Full Moon Lockdown (2 page)

The group moved quickly toward the helicopter as it landed. Rayce, holding Peyton, jumped in first, and Colin was followed closely by the remaining guards.

They took off and banked quickly north, and that’s when Colin became confused. The hospital was definitely east of here. “Where are we going? Sault Ste. Marie is east.”

Rayce glanced over his shoulder. “We aren’t going to Sault Ste. Marie. We’re taking you to Moon Compound.”

Panic bubbled up inside of Colin, causing him to lash out. “The fuck you’re taking us there!” he screamed, grabbing for Peyton. No way in hell was he going there and neither was Peyton. Peyton needed a damn hospital. Colin attempted again to reach for his brother. There was no rhyme or reason to it. It wasn’t like he could take them anywhere, but he wasn’t thinking clearly through the fear.

“Contain him,” Rayce shouted to a guard over Colin’s shoulder.

Malach grabbed him from the side while another grasped him from behind, holding him down while he strained to break free.

“He needs to go to the hospital,” Colin pleaded.

“And there are no better doctors for our kind than the ones at the compound. They will be able to handle his injuries far better than any human doctor. Your name?” Malach tried to reason with him. Impossible. Too much shit had happened to him.

“Colin,” he mumbled.

Malach kept talking to him, trying to use a soft voice, telling him everything was going to be okay, using Colin’s name over and over.

Colin slumped on the floor of the helicopter, too wounded emotionally and physically to continue the useless fight. Five minutes later, they descended. Rayce and Peyton were the first to exit.

Malach released and assessed him. “You going to behave, or do we have to restrain you?”

Feeling decades older than his twenty-one years, Colin whispered, “I’ll behave.” They stepped out of the helicopter, and Colin realized they landed on a pad in the front of the compound. Looking up and up, Colin eyed the dark, foreboding place. Solid gray stone walls were the exterior of the four-story Moon Compound. Guards lined the electrical fences that outlined the acres of land that kept the new shifters contained from harming others.

Several guard towers surrounded the area, keeping watch on the facility and them. Colin shivered as one of the guards eyed him from afar. You wouldn’t think with that much distance you could actually feel someone’s eyes on you, but Colin did, and it made his skin crawl.

“Follow me; we need to go talk to the Elders and find out where to place you then debrief on what happened.” Malach grabbed a hold of his upper arm, pulling him toward the huge double steel doors. The only reason he didn’t drag his heels was that Peyton was in there, and his brother needed him right now. Walking on his own two feet through the threshold, he jumped as the doors shut with an echoing slam behind him. Gods, so that’s what the sound of losing one’s freedom was.

Pacing. That’s all that Sloan ever did in this fucking shoebox of a room. Even though the full moon wasn’t until tomorrow, lockdown was in place. Like Sloan, the other Alphas were too on edge to be trusted during the nights. Fights broke out, sexual appetite increased and everyone was in agreement to keep them locked up tight to prevent anyone from being hurt. That’s why they all lived in this hell, right?

Footsteps sounded down the hall, quick and hurried. Leaning his arms on the bars, Sloan watched as Rayce ran by with a man in his arms. Seconds later, Malach and the remaining guards walked by, circled around a young man who looked like he had been in one hell of a fight and came out on the losing end. Scratches marred sleek tan muscles. Short brown hair with blond highlights had dirt caked throughout. Sloan’s attention was drawn to the man, craving to see his face. He wanted to…yes! The man slowly turned and gazed at Sloan. Gone was the excitement as he stared into despairing cerulean eyes. Eyes that had seen too much.
What the hell had happened to him?

“Colin, we need you to go in here.” Malach talked to the man, gesturing to the cell across from Sloan.

“But my brother,” Colin protested.

“Your brother will more than likely be going into surgery. I need to debrief with the Elders, and I’m sorry to say this, but it’s just too damn dangerous to leave you unlocked on the night before the full moon. I’ll have a nurse come in to check on your wounds soon as we can.” Malach led Colin into the cell.

“Please, he needs me,” Colin choked out.

Malach closed the cell door, leaving the guy behind bars. Sloan swallowed as he felt the sorrow of the young man seep across the hallway to him. “We will take good care of him. I promise you, Colin. And just as soon as he’s ready to see visitors, you’ll be the first one sitting by his side.”

Malach walked away, and Sloan stared at the guard's back, pissed for the sake of Colin. He didn’t even know the guy, but he knew that he'd fallen into a horrible situation and that his brother was gravely injured.

Colin slumped to the ground, still gripping the bars, knuckles white. The young man’s head slumped forward, brown hair touching the bar. For some insane reason, Sloan felt like talking to Colin, soothing him. Helping him when he was left with no one to comfort him. Except, he didn’t know what had happened and, as such, was completely at a loss on how to give Colin the comforting words he needed. So instead, he knelt down just like Colin and watched him all night. He might not be able to hold him or say the right words, but he could be there to let the man know he wasn’t alone.

The next morning, Sloan’s body ached, and it only had a little to do with the fact he'd sat on the floor watching Colin all night. A couple times he'd drifted off only to be awakened by the soft sounds of muffled crying. He would murmur nonsense words only to hear Colin silence once more.

Standing up, Sloan stretched, feeling the aches of the oncoming shift that would overtake him that night. This was a classic symptom of all new shifters. They would feel like crap before the shift, almost like they were coming down with the flu, edgy, surly. Fights were sure to break out.

Knowing better, Sloan got his room ready for tonight, putting all valuables into the vault under the steel floors. Three years of this shit and it wasn’t getting any better. He jerked the picture frames off the floor since they had no furniture but a mattress in the cell. There was no point of it since they got destroyed at the full moon.

Finally, the doors opened, notifying everyone that it was time to head to the cafeteria for breakfast. Although it was strict here, there was no lining up like human prisons, but there was check-in at the door so that guards and Elders knew no one was skipping meals.

Sloan stood outside his cell, waiting for Colin to make his way out of his cell. Body tense, Sloan continued to wait as other Alphas and Omegas walked by. He was about to go in and find Colin when the man emerged, eyes wary as he stepped into the stone hallway.

Stepping forward, Sloan was about to introduce himself when the small Omega Dalton walked up to Colin.
Fuck!
Sloan wanted to meet Colin after being worried all night long about him, and now, Colin was being swarmed by two more Omegas. Turning, Sloan walked away. It was either that or he was going to tear them apart. Damn his edgy wolf and its lack of control, he wanted Colin all to himself. Telling himself to just get through tonight and the recovery tomorrow, Sloan left for the cafeteria to eat. Only once did he turn back just to make sure Colin was okay.

* * * *

What a fucking hole,
Colin thought as he stepped out of the door that was nothing more than steel bars.
Steel bars!
This was an honest-to-gods prison. Moon Compound, his ass. Help you get through the first few years to control your shift?
Liars!

Worried for Peyton, he stepped into the dreary stone hallway and glanced around, looking for a guard. His body was bruised, and they never did come back to check on his wounds. They were dry and crusty, and he couldn’t care less.

He spent all night awake, mourning his pack, scared that he would never see Peyton again. Colin was a mess.

And lost. Gods, he felt so lost as other young men walked by. Some were massive, six plus feet, muscles straining in agitation. He had a feeling he knew why. The full moon was tonight. Across from him stood the imposing sexy man that had been locked up in the cell opposite from him. Hazel eyes seemed to pierce through him and sent a chill deep inside his body as though he could feel recognition in those eyes. He thought maybe he had seen him before but knew that couldn’t be possible. He lived within his pack all his life.

A guy no bigger than his five-foot-eight frame walked up to him, just as the familiar stranger was about to make his way over.

He had a shock of white-blond hair and sharp sapphire eyes. “You need some help?”

“Please. I need to find where medical is here.”

“You look it. I’ll take you there.”

Colin was about to protest when a shorter guy, no more than five feet seven inches with dark brown puppy-dog eyes and very lean physique, walked up, “Dalton, who’s the newcomer. Wow, you look terrible.”

“Brendan, that’s not nice.” Dalton chided. “I need to take him to medical.”

“Who needs to go to…oh, you.” Another man came up with jet black hair and pale green eyes, thin but well over six feet. All of them had the body type of an Omega. None were packing tons of muscles although none looked weak either. They were sleekly toned, but all were more on the thin side rather than bulky like all the Alphas walking around. And the very presence of the Omegas didn’t feel aggressive but welcoming.

Colin glanced around just in time to see the Alpha that had watched him last night walking away. At first, the piercing hazel gaze unsettled him, and then, somehow, he became comforted by the protectiveness in his gaze. Man, he was losing his ever luvin’ mind. But who could blame him?

“Oren, give him some breathing room. Let’s walk him to the infirmary.” Dalton wrapped an arm around him like he needed help.

Colin gently pushed the arm off him, not trying to hurt Dalton’s feelings. “It’s not for me, I need to go see if my brother is okay.”

Brendan scratched his jaw, “Well, you look like you could use a little patch job too. Follow us.”

The three flanked him and led him down several hallways before they reached the medical wing. They passed several short halls with double doors, marking surgery and an intensive care unit. No way would he have ever found this through the crazy maze of a place.

They entered through a double door labeled infirmary to find the entire area was dead silent. Colin wasn’t sure what he was expecting but silence wasn’t it. Dalton walked down the hallway and disappeared into a room. He was about to follow when Dalton came back out, followed by a man dressed in scrubs.

“Come over to the bed here.” The man was all business, no polite greeting as he stood waiting for Colin to sit down.

“I’m not here for me.”

The man’s gaze roamed Colin’s injuries disbelievingly. “You’re not?”

“No. My brother, Peyton, came in last night. I need to see how he’s doing.”

The nurse’s eyes widened. “Peyton isn’t in this unit. Let me clean you up and call an Elder to come in and talk to you.”

Colin gripped the guy's arm as he went to walk away. “Is he okay?”

“He will be.” The nurse glanced away. There was more to the story; Colin was sure of it. The man left for a few minutes then came back with several supplies, gesturing for Colin to sit on the bed. This time, he didn’t argue with the nurse.

“Why’s it so quiet in here?” Colin couldn’t believe the lack of noise in the unit. He hissed as the nurse disinfected one of his wounds.

The nurse laughed, but it didn’t sound happy. “Oh, it’ll be busy in here later. I’m the only one on the morning shift. By the afternoon, this place will be packed with injuries. Everyone gets edgy the day of the full moon. Can you three help us out tomorrow?”

Brendan nodded. “Sure, but it will be my last time. Next full moon is my first shift.” Glancing down, the small man began to bite at his lip nervously.

Shit,
Colin thought as Dalton hugged his friend.

“I’ll be there for you afterward,” Dalton said solemnly.

Thinking of the cells, Colin asked, “Then, why don’t they lock everyone down today?”

Dalton sat down next to him, “We’ll never learn control of our wolves if we can’t be around our pack. They tried to separate everyone around the full moon twenty-four/seven a long time ago, and it didn’t work so well. Too many of them went feral. And it took everyone a lot longer to learn to control their wolf. They weren’t prepared to go back to their families, not used to being around others on the full moon. Mostly, Alphas fight, and it is over stupid crap, but at least everyone starts out free in the morning.”

“Starts out?” Colin glanced over at Dalton.

“There are some that need to be locked down if they can’t handle themselves. Usually, they get better the longer they are here, but some…” Dalton shuddered.

Brendan chirped in, “Yeah, some of the Alphas turn into absolute dickheads today. Just stick close to us. For all the fighting the Alphas do, they usually leave us alone.”

Oren hopped on the bed next to him. “Or fuck us silly.”

The nurse glared at Oren. “You know that’s not allowed the day of the full moon. Do you have to be reported again, Oren?”

Oren shook his head and lifted his hands, palms up. “Lighten up, haven’t pulled that one since the last time I got in trouble.”

Dalton glared at Oren. “Then, don’t be telling Colin that. You don’t need him to get in a situation like that. There’s a reason for that rule. New wolves’ bodies are out of control when the full moon is near. Just because you want to play Russian roulette, doesn’t mean the rest of us do.”

Oren put his arm around Colin, face deadpan. “Fine. Colin, stay away from the big, bad Alphas.”

The nurse shook his head. “The Elder will come down and tell you all the rules. Sex is dangerous today, because new wolves’ strength is already increasing as the day goes on. They have no clue how strong they are and can do some serious damage unintentionally. Oren, that Alpha you were caught with was horrified at the damage he’d done. You were lucky you only walked away with bruises. Others have had broken bones or worse.”