Full Moon Rising (34 page)

I hoped like hell Quinn was faring better, because I was in deep trouble and in need of help.

Fast.

From the side of us came an odd popping sound, then the head of the lead creature exploded. Blood, tissue, and gray matter went everywhere. As it dropped lifeless at my feet, the second creature met with the same end.

The wind chose that moment to die, and I smelled the familiar aroma of musk and man. Anger surged, replacing the relief.

But before I could say anything, before I could do anything, something hit the back of my head and unconsciousness claimed me.

P
ain woke me. It wasn't sharp, just a constant, maddening ache, the sort that set teeth on end. Even breathing hurt.

But it was a distant cry compared to the burning at my wrists and ankles, and the desperate, hungry blaze seething through my veins. My whole body trembled with its force, and it was an intensity that could so easily drive me mad.

One that
would
drive me mad if I didn't get some loving soon.

I twisted, trying to at least ease that ache myself, even though it would provide temporary relief, at best. But I barely could move my hand more than a few inches, and the clink of metal told me why. I'd been chained. By silver, if the burning at my wrists was anything to go by.

A soft chuckle filled the silence. Talon was there, watching.

I opened my eyes. The room was large, the color a warm gold that was soothing despite the situation. To the right were large windows through which dawn's light filtered, adding to the airy feel. It was an effect that was somewhat spoiled by the thick bars on each window--not that they would stop an escape if I managed to get out of my chains. The closest window was open, and the caressing breeze cool, filled with the salty tang of the ocean.

Directly opposite was an open doorway through which a bath and several towels were visible. To the left, another door, that one closed. There was nothing else in the main room but a satin-covered bed, and it was there that Talon sat. He was fully dressed, which in itself was surprising.

"You stupid bastard." My voice was little more than a cracked whisper, but he was a wolf and would have no trouble hearing it. "You have no idea of the trouble you've landed yourself in."

"I think not." His smile was all arrogance, his eyes chips of golden ice. "Government departments tend to turn a blind eye to the sexual practices of werewolves."

"This is kidnapping, and that's a crime."

"But that's not what anyone believes, because I rang up stating you are ill. You're on sick leave, as of an hour ago."

I shook my head, unable to believe he'd go to such lengths. "I was on special assignment. With my boss. I have no idea who you spoke to, but it won't matter. They'll know the lie."

He shrugged. "I wasn't fool enough to ring from my phone, rather a pay phone. And I used a voice modulator. They won't find you."

"Rhoan knows who my mates are. He'll find me."

Talon crossed his arms and laughed. It was a cold, dismissive sound that made the anger boil that much faster.

"That pansy couldn't find his way out of a flower shop," he said. "Besides, we're not at any of my known addresses, but a holiday house recently purchased by a subsidiary of one of my companies. It'll take them weeks to nail down the paper trail. By then, we'll have shifted."

"Never underestimate Rhoan. He's very, very good at what he does--and in case you've forgotten, what he does is track down and kill people." And Talon was dead meat if Rhoan found us like this.

He rose and walked toward me, all grace and powerful elegance. The smell of his lust fanned the already out-of-control fire.

I swallowed, but it did little to ease the aching dryness in my throat. "How did you find me?"

His smile was all arrogance. "The chip in your arm is not for birth control--we took that out over a year ago. It's a tracking device."

So that's how he'd found Quinn and me at the Directorate. He hadn't raided my apartment, as I'd presumed. He'd simply followed the signal. It had to have a limited range; otherwise, he would probably have made an appearance at the old farmhouse.

The sweat running down my face dripped into my eyes and stung like crazy. I blinked, but it didn't seem to help my vision any. Everything was blurry, tinged with red. I hoped it was blood, but had a bad feeling it was something far worse. Despite what Hollywood seemed to think, the moon fever didn't often turn werewolves into desperate killing machines. But on the few occasions it
did
happen, it was because the wolf had ignored the call of the moon for too long. The desire for sex mutated into something far more deadly--bloodlust.

Why would Talon want that? What good would it do him?

He stopped. I lashed out with a fist, but the blow was brought up short as the manacles bit into my wrist. I hissed in pain and frustration, and he smiled.

"Do you wonder why you're here, and chained?" He reached out, idly fondling a breast.

Part of me hated it. Part of me wanted anything he was willing to give. I knew which part would win. Had to win, or there would be trouble.

"You want a kid, and I won't give it to you willingly."

"Very good." His tone was distant, his gaze intent, as his caress moved from one breast to the other.

I couldn't help pressing into his touch. I needed it as badly as an addict needed her next fix.

"The scans I took the other day indicated you were close to ovulation. I cannot risk another wolf impregnating you after all the trouble I have gone to."

An insane thought when all wolves were chipped to prevent pregnancy happening. But then, I guess Talon wasn't exactly chummy with sanity at that particular point in time. "There's no guarantee I'll even carry to term."

"Which is why I have arranged for you to be moved to one of my laboratories. Our perfect child will be given every medical chance there is."

"There is no such thing as a perfect child." We all had faults, though right then I doubted whether Talon would agree--at least when it came to
him.

He didn't seem to hear me, and his voice, when he spoke, was distant. "Perfection is something I have chased for a very long time."

His caress moved down my stomach. I was burning, eager, hungry. My heart raced, and the smell of sweat and lust filled every breath. But the need to become a wolf, to rend and tear and taste blood, was almost as strong as the call of the moon. My teeth and nails were elongating in anticipation of the change, becoming more wolf than human. The only thing stopping me from fully completing the shift was the silver on my wrists and ankles.

"Why do this?" The words were slurred through my teeth. I rattled the chains to indicate what I meant.

"Do you not remember your folklore?"

I shook my head. Right then, I was having trouble remembering my own name.

"Wolves who mate when the moon fever turns to bloodlust will always conceive."

My smile was bitter. "That's no folklore--that's a truth I owe my existence to."

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Just what I said. I was conceived when my mother was in bloodlust." She'd been trying to make it home to our pack, but her car had broken down on the outskirts of a small country town. In some ways, it was lucky the graveyard and that newly risen vampire had stood between her and the people in that town, because it had allowed her to slake both desires without killing any humans.

"Then let us hope it is a case of like mother, like daughter." His fingers slipped though my slickness, and I shuddered, arching into his caress, relishing it, as hard and as rough as it was. He chuckled. "You are close, aren't you?"

Closer than he knew. The need to mate warred with the need to sink teeth into his flesh and howl my victory to the moon. I took a deep, shuddery breath, suddenly thankful for the silver chaining me. It was the only reason I was still in human form, still lucid.

"ARC1-23 was the wrong drug to use."

He raised an eyebrow. "When did you find out?"

"A couple of days ago." My words were little more than a pant of air, my body twisting, thrusting, desperate for the relief his fingers were offering.

His lust swam around me, as thick and as heavy as the erection pressing against the restraint of his pants. God help me, I wanted to feel him inside, wanted it so bad I was whimpering.

"That drug has an extremely high success rate. You will conceive when I finally fuck you, little wolf, and you will remain in my care until you give birth."

"Like hell." But my words held little force. The pressure was building, ripping through my nerve endings with the force of lightning. A few more sweeps of his hand, that was all it would take . . .

With a soft chuckle, he stepped away. I lurched forward, trying to grab him, trying to make him finish what he'd started. But the chains brought me up short again. I cursed him, long and hard.

"And that," he said, his voice rich with amusement, "is why I shall be raising our child, not you."

Though his features were half-lost to the growing haze of red, the icy determination in his expression was still very evident. Odd. I'd half expected to see a madness equal to what burned through my veins. He
had
to be mad if he thought he could get away with something like this. Even if he
did
make me pregnant, there was no way I was ever going to sit back and let him have our child.

"Ten of the fifty on that first trial failed to conceive. I might be one of those."

"Our tests over the past few months show that your body has been reacting favorably to the drug."

But maybe it was reacting in ways he wasn't expecting--or testing for. "What about the other ten? The ones that transmuted?"

He raised his eyebrows. "What about them?"

"They were half-breeds, just like me."

His amusement fled, and his face became stony. "What do you mean?"

My laugh was bitter. "Have you never wondered why I am so fast, so strong? I'm not just a werewolf, I'm a vampire."

He crossed his arms, eyes and voice flat as he said, "Impossible. Vampires aren't fertile."

"Except in the few instances when the change takes place within twenty-four hours of death. My mother was raped by such a vampire."

"No."

"Why do you think I was exiled from our pack? They allowed me to be raised out of loyalty to my mother, but once I hit puberty I was ousted."

"No."

He said it more forcefully this time, and I snorted. "What's wrong? Don't you like the fact you've been fucking a half-breed all this time?"

He didn't answer. I stared at him, saw the sudden loathing in his eyes, and realized the words said in jest were true. Talon was a man who believed in the superiority of the werewolf race, but I'd never realized that opinion also meant he'd have little tolerance for half-breeds.

"Our scans never indicated you were anything other than wolf." His voice was flat, yet held a note of anger that caressed my skin as hotly as his lust had moments before.

"They wouldn't, because for all intents and purposes I
am
wolf. It's not until you do a complete DNA check that you see the differences."

For several more seconds, he just stared. Yet the force of his anger rose and rose, until it was a wave that burned through every fiber of my being. His fists clenched, warning enough that a blow was coming. I dropped my shields and reached desperately for his mind--only to hit a psychic shield. For the first time in two years I noticed the thin wire entwined through the white gold chain at his neck. He was shielded against mind intrusion, had been for as long as I'd known him.

A laugh bubbled through me. So much for all my cautious restraint over the years.

His fist hit my stomach, and the laughter gave way to a desperate battle to breathe.

He continued to hit me, again, and again. I shuddered, twisting and fighting to be free, the need to tear him limb from limb as fierce as the need to survive.

"Coward," I spat between blows. "Step closer and try that."

I was trembling, aching, bloody. Everything had gone red, only it wasn't blood. Rage and the wolf had control and the consuming pain meant nothing.

I wanted, needed blood.

If he took one step closer, I could grab him and rip him to pieces. My fingers curled in anticipation. I wanted to taste him. Wanted to tear my teeth through his sweet flesh, and watch his blood pour from his body. Wanted to see it mingle with mine on the fine gold carpet.

He either didn't hear or didn't want to hear. As he drew his fist back for another blow, the door to the left of us crashed open and Talon was ripped away from me. I closed my eyes and howled in anger and frustration.

Hands were on me, shaking hard.

"Riley? It's Quinn. You're safe. It's okay."

His voice was muted, lost in the roar of need. I lashed out, raking his cheek with hooked fingers. The smell of blood filled the air, stirring the lust to greater heights. I twisted, thrusting my fingers into my mouth, sucking the blood and skin from under my fingernails. It was a sweetness that made me salivate, yet there was nowhere near enough of it to satisfy the hunger in me.