Moon Captured Read online

  Moon Captured

  Mirror Lake Wolves - Book Seven

  Jennifer Snyder

  Contents

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  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

  Epilogue

  Thank You

  About the Author

  MOON CAPTURED

  MIRROR LAKE WOLVES - BOOK SEVEN

  Copyright © 2018 by Jennifer Snyder

  Editing by H. Danielle Crabtree

  Proofread by Running Ink Edits

  © 2018 Cover Art by Cora Graphics

  © Depositphotos.com

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, 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.

  Author Note:

  This is a work of fiction. The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. 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.

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  1

  Night had fallen. Cool air brushed against my face as I stalked through the woods. The temperature had dropped since I first began my rotation. I pulled the sleeves of the black hoodie I wore over my hands to ward away the chilly night air. Eli’s scent floated to my nose as the fabric stretched. The memory of when I’d borrowed the sweater from him flickered through my mind. We’d been scoping out Drew’s house, planning our attack while hoping to rescue Violet and Glenn.

  That night seemed like forever ago.

  My gaze drifted to Eli. I took in his profile. His features were constricted, making him seem lost in thought. There was such a serious air surrounding him. While I knew the current situation called for a methodical mindset, I missed the ease of life we had before all this. How we used to roll around in bed laughing and doing other things. I missed cuddling on the couch while watching TV with Moonshine tucked between us. I missed the way things were before the Midnight Reaper and the death of his father.

  Eli glanced at me. Either he could feel me looking at him, or he was able to pick up on the shift in my emotions. Being bound to Julian still meant he harbored Julian’s gift of feeling others’ emotions. It was getting on my nerves.

  “You okay?” he asked. His hand reached for mine, and our fingers interlaced. I enjoyed the warmth of his palm against mine.

  I nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

  Eli opened his mouth to say something, but Julian stopped walking. His hand lifted into the air, signaling we pause too, as his head tipped to the side.

  Had he picked up on something?

  “Do you feel that?” Julian asked.

  “Feel what?” I asked.

  “Sorry, but I was talking to Eli,” Julian insisted.

  “Oh.”

  Eli tensed beside me. My wolf went on guard.

  “Think it’s Roman?” Eli asked.

  What were they feeling? Evil? Hunger?

  Julian’s brows pinched together. “Most definitely.”

  Music floated to my ears. Not just any music—high school band music. The beat of the drums echoed through the trees.

  A thought came to me that turned my blood cold.

  “The game!” I shouted. “There’s a football game happening tonight. The homecoming game. Half the town will be there. You don’t think...”

  “Oh, yeah. My brother is definitely going to the game.” Julian scanned the woods. “How close are we to the high school?”

  “Close. It’s just through the woods that way.” I started in the direction of Mirror Lake High.

  I hoped we were right in thinking the guys had sensed Roman and that he was headed for the game. If so, this all could end tonight. However, a part of me also hoped we were wrong. There was a real risk people would get hurt. People I knew. My breath hitched.

  Gracie and Cooper were supposed to go to the game tonight.

  The conversation from earlier with them flipped through my head. I’d been walking Moonshine when I overheard Gracie say to Cooper she wanted to do something normal tonight. I’d thought she would be safe so I’d encouraged the two of them to go to the game.

  Knots formed in my stomach, and I quickened my pace. If Roman was headed there, we needed to stop him.

  The lights of the football field came into view as the three of us exited the woods. We rounded an oddly shaped building that had been a real estate office for as long as I could remember and continued to the sidewalk. I glanced around, taking in the traffic to my right while searching through the shadows for Roman. I didn’t want to miss him if he was lurking nearby.

  A car horn honked. Laughter and the sound of car doors slamming floated through the air the closer to the high school we came. Murmured conversations and the drumbeat from the song the marching band played made its way to my ears. The line at the ticket booth wound into the parking lot and was filled with chatting people.

  Practically everyone in Mirror Lake was here tonight—exactly like I’d thought they would be.

  “Why would Roman come here?” Eli asked. “It seems like the last place any supernatural would want to be. Too many people are crowded together, and it’s so damn loud.”

  “Why not?” Julian countered. “To a vampire lost to bloodlust, this is a buffet.”

  My stomach flip-flopped. He was right. There were loads of people to choose from here. Young. Old. He could even have an entire group of people to feast on if he wanted, picking them off one by one. In a crowd this size it would be a while before anyone noticed someone missing.

  Perfume from a group of young girls nearby clung to the breeze. It was sickeningly sweet. I glanced at them. Each wore too much makeup in an effort to appear older than they were, and their clothes were way too revealing.

  Gran would have kicked my ass if I’d left home dressed like them. Actually, she still would and I didn’t even live with her.

  A guy in his late teens walked by the group of girls as I stared. They batted their lashes and grinned after him like lovesick puppies. My lips curled. They would be such easy targets for Roman. All he would have to do is flash a smile and show them a bit of attention. They’d be eating out of the palm of his hand without him having to tap into his mind juju powers. Then, they’d be dead.

  God, we needed to find him.

  The three of us stepped in line at the ticket booth. Another group of girls who looked to be a little older than Gracie waited in front of us. I tried not to listen to their conversation while they giggled about some guy. Instead, I swept my eyes through the crowd around us. When a tall guy with dark hair and similar body type as Roman’s sauntered toward me, my wolf went on guard. Eli squeezed my hand, steadying me.

  “It’s not him,” he whispered.

  My gaze zeroed in on the guy’s face. He had a baby face—one way too young to be Roman. The kid was just tall for his age. And
built. What the heck were his parents feeding him? I watched as he cut in front of us in line and realized the girls had been chatting about him.

  My wolf growled.

  The overstimulation of my senses from being in a crowd this large and excited was getting to her. Eli let out a slow breath, and I imagined it was getting to him as well. If not worse. After all, he was the one with empathic tendencies now, thanks to drinking Julian’s blood.

  “I haven’t been to a football game in a long time,” Eli said when he caught me staring at him. His free hand smoothed over his face. “There sure are a lot of emotions flying around.”

  “I wish I could give you some pointers on how to shield yourself from it all, but it’s hard to do in a crowd this size,” Julian insisted.

  We moved forward in line.

  “Do either of you sense Roman?” I asked.

  Eli shook his head. He released my hand and smoothed both hands over his face. “I can’t focus.” He glanced at Julian. “Is he even here?”

  “Oh, he’s here,” Julian insisted. “I’m just not sure where.”

  Great. It was like a game of Where’s Waldo, but with a psychotic vampire hell-bent on killing people.

  Fun.

  When it was our turn to pay for our tickets, Julian whipped out his credit card first. Eli didn’t seem to object. He was too occupied with pressing his fingertips to his temples to care. I let it slide too, but I did toss out a thank you. The tickets were overpriced, so he’d done us a huge favor by paying for them.

  Once we bypassed the front gate and maneuvered through the crowd congregating near it, I resumed my search for Roman.

  “You know your brother better than anyone,” Eli said. “In a crowd this size, would he stick to the sidelines or be in the thick of everyone?”

  “It would depend on his mood. There isn’t a way to tell,” Julian insisted. He maneuvered around a group of teen boys fist-bumping one another and laughing over something. “We’ll have to search both.”

  A girl screamed nearby, capturing my attention. My heart kick-started as I spun in the direction of her. Adrenaline spiked through my system only to fizzle out seconds later once I spotted her. She wasn’t in danger. Some guy had picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. Now they seemed to be flirting with one another.

  My wolf paced.

  I tried to calm her down, but it did no good. She’d remain on high alert until we were out of here safely. So would I.

  “That doesn’t help us much. We can’t just wander around aimlessly through all these people.” I pushed my way through a group of people talking. One of them shot me a nasty look when I accidentally bumped her. I ignored her as best I could. It was for the best.

  “Maybe we would have a better chance of spotting him from a higher location,” Eli suggested. He’d stopped massaging his temples, but the look etched into his face indicated he was still having a hard time being in this crowd.

  “So, head to the bleachers maybe?” I asked. It was the highest location I could think of.

  “Good idea,” Eli said.

  We started in that direction, but then Julian paused.

  “Wait. I think I’m picking up on him again,” he said.

  Eli positioned me behind him. “Me too.”

  I scanned those around us but didn’t see Roman. However, I could feel someone’s eyes on us.

  On me.

  The sensation prickled across my skin. Where was it coming from?

  “He’s close,” Julian insisted.

  A whistle blew and the game started. People crowded around us, eager to take their seat on the bleachers or to gain a better view of the field.

  Where was Roman? I still didn’t see him.

  “There.” Julian pointed to my right. “Under the bleachers.”

  I spun around, seeking out the area he’d mentioned. Shadows encapsulated the space beneath the bleachers, but I could clearly make out someone standing there. They leaned against the metal supports holding the bleachers up.

  Roman stepped forward, coming out of the shadows. His arms crossed as a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. Arrogance oozed from him. For a moment I thought he was looking at Julian, but then I realized his eyes were on me. He winked and the words he’d said after taking Ridley flashed through my mind: I’d love to go head-to-head with you. You’re spunky and I find you interesting.

  I shook the thought away, choosing to focus on the fact that we’d found him. Now, the question was: Would we be able to catch him?

  2

  “Stay here,” Eli whispered, his lips brushed my ear as his hands gently gripped my hips. “Let me and Julian go after him.”

  “Like hell,” I said.

  He should know better than to even suggest such a thing to me. There was no way I’d let him and Julian take down Roman without me. I hadn’t come along tonight for moral freaking support.

  When Eli moved forward, so did I.

  Eli could have argued with me, but he knew once I made my mind up about something there was no changing it. Besides, there wasn’t time. Roman was within sight, and we needed to act. Now.

  Roman didn’t move as the three of us made our way to him, but the smirk on his face did become more prominent. My wolf snapped at me. She wanted free. Her desire to tear into him for all the pain he’d caused those we cared about pulsed to life. She didn’t give a damn if there were witnesses.

  Seconds before the three of us reached the bleachers, Roman took a step forward.

  A challenge was reflected in his eyes as he shifted his gaze to each of us. He laughed once, and then was gone in a blur of vampire speed. I spun around, searching for him, but he’d disappeared. The marching band played a challenging tune to the opponent’s team. Cheerleaders shouted. And Roman was gone. He’d vanished in the midst of the noise and people.

  “We lost him,” I said. Anger burned through me. I couldn’t believe how close we’d been, but I wasn’t nearly as pissed as my wolf. She howled out her rage.

  “No, we didn’t.” Julian nodded toward the chain link fence along the opposite side of the football field.

  Roman leaned against it, watching us. There was a wide smile stretched across his face.

  He was toying with us. Typical.

  I opened my mouth to say so, but Julian dashed away. He’d given into his vampire speed and raced through the crowd to catch his brother.

  “We need to get over there,” Eli insisted. His hand clasped mine, and he pulled me with him through the crowd.

  We moved fast, but not fast enough. By the time we reached the fence, Roman and Julian were both long gone.

  “Shit,” Eli muttered. “Where did they go?”

  “They could be anywhere by now,” I said.

  My cell chimed in my back pocket, signaling a new text. Maybe it was Julian telling us where Roman was headed now. When I pulled my cell out, Julian’s name didn’t light my screen—Ridley’s did. I read her text.

  Benji is awake.

  Those three words had my heart skipping a beat. I reread them as disbelief and happiness warred within me.

  Benji was awake!

  That meant he’d survived the transition of becoming a vampire. Normally I wasn’t overly emotional about things, but this news brought tears to my eyes. I’d been worried about him. About Ridley too. I wasn’t sure what would happen to her if he didn’t pull through. She was strong, but I knew being the reason someone you cared for was no longer in your life could break even the strongest. I’d seen it happen with my dad.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Eli asked. Concern flared within his tone. “Is it Julian?”

  I lifted my gaze to lock with his. “No. It’s Ridley. Benji is awake. He’s okay!”

  The tension melted from Eli’s face.

  “That’s good.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You should go be with Ridley. Be with Benji. I’ll see if I can track down Julian and Roman.”

  “Are you sure?” I didn’t know if that was
the best idea.

  Eli licked his lips. “Absolutely. You should be there, if not for moral support for Benji, then for Ridley.”

  “Okay.” I directed my attention back to my cell and tapped out a message to Ridley.

  I’ll be there as soon as I can. — Mina

  “How are you going to find Roman and Julian?” I asked Eli. Was he planning on using his newly gained ability to feel them out? I didn’t think that would work all that well. He didn’t know how to use it to his advantage the way Julian did.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Maybe I should text Julian,” I suggested.

  “That’s probably a good place to start. Why didn’t I think of it?” A smirk twisted his lips, but I could tell it was forced.

  “You sure you’re okay with me going to Ridley’s? I can always swing by there later.”

  He shook his head. His index finger and thumb pinched at the bridge of his nose. “No, you should be there. I’m fine. Or at least I will be once I get out of this crowd. Text Julian, please.”

  “All right.”

  Where are you? — Mina

  “Let’s get out of here,” Eli said. “Head to the parking lot. It’s hard to think in the midst of all these people.”

  “Yeah, sure.” I walked beside Eli as we headed that way.

  My cell chimed.

  I tracked him to Love Street. Wasn’t able to capture him though. He tricked me.

  Love Street? That was almost on the other side of town. There was no way Eli or I would have been able to keep up with him. Not in human form.

  “He’s on Love Street,” I told Eli.

  “Damn, they made it far in no time at all.”