Moon Bound: LaRue Series, Book 4 Read online

  Family. It meant everything to Kane. It’s why he was out in the swamp instead of with his brothers. Especially since he was the major catalyst in this catastrophe.

  Kane lay down and rested his head on his front paws. He shut his eyes for a moment. The burden of protecting New Orleans and the surrounding area was a heavy one, but it was one his family, the LaRues, had accepted when one of his ancestors married a Chiasson.

  The Chiassons had traveled to Louisiana by way of Nova Scotia and France, all to hunt the supernatural. They’d found a small town that seemed to be like a beacon for the paranormal. The Chiassons made Lyons Point their home and protected the residents from the evil that continually threatened to take them.

  Sometimes, the Chiassons lost. Most times, they won.

  While the LaRues didn’t hunt like their cousins, their job could be considered even more dangerous. Because they’d been cursed to be werewolves. The LaRues kept New Orleans stable. All five factions—witches, weres, djinn, vampires, and Voodoo—had to answer to the LaRues.

  At one time, one of the nation’s largest wolf packs, the Moonstone clan, had made the city their home and helped the LaRues. That all changed when a Voodoo priestess named Delphine decided she wanted to run the show.

  She convinced the Moonstone Pack to betray Kane’s parents when they were out one night. Kane had known the instant he heard the explosion that it was the restaurant his parents were dining in.

  The death of his parents left him and his three brothers vulnerable, and things went from bad to worse when the Moonstone Pack vanished. That’s when he, Solomon, Myles, and Court realized if they were going to survive, they had to get smart...and quick.

  They grew up overnight. Kane went from being a kid to an adult in a blink. The factions made him and his brothers prove themselves time and again. Hell, they were still proving themselves.

  A few months ago, everything had been coming together. Kane met with Griffin, the Alpha of the Moonstone Pack, and convinced him to call the other weres home to take their rightful places with the LaRues. Except Delphine proved that alliances could still be broken and made sure that Griffin couldn’t refuse her.

  It’d nearly worked, but Delphine wasn’t able to get her hands on Kane’s cousin, Riley. So in Kane’s eyes, that was a big win.

  Kane wondered how Riley and Marshall were doing. No doubt the two lovebirds were looking to their future. At least he prayed they were. He sincerely hoped they weren’t focused on finding him.

  His eyes snapped open. Though he hadn’t heard anything, his instincts warned that something was near. He didn’t rise, though he did concentrate his hearing on picking up more than the sound of the rain hitting the leaves above him.

  While he didn’t see where Delphine went when the building collapsed, he knew she had gotten out since the only body found in the rubble was George’s.

  Kane was going to track Delphine down and kill her, as he should’ve done years ago. No matter how long it took. She’d caused enough heartache and chaos to last twenty lifetimes.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a black mass that moved through the trees. It had no shape, moving this way and that as if trying to find itself. The edges of the form were wispy like smoke.

  But there was no denying the feeling of evil that surrounded it. Whatever it was, it needed to be destroyed before it hurt someone.

  The shape stopped suddenly. Kane remained still. He didn’t know if the thing could see or hear, but something had alerted it. Otherwise, why would it halt?

  Kane stared at the mass, waiting for it to do something. He even drew in a deep breath, hoping to catch its scent, but the rain prevented it. Finally, it moved on, disappearing into the thick trees.

  In all his years of policing the supernatural of New Orleans, he’d never seen such a thing. Was it something new? Something they just didn’t know about? Did Delphine have something to do with it?

  That seemed the most likely answer. Delphine did anything she could to grow her powers in order to claim the city as her domain.

  Kane waited thirty seconds before he quietly rose and followed the being. He grew more concerned the closer it got to the few houses along the bayou.

  Suddenly, it took a hard left and drifted out over the water toward a small section of land. Kane went to follow when he spotted dark shapes just beneath the water.

  Gators. One step into the bayou, and he might not make it out again.

  He walked to another section of land but found more gators. Everywhere he went to cross the water onto the atoll, he found alligators.

  As if the dark mass had called them for protection.

  Kane snorted to himself. He was giving Delphine—or whatever the thing was—too much credit.

  Or was he?

  He decided to give up on crossing the water for the moment. Instead, he headed back to the last place he’d picked up Delphine’s scent. While he might not know what she was doing in this isolated place, he knew it was only a matter of time before he discovered what Delphine was up to. All he could do was pray that he stopped her before she harmed anyone.

  Kane was nearly to his destination when he saw the house. He’d spotted a woman once, but he usually kept clear of residences since he didn’t want to get shot at.

  But to go around the bayou would take time. If he cut across the back yard, it would be quicker. As before, he studied the house to make sure no one was about before he trotted into the open.

  He was almost to the opposite side and the trees that would hide him when he heard a sound behind him. Kane whirled around to find two weres running straight for him. There was no denying that they were after him, he just didn’t know why.

  So far, his hunt for Delphine had kept him out of Moonstone territory, but even if it didn’t, he knew none of the weres would attack without provocation.

  Except he was definitely under attack now.

  Kane planted his front paws and bared his teeth, issuing a low growl. It slowed the two wolves, but it didn’t stop them. After a moment, they renewed their efforts.

  He decided to go for the biggest first. Kane waited until they were nearly upon him before he moved. He ducked his head and avoided the teeth aimed at his neck. Then he spun, slamming his hindquarters against the smaller, gray wolf.

  Kane then latched on to the larger, red wolf’s neck and flipped him onto his side. With his teeth sinking into skin, he eyed the gray were, who picked itself off the ground and paced before him.

  Kane growled and bit down harder, causing the red wolf to whimper in pain. Kane didn’t want to kill a fellow were, but he wouldn’t allow himself to be beaten either.

  It was the subtle shift of the gray that warned Kane more wolves were coming up behind him. He ended the werewolf’s life with a snap of his teeth.

  When he lifted his head, the gray wolf was gone. He turned for the next attack just as three wolves slammed into him.

  Despite the fact that Kane was larger than any of them, the weres were determined to take him down. Jaws snapped, growls and snarls sounded, and the scent of blood filled the air.

  Through it all, he could’ve sworn he heard Delphine laughing.

  That in itself kept Kane going, in spite of the many injuries. He hurt everywhere, but there would be time enough later to see to all the wounds. Right now, he had to stay alive.

  Despite each werewolf he defeated, another took its place like a never-ending battle. His enemies came in fresh, while he struggled to stay on his feet.

  The sound of a shotgun, loud and sharp near him, startled him. The other wolves ran off, but he only managed to collapse.

  “Get out of here!” he heard a woman shout as she fired off another shot.

  He could feel the blood pouring from his many wounds. He tried to get to his feet, but his limbs wouldn’t hold him. There was no way he could get a message to his brothers to warn them that, somehow, Delphine had werewolves working for her. With the way the weres had attacked, Solomon, Myles, and Cour
t would be singled out and killed.

  Just as they had done to him. Or tried to.

  He’d set out on his own to bring down Delphine. Instead, the priestess had won again. If only there were some way to get word to his brothers.

  3

  Vicious growls yanked her from sleep. Elise sat up so fast, she knocked Mr. Darcy off her stomach. A look outside showed a pack of dogs attacking an animal.

  She rushed to the door and banged her hands on the doorjamb to break up the fight, but none of the animals heard her over the commotion. Then she spotted black fur and realized the pack was attacking the black dog she’d seen before.

  The danger didn’t even enter her mind when she grabbed the shotgun from atop her fridge and rushed from the house into the rain. She yelled, but nothing seemed to get the dogs’ attention. Then she fired off a shot into the ground, not to hit the animals, but to hopefully scare them off.

  It worked. At least, it did at first. Then a few of the dogs returned to the black one.

  “Get out of here!” she yelled and aimed the gun towards the pack, firing into the ground again.

  She didn’t want to kill any of the animals, but she would if they didn’t give her a choice. Thankfully, after the second shot, they ran off into the woods.

  Elise shook the water from her face but kept her gaze on the woods in case the pack returned. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the black dog collapse. She’d known he was large, but up close, he was massive. By the look of him, he had some wolf in him.

  Yet the longer she looked, the more wolf she saw in his features. But that couldn’t be right. Wolves weren’t native to the area. After her months spent at a wolf conservatory, she knew the animals, and she was looking at a damn wolf.

  After several minutes of quiet, she glanced around for any sign of the others. The animal was unconscious, his breathing shallow, and wounds all over him.

  She couldn’t leave him out there since she needed to tend to his injuries, but getting a wolf into her house and the room she worked out of would be difficult. Not to mention that if he woke, she might not make it out of the situation alive.

  Since she didn’t know the extent of his wounds, she didn’t want to give him a tranquilizer. Which left her few options.

  Elise was about to go in and call someone for help when she happened to glance at the water. The rain had caused her to miss the slight ripples, but she spotted the eyes of a gator as it swam toward them. She glanced at the wolf and saw that his back legs were in the bayou.

  “Well, shit,” she said and set down her gun to grab hold of him beneath his shoulders to pull his body out of the water and safely onto land, far enough away that hopefully, the alligator wouldn’t follow. She saw the blood pooling from wounds on his back leg that had filled the water with smells the gator couldn’t resist.

  She took a chance and continued backing up toward her porch, glancing over her shoulder to check on her progress every few seconds—not to mention keeping an eye on the wolf while praying he didn’t wake and bite her.

  When she finally reached the side door that she had put in to lead into the second bedroom that she’d converted for her work, she gently released the animal and leaned against the house for a second to catch her breath before rushing to get her gun.

  She was soaked—with both rain and sweat. The wolf was incredibly heavy. She had no idea how she was going to get him up the steps and into the house without waking him.

  After taking a few gulping breaths to calm her racing heart, she knew she had to do something before the wolf woke. Elise opened the side door and leaned her gun against the wall as she looked around for anything she could use to get him inside.

  Her shoes slipped on the floor, causing her to bang into the stainless steel table. She winced and pushed the button on the side to lower it to the floor. Then she rushed back outside. It would be so much easier if someone were there to help her carry the animal inside.

  She was reaching for the wolf when a howl split the air. Elise stood frozen, chills racing over her skin. A moment later, several more howls joined the first. By the sound of them, the pack had surrounded her house.

  Swallowing, she lowered her gaze to the animal at her feet. This wasn’t her first time working on wild creatures. She’d gone to Montana to help the local wolf sanctuary with the animals for several summers, also helping the ones roaming the wilderness.

  But she was never alone.

  After so many years working on farm animals and pets, Elise found her hands shaking. She fisted them and took a deep breath. She could do this, but she had to move quickly because when the animal woke, he would tear through everything.

  She bent to grab the animal when the fur began to recede—replaced by skin. Before her eyes, the black wolf changed into a man.

  Startled, Elise stepped backward. Her heel caught the edge of the steps, and she began to fall. She waved her arms to right herself, but the next thing she knew, she was on the ground with rain pounding her face.

  She hurriedly rolled onto her side and looked at the wolf/man. Thankfully, he was still unconscious.

  A howl, closer than any of the others, caused her to jerk in fear. She jumped up and hooked her arms beneath the man’s arms and unceremoniously pulled him inside the house.

  When his feet cleared the door, she lowered him and quickly slammed the door shut. Then locked it. Her head whipped around when she heard something on her back porch. She jumped over the man and rushed into the living room before softly closing that door and locking it, as well.

  She peered out the window to see one of the wolves jump off her porch and lope into the woods. Elise pressed her forehead against the wall and closed her eyes.

  After a second’s rest, she returned to her work area. She frowned when she looked at her table meant for treating animals. It wasn’t long enough for the man, which meant he’d remain on the floor for the time being. She rubbed her eyes to focus and reached for some rubber gloves before she began to see to his numerous wounds.

  First and foremost, she needed to stop the bleeding. With so many injuries, she had to look at each one to figure out which ones were the most severe and then work from there.

  She had to turn him on his sides, and even his stomach, to reach everything. Elise didn’t look at him as a man. If she did, she might call an ambulance instead.

  Wads of gauze were all around her as she stitched one injury after another. She had no idea how long she worked. When she put the tape on the last wound, she sat on her haunches and stretched her back.

  But her work wasn’t finished. She gave him a shot of antibiotics before cleaning up the mess. Only then did she stand over him and see him not as a patient, but as a man. An incredibly gorgeous male.

  She squatted down beside him and fingered a lock of long, golden hair before letting it fall. With him unconscious, she was able to look at her leisure, and she found herself in awe.

  He had the kind of face that stopped you in your tracks. A strong jawline, and cheekbones for days. A wide mouth with thin lips.

  Her gaze drifted lower. Her lips parted when she took in the broad shoulders and rippling sinew and corded muscles of his chest and abdomen.

  Unable to help herself, her eyes followed the light dusting of hair from his navel down to his cock. It had been three years since she’d seen a man naked. She bit her lip as she thought about his manhood thickening with arousal. Embarrassed, she continued her perusal down his thickly muscled legs.

  He was rugged, chiseled.

  Utterly masculine.

  Elise blinked as she realized she couldn’t stare at him forever. She needed to get him off the floor and covered before a chill set in.

  * * *

  It was the smell of food that first tugged at his consciousness. Kane pulled in a deep breath, his stomach rumbling at the mouthwatering aroma.

  Next, he became aware of the soft cushion at his back and the weight of the blanket atop him. No sooner did that realization go
through his mind than pain exploded through him.

  Everything hurt. Hell, even breathing was agony.

  Kane kept his inhalations even and remained still to try and get the discomfort of his injuries to subside. His eyes remained shut as he attempted to figure out where he was.

  He recalled the attack and how the weres had kept coming for him. Did he make it past the house? He feared not. Now he knew he should’ve gone around the long way. But he might be dead if he had.

  What really concerned him was whether he shifted before or after he’d been brought into the house. He thought back to the attack, trying to remember the wolves that assaulted him. As he pulled up the memories, he recalled the sound of a shotgun. That’s what broke up the fight.

  Fuck. That meant he’d shifted after he was found.

  He was surprised his rescuer hadn’t put a bullet in him where he lay. Most who didn’t understand the paranormal—or were afraid of it—refused to accept that it was around them.

  Kane’s thoughts halted when he heard humming. A woman. He’d never remained around any of the houses long, so he didn’t know if she lived alone or not. He could possibly open his eyes and find a gun trained on him by another.

  The real issue was getting as far from the house as he could. He didn’t know why the weres came after him, but he knew they wouldn’t let up until he was dead. And he didn’t think his current situation would change their minds.

  The longer he remained, the more danger he put others in. He needed to sneak out and get far, far away from this place and anywhere there were people. Then he’d determine who wanted him dead and why.

  Kane opened his eyes and looked around. A lamp near him was on, but the only other light seemed to be coming from the kitchen. The storm still raged outside as drops pinged against the windows.

  Then his eyes clashed with the blue gaze of a cat sitting on the back of the sofa near his head. The Siamese let out a hiss but didn’t move.

  “Mr. Darcy, be nice,” the woman said. “Let our guest sleep.”