Book #1
of
the Harvest Moon Bonding Company series
is now available!!!
Chapter 1
Bloody entrails were hanging from the ceiling fan, bowing the blades with the weight of their rot. The body that had leaked putrid fluids all over the floral print couch had been gutted carelessly. Fleshy bits and pieces were strewn everywhere across what had been a modest, but clean, living room. The entire house reeked of drying blood, decaying meat and mold. The previously beige carpeting squished when stepped on. Not blood, oddly enough. In the frantic heat of brutal and unanticipated murder, someone had left the kitchen sink running. It had been running for approximately three days straight before an enterprising police detective had turned it off.
“Rogue werewolf killings are supposed to be rare. We're looking at our third in as many months.” Crystal was pinching her nose shut with two fingers. Her voice sounded like that of a cartoon elf as she stood in the doorway between the living room and one of the back bedrooms. Her skin was a decidedly unflattering shade of 'I'm about to barf' green. “When is this nightmare going to end?”
“The nightmare will end when we catch the rogue.” Jackson “Jackal” MacLeroy surveyed the mess from the center of the room, self proclaimed king of the slaughterhouse. His black biker boots were planted firmly in the mush that the carpet had become. His hands were on his hips, just above the metal studded belt that held up his low rider jeans. His fingers had elongated and curved into wicked looking claws. His natural weapons were far more effective than the 9 mm handgun he had tucked into the center of his back. Unfazed by the grotesque murder surrounding them, he looked tan and healthy.
“Assuming Jack Mac can find the bastard before we all die of old age.” Elijah Hendrix took his time descending the stairs that lead from the second story of the mid-sized home. His crisp blue police uniform was clean and neatly pressed. Even when he was surrounded by blood, Eli managed to stay impeccably clean. “Let's face it, we've caught seven newly turned wolves in the last six months, fourteen humans are dead and you are no closer to finding the rogue than you were back in March when this mess started. The police aren't going to be any use to us either. My Lieutenant is trying to convince himself that one of the zoos or traveling circus's lost a rabid bear and didn't inform us.”
“Rabid bear?” Jackal snorted with disbelief. “No one is going to buy that story.”
“They wouldn't believe the truth either, even if we told them.” Eli crossed his arms over his chest and stayed standing on the very last step. His chosen position gave him the illusion of being a couple of inches taller than Jackal. It also kept him a good ten feet out of striking distance. “Werewolves don't exist.”
“Tell that to these poor fucks.” Jackal pointed down at the body on the couch. The corpse was reflected clearly in the turquoise lenses of his $400 sunglasses.
“We've hunted down and killed three newly turned wolves in the last six months. We've brought four others into the greater clan during the same time period. We're doing our jobs.” Faith MacLeroy crossed the room to stand at Jackal's shoulder, trying her best to ignore the way her boots sloshed through the carpet. Bits and pieces of meat and bone were strewn everywhere. Something crunched under her heel. She didn't look down to see what body part she'd stepped on. “We're all frustrated. Fighting among ourselves isn't going to help.”
“We have to find the rogue responsible for turning all of these new wolves.”
“You said that the last wolf you killed was responsible for siring all the others.” Eli pushed the issue, mostly because he got off on hearing Jackal admit he'd failed.
“I thought he was.” Jackal kept his expression neutral. “Clearly, I was wrong.”
“He took credit for the kills,” Crystal said. “Why would he have taken credit for the kills if he wasn't responsible?”
“I don't know.”
“Power?”
“To mislead us. Maybe to stop us from continuing to chase after the real rogue?”
“Because he wanted to be the fucking boogeyman.” Jackal turned his attention away from the corpse on the couch. “We killed Michelson almost two months ago. Any chance the wolf that did this could have been infected before we strung ol' meathead up by his tail and disemboweled him?”
“Maybe.” Faith did the math in her head and then sighed. “It's possible, if he or she took an extraordinarily long time to turn or if they managed to keep their urges under control up until this point.”
“Even if that is the case, you still have to hunt her down.” Eli gestured to the house with a broad, sweep of one hand. “Killing humans earns an automatic death sentence. Doesn't matter whether the wolf in question had any idea what she was doing when it happened.”
“No one was suggesting we spare the killer's life.” Jackal's square jaw was set in a tight line as he gritted his teeth together.
Faith hoped her baby brother would hold his temper. They had enough problems without Jackal taking a chunk out of Eli. She looked pointedly at Eli. “She?”
“Our medical examiner came through and tentatively identified the bodies that are still in the house.” Eli reached into his back pocket and pulled out a slightly battered photograph that showed six smiling people. He held it out to Faith. She crossed the room to take it from his outstretched fingertips. She glanced down at the image of a happy family, smiling broadly for the camera. Happy family, mostly dead now.
“Meet the Huggins family. Dad is in front of you on the couch. Mom is the rotting mess under the kitchen table. The two little kids are upstairs in one of the bedrooms. The older boy died in the bathroom.”
“The oldest sister is our wolf?” Faith stared hard the girl's smiling face. Nondescript brown hair. Chipmunk cheeks. Glasses. She was one of those girls who hadn't quite outgrown her baby fat and probably wasn't going to. Her belly stuck out further than her floppy breasts. She was short. Even wearing the platform flip-flops she had on in the picture, she wasn't quite up to her Dad's shoulder.
“She was home the night of the attack. Claims to have woken up three days later in the woods. She told the detective who interviewed her that she'd been drugged and kidnapped. I'm calling bullshit.”
Faith ran her tongue over her own teeth. Short and chubby was fine with her. It would make the girl easier to take down. Easier to overpower. Easier to kill.
Jackal walked up behind Faith, peering over her shoulder so that he could see the picture. His frustration and anger radiated from his skin in waves of heat. She knew how much it cost him to kill newly turned wolves as punishment for their ignorance. The girl was as much a victim as the rest of her family. It had been the same story every time for the last six months. Innocent person unknowingly bitten by a werewolf. Innocent person going about their daily life, unaware of the havoc the moon would soon wreak upon their bodies. Not just the full moon either. Any night where the moon had a strong pull and a nice, clear view down to Earth. Innocent person, turned into a confused and frightened werewolf. Innocent bystanders killed. Confused and frightened werewolf, hunted down and slaughtered as punishment for crimes he or she had unknowingly and unwittingly committed.
One new wolf they had been forced to execute hadn't even known his wife was dead. He had no memory of transforming into a wolf or killing her. He had done it, but he'd gone to his grave not understanding how or why it had happened.
“Something needs to give soon,” Faith said. “I'm tired of hunting down the rogue's victims and executing them. It's not their fault. New wolves have to be brought into the safety of a pack before they change for the first time. We can't keep killing people who don't know what they've done.”
“We have to keep killing them. Its the law.” Jackal plucked the photograph from Faith's hand as he focused his attention on Eli. “Tell your father and the rest of the clan council that I'll take care of the problem.”
Eli smirked. “You act like you have a choice.”
Jackal opened his mouth and then closed it again. His lips made a tight, white line across his face. “You might want to show a little more respect, Eli. Your father may be a pack leader but no one in the greater clans thinks you're going to be strong enough to be his successor. One of these days, you're going to need me.”
“I very much doubt that.” Eli turned his nose up and cast his blue-eyed gaze coyly towards the far wall. “My family has held pack leadership for over 150 years. None of my ancestors have ever fallen from honor or been disgraced.” He aimed his last words directly at Jackal.
Jackal tensed. His anger was so thick that it could practically be tasted in the air, right alongside the blood and decay. Faith wrapped her fingers around his wrist and hoped her touch would be enough to remind him that losing his temper and killing Eli would not be beneficial in the long run.
“You and I don't have the same definition of disgrace,” Jackal said.
“Obviously not.” Eli grinned down at Jackal, practically daring him to attack. “You still show your face in public. I wouldn't dare, if my father had-.”
“Enough.” Crystal surprised them all by cutting into the argument. Her pale blonde hair was pushed back behind her ears, making her look seventeen instead of the twenty-seven she actually was. She still looked ready to barf. Her pink sneakers squished with blood-tinged water as she stepped into the no-man's land between Jackal and Eli. “You two can squabble about dominance and bloodlines later. Right now, we need to work together. Like it or not, Eli, your father gave you to us. That means you have to work with us. You have to help us find the missing girl and...” Crystal hesitated and then shook her head regretfully. “You know what will happen to her. I don't need to spell it out.”
“I kill her,” Eli's voice practically dripped with hungry anticipation.
“You kill her,” Faith confirmed. “While you're doing that, we'll find the rogue responsible for turning her.”
“Good luck with that,” Eli said snidely. “You've been doing such a jam up job of it.”
“We'll get the rogue.” Jackal tightened his grip on the picture, crushing it slightly as he turned away from Eli. “It would be nice if you'd do a little more to help us find the right wolf. You have access resources we don't.” He waved the picture in Eli's direction.
“My job is to make sure you toe the line between enforcing our laws and cold blooded slaughter.” Eli licked his lips thoughtfully. “Finding the rogue isn't my problem. It's yours.”
“You're under my command,” Jackal said. “Technically, I can order you to help locate the rogue, and I am ordering you to do just that. Find the rogue, Eli.”
“I'm not going to do your job for you,” Eli spat the words at him.
“I'll give you full credit in front of the clan counsel.” Jackal offered as he rocked back on the heels of his boots.
“Really?” Eli looked genuinely interested for the first time since they'd arrived on the days old murder scene.
“I don't care who gets credit for finding the rogue or the kill. I just want these murders to stop,” Jackal said flatly. “I'm tired of telling newly turned wolves that they're the ones who murdered their families.”
“Let me have the girl too. The one in the picture.” Eli gestured for Jackal to give him the family photograph back.
“What do you want with the girl?” Faith asked.
Eli gave her a slow, predatory look. His eyes crept from the soles of her boots, up her legs, over her hips, lingered on her breasts and then finally met her gaze. “I'm going to make her give up the identity of the wolf who turned her,” Eli said as he licked his lips.
“I don't think-,” Faith started to say.
“Deal,” Jackal cut Faith's protest off. He met Eli eye-to-eye. “Just try not to forget that she has to be executed when you're done with her.”
Eli grinned. “I know my job. You should try worrying about yourself. Not everyone on the council thinks that you're capable of leading the Harvest Moon pack. I'd hate to have to tell them that they're right.”
Jackal threw back his head and laughed. The sound echoed through the house and sent chills down Faith's spine. “Not everyone on the council thinks that I can do this job, but no one on the council thinks that you have the balls or the skills to replace me. Your own father said as much when he let them put you under my command.”
“Go to hell,” Eli hissed the words between clenched teeth. His blue eyes began to shine with flecks of yellow. He lifted the corner of his lip and a small snarl escaped through human-looking teeth.
“Think you can take me?” Jackal stopped laughing. He stepped towards Eli and made a come here gesture with the fingers of his right hand. “Come on with it.”
“Eli, don't be stupid. He'll eat you alive.” Crystal raised her hand to Eli's chest and put her palm against his badge.
For the briefest of moments, Eli looked like he was going to keep coming and then common sense washed across his features. His lip dropped back down to cover his teeth and his eyes returned to the pure blue of a cloudless summer sky. “One of these days, you'll bow to me.”
“Maybe, but I could make you bow to me today.” Jackal grinned up at Eli. “Do you want me to make you grovel at my feet, or do you think you can do the task I've given you without any more grandstanding?”
“Fuck you.” Eli averted his eyes and jumped down off the last step. He tucked the picture of the smiling family into his pocket. “I'll die before I bow to you.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Not today.” Eli glared at Jackal's chin, still carefully avoiding meeting his eyes. “I've got a werewolf to go kill. Rumor has it, she's staying with family. I should be able to execute her, find the real rogue and still make it home on time for dinner.”
“Lucky you,” Crystal said.
“Hope you don't lose your appetite,” Jackal sneered.
“A weak stomach is a sign of a weak heart.” Eli licked his lips. “I'm going to have a nice, thick, bloody steak tonight.”
Crystal gagged as Eli shoved his way past her and stormed out of the house.