Turn of the Moon (A Royal Shifters novel Book 1) (16 page)

Ryker tried to hold me back, but I pushed through, my body shaking with rage. “I will not go anywhere with you ever again.”

His gaze found Ryker’s and he snarled. “And now I see why. You chose the wrong brother,” his focus landed on Sebastian, “and also a traitor. This doesn’t look good at all, Bailey. You sure did leave a mess for me to clean up. I almost didn’t get out of it with my life.”

Ryker and Sebastian moved to the front of the group. “The only mess that’ll be left will be your rotten corpses. I’ll make sure to send your head to my uncle,” Ryker growled.

Darius grinned, his fangs growing longer. “We’ll see about that.” Then to his men, he nodded toward us. “Kill the traitor, but leave the young alpha to me. I want my daughter to watch me rip off his head. Maybe then she’ll learn obedience.”

After that, everything moved in slow motion. The men shifted, except for Darius, who watched on in amusement. The Yukon wolves gunned for Ryker and Sebastian. Howls filled the air, along with the smell of death. I couldn’t tell who had fallen or which side everyone was fighting for. There was one howl that rose above the rest. My heart shattered as I watched Sebastian fall to the ground with a fatal wound to his belly. His eyes found mine and I screamed out his name.

There was another wolf about to finish him off, but I grabbed a tree limb off the ground and threw it like a spear, piercing it through his gut. Ryker ran over and ripped out his throat. Darius’ laugh could be heard echoing through the trees. Sebastian growled low, but he couldn’t get up. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I tried to lift him, but he was too heavy.

“Dammit, Sebastian, don’t you dare die on me. You hear me?” More howls filled the night, more death. Tears ran down my cheeks, but I wasn’t about to give up on him. I had to get him away from the fight. Grabbing his legs, I pulled him as far as I could until an arm grabbed me around the waist.

“It sure is good to see you again,
darling
,” Darius whispered into my ear. “I’ve missed you.” He jerked me away from Sebastian, holding me tight around the neck.

“You’re a lying son of a bitch,” I hissed, digging my claws into his arms. “Let me go.” His hold was so tight, I could barely breathe. Then, he injected something into my neck and my claws retracted.

I tried to shift, but nothing came. “What the hell did you give me?”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s not enough to kill you. Just a subtle dose of wolfsbane mixed with a sedative.” Panic consumed me, especially when I could feel the serum burning like acid in my veins. “Be a good girl and stop kicking. I thought I raised you with better manners.”

I got one last look at Ryker fighting off the wolves and Sebastian lying still on the ground before he hauled me over his shoulders.
“Ryker . . .”

Darius only had time to take two more steps until the loudest growl I’d ever heard echoed through the air. He dropped me to the ground like a sack of potatoes, and I hissed in pain.

Out of the twelve Yukon wolves, only two were barely still alive. We were faring better, but still had one dead and two injured. Sebastian was nowhere to be found.
“Where’s Sebastian?”

Ryker responded, his voice tense.
“I don’t know.”

My head felt fuzzy and my vision started to blur. Darius stood his ground and clapped, but blocked me from Ryker’s sight. “Well done, my friends. You’re a lot stronger than I gave you credit for.” He was too confident, especially with being outnumbered.

“Ryker . . . h—he’s up to something.”

“What the fuck did he do to you?”

The edges of my vision turned dark. I was about to lose consciousness.
“Poison.”

Darius slowly reached behind his back and pulled two liquid vials from his pocket. Even though my vision was blurry, I could still see the blue petals of wolfsbane inside. His muscles tensed and I knew what he was about to do.

“No!” I screamed. Grabbing the first thing I could find, I grasped the tree limb and hurled it right at Darius, at the man I thought was my father. It pierced him in his belly and the sound of him choking on his blood made my stomach curl. Falling to his knees, he looked down at the limb and then over to me. The darkness crept in, but I was able to watch as Sebastian came from out of nowhere, baring his fangs. The last thing I saw was him ripping Darius’ head off and watching it roll onto the ground. I went under with a smile on my face.

Sebastian was alive and the enemy was dead.

Ryker (Three Days Later)

I
poured myself a cup of coffee, and watched Sebastian gulp his down as if it wasn’t steaming hot.

“When do you think she’ll wake up?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.” Seraphina had said there was only a small amount of wolfsbane in her injection, just enough to keep her capacitated for a few days. We’d just have to wait for her body to flush it out.

“Do you think she’ll be pissed at me?”

“For what, pretending you were about to die?” He nodded. “I don’t know. From one alpha to another, it was brilliant. But she was terrified when she watched you go down. I didn’t realize she liked you that much.”

“Jealous?”

“Hardly,” I answered with a smile.

As much as the guy got on my nerves, his only concern had been for Bailey. I couldn’t fault him for that. After setting his cup in the sink, he walked to the door and took off his shirt. “I’m going for a run.”

Tyla showed up as he was making his way out the door. She was carrying a large paper bag in her hands, and watched him exit.

“
Please
tell me you’re not interested in that douchebag.”

She snorted. “As if. I totally have better taste than that.” She said it but I didn’t believe it. “I guess she’s still not awake?”

Sighing, I moved over to the couch. “No.” She sat beside me and set the paper bag on the coffee table. “What’s in there?”

Grinning wide, she pulled out the contents. “My mother made you some soup and I brought two loaves of my homemade bread and chocolate chip cookies. Bailey hasn’t eaten in three days. I’m sure she’ll be starving when she wakes up.”

“Thanks. She’ll love it.”

“I guess your plans to mate on the full moon were thwarted. You’ll have to wait three more weeks now.”

“True, but it’s not that big of a deal.” She nodded, but I could tell she was keeping something from me by the smile on her face. “What is it?”

She bit her lip. “Okay, so I don’t know if you’ve talked to Bailey about this, but I wanted to do something special for her. Ever since she’s been here, we’ve become pretty close. Anyway, I know she’s always wanted a wedding, but it’s not something we do. Maybe on the next full moon, we could throw a party?”

“Like what exactly?”

“I don’t know, maybe a reception of sorts, like they do at human weddings. I think Bailey will like it. After everything that’s happened, it’ll be something to get our spirits up. Besides, I think it’s time our pack makes its own traditions.”

I could hear Bailey stirring in the room above. Her mind was in turmoil over the death and betrayal of the only father she’d ever known. His face ran through her mind and I could feel her pain. “I think you might be right.” Her eyes lit up. “But let’s make it a surprise. I’ll leave the details to you.”

She squealed, getting to her feet. “I’m on it. Kami and I have already been talking details.”

“You already planned this before I gave consent?”

She rushed to the front door and winked. “I knew you would say yes. You’d do anything for her.”

“Yes, I would.” She walked out the door and then shortly after, the sound of Bailey’s footsteps thumped on the hardwood floor.

Stopping at the top of the stairs, the sound of her growling stomach could be heard from where I sat, even without my sensitive wolf hearing. “Do I smell cookies?”

I opened the bag and pulled them out; they were still warm. “Freshly baked from Tyla’s kitchen. You better hurry before I eat them all.”

Jumping down the stairs, she rushed over and snatched the one out of my hand and closed her eyes, moaning as she bit into it. “Holy hell in a handbasket. These taste so good.”

“She made you some soup too. I have to say, she’s doing a better job than I am. The last thing I thought about was food. I just wanted you to wake up.” I gave her the bowl of soup and she devoured it.

“Well, I’m back now. Whatever that shit Darius gave me, it’s not something to play around with. My blood still burns, but not as bad as before. If the Yukon pack starts using wolfsbane against their enemies, we might have a problem.”

I nodded. “I know. It just shows us what cowards they really are. They can’t beat us in a normal fight, so they resort to other methods. Nevertheless, I don’t want to imagine what would’ve happened if Darius had thrown one of those vials at me. Thanks to you, I didn’t have to find out.” After examining the vials, there was a lethal dose of wolfsbane in them. I wouldn’t have survived if it had exploded on my body.

“How’s Sebastian? I was so afraid I’d lost him.”

“So you weren’t worried about me?” I teased.

She pursed her lips. “
You
didn’t get hurt. How is he?”

“He’s still around, succeeding brilliantly at being a pain in my ass.” She jabbed me in the side and I grabbed her hand and held it. “He’s worried about you. He pretended to be fatally injured to psych Darius out. When you freaked out, it helped make him believe Sebastian’s wounds were serious. The only thing he didn’t anticipate was you being caught up in the middle.”

“So he faked it all? That son of a bitch.”

“He did what he had to, Bailey. You believing he was about to die made Darius lower his guard.”

“So, tell me the truth. Are you guys getting along yet?”

I chuckled. “We’re getting there. But if you want him to be a part of our pack, we have to figure out new living arrangements. Having his alpha ass in my house isn’t going to work.”

She snickered. “Don’t want to share me?”

I pulled her into my lap and kissed her. “Fuck no. I want you all to myself. He can still be your protector, but I can’t have him interfering.”

She held me tight, with her arms around my neck, rubbing her body against mine. “It can’t be all that bad,” she moaned.

Then as if on cue, Sebastian opened the front door and I snorted. “Trust me, it
can
.”