Moon of the Terrible (Seasons of the Moon), page 1
MOON OF THE TERRIBLE
The Cain Chronicles, Episode 3
SM Reine
Copyright © 2012 SM Reine
Published by Red Iris Books
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Challenger
Elopement
Versus
Pagan Poetry
Rest Stop
Bite of the Wolf
Bloodhounds
The White Knight
Talking in Code
Pink Lines
ONE
The Challenger
Abel was pretty sure that Levi had a death wish.
The guy was obnoxious on his best days, but the day that the pack moved into the California sanctuary was definitely not his best day. In fact, it might as well have been the worst since Abel came to know Levi—and he had seen some pretty terrible days.
It started first thing in the morning.
“Whoa, where are you going?” Levi asked, grabbing Abel’s shoulder when he moved to carry his bag into the west wing of the sanctuary.
Abel glared at the hand on his arm and swallowed back a growl. Scott was talking to a girl with a pixie cut at the end of the hall. He seriously disapproved of pack members fighting, and Abel tried not to piss off the man in charge.
“I’m going to my room,” Abel said.
Levi stepped in front of him. “That’s not your bedroom.”
Abel looked at the door in the hallway. They all looked the same: heavy iron painted to a friendly shade of white. But his bedroom in particular was at the end of the hall. There was no mistaking it for another.
“This is always my bedroom when I stay here,” Abel said. “And you better get that hand off of me if you want to keep it.”
Levi straightened his spine. He wasn’t nearly tall enough to intimidate Abel, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try. “I rearranged the rooms.”
Abel ignored him and shoved the door open.
His bed was covered in an unfamiliar comforter. Posters of soccer players were plastered on every inch of wall, and those were familiar—Abel had tolerated having them in his shared bedroom at the other sanctuary for months, too.
“I needed a room close to my dad’s office,” Levi said. “You’re in the east wing now.” The smug, petulant voice was almost enough to make Abel clock him.
“On whose authority?”
Levi glared. “Mine.”
Abel jabbed a finger at the adjacent bedroom. That’s Rylie’s room. Remember Rylie? The Alpha? That’s where she stays, and I’m supposed to be next to her. Did you move her, too?”
“The Alpha’s room is intact, but you’re not the Alpha. I can move you around all I want.” He mimicked Abel’s threatening tone. “Now you better get out of my room if you want to have any room at all.”
Abel pulled his fist back to punch that look off of Levi’s face.
Scott’s voice cut through the hall. “Hey!” He stepped away from the girl to join them and Abel dropped his hand. He clenched his fist so hard that the knuckles popped. “Is there a problem?”
“Nope,” Levi said.
He smiled and shut his door.
The day didn’t improve after that.
There was an organization chart posted in the kitchen. Abel took a look over the heads of the werewolves clustering around it.
He had been moved to the smallest bedroom in the back corner of the east wing. The window faced the brick wall bordering the property. The bedrooms hadn’t been renovated as recently as those on the west wing, either; the paint was a dull shade of seventies yellow, and there were weird stains on the carpet.
He tracked down Scott, who was helping move Eldon and his wife into their bedroom. They were in the west wing.
“I’m not sleeping out there,” Abel said.
Scott didn’t even look at him. “We’ll talk about this later. The Union’s trying to find a place for their generator. Can you go help them?”
He gritted his teeth and obeyed.
But Levi had already beaten him to the Union’s RVs.
“What are you doing here, Abel?” Levi asked, stepping away from Yasir and the generator.
Abel counted to ten before replying. Seth was always encouraging him to do that when he was about to lose his temper, but it only seemed to make him angrier. “I’m helping the Union.”
“I’ve got it under control. We don’t need you. Why don’t you go pine over your brother’s girlfriend some more?”
Levi marched away before Abel could think of a response.
Yeah. Levi definitely had a death wish.
It only got worse over the course of the night. The kid was everywhere: in the kitchen helping Stephanie Whyte prepare dinner; in the dining room when the pack gathered to eat; and on the lawn when everybody moved outside to listen to Yasir explain their defensive strategies.
But Scott was there, too. Which meant that Abel couldn’t respond the way he really wanted.
God, he missed the ranch.
He found himself wandering through the back fields of the sanctuary, alone in the cold night. The quiet was heavy. His only companion as he walked was the sound of his feet on the grass, and the occasional rustle of dried leaves.
Abel had never been at the Whyte sanctuary without Rylie before. Now he had only been there for twelve hours, and he already didn’t like it.
The walk didn’t improve anything. Not his mood or his situation.
He angled his path to head back to the house, hoping that he could sneak into the east wing without running into Levi again.
No such luck.
The pack was still talking outside when Abel returned. Levi spotted him and jogged across the grass to catch him, nose pink with cold. “I need you to take the early morning watch. We’re going to work with the Union on defense, and rotate people around the walls to watch for hunters. You start at two in the morning.”
It was already approaching midnight. Abel wouldn’t even be able to sleep before his shift.
He lowered his voice to a growl that the rest of the pack wouldn’t be able to hear. “What do you think you’re doing? Rearranging rooms? Coordinating with the Union? Ordering the pack around? Ordering me around?” The last one was easily Levi’s worst crime.
“I’m taking charge of my pack. Is that a problem?”
Abel laughed disbelievingly. “Your pack? Your pack?”
“Do you see anyone else here that can make that claim?” Levi asked, spreading his hands wide.
“Just because Rylie isn’t here—”
“The position is always up for grabs. It belongs to whoever can take it.” Levi turned to leave. “Have fun with the two o’clock shift. Howl if you get shot again.”
Abel fisted Levi’s shirt and almost jerked him off of his feet.
“Levi!” Scott called from the door.
Reluctantly, Abel dropped him. Levi smoothed his hands down his sweater instead of leaving immediately. “It takes more than being a bully to be Alpha,” he said. “You’ve got to be a leader. Whether or not Rylie is here, she’s no leader. And neither are you.”
He turned on his heel and went inside.
Abel’s mood was blacker than the night of a new moon. His nerves thrummed with tension, and he was pretty sure he would bite anyone that tried to mess with him on the way back to his new bedroom. Fortunately, there was only one other occupied bedroom in the east wing. The lights were on when Abel approached.
He spotted the room’s inhabitant as she headed out the door with a towel under her arm and toothbrush in hand. It was the girl with the pixie cut that Scott had been talking to earlier.
She smiled brightly when she saw him. “Hi there! Are you in exile, too?” Abel only gave her a sideways look. She waved toward the west wing with her toothbrush. “All of the other rooms are filled, so Levi moved me out here. I think he doesn’t like me because I accidentally trashed his computer.” She stuck out her free hand. “I’m Crystal.” She pronounced it with an emphasis on the second syllable.
Abel didn’t take her hand.
His flat response only seemed to make her smile brighter.
“You must be Abel. I’ve heard about you.” She shrugged one shoulder. “Anyone who doesn’t get along with Levi is cool with me. The enemy of my enemy… right? And now we’re practically roommates. We can be friends.”
“I don’t need any friends.” The only friend he cared about was running across the country with his brother. Not a cheerful thought.
He turned to leave Crystal.
Footsteps pounded up the hallway.
Bekah appeared, out of breath and pale. “Oh, thank God you’re here, Abel.”
Unease crept over him. It was never a good sign when Bekah panicked. That could have meant anything—from “someone didn’t rinse off their dishes” to “Scott had a heart attack and died.” Either one would have her in a fit for days.
“What’s up?” he asked.
She grimaced. “Seth and Rylie are missing.”
TWO
Elopement
“What do you mean, missing?” Abel asked.
He stood in the center of Scott Whyte’s office, which was pretty much what he expected the office of a high priest to look like—pentagrams, brass tools, and old books everywhere. But he was barely aware of the weird gadgets on the shelves. He didn’t even care that Levi was watching silently from the chairs by the bookshelf.
“Seth and Rylie haven’t con
Abel crossed his arms. “And it’s been twenty-four hours.”
“Well… only eighteen. But he’s missed two check-ins!”
Scott sat behind his desk, fingers steepled in front of his face. He was a big guy, but even his girth was dwarfed by his executive leather chair. The contents of his desk had changed recently—he had more animal skulls and grisgris and fewer herbs. “Worrying, but I’m not sure that’s worth panic.”
“Yeah,” Abel said. “You don’t think they’re just somewhere without any reception? They were driving out to the big freakin’ empty. There’s no cell towers on the north end of the state.”
“But I gave him a satellite phone like this one.” Bekah pulled a phone out of her pocket. It was bulkier and uglier than most cell phones.
Scott’s eyes widened. “Is that…?”
She gave a sheepish smile. “Yeah. This one is Levi’s. I gave Seth mine. If he was okay, he should be able to reach me from the top of the Andes. Seth is responsible—he would never miss a call.”
“Give it another eight hours,” Abel said.
“They could be in serious trouble!”
Scott opened his mouth to respond, but the phone rang first. Seth’s name popped up on the screen.
“See?” Abel said, trying to hide his relief. “God, Bekah. You’re like some preteen girl. ‘Oh no, I haven’t heard from my boyfriend in eighteen hours, I think we’re breaking up.’ Give me a break.”
Bekah shot him a look, and Scott held his hand out for the phone. She passed it over. “Seth. What’s going on?”
The responding voice was tinny and quiet, but Abel’s sensitive ears picked it up anyway. “Scott? Hi. Sorry I didn’t call you earlier.”
“You had us worried. What’s going on?”
“I just got distracted.”
A long pause. Scott frowned and turned his chair to face the window. A few pack members were playing football outside, enjoying the cool California night. “And…? What have you found?”
“Nothing. But I wanted to tell you goodbye,” Seth said. “Rylie and I aren’t coming back.”
“What?” Abel asked, stalking around the chair. He reached for the phone, but Scott held up a hand to stop him.
“I don’t understand, Seth,” Scott said in a measured, psychiatrist kind of voice.
“We’re getting married. We’re going to move away and start our family. We don’t want to be involved with the pack anymore.” Another long pause. “I hope you can respect our wishes.”
“But—”
“Tell Abel that I love him,” Seth said.
And then he hung up.
Scott stared at the phone in his hand as Seth’s name blinked and vanished from the screen.
“Nice,” Levi said. “Good leadership skills.” Bekah slapped his arm.
“Something is wrong,” Abel said, ignoring the twins.
Scott turned his chair around again. “Rylie and Seth are both adults now. They’re entitled to make their own decisions.”
Abel shook his head. “No. You don’t get it. Something is wrong.”
“I can see why you think that Rylie getting married is wrong, but that doesn’t mean you have to freak out about it,” Levi said.
He gritted his teeth. “I know my brother. I know when something’s off. Seth never, ever says that he loves me.” And Rylie wouldn’t run off to get married without warning.
“Well.” Scott pushed his chair back and stood. “It’s a lot to think about. Maybe we should—”
“Get a search party together,” Abel said. “We can track them down.”
“I don’t think they want to be found,” Bekah said. She had a dreamy look in her eyes.
“Fine. I’ll go alone.” Abel turned to leave the office.
“Stop right there,” Scott said sharply. “We need you here. You’re an integral part of the pack.” When that didn’t stop Abel, he went on to add, “I understand you’re angry and dismayed—I would be too, but it’s late. Why don’t you at least think about it for the night?”
He stopped with one hand on the doorknob. His knuckles were pale from gripping it too hard.
Think about it for the night? When for all he knew, Rylie could be getting married the next morning?
Abel flung the door open and left.
Many miles away, Seth turned off the satellite phone, and a gray-skinned hand snatched it out of his fingers before he could react.
Eleanor pocketed the device and stepped back. “Good boy. Did it sound like they believed you?”
“Probably,” Seth said dully.
She laughed. She seriously laughed.
Seth tugged on his wrist experimentally. His captors had left one arm free so that he could use the phone, but his other was shackled. The chain looped through a hook on the wall and connected to Rylie’s wrist on the other end. She was still unconscious and didn’t stir at the motion.
The cell was better than being stuck in the crawlspace beneath a mobile home, which was what Eleanor had done one of the last times she held Seth captive. It was a broad, dusty room, like someone had dug into the dirt with a shovel. Roots jutted out of the crumbling walls. But there was a solid base of rock behind him, reinforced with cement bricks, and that was what Seth and Rylie had been tethered to.
It was almost laughable to think that his mother had captured him often enough to compare the quality of the lodgings. Almost.
“Well,” Seth said. “This is fun.”
Eleanor gave a thin-lipped smile. “We’ve been overdue for a family reunion.” Her ankle was ragged, baring the bone underneath, but there was no blood. It didn’t look like she was in any pain, either. The skin was dusty and dry.
“Are you a…?”
He wanted to ask her, Are you a zombie? But the words wouldn’t seem to come out. It felt ridiculous to say it. And yet there she was, standing in front of him as angry and alive as she had ever been.
“Am I dead?” Eleanor prompted. Her hand smoothed down his cheek, and the skin was cool and spongy. The exposed bone of her fingertips scraped his chin. “What do you think, son?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you’re right. I’m dead.” She straightened and spun with her arms out, like she was enjoying the sunshine in summer. “I’m dead!” Her voice echoed off of the cell.
So she wasn’t just dead. She was probably crazy, too.
“How?” Seth asked.
“Consider it a temporary loan,” Eleanor said. “There are ways to reanimate the dead, but it doesn’t last long. It’s… flawed.” She parted the filmy dress over her stomach. There was a hole where her intestines should have been, and he could see all the way through to her spine. “But giving an old body new life? That’s much more difficult. It requires a much more powerful sacrifice.” She turned her black eyes on Rylie. “Like a werewolf.”
Seth didn’t even think before reacting. He leaned forward, straining against the chains.
“Don’t touch her!”
“I can’t believe you came out of my womb.” Her hand trailed down her stomach, and for a horrifying moment, he thought that she was about to show him the aforementioned organ. But then she let the cloth fall closed again. “You and that waste of breath known as Abel.”
There it was again—that all-too-familiar feeling of rejection, and being hated by his own mother, and the nauseating sense of defeat. He had thought he was done with that.
“Abel is twice the man you ever would have let him become,” he said.
Eleanor sniffed. It whistled down her dry nasal cavity like wind through an abandoned house. “I don’t need either of you now. I have a son. A better son.”
The dread sank even deeper in Seth’s gut.
“Cain,” he said.
She nodded with a triumphant smile. “Cain.”
“You had a son with Aden, didn’t you? The werewolf?”
Her smile slipped. “How did you know about that?”
“I read your diary,” Seth said.
Eleanor paced, and her feet left tracks in the dust. “Did you see the part where he started screwing another woman? Or the part where I tortured him with silver and ripped out his cheating heart?”
“I didn’t read that far,” Seth said. But he was not even a little bit surprised.
