In the Light of the Moon (Dark War Chronicles) (5 page)

“Lucius is going to love this.” She mumbled.

Kass shook her head, regretting it as her world went dark.

“Kass?” Mae’s voice sounded far away. “Come back to me.”

Her eyes fluttered open. “Don’t let Lucius see me. Can’t afford his
anger.” She mumbled out. “Panther, panther, not supposed to be any other ones
here.”

“That’s it, keep telling me.” Mae picked Kass up and started back into
the club. “Why aren’t there supposed to be other panthers here?”

Blackness ate at the corner over her vision, blurring the bar and
threatening to claim her again. “Rare, my clan is the only one in the states. I
don’t know where Jax came from.” She hissed as Mae laid her down. “Need to
shift, need to sleep, heal.”

“I don’t think it’s safe to sleep with the way you’re acting.” Mae went
silent.

Closing her eyes Kass took in the silence and cursed Mae’s gap in
shifter knowledge. As a panther Kass knew she could handle much more
damage.
 
Her eyes shot open and she
tried to sit up as the air shifted and Lucius power filled the room. “Damn it
Mae,” she snapped.

Lucius knelt by her, putting a hand on her chest to keep her down. “I
leave you and you get torn up.”

“Wouldn’t have happened if I could shift.” Kass grumbled, her panther
calm and sleeping now. “Could have kicked his ass.” The darkness threaded
through her vision, starting in lines and then bleeding out. Lucius voice
sounded miles away in the darkness.

“He shouldn’t have been near her.”

Jax crossed her mind as she gave into the bleak abyss that called to
her.
Lucius is right, he shouldn’t have
been near me….
 

Jaxon leaned back in the ugly upholstered
chair bored, by the lack of people in the hotel lobby this time of night. With
no innocent humans standing by he could understand why his client wanted to
meet here. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes as his mind drifted back to
Kass. Her red hair glinting in the moonlight, her blue eyes holding unyielding
rage, and the slender curves of her body against his when he pressed her up
against the wall. His body and his panther stirred an the memory caused him to
take a sharp intake of air.

Someone cleared their throat and Jax opened one eye.

“You located her,” the male in front of him stated. He towered over
Jax, dark auburn hair hung in front of his green eyes, his over muscled arms
bulged as he crossed them. “What you failed to mention was that she was
protected by vampires.”

He shifted in the seat. Lucius had been an unforeseen obstacle in the
plain, but he hadn’t told his clients about the vampire yet.
“He was a surprise to me. You said she
was taken by vampires, not that she was under the protection of the territory
ruler.”

“Lucius owns her, beast, body and soul. She doesn’t realize it, but she
can walk away from him and come back to us. We can protect her.” He smirked.
“Garrett went to go talk to her tonight, after you left her at the bar.”

Jax raised a brow. “I thought I smelt another panther following me.
She’s not interested in leaving Lucius, I can tell you that now.” His panther
paced beneath the surface, threatened by the other male and uneasy about the
idea of Kassity returning to them. “You said that even though he owns her, she
can walk away?”

“Yes.”

No change in breathing, no change in his body at all, and he kept eye
contact.

“And you can protect her?” Jax asked, leaning forward in his chair.

The man nodded. “We are capable of it.”

Jax noted the wording but shrugged it off. “Then why is she with
Lucius?”

“The other vampire must have taken her there. He tricked her into
staying with them and now that he’s dead she can leave. We told you that.”

Jax’s panther growled as the man mentioned another male in Kass’ life.
“Who killed the male?”

“Lucius.” He shrugged. “Kass would be able to find a proper mate if she
returned home.”

Jax’s heart skipped a beat. A proper mate, him, his panther. He tried
to hide the smile the crossed his face. “It’ll be easier for me to get her than
any of you guys. I’m already established in the territory.”

“Good, I’ll let Sarah know that you’ll bring Kass in.”

Sarah, another female panther. Jax crinkled his nose. “I thought it was
your father looking for Kass, not your mother.”

“Sarah is our sister, our mother was killed over twenty years ago. She
is going by my father’s orders, he has other things to worry about back home.
Our clan is affected by the war as well, you know.”

“I didn’t, I don’t have a clan so really the war doesn’t bother me. No
one I love is involved with it.” But there was a voice in his mind that
whispered Kass was involved, working for Lucius as his killer.

The male in front of him laughed. “Once we get this sorted, maybe you
can join our clan, we need people who aren’t blood. Variety is good.”

“If Kass is there and safe, that might not be a bad idea.” Jax mumbled,
looking away from the male, watching as a human came to the check in desk. “I
will try to get her away from the vampires before the next full moon. We will
have to teach her control again though, Lucius stripped her of it.”

The male rubbed his chin. “Interesting.” He held his hand out. “It was
good to meet with you Jaxon, I look forward to getting my sister back, safe.
Family is all we have.”

Jax shook the bigger man’s hand and nodded. “I’ll see what I can do for
you.” As he watched his client leave the lobby Jax couldn’t shake the feeling
of dread that caused his stomach to clench and his panther to pace.

Running,
always running. Trees rushed passed her as her paws moved silently across the
forest ground. Her paws pressed into the soft dirt, leaving prints that would
be easy to track, but she needed to try and escape.
 
She could hear the snarls and growls of
the others behind her, seeking to punish her. The taste of blood from the last
deer coated her tongue, soothing the starvation pains in her stomach and
calming her anger, putting even her human-self at ease. Her two brothers hunted
her to return her to her father so she could receive punishment for eating the
last meal on the property. She snarled as one blindsided her, slamming her into
a tree.

Kass opened her eyes to see Lucius’ black ones staring back at her.

“Stay with me, kitty, you’re hurt bad this time.”

She raised a hand to her head with a groan. “I’ll heal, let me shift,
please?”

“Not right now, your panther is too angry.” He pulled tight on the
bandage around her leg, adding to the pressure on the wounds there. “Had to
send Mae back to the mansion because she wanted to feed from you. What the fuck
were you thinking, fighting that panther?” The pain grounded her a bit, letting
her focus.

Kass leaned her head to the side as the room spun. She took a few deep
breaths as her stomach threatened to empty itself. “Didn’t know he was out
there.” Her vision started fading again. “No, no, no.” She grumbled as the
blackness pulled her down.

Human form now, a silver collar
around her neck, the pain threaded through her muscles and bones as her father
tortured her. He tried to call her beast knowing that it would not come while
she was wearing that collar. “Feel it Kassity?” The way he said her name made
her sick, drawing it out as if it was foreign. “She wants out to kill me, for
the pain that you’re in.”

She raised her eyes, her jaw
clenched as her muscles seized trying to shift. “Can’t say I blame her.” She
wouldn’t beg, she never begged him. She endured anything that he threw at her.
Her head whipped to the side as the door clicked open and her brothers stalked
in, all in panther form. She tugged against the wall, panic climbing through
her as she saw the look of malice in their eyes.
 

“Kass, Kassity, keep talking.” The way Lucius said her name reminded
her of her father.

She blinked up at him. “Hit my head pretty hard, it’s healing though,
pain is fading.”

“That’s good, tell me what happened, which brother was it?” He tore the
rest of her shirt away so he could examine the already healing claw marks
there.

She frowned. “How’d you know that it was one of my brothers?”

“Who else would attack you? It wasn’t Jax, it’s not his scent.” He
traced a hand over the wounds, causing a whimper to come out of her mouth. “No
new scars, you’re lucky, he cut you deep. Now, which one?”

“Garret.” She whispered her eyes shutting of their own accord.

The soft singing brought her
back from the pain, the brush of a cold hand smoothed her sweat soaked hair
away from her eyes. She looked up and met Sarah’s brown eyes. When had she come
back from school? Kass tried to sit up, but Sarah held her down.

“You’re hurt again. Picking
fights at the clubs?”

Kass knew this argument and
knew how her brothers
 
lied to her
sister. “Yeah, you know me, taking on guys twice my size.” She whispered and a
pain formed in her chest as she lied to her sister. Never taking a panther form
allowed Sarah the freedom Kass wanted. Needed.

“Well, you’ve got your big
sister here now. No more fighting.” Sarah’s smiled, “Mother would never approve
of you fighting.”

But their mothers weren’t the
same. Kass rolled over, keeping her head in Sarah’s lap. “Some days I don’t
have a choice.” She whispered, closing her eyes.

Kass jumped when freezing cold water flooded over her. She landed in a
crouch, her eyes searching the empty room for her attacker.

Lucius chuckled at her reaction. “Feeling better then? You were
dreaming.”

“How long have I been out?” She wiped the water from her face and then
squeezed it from her hair. “And could you not have found a better way to wake
me?”

“A day, and you were having a nightmare. I know how hard you are to
wake from one.” He crossed his arms. “Dreaming about home again?”

Anger crawled through her. “Yeah, we can thank Garret for that. What is
he doing in your territory?”

“I do not know. Kassity, watch your temper. I need you by my side
tonight. We have a meeting with the local wolf pack.” He motioned to her. “Go
wash up and meet me in the foyer.”

Meetings meant trouble, something must have shifted in the war, and yet
Lucius remained calm when he mentioned it. She narrowed her eyes at him before
wandering into her bathroom, hoping hot water could wash away the nightmares.

Kass walked in to the foyer, looking around
to see if the wolves had arrived yet. Her legs still shook under her, but
thanks to being a shifter the pain continued to fade and the damage already
started to heal. Her leather pants didn’t irritate the wound on her leg at all,
but the black long sleeve shirt bothered her shoulder. The v-neck of it plunged
low enough to show off the ample cleavage that she hated.
 

Lucius stood behind his human, tying a length of fabric around her
eyes, and pulling her hair over the back of it. He kissed the woman’s cheek.
“You look beautiful, Tegan.” He murmured. He took Tegan’s hand and led her to
his throne, helping the female sit and arrange herself.

Kass shivered at the sight, she never saw Tegan’s eyes and her hair
white hair never shown roots of a different color and Kass believed without a
doubt it was a natural occurrence.
 
Lucius turned from his human and looked at Kass.

“Kitty, you look lovely.” He held his hand out to her. “There are
precautions that must be taken tonight.” A silver collar appeared in his other
hand.

She snarled at him as her panther shrank back in her. “No.”

“Kassity.”

“You think something’s going to trigger her and bring her out tonight.
Despite the block you’ve placed between us.” She stated, ignoring the warning
in his voice. “A silver collar is torture.”

“It is needed tonight.” He snapped and pulled on his power in her.

Kass felt like a thread was pulling her towards him, a puppet obeying
its master. She snarled as she had no choice but to kneel in front of him.

He snapped the collar around her neck. “Good kitty.”

“How come the silver doesn’t burn you?” She whispered, trying to get
used to the burning sensation around her neck.

He chuckled and went to his throne. “That low of silver concentration
is made to feel uncomfortable and to keep the beast at bay. I am too old for it
to bother me.” He walked over to his throne. “Come, the wolves are here.”

She pulled herself up from the ground and walked over to him trying not
to touch the collar. Kass laid her hand in Lucius glaring at him. “How nice, it
means I won’t have a scar to add to my collection.”

“A strong panther like you having scars? Must do your fair share of
fighting.”