Her Dark Moon (House of Wolves and Magic Book 1)

  HER DARK MOON

  HOUSE OF WOLVES AND MAGIC

  HELEN SCOTT

  Her Dark Moon

  House of Wolves and Magic Book One

  Copyright © 2020 by Helen Scott

  Cover Design © Bewitching Book Covers by Rebecca Frank

  Editing by CB Edting Services

  Proofreading by Square Peg Editing

  All rights reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author, except for the brief use of quotations in a book review.

  This book is intended for adults only. The sexual activities represented in this book are a work of fiction intended for adults. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are used fictitiously by the author. Any resemblance to actual places, events, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Also By Helen Scott

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  1

  THE RUMBLE of a motorcycle had me skirting closer to the building as I walked home, using the shadows to obscure my frame. The bulky jacket and loose-fitting pants I wore, combined with the beanie I had covering my hair, usually gave the impression I was a guy, at least from behind. Grease still clung to my nail beds even though I'd cleaned them before I left work.

  Stupid transmission making me work late. Clark should have been able to repair it himself, would have been able to if he could fit under the cars anymore, but unless we put them up on the lifts, I was the one getting under them. Clark loved his beer a little too much to give it up so he could easily do his job.

  The drive shaft bolts had been rusted on and without being able to get the torch under the car getting them loose had been a bitch and a half. It also meant working later than usual because the car had to be ready to go in the morning. Something I hated.

  Clark had offered me a ride home, but as much as I trusted the guy, which was about as far as I could throw him, I wasn't getting into a car with him. Being a bit of a control freak meant that someone else driving was a no go for the most part. Some might say I had trust issues, I preferred to think of myself as pragmatic. I knew the only person I could rely on was myself, so why trust anyone else with my safety? It didn't help that I had a track record of bad decisions that only proved my conclusion right.

  A few more cars drove by, their motors resonating in my ears, and just from the sound I knew at least one of them needed an oil change. I hated when the road was busy at night, it made me uneasy, and when one of the cars slowed my heart started to gallop in my chest. The car drove on after a few minutes, but the anxiety it caused didn't go with it.

  I ducked down a side street to get away from the main road since I was only a couple blocks from home, but a scent stopped me in my tracks.

  Shifter.

  I froze. My eyes scanned the darkness ahead of me. I didn't see anything immediate so I moved a couple of steps further into the alley, my gaze scanning anything that could hide a person as I moved. It was only as I looked to the other end that I saw a small group standing ahead of me. My heart stopped beating.

  Had they seen me?

  I scooted to the side, my shoulder smashing against the brick wall with the speed of my movement. I saw a head turn in my direction, and dropped down behind a dumpster before they could notice me. I was too far in the alley to make it back out again without risking being seen. At some point I would be exposed, and they would see me, or worse, scent me as a female wolf. The need to vomit, to run, to do whatever it took to maintain my freedom was so strong I almost couldn't keep myself still. I knew if I moved though it would only attract attention.

  If I knew one thing it was that running from wild animals only made them give chase, and from my personal experience the same was true of shifters. It was easy to forget the beast that lived within the man, unless they caged it, like I did with my own wolf, it was always just under the surface. All I could do was hide and pray that they moved on quickly.

  If they saw me, found me, they would claim me. I would be dragged back to their pack and forced to join. Male shifters didn't give a shit what female shifters wanted, in my experience. If they wanted to, they could drag me back to pack land, claim me as their supposed mate, and I would have no say in it.

  It wasn't that I begrudged anyone what they wanted, and I knew some shifters dreamed of nothing but finding their mates. After what the pack did to my family though? Even the idea of having a mate, let alone having kids in such a toxic culture, made me feel sick. Not for the first time in my life I wished I was human. I mentally checked the metaphysical cage I kept my wolf in. She snarled at me from between the bars, demanding her freedom, something I couldn't give her while I was living in the city. Not without risking exposure.

  I had fought so hard to remain hidden, to remain out of the pack's clutches that I was ready to do anything to keep it that way. But the only way I could be prepared for a fight was if I knew what was going on and how many opponents I could potentially face. I pulled my beanie down, making sure all my white-blonde hair was hidden, along with as much of my face as possible, and gathered my courage. I crept to the edge of the dumpster I was hiding behind, trying to ignore the wet on the concrete ground as I moved, and peeked out. I barely let more than an eye go past the edge of the metal. The dumpster had been red at one point from the looks of the paint. There had been enough graffiti and weather damage to wear it down or hide its original color for the most part.

  There were six people down there, from what I could scent it was mostly shifters with one or two humans. That was if what I was smelling beyond the rotting trash and day-old piss was accurate. I focused on the group, the humans seemed jittery, practically bouncing on the spot as they handed something over to the shifters.

  The longer I focused on them, the more I saw.

  Their eyes glanced around, darting from place to place, but looking at the shifters with a desperation I could smell, even over the trash. Clothes were dirty and torn, so they were definitely not taking care of themselves. When the shifters hand a small baggie of something over, I realized why. They were addicts.

  The human who handed the cash over snatched the baggie from the shifter's hand, and I could almost feel the relief radiating from him all the way down the alley. The shifters laughed and my stomach turned. How far had the pack fallen? Well, not that these shifters necessarily belonged to my old pack, but still. What kind of pack allowed their members to do drug deals out in the open like that? Or at all for that matter?

  Everything about what had happened was wrong. Packs were supposed to support their community, to foster alliances with humans without revealing their true natures, to help the community as a w
hole prosper. None of that was happening here. These men were poisoning their community from the inside out and they clearly held no love for humans. Something was very wrong with whatever pack they came from.

  The only thing that made me happy in that moment was the fact that I wasn't a part of it anymore. I was free. So long as no one found me. I just needed to keep my head down, save my money, then eventually get out of town. Having enough cash to leave and be secure was a bigger challenge than I'd expected though, and even years after I'd gotten out of the pack I still didn't have what I needed to leave the city, or at least not leave and survive.

  Lights flashed at the end of the alley, blue and red.

  "Freeze! No one move! SBPD!" A voice called from the direction of the lights.

  The humans had what they needed so they ran. The cops yelled at them, but it seemed half-hearted. Their feet pounded past my hiding spot—almost splashing me with the nasty water that always seemed to collect in front of a dumpster—before they turned out into the city.

  Flashlights shone down the length of the alley, in a vague attempt to see if the humans were still there. When they almost landed on me I ducked farther into the shadows, turning my head so I could only just see what was going on, but it made even less of myself visible from their location.

  My guess was that the cops didn't want to give up capturing a couple addicts to get them charged with possession when they could get four guys and charge them with possession with the intent to distribute, dealing, and probably even possession of paraphernalia as well. That was a much bigger get for them.

  "Hands up gentlemen, let's keep this nice and clean, shall we?" one of the officers said, his voice booming between the brick walls of the alley.

  "Is that you Officer Sheridan?" one of the shifters called.

  They knew each other? What the hell was going on?

  "Nolan, come on bud, you know what I've told you about dealing in the open like this," the officer replied.

  "Who's your friend?" the one I assumed was Nolan asked.

  "This is Officer Marcus. He's my new partner."

  "What happened to Edwards?" Nolan asked, curiosity sounding in his voice.

  "He didn't agree with policy anymore." There was something about the way Sheridan said those words that made whatever happened to Edwards sound permanent and painful. I got the sneaking suspicion that Edwards had left the mortal coil. "Fortunately, Marcus here is on board with company policy, so long as he gets his cut."

  "You can't expect me to pay you both the same amount. Seriously?" Nolan sounded pissed.

  "If you want us to keep looking the other way, you will. Or we could always bring you in? What do you think he's got on him right now, Marcus?" Sheridan asked.

  "I'm guessing we'd find some coke, crack, oxy, heroine, weed, jaguar, at the least. He looks like he'd be a veritable pharmacy," the other officer said as he looked Nolan up and down. "Not to mention what we'd find on his friends."

  "You know I don't fucking touch heroine or crack or any of that. Jaguar, oxy, and weed, that's it," Nolan replied, referring to one of the only drugs that would affect shifters. Jaguar was nothing to fuck with. It was highly addictive and let the user shift into a different animal, if they were brave enough to endure the change. Most shifters weren't interested, but there were a few that couldn't stop once they got a taste for it.

  "I'm sure getting your fingerprints on some baggies wouldn't exactly be difficult," Sheridan said, his voice low with the threat.

  "Fuck you, asshole," Nolan snarled, his wolf coming to the forefront.

  "Just pay us and we can all be on our way."

  "Oh I'll pay you, don't you worry," Nolan said as he slapped some bundles of cash down into Sheridan's hand and then again into Marcus's. It was obvious he was talking about more than the money, and I felt a chill go down my spine as I wondered if these cops really had any idea what they'd gotten themselves into?

  "Pleasure doing business with you," Officer Sheridan said, tipping his hat to them before walking away with Marcus close on his heels.

  My heart lurched as Nolan took a step toward them before his friends held him back. I didn't want to witness a murder. The police officers had royally pissed him off though. I only had to scent the anger and vengeance on the air of the alleyway to know that someone was going to take the brunt of his violence tonight; I just hoped it wasn't me as I cowered in my hiding spot.

  Some might have told me to stand up for myself, to be brave, but one female wolf against four male wolves was suicide. It was better for me to hide, keep myself alive, over everything else.

  If that meant cuddling with a dumpster, then so be it.

  2

  I WAITED after the police walked away. I waited and waited and waited some more, but every time I peeked around the corner of the dumpster, the shifters were still there. If this was the general area they used to deal, then I was going to be sitting here for the rest of the night. I just had to hope the stink of trash would overpower my own scent.

  It was late. I wasn't sure how late since I didn't want to risk looking at my phone and them seeing the light, but the cops had been gone for a while now and they'd even had a few more customers, which seemed to put Nolan in a better mood. The wolf seemed to calm down once business got back to normal.

  When they started heading in my direction I panicked. Why would they come this way to leave the alley? Surely the other way would be easier? The more I panicked the faster my heart beat and the more I felt myself sweat, which is exactly the opposite of what I needed to be doing.

  Each footfall echoed like a bell tolling my doom. Each step closer felt like a gun being put to my head and the safety being clicked off. I frantically grabbed some of the trash that was sitting around next to the dumpster and covered myself in it. I needed it to hide me, not so much visibly, as I thought the shadows were dark enough now that they'd got that covered, but for it to hide my scent, obscure it enough that they wouldn't recognize me for what I was.

  As their footsteps got closer I took a breath and held it, certain that they'd hear me gasping otherwise. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they heard my heart hammering away in my chest the way it was.

  They were right next to the edge of the dumpster when one of them took a long sniff. I could see his nose rise into the air, his nostrils flaring as he took another step. "Bro, do you smell that?"

  The other guys stopped, Nolan was a few steps ahead and turned, clearly irritated with the interruption. I squeezed my eyes closed and willed them not to notice me.

  "Smells like a bitch," the guy who originally stopped their group said, as his nose scented the air again.

  "Just that bitch of a cop, fucker's cologne was strong enough to suffocate a toddler. It'll make him easy to track though," Nolan snarled.

  "Or it could be your mom's pussy on my dick," one of the others said, earning groans and cheers from the others.

  "Speaking of pussy," Nolan began with a smile. "Cassie and her friends will be at Rougarou tonight. I told her to bring one for each of you or not show up at all. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to service us."

  My stomach turned at the mention of the shifter bar on the other side of town, which was partially why I lived on this side. I needed as much space as possible between me and the packs. And if I was honest just being on the other side of town wasn't really enough, especially not now they were clearly expanding operations.

  "Fuck yeah, I hope one of them is that Brittany chick, have you seen those tits? God I just want to bury myself in them," one of the other guys said as he grabbed at his manhood through his jeans.

  They moved on, clearly more enticed by the prospect of easy pussy than of the faint scent of a bitch in hiding. I didn't trust it though and held my position for a few more minutes, barely even breathing as I waited for one of them to come back around the corner and grab me in some elaborate ruse to get me to lower my guard.

  Once I was sure they were gone I pushed to my feet, my leg
s protesting the movement after being frozen for so long. A throbbing sensation kicked in as blood returned to my oxygen deprived flesh, and each step I took felt like I was on a cloud rather than the concrete of an alleyway.

  I moved as fast as I could, the last thing I wanted was to be stuck in the alley when the shifters or cops returned, and I had no doubt they would at some point. I threw open the senses my wolf let me borrow and searched the area for anyone else before I stepped out of the alley. When I wasn't able to sense anyone I kept moving, but left my senses open, scanning the area the whole time.

  My mind kept replaying the exchange I'd observed between the humans and the shifters, then the cops and the shifters. At least now I knew I couldn't trust the police. If they were that crooked, then the chance of them looking after a female shifter who was on the run from the packs was slim to none.

  I needed to get away, further away than I had been, unless I wanted what had happened tonight to become a regular occurrence. My heart thumped in my chest at the thought. I wasn't sure I could take it if it did.

  Pack life wasn't usually friendly, at least in my experience, to those that tried to leave it or those who opposed the structure. The alpha was king in the pack, and what he said, goes. And yes, it's a he. Always. Just mentioning that a woman could lead a pack would be akin to blasphemy. I supposed the fact that the pack got my family killed didn't exactly endear me to it though.

  By the time my apartment building came into view I was power-walking like a grandma at the mall, and a sheet of sweat covered my skin, more from fear than anything else. As soon as I was in the door I threw the deadbolt and the lock, I also pushed my kitchen table onto its side and slid it up against the door. No one would be getting in without me knowing about it, that was for sure. And since that was the only entrance or exit, as I was on the fourth floor, I felt like I could finally take a deep breath.

  My back hit the wall opposite the door and I slid to the floor, my whole body shaking. That was way too close. What the fuck was I going to do if the pack kept growing within the city? When I first moved out here I'd been safe, but over the years I'd started to see more and more shifters. And seeing that group just a few blocks from my home tonight was terrifying.