Christmas Moon (5 page)

She lifted her shoulders in a small
half-shrug.

Hunter grinned. He sure as heck hoped so. He
could get used to sticking around here himself. The moment the
winter wind slammed into him and the snow crunched under his boots,
he called the wolf out under his skin and let the wild magic that
let him shift wrap him in fur.

With a sharp yip of goodbye, Hunter sprang
across the wintry ground toward home.

***

He smelled the rogue just as he left the
forest and loped up toward the pack house. Then he smelled the
blood.
Shit
. He glanced at the drive. A black STE vehicle
was parked in front of the house. Shifting, he tucked the wolf back
inside, and strode toward the backyard and the sound of voices. The
frigid December wind left him once again thankful that the magic
that allowed him to shift from man to wolf, also let him keep his
clothes.

He stuffed his hands in his jean pockets to
keep his fingers from freezing. Blood smeared the snow, from his
blow-up Frosty the Snowman to the eight light-up reindeer, it
covered his side yard. His stomach twisted just as Trent Monroe,
his pack second, turned and saw him. “Deer,” he called out, before
the raw rage twisting in Hunter’s gut could continue to grow.

“A dead deer isn’t cause for Hounds.” His
gaze cut to the tall woman standing in the snow beside Trent. Her
long silvery blond hair was wrapped in a bun behind her head. Her
eyes were a piercing green and they struck out at him, hard and
assessing.

“No. But a missing woman is.”

Hunter glanced at Trent. “Rylie,” his second
said, voice soft.

Rylie Kelsen. She’d been supposed to show up
for dinner last night but hadn’t. Not completely abnormal for the
pack. Dinners at his house weren’t mandatory.

“Lucy went by her house last night. She said
Ry had a bad break-up and she just wanted to go check on her. She
wasn’t there.”

“And you didn’t call me?”

His second gave him a hard look, no doubt
scenting Bree on his skin. “Lucy figured she’d just gone out. She
called this morning, still no answer, went by her place again and
smelled a wolf she didn’t recognize.”

A growl snaked out of him. “Rogue.”

“Would be my guess, considering we had one
leave us that nice gift,” he gestured toward the bloody field and
the lifeless body Hunter could now make out as a deer.

“Most likely the same one harassing Bree.”
And if the wolf was making this many rounds, it wasn’t too far of a
stretch to believe he’d gone after Rylie as well.

The Hound folded her arms across her chest,
drawing their attention. “Breanne Torres?”

Hunter nodded. “Yes. She owns the house next
door. Caught a wolf’s scent when I went out for a run yesterday,
tracked it back to her place.”

The woman’s lips pursed but she only nodded.
“I’ll need you to see if you recognize the wolf’s scent. Then I’m
going to check out Ms. Kelsen’s apartment.”

Oh, he’d be going with her, but he was saving
that argument until the time came. Hunter jerked his head in a nod
and strode across the yard. Blood splattered the snow, but worse
than that, the poor animal was strung across the yard. The doe had
been torn apart. Mauled. “No one heard a thing?”

“Happened after everyone left. I was the last
out and I didn’t get back ‘til this morning.” Hunter nodded. He’d
left Trent in charge when he’d gone on his hunt last night. “First
thing I smelled when I got here. Then Lucy called.”

“It’s fine,” Hunter said and turned his
attention to the bloody massacre in front of him. He crouched,
leaning forward to get a good whiff as the wind tossed back and
forth in the cool morning. The tangy scent of blood, the musk of
deer, the people around him—those were the scents that struck him
first, but under it all Hunter could trace the scent of wolf.
Male.

The same bastard he’d run across last night
haunting around Bree’s place.

“Same one.”

“Good to know. I’ve already cataloged the
scent. I’ll head over to—”

“And I’ll be coming along.” The tone he used
dared her to argue.

One look at him and she nodded. “Very
well.”

With a wave of her hand, she led Hunter
toward her car.

Chapter Six

Bree flipped through the channels mindlessly.
The damn phone hadn’t rung all morning and the silence was
beginning to get to her. She closed her eyes and leaned her head
back against the couch, trying to force herself to relax. The
restless itch building inside her only intensified with the
quiet.

Hunter Reed had been in her life for one day
and already she resented the solitude. Weird, how comfortable he
made her feel, how at
home
he made the place feel. Crazy
too, because this was her house but she hadn’t realized until he’d
walked out that door this morning that it had never become a
home.

No. If she were honest with herself, her
home
had died with Arianna. Died with the distance their
daughter’s death had driven between her and Caesar. She opened her
eyes and looked around the room. It was beautifully furnished, but
empty.

She hadn’t let a single bit of life enter
this place.

No pictures, no heirlooms, nothing really
personal. The walls were bare and the colors and furniture were all
neutrally chosen. Nothing here really said
Bree
. She flicked
off the television and shoved off from the couch. This had to
change. When a perfect stranger could walk into her life and make
her see just how badly she was missing out on
life
, on
everything, something had to change.

Nerves twisted her stomach, but she refused
to back down as she headed for her bedroom closet and the
collection of boxes stashed at the back of it. Hidden behind
clothes and shoes were the memories she’d locked away. Sinking to
the plush carpet, Bree ran her fingers over the first tub. She
remembered the day she’d packed it all away, tears streaming down
her face.

She’d needed time then. To grieve, to heal,
to just get space.

Now, however, it was time to start putting
back together the pieces of her life. Time to start moving
forward.

She dragged the large plastic container
towards her and popped off the lid. Right on top sat a framed 8 x
10 of Ari, grinning up at the camera, sunlight streaming through
her red hair. Bree felt her heart catch and she reached for the
wooden frame. Her hand shook.

God, how she’d missed seeing her little
girl’s face.

Hearing her laugh.

Holding her.

She picked up the picture and looked into
those almond brown eyes. They’d always been so warm with happiness.
Arianna had been a being of joy. She ran her fingers over the image
and wished like hell she could touch her daughter just one more
time.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” she whispered to the
photo. Part of her was still sorry she hadn’t been able to save her
daughter, and that same part of her always would be.

But right now, the larger part of her
regretted keeping the memories of Arianna locked away in a box.
Caesar—for all the horrible things that he had done—at least he
hadn’t tried to push the memory of their daughter away. At least he
hadn’t folded her up into a plastic box and shoved her at the back
of a closet.

He’d sought to avenge her death in his own
twisted way.

Staring at the portrait now, Bree knew there
was no way she was shoving this all back into her closet. It was
time to move forward and it was also time to bring the memory of
her daughter fully into this house. It was time to make this place
a home.

She set the picture up next to her and
continued through the box. She found her old Shifter Town
Enforcement award for ten years served on duty. Arianna’s favorite
doll, a stuffed lion with a frizzy mane. Her heart clenched but she
kept digging.

There were so many pictures.

Ones of the three of them—Caesar, Ari, and
her—all grinning up at the camera. Bree remembered that day. It had
been a cool, crisp autumn day and they’d taken one of Caesar’s old
college buddies to the park to get some family pictures. The one
with Ari rolling around in a pile of leaves she pulled out and set
aside, along with one of the three of them, wrapped in each other’s
arms.

There were pictures of the Enforcement pack
she and Caesar had led. She recognized so many faces, faces that
had tried to back her after Caesar’s death. But just like her they
hadn’t understood the shift in their alpha, didn’t understand how
they hadn’t seen it coming. She swallowed. Then they’d pulled away.
Or had it been her first? God, she didn’t even know anymore.

It had been a time of so much pain, all she’d
wanted to do was leave. Run. As far away as she possibly could.

She pulled out another box of pictures and
kept going. There were so many memories. She hadn’t forgotten them,
but at the same time, she hadn’t let herself remember them either.
Picture after picture went by.

But it was the Christmas ones that brought
the tears pouring out.

Arianna in her pajamas surrounded by wrapping
paper hugging a large stuffed white unicorn. Arianna grinning in
front of the Christmas tree, her little fuzzy lion in one hand.
Caesar and her decorating the tree.

Bree let the pictures fall to the ground and
buried her face in her hand and cried. Christmas had always been
their favorite time of year. From making snow angels in the sand to
picking out and decorating a Christmas tree. Lighting up the house
with decorations and laughter. Baking cookies for Santa.

“Oh Ari.” She touched a picture of her
daughter sprawled out in the snow, her pink snow suit on. “I miss
you, sweetie.”

She lost track of how long she sat there, but
the light faded leaving the room dark as the sun set outside. Bree
didn’t get up to turn on the light. She sat there in the quiet,
wrapped in the darkness, and let the memories sift through her.
With every smile, every laugh in her head, the memories finally
started to heal the wounds ripped open by Arianna’s passing.

When it finally became too dark to see, Bree
grabbed the picture frame and dragged herself to bed, the image of
her daughter wrapped in her arms.

***

Hunter paced the small quarters of the
Enforcement office. Tension knotted his shoulders and his head
ached from the constant grind of his teeth. Rylie’s place had been
empty, her phone was off so no one could trace it, and her whole
damn place had stunk of the rogue. And now, Hunter was at the local
Shifter Town Enforcement headquarters and told to wait.

Wait his ass.

He’d been up the entire night calling her
phone, her friends, the pack. Anyone and everyone he could think
of. Nothing.

Exhaustion tugged at him, an ever persistent
weigh that settled along his shoulders and threatened to break him,
but Hunter refused to sit down. The moment his butt hit that chair
he knew he’d be out.

The Hound poked her head out of her office
and waved for him.
Thank God
. He couldn’t wait much longer.
They needed to do something and standing around here wasn’t it.

“I’ve contacted her family, no one’s heard
from her.”

“I know. I called them last night.” The growl
edged in his words reminded her that he’d told her, she just hadn’t
believed him
. Typical Hound
. The thought crossed his mind
before he even realized it, the prejudice automatic.

It was so rare to find a Hound actually on
the side of the shifters they were supposed to protect. The
dog-shifters were more inclined to protect their own and the
average human than they were shifters.

And yet, something about Breanne Torres drew
him to her.

This one made the hair on the back of his
neck stand on end. He didn’t trust her. Didn’t think she really
gave a damn about a missing wolf. She rattled on about what Shifter
Town Enforcement was doing to find his wolf, but it all seemed to
involve her sitting behind a computer screen. No one was actually
out there looking.

Hunter’s jaw tightened.

“What we need from you, Mr. Reed is to go
home. Wait by the phone. See if you get a call.”

Bullshit
. But he jerked his head in a
sharp nod. Oh, he’d go home all right. He’d get the pack together
and they’d start
looking
for their wolf.

“We’ll keep you updated if we have any
leads.”

He doubted they would. Hunter turned and
strode for the door, his whole body shaking. Exhaustion and anger
warred inside him as he dragged himself into his truck. Unless the
rogue became a problem for the average human, he doubted STE would
really bother to get their hands dirty.

And yet, as his truck barreled up the road
toward his house, he found his foot on the break as he neared
Bree’s. It was barely eight in the morning but the lights in her
house were on... He thought of the woman who hadn’t called STE
despite the vandalism and calls simply because she hadn’t wanted to
get a kid in trouble.

Maybe she’d be willing to help.

He angled the truck up the drive. It had to
be worth a shot. And the woman he remembered from yesterday and the
night before, the one who’d stood outside with a gun in hand was
still a Hound. But unlike the ones back at the local STE, he didn’t
see Bree curling her lip at the idea of finding a missing wolf.

Hell. He hoped not at least.

Because he wanted more of her. More time,
more kisses, everything.

Hunter left the car running as he strode up
the drive. His fist fell heavy on the door as he knocked. Nothing.
He pressed the doorbell and heard it chime inside. Still quiet. His
stomach twisted. He pressed the bell again and finally he heard
someone moving in the background.

“Just a second,” Bree called out.