Midnight Moonrising (Moonrising #2)(12)

My hands felt different, and I wanted to look at them, but my wolf's eyes were trained on the still form of Phoenix.

Another warning growl echoed throughout the room, and I felt my teeth lengthen against my lower lip. They were sharp, and somehow I knew exactly what to do with them. My eyes focused on Phoenix's tan neck, and a tongue, longer than my own, slipped out of my mouth to lick along my top lip.

I was shifting! Oh, God! No!

I clawed my way back to the top of the bottomless pit, swam my way back to the surface from the bottom of the ocean. Somehow I could feel myself getting stronger as I fought for ownership of my body. I gave it one last push, and had just enough energy to get a warning out before she consumed me again.

"Get out, Phoenix! I can't control her! I don't want to hurt you, but she wants to kill you!"

Phoenix let out a groan in frustration and looked at me for only another brief moment, before turning and storming out the door. A few seconds later I heard the front door slam.

It was safe now. I was safe. Phoenix was gone, so he was safe.

I could let go of Daryn.





Chapter 7



Jaxon





Jaxon watched as the medical examiner's van pulled into the parking lot and backed up to a door. He had known the coroner was a member of Mena's pack from the moment he spotted him at Hellhound; no amount of cologne could mask the smell of a mutt to a vampire's senses.

When he'd noticed the clan's knife sticking out of the girl's chest, he'd known Phoenix would need him to find an excuse to step outside Hellhound and wait for the coroner to leave with the body. Lexi hadn't been as upset as he'd led the detective to believe, so Jaxon had hailed a cab and sent her home, alone.

The mutt got out of the van and walked around to the door of the morgue. Jaxon stepped out from the shadows and casually leaned his shoulder against the brick of the building. His lips curved up at one corner the moment the wolf realized he was being watched; his ring of keys rattled together, like wind chimes in the wind as the elder's hand shook, desperately trying to find the right one to unlock the door.

"Mena know you're trying to frame her for murder? Or is it Phoenix you're plotting against? Neither would be a smart thing to do, but when have any of you werewolves done anything intelligent?" Jaxon said, and the man's body went rigid, then his head whipped around to look at him. Jaxon grinned as he pulled a silver dagger, identical to the one shoved through the chest of the corpse in the van, from the scabbard on his thigh. "I'll be taking the evidence with me tonight."

"I—I—" the man started.

A gust of wind blew a thick scent under Jaxon's nose, and he turned swiftly to find six great wolves closing in on him quickly. He grinned as he grabbed for another dagger, then gave a loud whistle.

"It's time to play, boys!" Jaxon shouted into the night, and then four vampires erupted from the shadows and rushed the beasts.





V''''V





Phoenix





With narrowed eyes, Phoenix watched Officer J. Hardin step out of his cruiser and walk toward an apartment building. His shift had ended and he was alone. That was exactly what Phoenix had been waiting on for nearly three hours.

Staring uneasily at the brightening eastern sky, Phoenix made his move. He couldn't waste any more of the night wondering why Mena's wolf had turned on him. That would have to be dealt with after the sun set; he had put off feeding too long as it was.

As much as he wanted the human to see who his attacker was, with Phoenix being a well known public figure, he just couldn't risk it. Giving the guy a headache and taking some of his blood would be enough vengeance—for now, anyway.

Phoenix casually stepped behind a trash dumpster when the officer stopped suddenly and turned his attention in his direction. A cat hissed and scurried up the trunk of a tree between them. Silence filled the night air as he waited for the cop to either go into his apartment or come looking for whoever was stalking him. Either option would have been fine with him.

"Stupid cat," the guy spat, and Phoenix shook his head as a smile crept broadly across his face.

He heard the jingle of keys then rounded the dumpster and was behind the guy before he even got the key pushed home.

A short surprised sound was immediately followed by a soft thud, and then Phoenix was effortlessly supporting the weight of the man with his arms.


Phoenix parted his lips to allow his fangs to elongate to their full length, and then he smiled. "Here's my identification, *." Centuries of experience led him right to the guy's jugular vein, and Phoenix latched onto his neck until he was past his fill. After he finished, he ran his tongue over the puncture wounds, sealing them up tight. They wouldn't even be noticeable once the man regained consciousness.

Laying the officer on the concrete patio outside his door, Phoenix found a broom propped against the doorjamb and laid it beside the guy's boots, so that it appeared he tripped and struck his head, causing the blackout to occur.

Well satiated, Phoenix ran for his car. All the blood in the world would not stop that big yellow ball of light from torching his body to ashes if he didn't get home before it made its appearance. This was one of the times he was glad he drove a fast car.