Moon Dance (40 page)

He stood rooted to the spot
as he watched Enoch and three other men troop into the
house.

Enoch glowered, his face a mask of
anger.

Cole knew he needed to be
doing something, but he didn’t know what, and he didn’t know how.
He turned to look at Dana, who was standing next to the window. At
the sight of Enoch, she’d started shaking.

Deedee rushed to Enoch. She
put her hands on his chest. “I brought you here to
talk
, Enoch. You and Cole
need to work this out.”

Enoch shoved her out of the
way. “This is past talking, Deedee.”

She stumbled backwards. “No,
there can’t be any violence. There is a
child
in this house.”

“
Right,” said Enoch,
staring at Cole. “Funny thing you neglected to tell me when you
brought that bitch to my camp. I didn’t know you
bred
with that
whore.”

Cole’s fear was melting into
anger. He took a step toward Enoch. “Stop calling her
names.”

“
I would never have trusted
you if I knew,” said Enoch. “You betrayed me. Because of you, we
had to step up the attack on the eastern SF. My schedule’s blown to
hell now. You have no idea how much you’re fucking this up, and you
used to believe in this cause.”

“
No,” said Cole. “I never
did. I wanted us to be wolves. I wanted us to be in touch with
nature. I never wanted us to be organized terrorists, you asshole.
It’s like you never listened to a word I said.”

“
But that’s what we’re
doing, brother. We’re taking out the SF, and then we will be free
to be wolves. Every wolf will be free to do what comes naturally.”
Enoch shook his head. “No, it’s Dana Gray that turned your head.
She got you all twisted up. You don’t know what you believe in
anymore.”

Maybe that was true in some
ways. Causes didn’t seem very important anymore. What seemed
important was protecting her and protecting their daughter. Maybe
it wasn’t very rational, but Cole didn’t care. It was more vital to
him than any of his philosophies.

Enoch turned to his men.
“Grab her.”

Cole lunged at Enoch.

“
No, don’t!” yelled
Deedee.

The men surged for Dana.

Cole tackled Enoch, wrapping
his hands around his neck.

Dana dove for the chair by the window.
She pulled a tranq gun out of the backpack there. Raising it, she
shot the first guy coming at her.

Cole squeezed Enoch’s neck.
“Stay away from her, or I’ll kill him!”

Dana aimed the tranq gun at
the next man.

And then a tiny voice
shattered everything. “Mommy?”

Everyone stopped, turning to
see that Piper had just come out of the kitchen. She was still
holding the coffee cop she’d been drinking soup out of.

“
Piper, go back into the
kitchen, honey,” said Dana hoarsely.

One of the men turned away from Dana
and swooped Piper into his arms.

Dana let out a little cry.

“
Drop the gun,” said the
man.

Dana dropped it.

“
Let go of Enoch,” he said
to Cole.

Cole scrambled off of him,
swearing under his breath.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR

Enoch had Dana tied to one
of the kitchen chairs, but she was sitting in the living room.
She
’d been gagged and
blindfolded.

Piper was off with Deedee
somewhere at Deedee’s request. She said she wouldn’t stand for this
kind of behavior in front of a toddler, that it would traumatize
her.

Cole was sitting on the
couch next to Enoch. He wasn’t tied up, but one of the guys had the
tranq gun trained on him, so he was cooperating. For now.
Internally, he was going over every possible way he could think of
to get out of this. He
had
to come up with something.

Enoch was talking. “Deedee
wants us to work this out. And even though she left me, I still
love her, so I want to make her happy. Anyway, I really should just
kill you, brother, but I’m willing to give you a chance to make
this right.”

“
Make it right? If you think
I’m ever—”

“
Shut up,” said Enoch. “Just
hear me out. You got problems. You know it, and I know it too. The
SF is looking for both of you, and if they find you, they’ll lock
you up in a little cell for the rest of your lives. That makes the
SF your enemy. You should want to fight them.”

“
All I want from the SF is
for them to leave me alone.”

“
Well, when we crush them to
smithereens, they will leave you alone.”

“
I’m not going to help you,
Enoch.”

“
Not even if I offer you
want you want? You and this bitch and your little whelp can all
live out your lives together, safe and free.”

“
What are you talking
about?”

“
Help me take down the SF,
and I’ll try to deal with Dana fucking Gray.” Enoch glared at her.
“You can have her. You two can get a white picket fence somewhere
and live out the rest of your days in domestic bliss.”

Cole gave Enoch a wary look.
He wasn’t really saying this, was he? Because if he was, Cole had
to admit that he was tempted. The SF was a real problem, Enoch was
right. And Cole didn’t exactly have warm, fuzzy feeling towards
them. He wouldn’t mind helping Enoch take them down, if it meant
that he, Dana, and Piper were safe.

Dana probably wouldn’t like
it, of course, but she’d get over it. If he did this, it would be
far from the worst thing he’d ever done to her.

“
That simple?” Cole said. “I
help you, and all is forgiven?”

“
Well,” said Enoch. “We’d
have to keep her prisoner until the SF was entirely wiped out.
You’d have your daughter right away, but Dana would have to stay
locked up. I couldn’t trust her running around free, and I’d need
leverage to keep you in line. But it would only be for six months.
Maybe a year. And I’d let you visit her. Supervised, of course. I
don’t mind watching you fuck her.”

Six months of Dana being a
prisoner? “No way,” said Cole. “Forget it, Enoch.”

Enoch let out a sigh of
frustration. “God damn it, brother. I’m trying here. If you don’t
work with me, I’m going to have to kill you both.”

Cole sneered at him. “You
want to kill me, why don’t you do it like a wolf? Shift, and face
me. We fight it out the way we’re meant to. Wolf against
wolf.”

Enoch snorted. “You and your
wolf duels, Cole. No, I don’t think so. What you don’t ever seem to
understand is that being a werewolf doesn’t mean we’re only
animals. We’re men, and I’ve got you by the balls. I’m not going to
give you any advantage.”

Dana made a noise through
her gag. It was something like a growl, and they all turned to look
at her.

Her hands twisted, changing shape as
wolf claws ripped through her fingers.

Cole’s heart leapt.
Smart, beautiful
, he
thought.

She ripped away at the bonds that tied
her to the chair.

The man with the tranq gun shifted to
cover her.

Cole jumped up and drove his shoulder
into him, knocking off his aim.

Dana tore the gag out of her
mouth. She was half-wolf, half-woman, and Cole had never seen
anyone else do that besides himself and Jimmy. It took an
incredible amount of control and concentration. Cole didn’t know
she had it in her.

“
Being the
animal
is
the
advantage, you dumbfuck,” she growled at Enoch, and then the rest
of the change flowed through her.

Cole shifted too, giving in
to his wolf, feeling strength surge through him. He tackled the man
with the tranq gun first. He used his jaws to rip it away from him
and then he used his jaws to tear into the man’s flesh.

Dana was on top of Enoch,
but Enoch was shifting. His face squirmed and elongated as his
muzzle took shape.

Cole bounded to help
her—

And he was tackled from the
side by one of Enoch’s men, who’d shifted as well. The wolf sunk
his teeth into Cole’s flank.

Cole yelped. He twisted,
getting his teeth into the other wolf’s fur, and they were locked
like that, moving in a circle, growls emanating from both of their
throats.

Cole brought up his paws, trying to
push the other wolf off.

The wolf released his jaws, but brought
up his paws as well.

They swatted at each other,
yipping, snapping at the other.

The wolf’s teeth bit into
Cole’s neck.

Pain shot through Cole, and he was
momentarily motionless.

The wolf tackled him, knocking him onto
his back, a submissive posture.

Panic shot through Cole, because he
felt beaten.

The other wolf loomed over
him, baring his teeth.

Cole flailed out with his
paws, trying to connect with the other wolf, but he didn’t have the
strength on his back.

The wolf reared up,
preparing to strike Cole’s vulnerable belly.

Behind him, Cole heard Dana cry out, a
yelp of pain. No. Nothing could happen to her.

Cole snarled. He shot up,
stretching his jaws. He clamped down hard on the other wolf. He
tasted blood—bright and coppery. The blood made him frenzied, and
he shook his muzzle, shaking the other wolf as more blood flowed
over his pelt. He shook until the other wolf was lifeless. And then
he flung the carcass away.

He whirled to see that Enoch
had Dana pinned. She was sprawled out on her back, just like Cole
had been. And she was bleeding.

Cole sprang onto Enoch’s
back, digging in his claws and teeth.

Enoch reared back, trying to throw Cole
off.

Dana righted herself. She barked and
growled, and then launched herself at Enoch.

Enoch struggled, yipping.

He wasn’t a match for both
of them.

Cole and Dana attacked him
from both sides, sinking teeth through Enoch’s fur.

Enoch whimpered. He lashed out with his
teeth and claws, swiping Dana across the face.

She yipped, but didn’t draw
back.

Cole and Dana latched onto
him again, both on either sides of Enoch’s neck. Working together,
they twisted.

Enoch’s neck
snapped.

He fell to the floor, dead.

Immediately, his fur began to recede,
and his human form reappeared.

Together, they lapped at his
blood.

* * *

Dana was thinking one
thing:
Meat.

When Deedee’s hand grabbed
her by the scruff of the neck and tugged her away from the meat,
Dana growled, turning to snap at Deedee.

But then Dana remembered that Deedee
was supposed to have Piper. Piper. Pup. Daughter.

And Dana shifted back to
human form as quickly as she could.

Deedee wrestled with Cole,
still in wolf form. “Get off of him.” She was crying.

Dana looked around the room.
“Where’s Piper?”

Deedee was slapping at
Cole’s muzzle, sobbing. “You monster. You monster.”

“
Cole,” said Dana.
“Shift.”

Cole looked up at her, whimpering. But
then he shifted too.

Deedee threw herself onto
Enoch’s ruined body, wailing.

Cole yanked clothes out of the
backpack, throwing them to Dana.

She shrugged into a shirt
and pants. “Where’s Piper, Deedee?”

“
He’s dead. You killed
him. You
killed
him,” moaned Deedee.

Dana took her by the
shoulder. “Where’s Piper?”

“
She’s gone,” Deedee
spit in her face. “I took her away from this place when I knew
there was going to be violence. And if you think I’m giving her
back to you after
this
, well, you’re insane. You can’t raise children. You two are
barely human.”

Dana’s nostrils flared. “He
was trying to kill us. We were protecting ourselves.”

“
Tell yourself whatever you
want,” said Deedee. “The truth is obvious.”

Dana’s gaze skittered over
Enoch’s body, which barely resembled a body anymore. His chest
cavity and stomach were open and bloody, spilling out Enoch’s
insides over the floor. A minute ago, it had been appealing and
appetizing, but now Dana felt as if she was seeing it with
different eyes.

It was… well, it was
horrifying.

She backed away, touching her face,
realizing she was covered in blood.

Deedee staggered to her
feet. “You want your daughter to see you like this?”