Mirror Lake Wolves 02 - Moon Hunted
Table of Contents
Prologue
Preface
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
Thank You
Marked
One
Two
About the Author
MOON HUNTED
Mirror Lake Wolves - Book Two
JENNIFER SNYDER
MOON HUNTED
MIRROR LAKE WOLVES – BOOK TWO
© 2017 by Jennifer Snyder
Editing by H. Danielle Crabtree
© 2017 Cover Art by Cora Graphics
© Shutterstock.com/ Svyatoslava Vladzimirska
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the above author of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
CONTENTS
Preface
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
Thank You
Marked
Prologue
One
Two
About the Author
PREFACE
The air around me warmed; the old wolf magic came to the surface. It blew across my skin, ruffling my hair and sending it flying from my bun. A smile spread across my face as I lifted my arms high above my head. Strands of hair tickled my nose, but I ignored them. Instead, I waited for my wolf to come to me. When a chill slipped along my spine and goose bumps sprouted across my bare skin, I knew the goddess of the moon was near. Her magic danced through the air, calling to the wolf inside me. My wolf howled in response to her. It was a beautiful noise.
Lightness and loving warmth ignited my veins as the change intensified. The sensations spread throughout me until an overall sense of weightlessness became all I could feel.
I was air. I was light as a feather. I was free.
Pure love flooded my mind as the cold touch of the moon goddess disappeared from my spine to be replaced by an embrace from my wolf. Warmth and the sensation of being grounded and one with the earth trickled through my extremities.
We were one, my wolf and I.
1
I narrowed my eyes at the brown and black fluff ball Gracie held in her arms. He was cute, but I knew he would be a pain in my ass. I prayed Gran would tell Gracie she couldn’t keep the puppy.
“Please. I promise I’ll take care of him. You won’t even know he’s here,” Gracie insisted.
The dullness of Gran’s eyes brightened as she continued to stare at the little fellow. Shit. She was giving in.
“I’ll do extra chores,” Gracie promised as an added bonus. I knew she wouldn’t follow through with them. She never did. Gran had to know this too.
“Where did you get him?” I asked, hoping to pause Gran’s thought process. My hand fisted around the grocery list she’d given me earlier. “And who’s paying for him? You don’t have the money to buy a puppy.”
The little guy was a Yorkie. I knew those puppies didn’t run cheap. Not if they were a purebred with papers. There was no way my little sister could afford one on her own.
“It doesn’t matter where he came from. What matters is that he needs a home,” Gracie snapped at me before shifting her gaze back to Gran. “Can we keep him?”
Gran placed a hand on her hip. I tried to read her face, but her expression was unreadable. “He’s going to be a lot of work.”
“I can handle it,” Gracie insisted.
This wasn’t heading anywhere good. I needed to find a new angle.
“What about his food and shots? How are you going to come up with the money for those?” It was a logical question. One Gran couldn’t ignore.
We weren’t the wealthiest of people. In fact, money was always a sore subject in our house.
“He won’t eat much. He’s tiny. And I’ll figure it out,” Gracie grumbled, making it clear she didn’t want me to be a part of the conversation.
Regardless of what she wanted, I had a right to insert myself. I lived here too.
“Mina does have a point. If I let you keep him, he’ll be your responsibility. That means you’re going to have to figure out how to come up with the money to get his shots and pay for his food,” Gran said.
Great. It was a done deal.
I didn’t hate dogs, or animals for that matter. I just didn’t want my stuff peed on, pooped on, or chewed up. Wasn’t that all puppies did the first year or three?
I smoothed a hand over my face and tried to contain myself. Why did my little sister always get what she wanted?
“I’ll use the money I have saved from birthdays for his shots,” Gracie insisted, clutching the puppy closer to her chest. “His food won’t be expensive, and I’m sure it’ll last him a while. I can find ways to earn enough money to keep him fed.”
“You’ll have to because I won’t buy food for him. I won’t clean up after him either,” Gran insisted. “I mean it when I say he’s yours and yours alone.”
It was a lie. I knew it the second the words came out of Gran’s mouth. She’d buy food if he needed it because she wouldn’t be able to watch him starve. She’d clean up after him from time to time, and she’d help take care of him. She’d expect me to do the same. While it might start off as though the fluff ball was Gracie’s responsibility, there would come a point where he would become being everyone’s. That was how it always was with any of Gracie’s pets.
“So, I get to keep him?” Gracie’s face lit up, making her look younger than her thirteen years.
The corners of my lips twitched upward at the sight of her smile. Seeing her happy was almost worth what I knew I was about to endure with the little beast. Almost.
“I don’t see why not,” Gran insisted, sealing the deal.
Happy squeals echoed through the living room of our trailer. Gracie jumped up and down, shaking the entire structure while clutching her new puppy to her chest. Once she calmed down, she kissed Gran on the cheek and headed to our shared room at the end of the hall, whispering to her new pet as she walked.
My lips pinched together as I fought to hold back the string of swear words building across my tongue. I’d cursed in front of Gran before, but she made it known it wasn’t something she liked.
I couldn’t keep my mouth shut though, no matter how hard I tried.
“I don’t want that thing on my bed, Gracie! And he better not chew up any of my stu
ff!” I shouted after her. “Or shit in our room! I don’t want to smell dog crap every time I walk in!”
Gran cleared her throat. My gaze drifted to her. I waited for her to scold me for cursing in her presence. “First of all, language. Second, have faith in her, Mina.”
“Sorry. I’ll try.” I exhaled a long breath, then grabbed my wallet and keys from the kitchen counter. I relaxed my grip on the grocery list I held and took a step toward the front door. Never had I been so eager to head to the store. I needed to chill. I knew I did. Gracie getting a puppy wasn’t the end of the world. I wasn’t sure why it bothered me so much. “I’m heading out to get the stuff on your list.”
“Ask Gracie if she wants you to pick up puppy food before you leave,” Gran insisted.
I fought the desire to roll my eyes. Wasn’t that something she was supposed to get all on her own? My blood simmered through my veins.
“He’ll most likely get hungry once he settles down later, and I refuse to feed him scraps. It a horrible habit.”
“Don’t we have a bag somewhere from the last time she brought home a stray dog?”
Gracie was always bringing home animals, but puppies seemed to be her favorite. I’d lost count as to how many she’d brought home over the years.
“I gave it away,” Gran said with a shake of her head. “Didn’t think I’d agree to let her keep another one.”
“I don’t know why you did,” I muttered as I started down the hall.
“I heard that,” Gran snapped.
I didn’t apologize.
Gracie was sprawled across her bed when I stepped into the room, the puppy tucked up against her side. He was curled into a ball, sleeping. It was cute but not cute enough.
All I could do was stare at its round belly and think about worms festering inside. Its furry ear twitched in its sleep and images of it being flea infested crept through my mind.
Gross.
“I’m leaving for the store. Gran gave me a list earlier,” I said as I leaned against the doorframe. “Give me some money. I’ll pick up a bag of dog food while I’m out.”
Gracie slipped out of bed without speaking and stepped to her dresser. She swiped her piggy bank up and opened the bottom. The puppy wiggled around, adjusting itself into a tighter ball.
“Here.” Gracie held out a twenty.
“Okay.” I plucked it from her fingers and crammed it into my front pocket. “What kind of food should I get?”
“Any for small breed puppies, duh.”
My teeth ground together as I stared at her. She was really pushing her luck with me today.
I pushed myself off the wall and started back down the hall.
“Be back in a bit,” I called to Gran once I reached the front door.
Sticky heat rolled over me the instant I stepped foot outside, but anything was better than being indoors with my bratty little sister who always managed to get her way. I tugged my driver side door open and tossed my wallet and cell into the passenger seat before climbing in. The engine sputtered a few times before catching, but this was nothing new. My beater of a car had definitely seen better days. Either my dad needed to carve out some sober time to fix it during the next full moon, or he needed to fork over some of his beer money to pay for repairs. The money I made from babysitting Felicia’s twins wasn’t going to be enough.
I rolled my windows down all the way and backed out of our tiny gravel driveway. I headed toward the main entrance of Mirror Lake Trailer Park, but was forced to pause when a navy blue truck turned into the park. My heart skipped a beat; I knew who the owner of the truck was.
Eli lifted his fingers in a typical male wave as he crept to where I’d stopped. A wide smile graced his perfect lips, one that sent butterflies flapping through my stomach. When his truck window was flush with mine, he stopped. My stomach somersaulted as I waited for what he might say. We hadn’t spoken much since he’d kissed me the other night. I’d done everything in my power to avoid him during the celebratory potluck meal and as much as I could since it without letting him handle things involving Glenn’s disappearance on his own.
It wasn’t easy.
Stupid universe. It never did let me stay away from him for long.
“Hey.” The sound of his voice coerced all of my nerve endings to life in an instant. His arm muscles flexed and bulged as he moved to manually roll his window down farther. “Where you headed to?”
“Um…the grocery store,” I said as my gaze drifted across his broad shoulders, up his neck, and focused on his mouth that begged to be kissed. Everything I’d felt around Eli before becoming moon kissed, before he’d kissed me, had intensified tenfold in the last few days.
“Fun. Want to swing by my place when you get back?” he asked.
My mouth grew dry. “What for?”
If there was news on Glenn, I’d be more than happy to stop by but not for anything else. I couldn’t. The things I felt for Eli were too hard to ignore now.
In fact, they scared me now more than they ever did.
A beautiful smile stretched across his face. “I bought a gallon of paint and would love help painting my bedroom.”
His bedroom? That was one room I should never allow myself to be alone with him in. Sweet Jesus, my body began to overheat at the thought of what might happen.
“I can’t.” The words came out too fast and flustered. I cleared my throat. “I have plans with Alec tonight.”
Eli’s bright green eyes flashed at the mention of his name. Ever since we learned Alec’s friend, Shane, and his older brothers were responsible for the disappearance of a pack member, Eli had been leerier than usual of me hanging around him. While I understood where he was coming from, Eli still needed to realize Alec wasn’t Shane.
“Will Shane be there?” he asked. His voice had become rigid, and a vein was beginning to bulge along the side of his neck.
“I think so. It’s supposed to be a double date. Well, more like a triple date really,” I rambled even though I knew Eli couldn’t care less how many people were joining Alec and me tonight. Still, I couldn’t shut up. “Benji started dating someone. We’re all supposed to hang out at Rosemary’s Diner tonight.” My lips clamped shut. I’d already given him too many details. Knowing Eli, he’d show up to make sure nothing happened to me. If he couldn’t make it personally, he’d send one of his brothers. Especially if I slipped up and gave him the time we were meeting.
“Promise me you’ll be careful.” His eyes darkened as they locked with mine.
I licked my lips. “I’m always careful.”
Tension rippled from him. He wasn’t satisfied with my answer, but he also knew better than to push his luck.
“Right. Listen, if you get bored, or your night doesn’t pan out the way you thought it would, you know you can always swing by my place and help paint.” He winked. A tense smile twisted at the corners of his lips. He was trying to let go of whatever unease learning I’d be in Shane’s presence tonight had caused him. “It’s been a while since our last painting party.”
Heat crept up my neck at the memory of Eli pressing against my backside while attaching his phone to the set of speakers plugged into the wall where I’d been painting.
It seemed like forever ago.
“I’ll be sure to remember that,” I said as I let my foot off the brake and inched my car forward. “And if I learn anything new tonight that might help find Glenn, I’ll let you know.”
“Good.” The muscles in his jaw clenched tight. “Speaking of, we should set a time this week to discuss the next step in our plan to find him. Especially since scoping out that vet office the other night where his oldest brother works was such a bust.”
I pressed my foot against the brake, coming to a stop again. “Yeah, wish we could have gotten inside to look around.”
It had been stupid going to the place after it was closed anyway. I wasn’t sure what we’d thought we’d find. All we’d done was make the animals go crazy.
; “We need to find a way to get inside, one that doesn’t come off as suspicious. I thought about getting a dog just to have a legitimate reason.” Eli chuckled.
“You might not have to. Gracie brought home a puppy.”
Eli arched a brow. He knew how many pets Gracie had brought home over the years. “And Gran let her keep it?”
“Yup.” I didn’t want to get into it. It would only irritate me again.
“Okay, well maybe this is a good thing. I mean, the timing couldn’t be better.”
My lips twisted into a frown. Although I hated to admit it, Gracie’s puppy might be our saving grace.
“True. I could offer to drive Gracie and her puppy to the vet when the time comes for its next set of shots. I can sneak around while I’m there. See if anything catches my eye. We already know there aren’t many employees. Shane’s oldest brother, Peter, plus three staff members.”
Eli shook his head. “No. I don’t like the idea of you doing all the dirty work by yourself.”
“Do you have a better idea? One that doesn’t scream weirdo?” It would seem strange to both Gracie and Gran if Eli offered to take Gracie’s puppy to the vet.
“And you offering to give Gracie a ride to the vet won’t? Everyone knows how much you detest animals.”
“I do not detest animals. I just don’t like dogs. Or cats. Or…” I was starting to see his point. “Okay, maybe I’m a fish person. Fish don’t make a mess. They don’t chew up shoes or claw you like a little monster from underneath the couch when you walk by.”
The last cat Gracie brought home did that to me one too many times. It always managed to scare the shit out of me. I was glad she’d found a home for it with someone else at school.
“My point exactly. Your gran is going to know you’re up to something if you volunteer.”
Sylvie Hess pulled up behind Eli in her tan minivan. She smiled and waved, but I knew she wanted Eli and me to get out of her way. Something in her eyes said it all. A kid crying from somewhere inside her van found its way to my ears.
“Whatever. Let’s talk about it later.” I eased my foot off the brake again, allowing my car to roll forward. I didn’t want to keep Sylvie waiting.