Touch of Gray 4 - Runaway Moon Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Description

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  About the Author

  Dear Readers...

  Gems of Romantic Fiction

  ResplendencePublishing.com

  Runaway Moon

  A Touch of Gray Story

  By Dakota Rebel

  Resplendence Publishing

  R·>♦<·P

  www.resplendencepublishing.com

  Gems of Romantic Fiction

  Runaway Moon

  Copyright © 2016, Dakota Rebel

  Edited by Michele Paulin and Marti Ocilka

  Cover Art by Les Byerley

  Published by Resplendence Publishing, LLC

  1093 A1A Beach Blvd, #146

  St. Augustine, FL 32080

  Electronic format ISBN: 978-1-60735-958-6

  Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Electronic Release: August 2016

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.

  After being gone for two months, Bryce Grayson, alpha of the Detroit were-panther clan, sends out a call to his cats, pulling their beasts before the full-moon cycle and causing all of them, including his brother Cole’s boyfriend, Sebastian, to run north to find him. An eclipse and a blood moon in perigee right over Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are affecting more than just the tides in Lake Superior. The lunar storm has weres, ghosts and hormones running rampant.

  Emotions run high between the brothers, the lovers and the panthers. The boys soon learn that when the demon you’re running from is nature, there aren’t a whole lot of places to hide.

  Note: Runaway Moon is part of the Touch of Gray series, telling the ongoing adventures of Cole, Bryce and Sebastian. Each book can be read and enjoyed as a standalone story.

  This one is for Liza

  Chapter One

  “Hey, Bast,” I called to Sebastian from the front office. “Can you do me a favor?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Will you marry me?”

  “You have to fucking stop that,” he yelled. I heard something heavy smash in the back and cringed.

  I’d been asking him to marry me for two months, and as of yet, he still refused. I hoped that if I caught him off guard one day, he’d say yes. Whether out of confusion or frustration, I didn’t really care. I just wanted him to agree.

  Since my brother, Bryce, had taken off on us after a job in Cleveland, Sebastian and I had been trying to find our way alone. We’d both grown accustomed to Bryce’s presence in our relationship, and the adjustment wasn’t going well. Especially for Sebastian. The absence of Bryce, his panther clan’s alpha, was driving Sebastian up a wall. The panther inside him wasn’t taking the situation well, either. The beast was so close to the surface all the time now, lashing out at any given moment. It wanted its master back. Bryce and Bastian had been a couple in their furry forms, and that had been my brother’s catalyst to leave us in the first place. He was falling for my lover, and he didn’t want to come between us, so he’d split. The problem was, neither of us had wanted him to go.

  It had been hard sharing Sebastian with him three nights a month, but not as hard as this was. This was torture. This was agony. This was bullshit.

  At least, his panther clan had held up reasonably well. I couldn’t have taken a leap of big cats bitching and screaming and trashing my living room at all hours of the day and night. One asshole doing that was enough for me, thanks.

  The crashing in the back of the office got louder, and I feared I knew what Sebastian was doing back there. As much as I didn’t want to, I got to my feet and headed toward the storm brewing in the rear of the building.

  I stood in the doorway, leaning on the jamb and watching Sebastian destroying Bryce’s cage with a sledgehammer. He was shirtless, sweaty and swinging the tool with such force I saw the muscles playing in his arms on every downward thrust.

  They hadn’t used the cages in over a year anyway, so the destruction wasn’t really going to affect anything. But that it was my brother’s cage getting the smash treatment spoke volumes about my lover’s anger toward Bryce at the moment.

  “Whatcha doin’?” I asked, when he didn’t bother to acknowledge me.

  “Cleaning,” he replied, his tone clipped. “Isn’t that what we’re doing today? Cleaning the office for all of the clients who’ve stopped coming around?”

  “Maybe—and this is just a thought—they wouldn’t have disappeared if you didn’t act like a bitchy queen every time someone walked in the door. I’m sorry it’s not Bryce when the bell rings. I’m sorry I’m not him, and I can’t fill that hole in your heart. But you have to pull yourself together. If you’re going to be pissed at someone, be pissed at him, not me. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m still here.”

  He deflated, dropping the hammer to the floor and staring down at it, his whole body sagging. A heavy sigh blew from his lips, his shoulders shaking with suppressed sobs. If I hadn’t been so pissed at him, I’d have wrapped my arms around him to try to comfort him. Part of me feared he’d punch me if I tried to get near him.

  It had been a rough couple months, to say the least.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, after a full minute. “I know I’ve been a dick. I just… I don’t know what to do. I didn’t know… I didn’t realize…”

  “What he really meant to you until he was gone?” I offered as I took a tentative step toward him. “Yeah, I understand that.”

  Because I felt the same. Yes, Bryce was my brother and we’d always been close. But him being gone was like losing one of my limbs. On most days, I felt as if I were operating without my dominant hand. I’d never fully appreciated what a huge part of my life he was. He was more than just a brother, more than a best friend. He was a piece of my soul.

  “I know it’s not fair to keep doing this to you,” Sebastian said, looking at me for the first time all day. “Maybe, I should go, too.”

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” I snapped. “I’m trying to get you to marry me, to legally pledge to spend the rest of your life with me. And you’re thinking about leaving, too? I can’t take this. Jesus Christ, the men in my life are fucking nut cases.”

  “I just meant it might be easier for you if you didn’t have to deal with my beast’s issues.”

  “Your beast? Right.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at me.

  “This isn’t just your panther,” I answered. “This is you. You love him, and you’re pissed that he left you. Your beast is a fucking weak excuse. If you think I don’t know, you’re crazier than I thought. Hell, you’ve already told me you love him. Were you under the impression I didn’t fully understand the scope of that? You’d been sleeping with him for months. How could you not love him?”

  “And that doesn’t bother you?”

  “Of course, it bothers me! It kills me that I can’t have you all to myself. But for us, for some fucked up reason, we need him. He’s part of t
his family. It may be untraditional or, hell, even unacceptable. But I couldn’t care less. If he walked in that door right now, I would strip you naked and we’d both ravage your body. Again. Because I don’t think you’ve felt whole since the last time we did.”

  The bell over the front door jingled, and we both froze, staring at each other for a moment before I ran for the front office, Sebastian hot on my heels.

  I tried not to look disappointed to see Darla, one of the panther pack, standing in front of Bryce’s desk. Bastian didn’t bother to hide his feelings. He just walked away, and within a minute, I heard him resume his blasting of the remnants of my brother’s cage.

  “What’s up?” I asked her, motioning for her to sit in Bryce’s chair.

  “All of the men have disappeared,” she answered, her voice completely dead and monotone.

  “Excuse me?”

  Her abruptness took me by surprise. She was one of the few panthers I knew well, and we’d always been friendly. Before Bryce’s beast had chosen Sebastian, we’d talked about Bryce choosing her as a mate to help him run the pack. She was a great girl, and I think Bryce choosing Bastian had really hurt her. Before becoming a panther, Bryce had always preferred women. We’d all been surprised by the alpha’s choice of partner, even him.

  “The men in the pack, they’ve all gone. Picked up and left. They didn’t tell their families or their bosses or their friends that they were going. Two days ago, I started getting phone calls from the wives and girlfriends, asking if I knew where they were. But none of the men had said anything to me. Everyone is just gone.”

  “Bastian is still here,” I countered, nodding toward the ruckus from the back.

  “I know. That’s why I’m here. With our alpha gone, Sebastian’s supposed to be in charge of the clan. I’m hoping he can call them back.” She glanced toward the destructive sounds still emanating from Bastian. “It’s two nights until the full moon, and it’s a blood moon. Plus, there’s going to be an eclipse. The pack shouldn’t be separated with so much lunar activity happening at one time. We get wild enough with a normal cycle. With all of this shit happening at once, it isn’t likely to be a walk in the park. I can’t imagine where the guys could have gone.”

  “Do you think it’s because Bryce isn’t here?” I asked, raising my voice to be heard over Sebastian’s noise.

  “I’m not sure… What is he doing back there?” She stood and walked toward the rear of the building. I was grateful for it. Maybe, another panther could talk some fucking sense into my boyfriend because I certainly wasn’t having any luck.

  I took out my phone and scrolled through my messages. The last time Bryce had contacted me had been about two weeks ago. When he’d gone, he’d left a message that he would be unreachable, and for the most part, he’d been radio silent. But on a few occasions, he’d sent word that he was okay. That was all. Just random “I’m still alive” texts.

  When the first few had come through, I hadn’t told Bastian, figuring if Bryce wanted to talk to him, he could do so directly. But when the lack of contact had gotten too stressful for my lover, I’d finally told him I’d heard from my brother and he was okay. It had seemed to calm Bastian to know that Bryce wasn’t dead somewhere, so I’d made sure to share all future communications. There had only been two more.

  I, on the other hand, sent Bryce texts almost daily. At first begging him to come back, promising to talk things out like a grown up, even offering to step aside if he and Sebastian needed each other that badly. I just wanted our family back together. Since all I’d gotten in reply to my personal messages were a generic, “Still alive, no time to talk feels with you”, I’d stopped.

  Lately, I’d only sent random updates on what was happening around the office. Nothing personal anymore. If he wanted to be gone, I couldn’t make him come back, but if I could make sure he didn’t forget us completely, wherever he was, that would have to be enough. For the moment.

  I considered sending another message, letting him know what Darla had told me, but I thought I should get the whole story before letting Bryce in on it. If I was going to have a surefire way to get him home, I wanted to make certain it was completely legit, or I’d risk having him run away again when he found out I’d just cried wolf…or panther.

  Bastian and Darla returned to the main office, him with his arm around her shoulders. When I saw her face, red and wet with tears, the urge to call my brother increased. I hadn’t noticed earlier, but she looked like hell.

  “Darla, can I get you some coffee?” I asked, standing to offer her my chair.

  She nodded so I fired up our one-cup coffeemaker while Bastian settled her at my vacant desk. I caught his gaze over her head and noticed he too looked concerned. So, this probably wasn’t nothing.

  “Have you spoken with the other females in the pack?” I asked, handing her a steaming cup.

  “Not yet,” she admitted, taking a sip. “I’ve left messages for all of them, though.”

  “You mentioned this full moon is a blood moon. If the lunar cycle made the men take off, would it have affected the women, as well?”

  “It should,” she answered. “Christ, I didn’t even think that the women were gone, too. No one has reported them missing yet.”

  “Why are you two still here then?” I asked, looking from Darla to Bastian.

  “I’m a beta,” he said.. “My powers differ, on some levels, from the…lesser cats.” He gave Darla a look of clear apology, as if he had said something offensive. “If this is a lunar-based issue, I may have better resistance to it. If someone is kidnapping the weres… Well, I haven’t left the office in over a week, so no one has had a chance.”

  “What about you?” I asked Darla.

  “I would have been beta if Bryce hadn’t chosen Sebastian,” she said, shrugging. “I’m stronger than the rest of the pack, too. And I don’t think anyone was snatched. It would be almost impossible to kidnap an entire clan without anyone noticing.”

  “Darla said she’s hoping you can call them.” I turned back to Sebastian. “Can you do that?”

  “Only Bryce can.” He shook his head for emphasis. “I think we need to contact him. With the full moon so close, I’m worried about the whole pack running off to who knows where and for who knows what. They could shift somewhere inappropriate. People could get hurt. I know he’s off licking his wounds somewhere, but this pack is still his responsibility, and he needs to get his ass home.”

  “Okay,” I agreed. “Darla, keep us posted on anything else that seems out of the ordinary. If you need us for anything, don’t hesitate to call. We’ll be here.”

  “Thanks, guys.” She stood and stared at us both for a full minute. “You two look like shit.”

  We watched her leave, not really knowing how to respond to that. When I looked over at Bastian, he was gazing at me, an expression of surprise on his face.

  “What?” I asked defensively.

  “She’s right. You look terrible.”

  “Yeah, well, so’s your face,” I retorted. “Come on, let’s close up and head home. We’ll both blow up Bryce’s phone until he answers.” I looked my lover up and down. He appeared rather skinny and pale. “And get you some food. Jesus, have you lost weight?”

  He shrugged, glancing down at himself. His jeans were barely staying up on his hips, and his ribs showed more definition than his ab muscles used to allow. How hadn’t I noticed?

  Because, I answered myself, you’ve been so wrapped up in missing your brother, you’ve been neglecting Sebastian for months. Fuck, we really needed to fix this.

  Chapter Two

  Sebastian and I spent three straight hours calling and texting Bryce with no response from him. Finally, I decided it was time to give up and get some food into my boyfriend. My brother had said in the first note he’d sent after bailing that he was going somewhere we wouldn’t be able to reach him. Maybe, the reason he never had time to call or text real messages was because he was in a location with spotty c
ell reception. Or maybe, he was just a selfish asshole. Either way, we obviously weren’t going to hear back from him immediately.

  The sun was setting by the time our Chinese delivery arrived. I spread the containers across the table, and Sebastian and I ate in silence, as we’d done so many nights over the past few months. The quiet was broken by a deep growl from Bastian.

  “Yes?” I asked, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow.

  “What?”

  “You growled.”

  “No, I didn’t.” He looked genuinely confused, and for a moment, I thought maybe I’d imagined it.

  I hadn’t even raised another forkful of noodles to my mouth before he did it again. When I glanced at him, he was still focused on his fried rice.

  “Sebastian?”

  “What?”

  “You seriously think I can’t hear that?”

  “Hear what?” A deeper growl thundered through his body, and his eyes grew wide as if surprised by the sound. “Sorry,” he said quickly. “I didn’t realize I was doing it.”

  “Well, why are you?”

  “I don’t—” His body stiffened for a moment before he slid to the floor. With a sound that was half-scream and half-roar, Bastian slammed into the bottom of the table.

  I rushed around the table and stared at the giant black panther lying in a heap on the floor. He whimpered softly, his blue eyes staring up at me. Even in his animal form, I saw the terror in his gaze.

  He shouldn’t have shifted until the first night of the full-moon cycle that started tomorrow. Plus, the sun had set nearly an hour ago. If he were going to shift, it should have happened already. But there he was, fuzzy as fuck on the ground. What the hell was going on?

  A loud banging issued from the office below. I turned to the door, calling to Sebastian to stay where he was and I’d be right back. I grabbed my .45 from the cabinet on the way and hit the stairwell at a run. When I reached the landing, I realized the noise came from the back door. We had a half-hinge door installed there, so the guys could get in and out of the apartment and office when they were shifted, but it had been locked for months. Bastian didn’t leave anymore at the full moon. Now, something banged against it, trying to get in.