Dark Moon Rising: The Revenant, Book 2
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After taking down a pack of Ravagers and narrowly escaping the Coalition, Corporal Thea Mendez wants a shower, food, and sleep, in no particular order. Instead, she’s tasked with leading her group of rebels through a dangerous stretch of the Deadlands—a thousand miles of deserted cities crawling with half-crazed werewolves.
Sergeant Rhys Lockwood has been a prisoner of the St. Louis pack for longer than he can remember. Everything that used to matter has faded, his life narrowed to only the earthen walls of his underground cell. With no end in sight and nothing left to fight for, he’s ready to give up when hope arrives in the most unexpected form. The night calls, the darkness awaits, and no one is safe when the full moon rises. The Purge took everything from them. Together, they’ll find the courage to take it back. |
Excerpt
No one else approached her, maybe because they didn’t need to, not with the collar around her neck that assured her cooperation. More likely, they kept their distance because she still had the blood of their comrade drying under her fingernails. Since she hadn’t heard a sound from the guy since she’d gained her feet, she assumed he’d either bled out of broken his neck in the fall.
Somehow, she couldn’t be bothered to care either way, but clearly, he hadn’t been ready for the big leagues.
A half dozen feet from her, Cade caught her eye and nodded. His hands had been bound in the same type of metal as her collar, but his neck was curiously bare. “You good?”
“I’m good,” she answered, grateful he’d had the presences of mind not to use her name. “The others?”
The question had barely left her lips when a massive werewolf with a shorn head and gleaming golden eyes shoved Abby toward their little group with unnecessary roughness. The pixie-like female stumbled several steps before gravity finally won, dragging her to the ground where she sprawled across the grass with a quiet whimper. Cade tensed, his expression turning murderous, but he didn’t move, didn’t say anything. To an outsider, he might appear cold and uncaring, maybe even selfish, but Thea understood perfectly.
Cade didn’t make a move to defend Abby for the same reason she hadn’t. The more their guards knew about them, the worse their penalties would be. If the pack thought either of them cared about Abby enough to risk their own lives in her defense, the ways in which they’d use the petite blonde would be creative and relentless. They’d do more than hurt her.
They’d break her in every way possible.
While Cade remained fully dressed in a ripped black T-shirt and matching cargo pants—only his shoes had been removed—Abby stood in a similar state of undress as Thea. Instead of a tank top, she wore only a black sports bra and a pink pair of boy shorts with a purple waistband. On her feet again, she shivered violently against the cold, her lips colorless, and her eyes wide, but surprisingly, she didn’t look quite as afraid as Thea had expected.
Zerrik came next, also fully dressed sans boots, being led along by another big, ugly werewolf with more testosterone than brains. Of course, Zerrik sported the same neckwear, his collar possibly even thicker than hers with a padlock the size of her damn fist. They’d expected him to be the bigger threat. Wiping the blood from her hands on the hem of her tank top, Thea snorted.
She and her friends stood in a loose circle, each of them shadowed by a werewolf enforcer, and they seemed to be waiting on something. Every few seconds, the guard closest to her would look over his shoulder toward the tree line, his scowl deepening. The sun had almost finished its descent in the west, and only the barest hint of day still clung to the horizon below the cloud cover. Thea couldn’t detect even a single star, and she spotted only the ghostly outline of the moon through the ominous clouds.
The scent of rain drifted on the wind—the breeze colder without the warmth from the sun. Normally, Thea liked the rain, but this time, the pleasant fragrance that brought back fond memories was marred by the same foul odor she’d detected back at the truck stop. Death. More than death, though, colder somehow. Savage and brutal. If evil had a scent, she felt sure it would smell like this.
Still, they waited. The world plunged into darkness, the night oppressive in its stillness. Growing restless, Thea turned to the enforcer closest to her, sucking in a breath to demand to know why the hell they were just standing there, but he spoke first.
“You’re late.”
He didn’t speak loudly, his volume within the range of polite conversation, and for an odd moment, Thea thought he’d spoken to her. Then, through the towering trees that stood sentinel to the east, a shadowy figure stepped into the clearing and strode toward them.
In the darkness, she couldn’t make out any distinguishable features, just vague impressions. Tall, broad shoulders, lean waist, narrow hips, muscular arms. Even from the distance, she could scent him, smell the combination of earth, musk, and a hint of something more, something she couldn’t name, but that all werewolves exuded. Not cold and bitter like the guards, but still…dark.
Lifting his head as he approached, the newcomer stepped into the silvery rays that shone through a part in the clouds. Moonlight glinted off the metal shackle around his neck, and Thea gasped when she noticed the thin, white scars that littered his chest, shoulders, and arms. Beneath the scars, his skin appeared ashen, and as she watched him, she idly wondered when he’d last seen the sun.
If her captors could do that to one of their own, she didn’t want to imagine what they’d be capable of doing to her or the rest of her group.
“Alpha Chase would like them bathed and dressed,” the new guy said, his voice deep and masculine, smooth like flowing water down a stream. “I’m to escort them to the cabin.”
As he spoke, he turned his gaze on her, his eyes wide and his nostrils flared. His shoulders tensed, his body vibrated, and a low, rumbling growl rolled through his chest. The enforcer closest to Thea laughed.
“I think he likes you, kitten.”
“Stupid pup,” the ugly bald one added, shaking his head with a derisive snort. “You don’t learn, do you, Rhys?”
Somehow, she couldn’t be bothered to care either way, but clearly, he hadn’t been ready for the big leagues.
A half dozen feet from her, Cade caught her eye and nodded. His hands had been bound in the same type of metal as her collar, but his neck was curiously bare. “You good?”
“I’m good,” she answered, grateful he’d had the presences of mind not to use her name. “The others?”
The question had barely left her lips when a massive werewolf with a shorn head and gleaming golden eyes shoved Abby toward their little group with unnecessary roughness. The pixie-like female stumbled several steps before gravity finally won, dragging her to the ground where she sprawled across the grass with a quiet whimper. Cade tensed, his expression turning murderous, but he didn’t move, didn’t say anything. To an outsider, he might appear cold and uncaring, maybe even selfish, but Thea understood perfectly.
Cade didn’t make a move to defend Abby for the same reason she hadn’t. The more their guards knew about them, the worse their penalties would be. If the pack thought either of them cared about Abby enough to risk their own lives in her defense, the ways in which they’d use the petite blonde would be creative and relentless. They’d do more than hurt her.
They’d break her in every way possible.
While Cade remained fully dressed in a ripped black T-shirt and matching cargo pants—only his shoes had been removed—Abby stood in a similar state of undress as Thea. Instead of a tank top, she wore only a black sports bra and a pink pair of boy shorts with a purple waistband. On her feet again, she shivered violently against the cold, her lips colorless, and her eyes wide, but surprisingly, she didn’t look quite as afraid as Thea had expected.
Zerrik came next, also fully dressed sans boots, being led along by another big, ugly werewolf with more testosterone than brains. Of course, Zerrik sported the same neckwear, his collar possibly even thicker than hers with a padlock the size of her damn fist. They’d expected him to be the bigger threat. Wiping the blood from her hands on the hem of her tank top, Thea snorted.
She and her friends stood in a loose circle, each of them shadowed by a werewolf enforcer, and they seemed to be waiting on something. Every few seconds, the guard closest to her would look over his shoulder toward the tree line, his scowl deepening. The sun had almost finished its descent in the west, and only the barest hint of day still clung to the horizon below the cloud cover. Thea couldn’t detect even a single star, and she spotted only the ghostly outline of the moon through the ominous clouds.
The scent of rain drifted on the wind—the breeze colder without the warmth from the sun. Normally, Thea liked the rain, but this time, the pleasant fragrance that brought back fond memories was marred by the same foul odor she’d detected back at the truck stop. Death. More than death, though, colder somehow. Savage and brutal. If evil had a scent, she felt sure it would smell like this.
Still, they waited. The world plunged into darkness, the night oppressive in its stillness. Growing restless, Thea turned to the enforcer closest to her, sucking in a breath to demand to know why the hell they were just standing there, but he spoke first.
“You’re late.”
He didn’t speak loudly, his volume within the range of polite conversation, and for an odd moment, Thea thought he’d spoken to her. Then, through the towering trees that stood sentinel to the east, a shadowy figure stepped into the clearing and strode toward them.
In the darkness, she couldn’t make out any distinguishable features, just vague impressions. Tall, broad shoulders, lean waist, narrow hips, muscular arms. Even from the distance, she could scent him, smell the combination of earth, musk, and a hint of something more, something she couldn’t name, but that all werewolves exuded. Not cold and bitter like the guards, but still…dark.
Lifting his head as he approached, the newcomer stepped into the silvery rays that shone through a part in the clouds. Moonlight glinted off the metal shackle around his neck, and Thea gasped when she noticed the thin, white scars that littered his chest, shoulders, and arms. Beneath the scars, his skin appeared ashen, and as she watched him, she idly wondered when he’d last seen the sun.
If her captors could do that to one of their own, she didn’t want to imagine what they’d be capable of doing to her or the rest of her group.
“Alpha Chase would like them bathed and dressed,” the new guy said, his voice deep and masculine, smooth like flowing water down a stream. “I’m to escort them to the cabin.”
As he spoke, he turned his gaze on her, his eyes wide and his nostrils flared. His shoulders tensed, his body vibrated, and a low, rumbling growl rolled through his chest. The enforcer closest to Thea laughed.
“I think he likes you, kitten.”
“Stupid pup,” the ugly bald one added, shaking his head with a derisive snort. “You don’t learn, do you, Rhys?”