The Midwife's Moon (13 page)

Lance pulled into a driveway at a primitive-looking house and stopped the car. He leaned over to her, took her chin in his hand, and studied her face. “I will earn your trust. I promise that whatever my failings are, I’ll
never
do what Joseph did. I’ll never abandon you or leave you to face difficult situations alone. Your scent, your existence, kept me alive when I might have given up. It gave me hope for the future and allowed me to continue to fight Roxy in the best way I could. You’re special. Always will be to me. The gift of hope is a treasured thing when life otherwise seems an empty void.”

Tears streamed down her face as he fervently spoke the most beautiful words she’d ever heard. “Lance,” was all she could say through the tears. Her heart swelled with the beginnings of love. His words instilled his own hope within her soul more than their brief moment of intimacy.

Gently, he bestowed a kiss on her. Their lips fused, and something in her mind clicked over. Nothing with Joseph had ever been this tender, this sweet. Just as important, she believed in Lance. She didn’t know how, but she did. Her life, her soul, her heart, so empty and cold, began to thaw as his words and his touch reverberated through her.

His lips left hers, and he met her gaze when she opened her eyes. “When we’ve finished here, we’ll go away somewhere. Maybe to a cabin. I don’t know, but somewhere where we can be alone and have time to get to know each other. No pressure on either of us. Is that acceptable?”

Acceptable? That sounded like the greatest thing since she’d become a werewolf. “Yes,” she said before her insecurity could talk her out of it.

He kissed her once more on the forehead then they got out. She came around the front of the car and took his hand. There were two other cars there, one of which she recognized as Moriah’s, an Elite Guard. The other, she didn’t.

“Sure has a lot of company for someone in exile,” she said nervously.

“Agreed. You know either of the cars?”

“The red Honda is Moriah’s,” she said.

“Moriah?”

“Elite Guard. Woman Alex fought during our first combined meeting?”

“Right.” They walked slowly up the dirt path toward the front door. All at once, Lance stopped moving and stared off toward the horizon.

What the hell?

Chapter Eleven

Lance didn’t like the look of things when they stepped out of her vehicle. It also occurred to him that he didn’t know Lisa’s status with the tribe. Had the ulfric adopted her into the tribe, or would they be in trouble if someone caught them on the restricted lands?

No. Nolan wasn’t stupid or careless. They wouldn’t be in trouble. Still, he couldn’t help the crawling sensation of dread as he moved toward the front door. His legs acted as if he were dragging them through mud and reality wasn’t real anymore. Then the vision slammed him again. This time, it started in the cabin.

The men attacked a woman he didn’t recognize while Joseph stood by laughing. Everything glowed red around him and the other men.

Lance struggled to get out of the vision. He already had this vision and knew where it ended. He didn’t want to see it again. His head felt like someone had him in a vise though and made him look, made him turn toward the violence.

The woman, Moriah? He heard Lisa yell. The woman fought back hard. Lisa and Lance joined in. Joseph took advantage of the distraction and ran out the front door. The men tried to keep the rest of them in the cabin, but they eventually pushed passed them and outside.

The full moon lit the night, and Joseph’s white shirt was like a beacon. They followed after him, running to intercept.

The men followed them out and soon they were all fighting. Joseph struck out at Lance with a limb he hadn’t seen him carrying. The strange glow threw him off, and he stumbled to the side. Moriah slammed Joseph with her body, but the other men were right there and began to fight.

Kicks, grunts, and moans... Blood, spittle, and growls... On the fight went. Moriah and Lisa had Joseph under control, so Lance moved to the men.

He thought he heard another voice, but then some weird haze blocked him, and it skipped forward. Again Lance struggled against the vision, but it persisted.

The darkness permeated into the deep shadows, but the full moon lit the rest of the night. Ryan and three other men were standing nude over a man, their bodies covered in blood that looked like dark streaks tattooed into the men’s skins.

Their raucous laughter filled the cold, night air. On the horizon, a lone wolf howled, calling for reinforcements. The men’s laughter stopped in mid-cackle, and fear poured out of their pores, tangible and glowing like silver in the moonlight, ethereal.

A red mist began to form, mingling with the silver and following it back to the men. It absorbed into them like butter into hot bread, leaving a slight red-hued aura around their skin. The red mist had left tracks which could be traced back to the woodlands, but once there, the trail dissipated into nothing within the deep blackness of the forest, its origins hidden.

The four men with the red auras began to kick the body on the ground then turned on each other. Soon they were all in werewolf forms. Growls encompassed the night sounds, silencing some, overpowering others. Barks mingled with the growls.

Suddenly, the scene changed pictures the same way a kaleidoscope changes colors. A wolf lay next to the human form, licking the face and whining. The moonlight softly caressed both woman and beast. Then the woman rose up, floating off the ground, still unconscious, and her head dropped back. Her hair floated in the breeze and hung almost weightlessly.

Her body was dark, yet the lunar rays reflected white. The wolf howled, its nose pointing to the sky, almost as if he were defying the moon to take the woman from him. Gently, the woman’s nude body drifted to the earth, and the wolf quit howling and simply lay by the woman, dropped his head into his front paws, and became still.

He felt Lisa’s hands on him and tried to use that, but instead, the vision turned.

Off to the side, in the darkness, another wolf came out of the tree line, the greyish pelt unfamiliar to him. The newcomer headed straight for the woman and other wolf at a full run. Lance tried to scream a warning and no sound came.

“Lance!”

This time Lisa’s urgency and the fear in her voice penetrated the vision. His mate was distressed, and he had to respond. He blinked, trying to clear his eyesight from the weird vision world. “Lisa,” he said weakly.

“What’s the matter?” Her anxious eyes were looking over his body in a controlled frantic check for a health reason for his state.

He smiled at her concern. “It’s the visions. Nearly the same one as I’d had at the bar.” At her confused look, he explained. “When Ryan made that accusation that I was out of it, he wasn’t far from right. Usually, they’re short and easily managed. This one is persistent and—” He frowned as he tried to recall the details again. “There were some major differences this time.” Like the body changing to a man then back to a woman, but not the same woman. And why couldn’t the scenes all stay the same? How many times and ways was Ryan going to kill someone?

What did it mean? Things were different. Some were the same, but still, he’d never had a vision change like this before. The woman he’d seen the first time had been Lisa. This time it was Moriah. How could this be? And the wolves were different. Last time, he’d known the wolf had been him. This time, it had been someone he didn’t recognize.

“Visions?” Lisa asked cautiously, her voice low.

“Every werewolf has a gift, sometimes more.”

“I don’t,” she scoffed.

Again, he smiled at his mate. “You have one of the greatest gifts. You’re the healer for our pregnant weres, and you’re an Elite Guard. I heard what you needed to do to pass. You managed to beat others out despite being a new werewolf. So you have the gift of protection as well.”

Lisa blinked, her eyes unreadable to him. “I never thought of it that way. I’m...not sure what to say.”

Just then, the door opened, and they both turned to see Ryan. “Well, look what we have here.”

“What are you doing here, Ryan?” Lance challenged.

“We came to make sure Joseph was properly exiled, of course,” he replied smoothly.

Lance’s heartbeat increased, and his wolf instincts were going off like a fire alarm with burnt toast. Because Ryan looked a lot—no exactly like—one of the men in his vision, he’d made the assumption, but perhaps the vision hadn’t been literal. “We?” he inquired.

Three men stepped out onto the porch with Ryan. Ryan made a wide circle with his arm encompassing the others. “Yes, we.”

“I’m here to speak with Moriah,” he said.

The men all laughed, and Lisa gripped his hand.

Lance moved forward, speaking a little louder than necessary. “I’m here to give Moriah a message from the ulfric, as well as see Joseph.”

“After you,” Ryan mocked with a bow and a gesture toward the door.

Lance gave him a dark look, and keeping a strong grip on Lisa, walked through into the healer’s house. A woman he presumed to be Moriah stood over the couch in the living room. Joseph was unconscious and in human form, some scrapes and bruises still showing on his nude body.

“Moriah,” Lisa said. “This is Lance.”

“Hi. What are you two doing here?”

“The ulfric sent us. He said to give you a message and said we could confront Joseph with what he’s done to my mate.” Partial lie of course, but that little bit of truth is why Ryan and the other weres hadn’t spotted the lie.

Moriah appeared smarter than the others. She narrowed her eyes at him then glanced at Ryan and the three men who followed them in. She did some quick movement with her hands, and he sensed Lisa tense up next to him before she pulled her hand out of his.

Lance nonchalantly took a step ostensibly toward Joseph, but opened up his stance so he could see everyone in the room. “He doesn’t look in very good shape still.”

“Don’t let him fool you,” Moriah said. “He’s weak, but healing rapidly. I don’t know why you let him live, but I hope you knew what you were doing.”

“So do I,” he replied grimly. “But there are reasons I couldn’t be the one to kill him.”

Moriah darted a glance to Lisa then back at him. “I see. Well, I have no such compunction,” she said tersely. “I’ll kill him if he twitches wrong. Vile betrayer of innocents.”

The venom in her voice rocked him. Moriah wasn’t just a guard. She was a protector. That was her gift—her primary gift. Sudden clarity shot through him. No wonder Moriah became the woman in his vision. At some point, something changed, and Moriah came to be here alone when Ryan showed up, making her the target.

The shift in a vision startled him but also made him afraid. If he couldn’t trust his visions, then where was he? It had saved his life more than once. No. He had to accept that decisions could change his visions. And he’d been shown the possible differences in the outcome in the vision. Still, he didn’t know how much was literal and how much was symbolic. He started watching Ryan carefully as he racked his brains for the names of the other three. Two of them, he was sure he knew.

“Jason. How’d you get here? The whole of Wahpawhat pack is looking for you.”

“The whole of Wahpawhat pack doesn’t concern me.”

Moriah growled, and Lance’s muscles tensed. “And who’s your friend,” he demanded.

“None of your concern.” Jason laughed.

At the same time, Ryan replied, “Steven of the Seathe pack. He’s here to make sure things go how they’re supposed to.”

“I’ve seen him here before. You’re the one who poisoned Marty—both times,” Lisa said, her voice deeper than Lance had ever heard it.

The men all laughed. “You should teach your dog to keep her mouth shut. Now we’re going to have to kill all of you,” Ryan said and struck at Lance.

The other men attacked the women while Ryan fought him. He blocked Ryan’s punch with his forearm and hit him in the abdomen. Ryan gasped and hit a glancing blow off his shoulder. The bruising hit staggered him back. He kicked out and hit Ryan in the ball sack.

The man doubled over and backed away some more. Lance slowly started circling, trying to maneuver so he could get out the door, instead of having Joseph so close in case he awoke. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Moriah and Lisa doing the same. He reminded himself that Lisa was trained and could defend herself, so he needed to focus on Ryan.

The minute distraction gave Ryan an opening, and Lance’s head snapped back forcing him to take a step behind him for balance. That step back saved him. Joseph had awoke—if he’d ever been asleep—and swung the lamp at him. The lamp missed and shattered on the floor. Lance jumped forward and tried to grab Joseph before he left the building.

Ryan must have changed while Joseph had distracted him. He clawed Lance’s arm, creating four deep gouges. They also prevented him from getting ahold of Joseph. “Lisa! Joseph’s headed for the door!”

Both Moriah and Lisa leapt after Joseph and Lance followed, trying to help them fight Steven, Jason, and the other man. Ryan jumped him from behind. He sensed it a second before Ryan made contact and ducked.

***

Lisa fought hard against the man in front of her. Unfortunately, Joseph managed to get past her and Moriah while they fought off the other men. To her right, she heard a low growl and turned in time to see a wolf, presumably Ryan, leap. She sucked in her breath to warn Lance, but he’d ducked. That put her in the wolf’s path, so she quickly moved, yanking Moriah with her.

Ryan slammed into the men, and they tangled in a heap of paws and legs. She and Moriah jumped the pile, Lance close behind them. The night, brightly lit by the moon, still held deep shadows. Luckily for them, the white of Joseph’s shirt seemed to glow in the moonlight brighter than the snow on the ground.

She ran in his direction, determined not to let him escape. He disappeared a second after she started running, but she kept on. “Over here,” she yelled to Moriah and Lance. As she looked back to make sure the others followed, she saw Ryan, back in human form, start out the door. For a moment, her steps stuttered. Why weren’t they running faster? Why had Ryan taken the time to change back to human and get his jeans on?