Full Moon Rises

Chapter Five

The next time I awakened, it was to the sound of murmured voices outside the room I had been sleeping in.

I strained my ears slightly to see if I could make out any of the mumbles and was stunned when they came across crystal clear.

“You can’t just keep her here Daniel, some wolf turned her, and they’re not going to stop until they get her back.” I recognized the voice as Alex, the blonde guy who’d been there when I had first woken up.

“They’re not getting her,” that was Daniel’s voice; I was confident. “I won’t let her go to a pack that would turn her without any regard to what she actually wants.”

I furrowed my brows in confusion. What the hell were they talking about? Were they talking about me?

“Daniel, you can’t just keep her! She’s not a pet. Judging by the way she was turned last night, she already belongs to someone!” Alex’s voice was getting louder, and I flinched at the anger radiating from him.

“She belongs to me,” Daniel stated firmly.

“Yeah, she submitted to you, Daniel. Once. After she’d just woken up, she won’t do it again, and then will you finally let her go?” Alex was pleading with Daniel, but I didn’t understand the point of their argument.

I didn’t belong to anyone.

“Fine. If she doesn’t submit to me and actually wants to go find who turned her, then I’ll let her go.” Daniel sighed in resignation.

I tensed; I didn’t want to go to whoever bit me. Everything inside of me was telling me to stay with Daniel, to trust this stranger with my life. It was all a little confusing, and I really just wanted some answers.

Slowly, I climbed out of the bed and padded across the tiled floor to the oak doorway where the voices were coming from. I took a deep breath and prised open the door. Coming face to face with Daniel and Alex.

My heart fluttered at Daniel’s dimpled smile, but a low rumble deep in my throat escaped me when I glanced at Alex.

“You can stop growling at me, sunshine.” Alex grit out, cutting me a glare.

I wasn’t even aware the sound was coming from my own mouth.

I silenced immediately and looked desperately at Daniel. Daniel gave me a sympathetic look and held his arm out. I didn’t need to be offered twice and instantly curled my body against the man’s warm one. I was smiling smugly at the disbelieving look Alex gave me.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” Alex continued. “So you got yourself a clingy little b***h, big deal. Now, send her on her way.”

Excuse me?

“What did you just call me?” I stepped forward, a wave of uncontrollable anger racing through my veins.

Alex took a step back, startled, and Daniel reached out for my shoulder, but I just shook him off.

A growl filled the room, and I wasn’t sure who it came from, but it spurred me on, and I promptly had Alex pinned against the wall.

For a few moments, Alex looked terrified before snarling at me, displaying huge canines that definitely weren’t there a second ago.

My confusion was enough distraction for Alex to reverse our positions. However, that didn’t work for long, as I pushed forward and slammed Alex hard into the opposite wall.

It was as if my body didn’t belong to me.

“That’s not possible,” Alex’s eyes widened, fighting uselessly. I didn’t care what Alex was talking about. I pulled him back and slammed him again into the wall like it was nothing.

It was then that Daniel finally chose to intervene, throwing me back into the opposite wall and pinning me there with his body.

I ignored him entirely and tried to push him off, but it didn’t work. Daniel was as good as a brick wall, unbelievable strength holding me firmly in place. I shot a pissed-off glare at Daniel, finding myself snarling at the man only for Daniel to growl fiercely at me, flashing his own pair of huge canines.

I finally took a moment to calm.

I was scared, wanted to know what the hell these guys were. Then at the same time, my body was telling me to give myself over, to surrender, to do whatever the alpha wanted. 

Alpha? I asked my subconscious mind, no idea what even my own brain was thinking.

Unconsciously I shifted my head to the side, showing Daniel the expanse of my throat and calming dramatically in the process. I didn’t know what I was waiting for but was rewarded when Daniel clamped those canines around the delicate skin at my pulse point. Not hard enough to break the skin but hard enough to stake his claim.

I didn’t know what was going on, but again, I didn’t care. Something inside of me burst with the excitement of being claimed by this man.

***

Daniel hummed in approval as his teeth clamped around Jia’s throat, the newborn werewolf submitting so easily for him.

It took everything inside of him to not bite down, break the skin and claim her as his mate right now, but he fought against it. He’d already made his claim on Jia. Nobody else would touch her without Daniel’s permission.

Using his teeth wasn’t something he should have done, but he couldn’t help himself. Instinct was riding over his better judgment right now.

Reluctantly he let go, loving the whimper Jia let out from the loss and smiled warmly into those bright hazel-green eyes that were quickly changing color like his own. Tiny flecks of gold were visibly taking over and would probably have turned her entire iris in a couple of days.

“I’m sorry,” Jia whispered, and Daniel nodded his acceptance.

Suddenly the door from the living room was slammed open to reveal an angry-looking Noelle. Who froze and noticeably calmed at the sight of them. “Woah, there is far too much testosterone in here,” she glanced between the two men and smiled warmly at Jia as Daniel backed away from her.

“Hi there, I’m Noelle,” she held out her hand for her to take and shook it firmly. “I’m like the funniest person to be around. Don’t let Daniel tell you otherwise,” she winked at her before turning to Daniel, her face suddenly serious. “Steele thinks Theo was on your property last night. We can’t be sure because there’s no trail and only a faint scent, but it’s all we have to go on.”

Daniel growled low in his throat. What the hell was Theo doing in his territory?

“Thank you, Noelle. Tell Steele I’ll speak to him later and to give the border a quick sweep with Hirano before he goes to bed tonight.”

“Sure thing, boss,” she grinned as Daniel’s eyes rolled. He really hated being called boss, Alpha, Sir… just about anything that puts him above anyone else.

“Daniel, if you just claimed Theo’s new wolf, then you better start writing your will.” Alex glared at Jia once more before making his exit with Noelle.

“So…” Jia started, “He doesn’t like me.”

“Alex’s a douche,” Daniel shrugged. “He doesn’t like anyone, but he’s actually great when you get to know him.”

“I’m sorry I’ve caused you problems,” Jia hung her head low. Daniel could clearly see her emotions were all over the place.

Daniel placed a finger under her chin and lifted it until their eyes met, “Never.” he whispered earnestly.

“Never is a long time,” Jia laughed softly, eyes still sad.

“I know,” Daniel smiled gently at her. “I think it’s time I told you what was going on.”