Midnight Moonrising (Moonrising #2)(69)

Alex vaguely heard someone clear their throat, but he ignored it. Whoever it was or whatever their problem was could wait.

Mena moaned against his lips and hooked her fingers through the belt loops on his jeans, pulling him closer and molding their bodies together.

The throat clearing grew louder, but Mena was the one to break the kiss.

"I missed you," she whispered breathlessly against his lips.

Dear God, if this woman was playing games, he couldn't see it. Oh, how he'd dreamed of hearing those words come out of her mouth.

"I missed you, too." Keeping eye contact with her, Alex raised the back of her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss there.

"Anyone else ready to go find some werewol—humph!" Daryn groaned, but Roel was standing beside the guy with a smile from ear to ear when Alex looked up.

"Did someone give the detective a weapon? I have more in the trunk if anybody is short on weapons or ammo," Phoenix said.

It seemed like the guy was intentionally not looking at him for some reason. Oh, that's right, he thought. Mena said he wanted there to be something between them, but she wasn't interested in him on an intimate level. That was too bad.

Alex smiled. "Roel gave me one of the mutant guns. What are we going to kill? Rabbits or something? It's about all this Nerf gun is going to be good for."

Phoenix's eyebrows popped up, but all he said was, "Or something." He did a check of weapons on his thighs, triceps, back and waist, and then he turned to walk back out the door. Before he left, he glanced over his shoulder, and said, "Someone babysit the cop. He's not my responsibility."





Chapter 37



Phoenix





Maybe I should just give up, Phoenix thought as he loaded his belt with another clip full of silver bullets. Even knowing it wasn't really Mena kissing Rhodes, it still took every bit of willpower he had in him not to punch the guy in the face. Of course, that would probably kill the bastard and then Mena's wolf would kill him. It wasn't a total loss. Except for the fact that if she killed him, she would be killing herself, Jaxon, Roel, Brad and Heath, too. Yeah, maybe provoking the bitch wasn't the best idea, at least not until they figured out her name and Mena said it.

It figures the only girl I let myself get attached to has to be shared with another guy.

He shook his head at the thought. He cared about her; he knew for a fact he did, so much in fact that he would risk his life and stoop to being around that crazy bitch werewolf that was stuck inside her. He'd never done something as extreme as that before for anyone, especially someone he only had tepid feelings for. Was it love? he asked himself, and then grimaced. He didn't want to be in love. He didn't have time for it. That was a distraction he couldn't afford. He'd witnessed countless fools over his lifetime go plum stupid over that very thing, and stupid was something Phoenix was not.

"What's the plan, Phoenix?" Roel said as Phoenix shut the trunk a little too roughly. Roel's eyebrows perked up, but he didn't comment on the topic of his temper or what was going on in his headspace.

Phoenix huffed as he tried to shrug off his bad mood. "We're just going to wing it. Those witches are unpredictable. It's not wise to plan anything when they are involved." He needed to get control of himself, and fast. Nobody except Mena and her wolf would understand why his mood was foul anyway, and he didn't want either of them being able to throw any stupid decisions he might make on a whim back in his face later. Focus. Focus.

Roel nodded. "You all right, dude?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm good. Just worried about Mena, that's all." Phoenix avoided looking directly at Mena's wolf, who was currently laughing at something Rhodes said. If he could just get through this night without killing the guy, he would vow to be absent when the detective was present in the future. He couldn't watch them flirt and laugh… and kiss. Lord help him, the kissing was killing him slowly and painfully. Those lips belonged to him. Maybe he wasn't as strong as he'd told Mena he was. Wouldn't that be a jagged pill to swallow if he had to ever tell her that? No, he could do this; he'd promised her that he wouldn't let her down.


"Was she okay after, you know… what happened today with Dana?" Roel said.

Phoenix smiled as the memory of their evening played through his mind. "Yeah, she was real good after that. We were both doing swell, Roel." Phoenix winked at him.

Roel rubbed the back of his neck, blushing a little as a sheepish grin spread across his face. "I was wondering why I had a raging hard-on earlier. Guess that explains it. But, uh… y'all don't seem to be fine now. What happened?"

Phoenix frowned. "I f*cked up, and then her wolf came out to play."

Roel's eyes bugged out. "No shit? Did she try to attack—?"

"Shhh…" Phoenix said, when Daryn glanced over at them. "She didn't turn, asshat. She just took over. That's her in Mena's body now."

"Are you serious?" Roel whisper-shouted. "That's her? How long has she been in control?"

Phoenix shrugged. "Twenty minutes or so. She took over right after Mena and I got into an argument because I made her second in command over my pack and she found my closet half-stocked with women's clothing in her size."