of the truck, the scent of Maia's blood filled my nose. The wolf in me growled, snapping and snarling to get out again. It wanted the ones that had done this to my mate. It wanted to feel more bones snap beneath its teeth as the last of the life left them, it was a hard feeling to reconcile as one of them already lay in the dirt.

Kodiak and Kenai came crashing through the edge of the trees and brush. The sound of the gunshots so close together had probably made them curious. Dez caught his little sister around the waist before she could make it to where Michael worked on our father. I was thankful they hadn't seen me shift. At least they wouldn't have their memory of me tainted any more than it already would be.

"Get her in the house, Val and call for help," my brother ground out, his fingers on our father's pulse.

Valdez nodded and hurried a protesting little sister into the house.

"You'd better run, Simon," Michael yelled as I climbed up into my truck. "Run like the traitor to our family you are."

# CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Gravel spit from the tires as I tore out of the driveway. The whimpers of pain Maia tried to stifle cut me to the core as the full moon streamed through the trees.

"Hunter's Moon my ass," I grumbled as I drove my beat-up old truck like a stolen sports car. "How bad is it?"

"I'll be ok," she whispered, her voice shaky. "You should really go back for your father."

There was no saving my father. My best guess was a heart attack. I hadn't hit any vital organs. "I don't care." I snarled. "We're leaving Cordova."

I rounded another corner and saw the headlights of my brother's SUV not far behind. I sped up, hoping to lose him. I cursed as the truck bounced and Maia jerked in her seat with a hiss. "When we get home, shift and run. I'll--I'll come find you when I'm done with him."

"Simon, you can't just kill your brother, too," she said softly.

"Watch me."

"I don't want to," she said softly.

"You're fine with letting them get away with what they did to Owen?"

The back end of the truck slipped in the mud as I drove like a mad man.

"Of course not, but it won't bring Owen back."

Her eyes drifted closed, whether it was pain or sadness, I wasn't sure. Nor did I care. I'd caused it. I'd brought her here. The only thing I could do to make this right was to get her out of here and keep her safe. I couldn't bring her brother back. I couldn't bring my sister-in-law back. I didn't want to take my brother from his children but if he continued to come after me and mine, so be it, I would.

The muscles in my arms twitched as I drove. My body begged me to shift again. The wolf wanted to bathe in the moon as much as it wanted to bathe in blood. The only thing it knew at the moment was it wanted revenge. I wanted the same, but I'd have to find it a different way. The more the wolf fought me, the more I just wanted to shift and never come back. Live my life in the forest as a predator, never to have to deal with the bullshit that was humanity again.

My wolf snarled. My ribs vibrated as it dragged its claws across my insides, trying to overwhelm me and let it out as if my rogue thought had been permitted to roam the Alaskan wilderness and take down a caribou. The canine grabbed me by the throat and tried to drag me down. A goose called in the distance and a snarl ripped from my lips. I wanted prey. I wanted blood. It was a wrestling match I couldn't win as I tried to drive us across town. I swerved to miss a puddle and the back end of the truck hit a tree, spinning us about. Maia yelped. It was all the new wolf needed as an excuse to rip from my body. The truck stalled out as I focused on every breath I took. There was little I could do to keep the fur that was rippling up my arms from moving to my chest. I was losing the tug-of-war.

Fingernails raked over my scalp as she nuzzled her face against my cheek. I could smell her blood mixed with Michael's. My furred hands found her long dark hair and yanked her head back from mine. I didn't like that my mate smelled like another. A grumble ripped from me as I licked the blood smears from her chin. She stroked her hands up my furred arms, making soft sounds that calmed me.

My death grip on her loosened and she rubbed her nose against mine. The cabin of the truck filled with red as the wailing siren screamed in our ears. "I'm sorry. For so many things, Simon."

I kissed her forehead and tenderly held her to my chest, careful to avoid the buckshot wound on her back now that my senses were under control. "I know. We have to go. They could be right behind us, or we could have hours. I don't know, but we have to get out of here before they make another plan. I don't give them long before they come after me now that they know I am a wolf, too."

She swallowed hard. "South Dakota?"

"Yeah. South Dakota," I said stroking her cheek as she fought back sobs. "Back to sunrises in the Badlands. Dancing under the purple thunderclouds as the rain pours down. Maybe a trip to Deadwood."

"Your luck's never been that good, Simon," she forced out.

The corner of my mouth turned up in a smile. "Was good enough to get you."

She shook her head slightly, rolling her eyes at me.

"Maybe running with the mustangs in the Black Hills?" Her voice was soft, a hint of hope buried deep in it.

"Yeah, if we can find some that don't mind the smell of wolves."

She gave a soft hitching laugh, wiping at her eye with the back of her hand before giving me a quick kiss. "I still have some relatives from my mother's side. We'd be welcome with them."

My heart skipped a beat as I realized she had other family. If I left her with them, she'd live. I shoved down my pride and tried to steel my heart at the thought of losing her. I needed to get her to them. I was not so disillusioned to think that my own family would stop at nothing until I was dead and in the ground, whether that was tonight or five years from now. They'd soon forget her, chalk her disappearance up to one that god away.

"When we get back to the cabin, shift and head toward Ray's old place. I'll meet you there with supplies."

"I am not leaving you-"

I kissed her again. "You're not. You'll just have a head start. I will meet you there, promise."

She pouted as I started the truck again.

"Do as I ask, Maia, please. Let me deal with this," I ground out as the truck ate up the ground in the dark.

She nodded. Her dark hair matted with blood where it touched her back. I wanted retribution for her injuries and what had been done to her family, if it meant I had to take it out on my brother to keep us safe, so be it.

I raised my eyes to the rearview mirror and saw the slightest slivers of headlights behind me. I held my breath as the vehicle turned around in the middle of the road to follow the emergency vehicle. Maybe my brother had some sense after all.

# CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Maia hissed in a breath as I pried the last of the silver buckshot from her shoulder with my knife. She'd tried to shift when we'd made it back to the cabin, but the silver had prevented it.

"Go, now," I harshly whispered to her, trying to shove down the tremble that was running through my body.

"Simon-"

"The cabin on the other side of town, the one up on the ridge. I'll meet you there and we can make a plan from there." I gave her one more quick kiss than shoved her away. She nodded, then shifted. The masked wolf barked at me once, then spun and bolted for the tree line. I watched until I couldn't see her anymore in the dark, then turned my attention to gathering the few things we needed.

Clothes, identification, passports, and whatever money we had stashed was tossed in a duffel bag. I threw both stuffed bags into the bed of my truck. When I turned back to double-check, I'd not left anything important behind, a familiar SUV crested the small hill, blocking my way out.

"I don't want to fight, Michael," I yelled as he climbed out of the truck, one gun in hand and another tucked under his arm.

His face was pale and set in a grimace. Even this close to him, I could smell my father's home-brewed whiskey on him. How much had he downed before coming after me?

"If you were going to do this drunk, you could have at least brought me some too. I'm too sober for this."

Michael threw both guns at my feet and I froze.

"Leave."

That one word sounded like the gates of Hell had opened. My heart forgot how to beat. My lungs forgot how to breathe. He was just letting me leave? That wasn't the brother I'd known all my life.

"He's dead, Simon. Do you fucking hear me? Dead. Don't come back. Don't you dare come back, do you hear me? I won't have your blood on my hands like I have Ray's."

"Michael—"

He reached for the pistol on his hip and I shut up.

"I have to clean up the damn mess that you brought on this family. Stay away from me. Stay away from my kids," he roared, aiming at my feet.

There was a tremble in his voice that I recognized. It wasn't anger. It was pain. It was the same pain that had been there when he'd lost his wife. My heart broke to hear it there again. I didn't know if he'd last as the new head of the family. But I couldn't worry about that, my priority was Maia.

I nodded. "Yeah, I hear you. What are you gonna tell them?"

"I'm gonna tell them you're dead. Do you think they need to know their only uncle is a werewolf?" His voice was barely loud enough as he took a step toward me. "Simon Sesi is missing and presumed dead. You don't even deserve that legacy."

Horrific sounds echoed off the tree line. I wasn't sure which of us swore first, but we both turned toward the woods. The sounds came again, layered on top of each other so neither was distinct.

A horse and wolf hurtled into view. The familiar white and brown horse was rider-less and bareback, its hide split open, dripping blood along its hindquarters. It nearly stumbled every time it placed weight on one of its front hooves. The beast's eyes were huge and wild, unaware that we were standing there as it barreled toward us.

Ivory fangs flashed in the moonlight as Maia cut in front of the horse and lunged for its nose. The horse reared to avoid her, but its back legs gave out. It crashed to the ground, pinning Maia beneath its shoulder.

Michael grabbed me as I tried to run to help.

"Don't," he warned softly as the horse kicked out its legs, trying to right itself. The wolf wiggled out from under it.

I shoved him away, heading toward my girlfriend.

He yelled my name as Maia darted past me.

She growled and lunged at him, her paws hitting him in the chest. Her weight and momentum overpowered him and taking him to the ground as I had my father. Another shot rang out and Maia squealed, releasing her grip on Michael and running behind the truck. She collapsed beside me, blood streaking her fur. The shot had struck true to her heart and the last few strides had been her downfall. Hot tears ran down my cheeks as I stood and walked the direction the shot had come from. Michael was crawling to his truck, trying to hold his shoulder. Blood bloomed and darkened his flannel shirt. She'd bitten him one last time before being hit. At least he'd bear the scars as a reminder of her the rest of his life.

"You going to show yourself?" I yelled to the trees, my words reverberating off the bare branches. "Which one of you is it?"

"Simon," my brother whispered, "don't."

I looked down at him, cataloging the damage Maia and I had done to him over the last hour. His cheek was bruised and swollen where she'd bit him. There was another bruise on his temple where he'd hit the side of his truck. The sleeve of his shirt was dark with dried blood spots where Maia had bitten him earlier.

"Why not, Michael? Only fitting we take each other out, isn't it?" My voice didn't even sound like my own as I stared down at him.

"Right?" I yelled to the trees. "which one of my brother's offspring thinks they are big and bad enough to defend him? Come out, coward!"

There was no answer, only Michael's pained breaths as he made his way to the truck.

"Fine! We'll make this even then, gun for a gun." My words echoed off the barn as I turned to scoop up one of the shotguns my brother had thrown at me.

The blade of the ax bit into my shoulder. The hot wash of pain sent my wolf cowering some place deep in my soul. I went down in an icy puddle of mud beside my truck. The force had buried the blade so deep it had broken bone and my vision teetered in and out, white stars dancing in front of my eyes.

My brother's voice drifted in and out as he talked to someone. I couldn't make out whom or what as my head spun in my delirium.

"Never turn your back, right, Uncle Simon?"

I groaned. Yet another generation to carry the burden of familial blood on their hands. I didn't want this for him. Kenai hadn't even been on a hunt yet. I bit my cheek to keep the tears from welling up in my eyes. I wouldn't leave him with that.

With his boot on my spine, my nephew shoved my face further down into the muck as he jerked the weapon from my body. I barely heard the wet sucking sound as the ax pulled free. My chest heaved as I rolled over to face him.

Maia lay still in the corner of my vision, steam rising from her blood as it slowly trickled from her body. I had no fight left in me.

"Forgive me," Kenai whispered as his eyes met mine.

I nodded, mentally cursing the djinn. I reached my hand out toward Maia's body to feel her fur one last time.

It wasn't the stroke of the blade I felt, it was Kenai's boot on my chest to hold me steady. I smelled my own blood and laughed as I laid there in the mud. Laugh wasn't the right word, convulsed was more the case. My vision flashed white and I was sitting on the hood of my car, the djinn beside me.

"You really thought I was done with you, Nightmare?"

"She's gone. Just let me go with her," I begged.

She shook her head. "That's not how this works."

I tried to ignore her, staring back at the frozen scene. So much blood dotted the powdered sugar colored ground. I hadn't even noticed that it had been snowing when my brother arrived. In this preserved moment, I could almost fool myself into thinking that it was just a dream, that the steam trails rising from the spilled blood would go away. That the bloodied horse was just a prop. That the dead wolf was...no, I couldn't.

"Then tell me." My voice shook as I turned to stare at her. "How does this work?"

"Watch," she said, pointing over my shoulder like she was the ghost of Christmas future. She pointed toward my nephew.

Kenai helped Michael back to his feet, then loaded him in the truck. At least the kid had it right; help the wounded, come back for the dead. My brother slumped in the passenger seat, barely able to hold himself up as Kenai slipped into the driver's seat.

"Azara, just let me go, don't make me watch this."

She huffed. "Humans are so impatient. Watch, Nightmare."

Maia's paw twitched.

My body failed me and I fell to my knees. She was alive.

"Get up, Nightmare; this is not a good look for you." Azara grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet. "Would I promise you something and take it away?"

I eyed her suspiciously.

"Really?" She asked harshly. "I may not give you exactly what you think you will be getting, but I've yet to screw you over. I am not one of those djinn. You helped me, I've helped you. Granted I am hunted because of what I've done for you, but that's neither here nor there."

"What?" I stuttered.

The djinn lifted a shoulder. "I'll deal with my punishment for this. Watch."

She pointed to the tree line.

"That's River," I said softly. The girl was a year or so younger than my nephew. She had never set foot on my property. "I don't understand. Why is she here?"

"She rehabs wildlife," Azara said, giving me a slight smile. "Well, her mother does. She's just here to pick the two of you up. Someone placed a call to them that there were two wounded wolves out prowling around your barn that needed help."

Maia whimpered where she lay on the ground. I tried to shove the sound down; not wanting to believe it was real. "What?"

"Oh, Simon. No one will ever suspect that they are nursing two werewolves back to health before releasing them back into the woods."

"What about Owen?" I asked on reflex.

Her sky-blue eyes disappeared for a moment, flipping to white. "Fine."

"Fine?" The word spilled from my mouth before I could stop myself.

"Yes. Fine. Him, too."

A howl reverberated in the silent night and a waist-high black wolf with yellow eyes appeared beside River. The teenager reached down and ruffled his ear.

"I couldn't bring him back in the same body, there wasn't much left. When the three of you are healed, go to that place you showed me in your vision. You'll be safe and left at peace there. But only as long as you stay there."

I didn't know what to say, but she raised her hand to keep me from speaking.

"Don't," she said. "Do not say anything. Enjoy your life, my friend. We will meet again."

I nodded.

With a wave of her hand, I was beside Maia, snow dotting my dark wolf fur as I stared at my dead body, not fully comprehending what had happened, but grasping onto the promise that my djinn had not set me on the wrong path.

I answered the dark wolf's howl breaking the silence of the night. Sharp yips called in return, warming me.

Nudging Maia with my snout, she turned her head and blinked at me, dazed.

"Come on, Love," I whispered in her ear, "we're gonna be okay."

# About the Author

Stephanie Kelley is a sci-fi geek who wishes Firefly was never canceled. She has a degree in Journalism from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. She enjoys writing in the urban fantasy and horror genres. In addition to her Alaskan Hunter series, she also has short stories published in various anthologies. Follow her on Amazon or Facebook for the latest updates.

# Other books by this author

Alaskan Hunter Series

Steal the Sun

Touch the Moon

Alaskan Hunters Side Stories

Orca Bait

Other Books

Sunflowers and Poppies

Other Short Stories

**Special Delivery

Red

By the Moon

Short Stories in Anthologies

**After Midnight – In Demons, Devils and Denizens of Hell: Volume 2

**Bishop, Massachusetts – In Postcards From The Void

**The Horseman Comes Riding - In It Came From The Garage!: An Anthology of Automotive Horror

**Not Recommended – In Satan is Your Friend

**Indicates part of the upcoming Larkwood Chronicles series

