MOON BOUND

Marcus

The front door shook under the second hit.

Wood cracked. The heavy bolts held, but not by much.

Kael pushed Raven behind him and moved into the main room. Sierra was already at the window, rifle up, eyes hard.

“How many?” Kael asked.

“At least eight outside. Maybe more in the trees.” Sierra chambered a round. “They’re not trying to be quiet anymore.”

Another slam hit the door. A long split ran down the center of the wood.

Raven’s pulse roared in her ears. She could hear everything too clearly now — the breathing of the wolves outside, the creak of the porch boards, the soft growl building in Kael’s chest. Her skin felt tight. Hot. Like something under it wanted out.

Kael glanced back at her once. “Basement. Go.”

“No.”

He turned fully. Blood still dried on his shirt. His eyes burned. “Raven—”

“I’m not hiding while you both fight.” Her voice came out steadier than she expected. “Tell me what to do.”

Sierra made a short sound that might have been a laugh. “She’s got teeth after all.”

The door took a third hit. One of the bolts tore halfway out of the frame.

Kael’s jaw flexed. He pointed to the fireplace. “Iron poker. If anything gets past us, you use it. Aim for the eyes or the throat. Do not freeze.”

Raven grabbed the poker. The metal felt cold and solid in her hands.

The door exploded inward.

Two wolves came through the gap in a rush of fur and teeth. Kael met the first one head-on. They crashed into the couch and flipped it. Sierra fired once. The second wolf staggered but kept coming. She fired again. It dropped.

More poured through the broken doorway.

Raven backed up until her shoulders hit the stone of the fireplace. Her hands shook around the poker. A lean gray wolf broke past Kael and came straight at her.

Time slowed.

She saw the teeth. The yellow eyes. The bunch of muscle in its shoulders.

She swung.

The poker connected with a hard c***k against the side of its skull. The wolf yelped and slammed into the wall. It scrambled up, shook its head, and came again.

Raven swung a second time. Missed. The wolf’s shoulder hit her in the ribs and knocked the air out of her. She hit the floor hard. The poker skittered away.

Hot breath hit her face. Teeth snapped inches from her throat.

Then the wolf was gone — ripped sideways by Kael. He drove it into the floor with a snarl that shook the room. Bones cracked. The body went still.

Kael pulled her up by the arm. “You good?”

She nodded, even though her ribs screamed.

Another wave hit the doorway. Sierra had moved to the hallway, firing controlled shots. Two more bodies littered the floor. Blood smeared the wood.

Kael shoved Raven toward the stairs. “Up. Second floor. Lock yourself in the back room.”

“Kael—”

“Go!”

She ran. Her boots slipped on blood. Behind her the fight grew louder — snarls, the heavy impact of bodies, Sierra shouting something sharp. Raven took the stairs two at a time. The upstairs hallway was dark. She found the last door, slammed it shut, and locked it.

The room was small. A bed. A window that looked out over the back of the property. Moonlight cut across the floor.

Raven pressed her back to the door, breathing hard. Her hands would not stop shaking. The poker was still downstairs. She had nothing.

Outside, the howls rose again. Closer to the house now.

She moved to the window and looked down.

Wolves circled the back of the pack house. Five, maybe six. Waiting. One of them was larger than the others, scar across its muzzle. The same one from the clearing.

It looked up.

Straight at her window.

Raven stepped back fast.

The lock on the bedroom door rattled.

She spun.

The handle turned once. Twice. Then a heavy shoulder hit the other side.

“Raven.” Kael’s voice. Rough. “It’s me. Open it.”

She unlocked the door. He came through fast and shut it behind him. Fresh blood ran from a cut above his eye. His left arm hung wrong.

“Sierra?” she asked.

“Holding the stairs. We pushed most of them back, but they’re regrouping.” He crossed to the window, looked out, and swore under his breath. “Marcus is here. The scarred one. He’s not sending scouts anymore. He’s leading.”

The pull in Raven’s chest twisted hard. She could feel Kael’s pain like it was her own. The heat under her skin had gotten worse. Her vision sharpened. She could see the individual leaves on the trees outside even in the dark.

Kael turned from the window and stared at her. “Your eyes.”

“What?”

“They’re changing.” He stepped closer. One hand came up like he wanted to touch her face, then stopped. “Gold. Just around the edges. It’s happening faster than it should.”

A loud crash shook the house below them. Sierra shouted Kael’s name.

He moved to the door, then looked back at Raven. “Stay in this room. No matter what you hear.”

He was gone before she could answer.

Raven locked the door again. Her legs felt unsteady. She sat on the edge of the bed and pressed her hands to her eyes. When she pulled them away, her fingernails looked longer. Darker. She stared at them until her stomach turned.

Below, the fight started up again. Heavy. Violent. Something large hit a wall hard enough to make the floor vibrate.

Then everything went quiet.

Too quiet.

Raven stood and moved back to the window.

The wolves at the back of the house were gone.

All of them.

She pressed her face closer to the glass, trying to see into the trees.

A hand slammed against the window from the outside.

Raven jerked back with a cry.

Marcus stood on the narrow ledge below the second-floor window like it was nothing. Still in wolf form. Scar clear across his muzzle. Gold eyes locked on hers through the glass.

He raised one clawed paw and dragged it slowly down the pane. The sound set her teeth on edge.

Then he shifted.

Fur pulled back. Bones cracked and reformed. In seconds a man stood on the ledge instead of a wolf. Tall. Lean. Dark hair streaked with gray. The scar still cut across his face. He smiled like he already owned her.

“Hello, little latent,” he said, voice clear even through the glass. “Kael can’t keep you. Not from me.”

He slammed his fist into the window.

Glass spiderwebbed.

Raven stumbled back toward the door, hands searching for anything to use as a weapon. Nothing.

Marcus hit the glass again.

A long c***k split down the center.

From the hallway outside the bedroom came the sound of running boots and Kael’s voice, raw and furious.

“Raven!”

The window exploded inward.

Marcus came through with it.