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Authors: Catherine Vale

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BOOK: Broken Moon
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            “Werewolf.”

            “Huh.”
She appeared to be thinking that over. “So… no flying abilities then.”

            Harley
snorted. “Are you always this optimistic?”

            Jocelyne
sat back, her lavender eyes surveying their surroundings again. “Just trying to
be realistic. So what’s your plan for getting the hell out of here?”

            Harley
lifted the scalpel in his hand so she could see it, careful to make sure it
remained in the camera’s blind spot. “Trying to scrape some of the silver off
these bars so I can break free of this cell.” He eyed Jocelyne’s cell with
resignation. “Though I suppose I’m going to have to give you time to scrape
your bars clean too, so I can rescue you.”

            “Well,
that sounds like a good start.” Jocelyne bit her lip again. “Do you have any
clue how we’re going to get out of this place once we break out of our cells?”

            Harley
shrugged a shoulder as he returned to work. “I’ve little knowledge of the
layout, unfortunately, but I’ve got a few ideas. Did you get to see any of the
building when you were brought down here?”

            “Yes,
actually,” Jocelyne surprised him by saying. “I managed to get the sack off my
head for a few seconds as they were pulling me out of the van, and I saw the
building. It’s a two story steel structure with very few windows… and the lot
we were on was surrounded by barbed wire electrical fencing.”

            “Well
that’s just lovely,” Harley grumbled as he scraped the last bit of shavings
away. “And on top of it, everyone’s going to be on patrol tonight.” He sighed,
looking down at the scalpel in his hand. “Maybe we should try another night for
escape.”

            “Maybe.”
Jocelyne’s eyes shimmered with anxiety. “Although I have to admit I’m a little
scared to find out what’s going to happen to me if I’m still here tomorrow.”

            Harley’s
eyes narrowed. “What exactly do you think is going to happen to you?”

            Jocelyne
shrugged. “I don’t know. I heard some of the men talking about a ransom, an
exchange for information maybe, so maybe they’ll be forced to treat me well.”

            The
door at the end of the hall banged open then, and both Harley and Jocelyne dove
for their cots, burying their bodies beneath their flimsy blankets. Harley’s
heart pounded as his ears strained, wondering why anyone would be coming for
him at this hour – they always waited at least half a day between
sessions before they grabbed him again – but then he frowned as he
realized there was only a single set of footsteps clomping down the hall.

            A
deep sense of unease filled him as one of the three guards who’d delivered Jocelyne
to her prison earlier stopped in front of her cell, especially when he lifted a
set of keys. Anger rolled through Harley as he caught the ripe scent of lust
pouring off the man in waves.

            “Why
hello there, missy,” the guard sneered as he opened the cell door.

            “What
– what are you doing here?” Jocelyne asked, her voice trembling as she
gazed wide-eyed up at the guard as he shut the door behind her.

            “Oh,
I’m on break,” the guard said nonchalantly as his hand went to his belt. “Just
thought I’d make good use of my fifteen minutes while I have the chance.” He
launched himself at Jocelyne, who attacked him with a shriek, her fists flying
as she caught him in the jaw with a good right hook.

            “What
the fuck!” Harley’s heart leapt into his throat as the two of them went down in
a tangle of limbs, fighting for the upper hand. There was a flash of silver,
followed by a metallic jangle Jocelyne somehow managed to get the keys and toss
them through the cell doors. Snarling with rage, Harley gripped the bars he’d
spent hours scraping the silver off of, and used his adrenaline-fueled strength
to bend them wide enough to step through.

Jocelyne cried out as the guard plowed his fist
into her face, and Harley let out a roar of fury as blood spurted from her
nose. Quick as a flash, he scooped the keys off the ground, and in the next moment,
he had the cell door open, and the guard slammed up against the wall.

“You’re mine, you filth,” he snarled, gazing
into the man’s terrified face, his golden eyes blazing with fury as his fangs
lengthened. Jocelyne screamed as he sank his teeth into the guard’s neck and
sliced to the left, ripping his windpipe clear in two. Hot, salty blood gushed
into his mouth, and he spat it out in disgust as he stepped back, letting the
man crumple to the floor.

“Grab the keys from the door,” Harley snapped as
he dropped to his knees and searched the guard. “We don’t have much time.”

Jocelyne did as he asked, and Harley lifted a
key card, wallet and a .357 Magnum. “You know how to shoot this?” he asked,
holding the firearm up to her.

Jocelyne nodded. “Good.” He handed the weapon to
her. “Keep the safety off. You’re going to need to use it.”

Harley took a moment to change into the guard’s
clothes and cap – which were a little loose in the waist and chest, and
the pants were a little too short - then grabbed Jocelyne by the wrist and ran
for the door. Punching in the key code that he’d memorized countless times
while being dragged in and out of the prison, he held his breath, then let out
a sigh of relief when the huge metal door swung open silently.

“Stay behind me,” Harley ordered as he took two
steps into the long, white corridor, then went through the door to his right.
As expected, it opened onto a stairwell. “And out of sight of the cameras, if
you can.”

They managed to make it up the first flight of
stairs before encountering a guard who was making his rounds. The man’s eyes
widened, his meaty hand going for the radio at his wrist, but Harley slashed
the guard’s throat with his claws before the he had time to call for help. Jocelyne
swallowed as he stooped down to palm the guard’s wallet and firearm, but to her
credit she remained quiet and in control.

They made it to the second landing, and Harley
paused outside the door as he heard footsteps heading for the door. “Brace
yourself,” he warned as he crouched down to shift. “We’re about to be
ambushed.”

Pain rippled through his nerve endings as he
forced himself through his third shift of the night, but the moon’s power was
still flowing strongly through his veins, so the transformation went much
faster than usual. He looked at Jocelyne, who was staring grimly ahead, both
hands on her gun as she trained it at the door, then barked and looked at the
door. She quickly sprang forward to open it, and then back as Harley charged
through to face the enemy.

“There he is!”

Six guards were waiting for him, their guns
trained firmly in his direction, enough menace rolling off them to send a chill
of dread through Harley. But his beast quickly shored up his emotions, refusing
to allow him to back down, and he dodged the gunfire expertly, then leapt into
the air and took the first man down. The guard went down with a blood-curdling
shriek that made Harley sneer, and then howl in pain as a bullet ripped through
his fur and passed straight through his shoulder.

Thankfully, the lunar power in his veins sealed
the wound up in seconds, and by the time he’d turned to tackle the man who’d
shot him, it had already completely healed.

He finished off the second man, and was jumping
to the third when gunfire sounded behind him. The fourth man, who had been
about to shoot Harley in the back, dropped like a stone as blood bloomed in the
center of his chest, and icy fear blossomed in Harley’s heart as he realized Jocelyne
had stepped into the open to cover his back.

            “You
too!” the last guard, the one he wasn’t wresting with on the ground, shouted as
he took another step forward. He fired on Jocelyne, who darted behind the cover
of the open door, but Harley scented her blood in the air and knew she hadn’t
been fast enough. Snarling in rage and fear, he locked his jaw around the
guard’s throat beneath him and squeezed his lifeblood out with his teeth just
as Jocelyne ducked around the side of the door and opened fire on the guard
again.

            The
two were trading gunfire when Harley jumped on the guard’s back, taking him
down. Jocelyne screamed when one of her bullets hit Harley in the other
shoulder, but Harley hardly noticed – the adrenaline and rage rushing
through him was so great that all he could focus on was on taking the guard out
beneath him.

            “Oh
my God,” Jocelyne cried, rushing toward Harley after he’d broken the last
guard’s neck. She dropped to her knees and reached for Harley’s shoulder. “Are
you alright?”

           
Yes.
Harley was relieved when Jocelyne heard his mental speech – he wasn’t
sure if she would be able to hear him mind-to-mind.
Now let’s go. More are
coming.

Chapter Six

 

 

Jocelyne was never quite sure afterward
exactly how the hell she and Harley managed to get the hell out of there.
Somehow they managed to fight through another wave of guards, get out into the
parking lot, hotwire a car, and crash through the electric gates without
getting killed. Or having their tires blown out.

            “So
what now?” Jocelyne asked as Harley turned the car off the road, parking it
behind a thicket of trees.

            “Now
we haul ass.” Harley killed the engine, then hopped out of the car.

            “Haul
ass?” Jocelyne echoed. The passenger side door swung open a second later, and
then Harley was tugging her out of the vehicle. “What do you mean? Like, on
foot?”

            “Unfortunately,
yeah.” Harley cursed as he caught sight of the blood-soaked stain covering the
right side of her blouse. The reminder of the flesh wound caused pain to zing
to the area, and Jocelyne hissed. Guess the adrenaline was finally wearing off.

            “Shit,”
he muttered, crouching down so that he was eye-level with her abdomen. His fingers
were light as he gently tugged her blouse out of her pencil skirt so he could
examine the wound. “Not as bad as I thought,” he said after a moment. “But
still, we should bandage it up.”

            By
a stroke of pure luck, Harley managed to find a first aid kit stashed in the
back of the car, and he cleaned and dressed the wound using hydrogen peroxide
and gauze bandages. Jocelyne clenched her jaw at the sting and burn of him
cleaning the wound, not wanting to distress him further – she could
already tell from the set of his shoulders and the tightness in the muscles of
his face that he was distressed enough by her pain as it was. There was no
point in winding him up further.

            “You’ve
been very brave,” he said quietly as he finally finished dressing the wound.

             “Only
because I’ve had you here to protect me,” she said, only half-joking. “If I
didn’t have you as a safety net I’d probably still be in that cell as a
quivering mess puddled on the floor.”

            “I
don’t think so,” Harley said, shaking his head. “You have enough strength
within you to bolster an entire army. I can feel it, in here.” He brushed his
fingers against her exposed belly, and her stomach muscles jumped as a desire
rippled through her nerves. Her breath caught as her face instantly flushed,
her thighs popping open of their own accord.

           
What
the hell? Talk about wrong place, wrong time.

            Her
blush only deepened when she saw Harley’s eyes flash, because she knew he
sensed the change in her, and probably thought she was some kind of hussy for
even having thoughts about sex at a time like this. Clearing her throat, she
brushed his hands away and stepped back, letting her blouse fall to cover her
belly.

            “We
should get moving.”

            “Yes,
of course.” Harley rose fluidly, then reached into the car to grab any supplies
they could. The rounds in Jocelyne’s gun were all used up, so Harley gave her
his, which she tucked into the waistband of her skirt, knowing that a huge
bulge was going to be showing through the back of her blouse, but having no
alternative. He pulled out the little bit of cash he found in the center
console, bundled up the first aid kit, and snagged a few sticks of beef jerky
that were left in the dash.

            “Here,”
he said, handing her one after he’d sniffed it carefully. “Eat this. It’ll help
you heal faster.”

            They
began their trek through the forest, munching on their beef jerky as they
walked. Jocelyne started feeling a little better as the food hit her system
– she didn’t have superhuman healing abilities to the extent that Harley
or her father did, but she still healed faster than humans, and meat did help
accelerate the healing process.

            They
walked for several hours, moving at as fast a pace as Jocelyne was able to with
the wound in her side – and sometimes even a little faster than that, as Harley
was constantly pushing her to do more. When she tripped over a root and nearly
broke her leg, Harley broke the heels off her shoes, turning them into flats so
that she could traverse the terrain better. They crossed brooks and streams
wherever possible to muddy up their scent in case they were followed by dogs,
and kept conversation to a bare minimum so as to make as little noise as
possible.

            Somehow,
whether it was sheer dumb luck or some kind of intuition on Harley’s part, they
stumbled across a cabin tucked into a clearing – a small, one story
structure nestled cozily amongst a copse of oak and maple trees. Jocelyne would
have whooped and jumped into the air if her feet hadn’t been killing her
– instead she settled for exchanging weary grins with Harley.

            “We’ll
bunk here for the night,” he told her. “I expect we won’t be encountering any
civilization for at least five more hours of walking, so we may as well get
some rest while we can.”

            That
sounded like heaven right now to Jocelyne, but she eyed the cabin warily,
wondering who it belonged to. “What if the owner comes back while we’re here?”

            “There
aren’t any recent scents indicating that anyone’s currently occupying the
place,” Harley assured her. “This is probably someone’s vacation spot. If someone
does show up in the night – which is pretty doubtful – we’ll just
make ourselves scarce before they spot us. I’m good at that,” he added with a
wink.

            “Okay.”
More than ready to get off her feet, Jocelyne followed him inside. It was the
middle of the night, and she had virtually no idea what time it was, though
judging by how tired her body was she imagined it was sometime in the wee hours
of the morning. She waited for Harley to flip the breaker switches on to let
some light in, and sighed in relief when a small lamp was switched on,
illuminating the space.

            It
wasn’t a very large cabin at all – there was the living room, which they
were standing in, a small dining table off to the left side of the entrance,
and around the corner was a small kitchen. Whoever owned the place had
decorated it in a combination of vintage and rustic – there were bear
throw rugs on the floors, western-patterned blankets draped over the cloth
recliner and sofa, a bright yellow refrigerator with a wheel attached to the
outside, and a real, honest-to-god wood burning stove. The dining table was
even draped with a red and white checkered cloth, and when Jocelyne opened the
door to the kitchen closet, she found a vintage apron hanging off a hook behind
the door.

            “Wish
we could start a fire in here,” Harley said, rubbing his hands together. His
breath frosted in the chill night air, reminding her of how cold she was, and
she clenched her muscles to keep from shivering. “But the smoke would alert any
passersby to our presence, and I can’t risk it.”

            “That’s
okay.” Tucking her arms under her sleeves, Jocelyne desperately wished her
kidnappers had left her with the warm, water proof woolen jacket she’d been
wearing before they’d snatched her off the sidewalk. “Can… can we at least get some
more light in here?” she asked, eyeing the single lit lamp resting on a
hand-carved side table perched next to the couch.

            Harley
shook his head. “The boards on the windows will only block so much light from
seeping out,” he explained. “Again, can’t risk anyone knowing that we’re here.”

            Jocelyne
sighed. “Of course.” She sat down on the couch and waited as Harley went into
the bedroom to scope out the area, and gazed longingly at the fireplace,
wishing that she was here under better circumstances. She would have loved to
vacation at a little place like this, maybe with a few of her girlfriends, or a
man if she’d had one in her life. When she was little, her father used to take
her on trips like this – they would rent a cabin in a cornfield somewhere
in Vermont and go fishing at a nearby lake. During the summers he’d take her to
a local farm where she could pick blueberries or strawberries, and afterwards
they’d buy a can of whipped cream and eat the whole basket, then go out to
dinner somewhere.

            Tears
smarted at her eyes as a fierce longing filled her chest, and suddenly she felt
as if she couldn’t breathe.

            “Hey.”
Suddenly Harley was there, crouching down in front of her, sincere concern in
his gorgeous blue eyes. “What’s wrong?”

            “I…”
Jocelyne croaked, then cleared her throat and blinked the tears away. More came
back, and she swiped angrily at them, refusing to act like the melodramatic
female. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I was just thinking of my father.”

            Harley
sat down on the couch beside her and scooped an arm around her shoulders,
drawing her against him. The heat from his big, hard body instantly began
seeping through her clothes, and her body shuddered as the warmth hit her. “You
miss him?” he asked, rubbing her shoulder gently.

            Jocelyne
nodded. “It’s just been so long since I’ve last seen him… and this cabin just
reminded me of the trips we used to take when I was a little girl. He had more
time for me then, before he decided he had to save the world.” She hung her
head, ashamed at the bitterness in her voice. “I know I’m selfish to think of
it but… I do miss him.”

            Harley
squeezed her gently. “I have a feeling that when we get out of this mess,
you’re father’s not going to want to let you out of his sight for a long, long
time.”

            Jocelyne
laughed a little. “You’re probably right about that,” she said, her heart
lightening a little. “My father’s very overprotective. If I would allow it,
he’d have a detail posted outside my house and place of employment, and a
bodyguard or two following me around twenty-four seven.”

            Harley
gave her a crooked little grin that lent his stern, handsome features a boyish
charm. “If I had a woman as beautiful as you, I’d have a protective detail on
you twenty-four seven regardless of whether or not you’d allow it.”

            Jocelyne
rolled her eyes, but her heart melted a little at his words. “You shifter types
are all the same. So overly territorial.”

            “It’s
in our nature to protect what is ours…and what we love.” Harley’s eyes gleamed
as he stared down at her, and for just a second Jocelyne wondered what it would
be like to be his. She had a feeling he would be extremely possessive, but also
tender and caring, and that he would make sure she never wanted for anything…
in or out of the bedroom. She shivered a little as a wave of lust rolled
through her at the idea of Harley taking her to his bed and making passionate
love to her – sweet, hot, rough, fast, slow.

            Whatever
the flavor of lovemaking, she had no doubt that he would be very, very good at
it.

            Harley’s
chest expanded a little as he sucked in a breath, and suddenly he dropped his
arm from her shoulder and scooted back two inches. Hurt slammed into her chest
at his rejection, and her body shivered miserably as the cold swarmed around
her now that he was no longer cocooning her in his heat.

            Obviously
he’d smelled her lust again, and had decided he didn’t want her.

           
Oh
well. It’s not like we’re on a date or anything. Stop being so ridiculous.
The
two of them had been thrown together by circumstance and misfortune, and though
they were going to have to work together to get out of this safely, that didn’t
mean Harley was obligated to sleep with her. For heaven’s sake, he could have
someone waiting for him at home! Goodness knows that with his face and body,
women probably threw themselves at his feet with alarming regularity.

            Just
as she was apparently poised to do.

            Disgusted
with herself, she shot up from the couch, needing to put some distance of her
own between them. “I’m going to bed,” she announced, her voice surprisingly
steady even though her insides felt like jelly. “Let me get you some blankets
so you’re not cold out here.”

            She
disappeared inside the bedroom, and part of her wished that she could just
disappear altogether.

BOOK: Broken Moon
13.86Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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