DARKSIDE OF THE MOON (3 page)

If she could save just one girl, then her life wouldn’t be a total waste. She jumped when her phone buzzed in her jeans pocket. Pulling it out, she headed over to her truck to have a little privacy away from her construction crew.

“Hello?”

Her heart slid into her stomach as the voice of the owner of the house began telling her that she was moving up the deadline for the finished remodel. Her mind raced as her mouth went dry. How could she have this finished in time? She was pushing her workers as it was. Not to mention the break-in. If her tools were stolen one more time, then there would be no way she’d make the deadline for finishing the house.

“I see.” She tried to swallow around the lump that had developed in her throat. She opened her mouth to tell the owner that she couldn’t make that deadline—that it was impossible—but the words froze in her throat.

The conversation ended, and she stood there with the phone pressed against her sweaty face.

***

Zane’s heart pounded in his chest as he concentrated on shifting back to human form.

Nothing.

This wasn’t good. Not at all.

If he couldn’t control his shift, he was shit outta luck.

He padded down to the end of the empty alley. A chain-link fence was the only thing between him and the street. Remembering the drive into town, he knew that after passing through the neighborhood, it was only a mile or so before a flat field of rice appeared. It didn’t provide much cover for a wolf his size, but it would be away from the human population. Maybe he could find an old building to take cover in until he could shift back.

He glanced over his shoulder. He couldn’t wait on Lucien to bring him clothes. If Lucien came out and saw that he still hadn’t shifted back into human form, then he’d know something was badly wrong. And it would be Lucien’s duty to inform Barrett.

Fuck the clothes.

Zane backed up a few feet and took off at a dead run. He leapt into the air and cleared the top of the fence. He landed on his feet on the cool concrete on the other side. He crouched, listening for footsteps.

Nothing.

Shoving off, he ran for the cover of a copse of trees between two houses. Traffic was minimal. The only people out and about were those coming home from a late day at the office.

His ears perked up as the sounds of voices and laugher and the sizzle of meat being cooked on an outdoor grill drifted around him.

After making sure the coast was clear, he sprinted for the next house. He repeated this, making sure to stay within the protection of the shadows.

Headlights of an approaching car had him ducking behind some shrubbery in front of a window.

“Mommy! There’s a monster outside my window!” A tiny child’s voice reached Zane’s ears.

Shit.

He raced for the next house and took cover behind a large prickly bush to see if anyone would come outside to investigate the child’s claims.

As soon as he was out of danger from discovery, he sprinted for the next house.

His heart raced as he spied the isolated, industrial part of town a short distance from the last house in the neighborhood. If he could make it down there without being noticed, then just on the other side lay the flat rice fields that stretched on forever.

Seeing his chance, he sprinted toward his freedom. His lungs ached as he pushed his animal body, running harder and faster than ever before.

His paws bounded across the hard pavement with each swift step. By the time he reached the first row of rice fields, his heart was about to beat out of his chest. Crouching among the green stalks, he peered around, looking and listening for any signs of a presence, human or animal.

Nothing.

His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness. He slowly stood, lifted his face to the wind, and inhaled deeply. He caught a faint scent of crops and dirt. Odd. Usually, he would be overwhelmed by the scents of the night. But not tonight.

He listened carefully. Other than the occasional field mouse he could hear scurrying among the rows, he was completely alone.

He needed to find shelter soon before he shifted again.

It was one thing to see a large wolf, but a naked man would stir up more news coverage than Bigfoot if someone saw him. Especially in a city as small as Jonesboro.

He sprinted across the rows, heading as far away from the city as he could. He caught a glimpse of a small building off in the distance.

He changed direction and raced for the target. As he drew near, he discovered that the building was a shed of some kind off to the side of the house. He padded over to the abandoned house and sniffed.

He smelled nothing.

He walked up the narrow steps. The front porch had just been added, as evidenced by new boards under his feet. The windows were boarded up, and the front door was locked.

He walked down the steps and headed around the back of the house.

There was a tiny back porch that seemed dated. This wasn’t a newly built house. It was a remodel.

He walked up the back steps and tried to nose his way in the back door.

Locked.

Giving up, he headed toward the shed.

The door had a heavy chain around the handles to prevent anyone from entering. Whoever had done that was probably worried about someone stealing their lawnmower.

His heart picked up speed as his thigh ached like fire racing across his flesh.

Picking up the chain between his teeth, he tugged hard.

The chain snapped.

Nosing open the door, Zane headed inside the safety of the shed. Once inside, he pulled the door closed with his teeth. It wasn’t locked, but he could probably hear someone if they approached and would have time to escape before being discovered.

Standing on trembling legs, he looked around at the power tools littering the small building. He nudged some tools aside with his head so he could at least have a space to lie down to recover.

Walking around in a circle, he lay down and curled his body into a ball. Pain raced through his body, replacing the urge to fight.

Whatever had caused him to shift was now trying to make him shift back into human form. And if it he couldn’t control it, then he was fucked.

***

Skylar arrived early to her construction site. She knew her crew wouldn’t be here for another couple of hours. She’d had a bad dream and hadn’t been able to get back to sleep, so she’d decided to start her day early. Her gaze narrowed on the shed and the broken chain that was currently lying on the ground like discarded trash.

“Son of a bitch.” She slammed the truck into park and killed the engine. She grabbed her 9 mm out of the glove compartment before sliding out of the truck.

“Druggy asshole better not have stolen my tools.” She stomped toward the shed as she clutched the gun in both hands. She was sick and tired of this.

She raised the handgun and aimed it as she reached for the door. She doubted very seriously that the thief was still inside. He would be long gone by now, along with her expensive tools.

But Skylar knew she should never assume anything. She’d learned that much growing up among thieves and drug dealers.

She grabbed the door handle and pulled. The door swung open and bright morning sunlight washed the interior of the small shed.

Tools hung along the wall, and the table saw was where she’d left it. Everything seemed to be where she’d left it.

Her heart jumped in her throat as she spotted a large, naked man curled up in the corner. He was lying on his side, giving her a view of his muscular back. A large, menacing black tattoo of razor-sharp wings with a pair of eyes peering out spanned his entire back.

“Shit.” She gripped the gun in both hands. So the crackhead had gotten high and passed out before he could steal anything. Now it was up to her to handle him.

She reached for her cell phone in her jeans pocket as the naked man began to stir.

“Don’t even think about moving, asshole.” She glanced down at her phone and managed to punch in a nine. “The cops are going to take your naked ass to jail.”

Too bad, ’cause he had a nice ass.

The man tensed and then leapt to his feet in one swift movement. He turned and faced her.

Her mouth dropped open.

He wasn’t your typical drug user. No, this guy wasn’t skinny, far from it. He was broad, with muscles that spanned his broad chest and six-pack abs. His muscular thighs tensed and moved with each breath, and she felt the hair on her neck stand at attention.

Her gaze dropped lower.

He was huge.

Everywhere.

Her face heated as she dragged her gaze up from his nice package to his face. She shook her head as she tried to focus on his features in case he made a break for it and she had to identify him to the cops.

His dark hair was short and neat and framed his stunning face. He glared at her with light blue eyes that seemed oddly familiar, and she didn’t think she’d ever seen a more handsome yet dangerous-looking man. He probably made women fall at his feet for one minute alone with him, despite the fact he looked more than ready to end your life.

She lifted her face and inhaled as his familiar scent drifted to her.

“You’re not human.” She cocked her head as she kept her gun trained on him.

Surprise flickered through his eyes, followed by confusion.

“What did you say?” He frowned at her as his nostrils flared.

“You heard me, wolf.” She ended the phone call before it went through and shoved her phone into her pocket.

“How do you know that?” He glanced around as his fingers curled into fists at his side. His gaze darted from her to the door, as if he was contemplating whether he could make it past her before she got off a shot.

“I know because I’m a wolf too.”

The color drained from his face as he met her gaze. His breathing increased and he looked at the floor.

He shook his head and murmured, “That’s impossible.”

“Why? Because you don’t think I’m pretty enough to be a wolf?” She gritted her teeth. She’d spent her life growing up being criticized because of her red hair and her stick-thin figure. It wasn’t until she’d hit puberty and gotten her curves that the men who hung around her dad had started looking at her differently. Being a female wolf was nothing but a curse.

Those old insecurities rose up in her head as she stared back at the dangerous wolf. He had her heart tripping in her chest at how attractive he was. But his dismissive words had turned her blood cold and brought up a past that she’d hidden away.

“That’s not it.”

“Then what is it?” Her eyes narrowed. She wanted nothing more than for him to hit the road.

He met her gaze. Fear crossed his expression, and her heart tugged in her chest. His eyes widened as he took a step closer.

“If you’re a wolf, then why can’t I smell you?”

Zane stared at the beautiful woman in front of him. Something about her was vaguely familiar. If what she was saying was true and she was in fact a wolf, then he was beyond fucked.

“What did you say?” She frowned as she lowered the gun she’d aimed at him since she’d burst through the door.

“I can’t smell your scent.” He gritted his teeth until his jaw ached. He glanced down at the injury on his thigh. In addition to losing control of his shift, now he’d lost his sense of smell.

Basically, he was blind.

“That doesn’t make sense.” She eyed him warily. “All wolves can smell other wolves.”

“Yeah, well, apparently my sniffer is on the fucking blink.” Along with other things. The floodgates of anger spilled into his veins like a slow-rising river ready to flood the valley.

“How’d you do that?” She eyed him.

“Do what?” He slammed his eyes shut and tried to control his anger. The overwhelming urge to shift was bearing down on him, and he knew if he didn’t get her out of here, he might hurt the pretty little wolf.

“How’d you break your nose?” She cocked her head and crossed her arms over her full breasts.

His eyes popped open. She was making fun of him.

A laugh rolled out of him before he could stop it.

“If I knew, then I would know how to fix it, wouldn’t I?”

“So how did you end up in my shed?” She glanced around the room, taking inventory.

“I didn’t steal anything, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Her gaze landed between his legs, and her face turned a pretty shade of red.

“Although I wouldn’t hesitate stealing some clothes right now.” He shot her a grin as she lifted her gaze to his.

“So you shifted without having an extra set of clothes. That’s not very . . . smart.” She looked up to the ceiling.

“I was kind of in a tough spot.”

“Oh yeah? Like you got some bad drugs or something? That kind of tight spot?”

It was obvious from the look she was shooting him that she didn’t trust him.

Smart girl.

“I don’t do drugs.” Drugs did him. Or whatever the hell that was in his system that was trying to fuck him up.

“So why are you in my shed?” Her eyes darted down to his erection and then back up.

He contemplated how much to tell her. So he went for the half-truth.

“I was infiltrating a drug deal by some rogue wolves. Shit went south. I shifted and went after the dealer. Suspect got away, and I was caught without access to my clothes. I saw your building and thought I could hide out until I figured out how to get some more clothes.”

“So the tattoo on your back . . . ”

“It means I’m a Guardian.” He finished the sentence for her.

“I’ve never met one before. I figured you guys were a myth.” She gave him a suspicious look.

“We are only around when there’s trouble. I doubt you had any kind of trouble when you were growing up.” He snorted and looked around for an old rag or something to at least cover his dick with.

“Right.” She narrowed her gaze. “Or maybe Guardians wouldn’t even come to the places I grew up in.”

He jerked his head back to her and studied her face.

Her straight red hair hung past her shoulders, and he wondered if she smelled like strawberries. She had bright blue eyes the color of a summer sky and perfect pink lips. Despite the growing heat of the day, she wore jeans that hugged her curves and a sleeveless white shirt that showed off the muscles in her arms. She had an old baseball cap pulled down on her head, and from the looks of the paint stains on her clothes, she was the one who’d been doing work on the house.