Hyena Moon (2 page)

Kess smiled. "So what would you like to do while you're staying with us?"

The question caught him off guard and she saw his brows knit together in confusion. "I...I...what?"

"You aren't a prisoner, you're a guest," Kess reminded him. She'd told him so during their first meeting several days ago, the morning after Samara had left him. He didn't seem to believe it. "If you want, you can return to your pack at any time, but I figured while you're here, you might want to do something, I don't know, fun."

He looked at her, his topaz eyes narrowed. "I don't understand."

Kess swallowed her sigh. It was slow going with Rafe. Not that she'd expected him to trust her overnight--God alone knew what Samara had filled his head with about wereleopards--but he was so unwilling to let his guard down even the slightest bit. She understood where he was at though; she'd been in a similar place not all that long ago.

"You're free to go out and do whatever you want. You can take a class somewhere, hang out at a bookstore, go listen to bands. Maybe make some friends? You don't have to stay cooped up in this house like a shut-in. Nobody expects that."

He appeared to consider it. "Okay."

"Okay?" She felt relief wash over her. She thought that getting out and doing things normal kids his age did might be good for him. Kess didn't know for sure what kind of home life he came from, but knew it wasn't ideal.

Finn and Laila had told her how he'd come by the broken fingers and his bruises; they'd watched the brawl between Rafe and his sister and had seen the young man come out the worse for it. Kess knew something about unhealthy sibling relationships. She and her brother, Sekhmet, had been at odds--and that was the mother of all understatements--until his death several weeks ago.

Rafe shrugged. "I don't know. What's there to do?"

Kess thought. It had been almost two years since she'd been in Miami. She had no idea what the latest scene was anymore. But she knew a couple of people who would and they would have younger siblings around Rafe's age. She'd been planning on calling some old friends anyway. Now was as good a time as any.

She eyed her unwilling houseguest again. He was draped in clothes that didn't fit him, wearing Finn's hand-me-downs. The t-shirt swam on him and the shorts—which were an old pair of Sek's because there was no way either Finn or Cormac's pants would stay up on the rail-thin boy—were still too large for comfortable wear. He'd only had the ill-fitting suit that he came in. If he was going to stay here, Rafe was going to need something to wear.

"But before you do anything, you're going to need some clothes that actually fit. Come on." Kess saw him glance down at what he was wearing as if he only just noticed how ridiculous he looked.

"I don't have any money."

Kess pulled him up. "Don't worry about that. Let's go." She led Rafe out of the room. Maybe some new clothes would motivate him to get out a little.

Chapter Three

Rafe walked through the mall, well aware of the couple at his back. He'd taken Kess up on her offer of shopping because he was tired of wearing clothes that were so large he could fit another him in them and because he was tired of staying in the house. He'd spent the last three days cooped up in the guest room, afraid to show his face. He'd felt trapped, waiting for whatever came next. He was surprised to find that what came next was shopping.

The fact that this shopping trip was charity burned his pride some, but he couldn't be choosy right now. He had nothing. His mother hadn't exactly left him with her credit card and a wad of cash before she left. Everything he had came at the hands of the young woman who was supposed to be his enemy.

He shouldn't have been surprised that Cormac had come along. He
was
Kess' boyfriend, and Rafe knew that Cormac wouldn't leave her alone with him. Even in a public place, Rafe knew Cormac didn't trust him. So he'd tagged along with the excuse of keeping Kess company, but Rafe wasn't fooled. Cormac was keeping an eye on him. He'd gotten the impression that both Cormac and his cousin Finn had left their pack of werewolves in North Carolina to specifically guard Kess while she was here.

Rafe was surprised though that Kess, as the head of her clan, had gone out without more bodyguards. It was just the three of them. Granted, it was only a mid-afternoon trip to the mall so it was highly unlikely that she'd need a contingent of werebeasts to guard her, but it surprised him that she wouldn't have at least one more bodyguard. He knew what his mother was capable of--better than anyone. Samara wanted Miami more than anything else and she wouldn't stop until she got it. Either Kess had a lot more security than she let on, she was comfortable in her own strength and skills, or she was shockingly stupid. Right now, Rafe couldn't begin to guess which one it was, but he filed it away for use later. It might reveal a vulnerability he could exploit.

He looked around at the people passing him by but didn't see any familiar faces. Not that he expected to. He'd never gotten much chance to come to Miami and certainly never to the mall. He caught some of the passerby staring at him and ducked his head back down. At home, most everyone was used to his scars--he didn't get a lot of stares anymore. But here, he felt that his scars were all anyone could see. It made him feel exposed. He didn't like that his history of abuse was written on his face for all to read. Things like that should be more private.

He walked into a store that looked like it would have some jeans, figuring that Kess and Cormac would follow. He wandered over to the wall of denim, selecting pairs at random. Same was done for shirts and shorts. Rafe had never been concerned with fit before—he wore whatever his mother decided to give him and shut up about it. He piled clothes up on the counter and turned to look at Kess. She was watching him with an open, easy look on her face and nodded encouragingly.

"Get everything you think you'll need. Swim gear, shoes, the whole nine." She waved him on with a smile.

Rafe continued grabbing clothes, angry now. It was so easy for her to wave him on, as if money didn't mean a thing to her. His family wasn't exactly poor, but his mother didn't wave it around like Kess was doing. What Samara had, she usually spent on herself. And now, here he was able to buy anything he wanted--on someone else's dime, no less--and all he felt was resentment. He had to grit his teeth to keep from pulling his lips back in a snarl.

Kess and Cormac hung back as he waded deeper into the department store, snagging shoes and more clothes than he could ever possibly need. He knew he was dumb for being angry at someone doing something nice for him, but it just reminded him of everything he didn't have. There was a part of him that wanted to hurt Kess because of it. Half the stuff he chose he had no intention of ever wearing—he just wanted to see if she would stop him. She didn't.

He was dumping a couple of pairs of Chucks with the rest of his purchases when he caught a glimpse of dark red hair out of the corner of his eye. His head snapped around, and he saw his sister disappearing between racks of clothes. She was heading towards the exit that spilled everyone out into the bulk of the mall proper.

Rafe could feel his heart thudding in his chest. Teresa was here? What the hell was she doing here? A dozen different reasons flashed through his head: she'd come to check on him, to take him home, to kill him, to spy for their mother. Or the one most hoped for and least likely: his mother had changed her mind and wanted him back. He dropped what he was holding and took off after her, trying to keep her red hair in sight. He didn't care about clothes or Kess and Cormac; all he wanted was to talk to Teresa. He needed to find out if his mother had a plan in mind when she'd left him.

He saw her moving through the cosmetics counters, her hair a fiery flash above the other women's heads and shoulders. He knocked into a couple of people in his haste, picking up speed once he was through the gauntlet of older women hovering near the perfumes. He thought he heard Kess yell something at him, but ignored it in favor of gaining distance on Teresa.

He was in the mall now and caught sight of her again. She was moving quickly, not running, but only barely. His feet pounded the floor as he slid around slower shoppers. He shouted apologies to those people he jostled, but he wasn't going to stop. He held his shorts up in one hand, afraid they were going to slip off his narrow frame as he slithered between kiosks and knots of stalled pedestrians.

Rafe lost sight of her for moment, so he put on a burst of speed. He swung around a corner. He stopped, dropping his hands to his sides. No sign of Teresa. He took a quick look in the shops on this short arm of the mall, but didn't see anyone who looked like his sister.

He'd lost her.

His hands balled into fists. He may hate Teresa with the fiery heat of a lava flow, but he still wanted to talk to her. He wanted to know what was going on at home. He wanted news of their mother. He craved familiarity, even if it came in the form of his hateful sister. Despite what Kess said about being free to go home at any time, Rafe knew that wasn't the case. His mother wouldn't want him back unless she asked for him; if he showed up, he had a good idea of what kind of reception he'd get from his pack of werehyenas, and it wouldn't be pleasant for him. No, if he wanted to go home, his mother would need to send for him, or he'd have to go armed with information worth the price of accepting him back.

Rafe trudged back to the main avenue of the mall to find Cormac and Kess strolling up, obviously moving at a much slower pace than he had. "Everything okay?"

He stared at her, knowing he must look far from okay. From the look on her face, she knew the answer to her own question, but he supposed she had to ask something. "Fine. Just thought I saw someone I knew."

Kess didn't pry or push him. She probably should have--another possible weakness, he noted--but Rafe was grateful she let it drop. He felt like an idiot for haring off after a freaking figment of his imagination. Teresa was good, but she couldn't just up and disappear into thin air. He must have imagined it.

He put his head down and walked back to the department store where he'd left his stuff, feeling like people were staring at him more than ever. His pile was still where he left it when he went sprinting out of the store. He gathered up the last few articles of clothing he needed. He felt worse than stupid—if Teresa was in town spying on him or Kess, she wouldn't have been caught out so easily. She was smarter than that.

Or maybe she wasn't. Rafe saw a leggy brunette on an intercept path with Kess. She was one of Teresa's friends. He wasn't sure what she was doing here, but he didn't believe it to be a coincidence that he could swear he'd seen his sister and here was one of her friends. They must have orders to be in town. He highly doubted that Teresa would be eager to go against their mother so soon after her last failure, although nothing would surprise him about his family.

He saw the girl draw back her hand for a swipe, caught the telltale sign of claws. "Look out…" he shouted on instinct, then he wanted to smack himself for what it would look like to the other hyena.

Kess didn't need his warning; she had swayed out of the way. Cormac stiff-armed the brunette away, dodging a swipe of his own for his trouble. Shoppers were beginning to point and stare. The girl took off, bounding away from the scene of the disturbance. Cormac turned to go after her, but Kess grabbed him and shook her head.

"How did you know?" Rafe hadn't expected Kess to notice much of anything with so many strangers around. Surprising. Something else to file away.

Kess gave him a shaky smile. "I have a lot of experience looking over my shoulder." She walked over to the counter and handed the clerk her credit card.

Cormac's expression was dark. "This isn't going to work. How can we keep them out if we have no way of knowing who's what?"

Rafe nodded, even though he knew Cormac wasn't speaking to him. His mother could send in any number of hyenas for scouting missions or whatever, and chances were Kess and her leopards would never know. There wasn't a way to tell a were from a normal person. The only way to be really sure was to catch one in the act of changing forms. Then there was no doubt.

He knew they'd lost some pack members in his mother's ever increasing obsession to take Miami. He'd been home for the delivery of several of the boxes that Kess' brother, Sek--the previous clan leader--had sent to them that contained the heads, or other random body parts, of the spies he caught. But far more of their pack came and went from Miami with no problem that made it worth the risk. As long as they were careful not one of the leopards would ever know they were there.

"I'm working on it," Kess said in a tight voice, signing the receipt. She started handing out bags to all of them.

Rafe stilled, head cocked. He was curious. What could Kess do that would enable her to know when an enemy were was inside in her territory? How would she be able to tell were from non-were? In the hyena's case, all she had to do was look for someone looking ridiculously beautiful, but they were in Miami—almost everyone here looked like a supermodel. Kess couldn't go around laying waste to people just because they were of above average attractiveness. Did she have another, more foolproof way, in mind?

Rafe saw Cormac looking at him, a huge frown on the werewolf's face. He did not look pleased that Rafe had heard that. "Let's get out of here before anything else happens," the werewolf said.

Rafe followed the two of them out to the car, eyes alert for any sign of Teresa and her cronies. His sister hadn't exactly covered herself in glory so far. But maybe that wasn't the point of her being here. Maybe she and Samara were issuing a warning that they were still out there, or trying to scare Kess. Or perhaps his mother was testing him, trying to see if he remained loyal to his pack. Or it could always be that Teresa was an idiot who didn't know when or how to pick her battles. That was also a distinct possibility.