Raven Moon (22 page)

“I totally get it.” She shook her head. “How could he, a doctor, tolerate men buying zombie women for sex for so freakin long?”

Maddox sighed. “At least you put that crazy woman out of business.” He bowed his head in respect. “Permanently.”

“It’s been on my mind since she gave me an unauthorized pelvic exam.” She drove west past a slow moving herd of zombies heading the direction of what once was Stonefield Hospital.

Maddox wrinkled his nose. “I can’t believe the Kindred had sunk so low they were at the auction. Would they really buy zombie women?” Were they becoming more like tankers than the ancestral werewolf hunters out to save humans from wolf monsters?

“Hey, don’t forget me. Maybe they heard a living female was on the auction block.”

“Or tracked me there with the help of the gleipnir collared beta.” The collar prevented shifting, making the werewolf almost as vulnerable as any human. The Kindred tormentor could use the gleipnir remote to torture the werewolf into obeying his commands. No werewolf could withstand such agony.

“I don’t know. I’d place my bets on them being horny bastards.”

“They have killed our women and children so I wouldn’t put it past them stooping so low as to have sex with a female zombie.”

Rave gazed at him with those purple eyes that reminded him of wild blueberries. “Are you sure you don’t want to join our team? With Dirk’s help the two of you can bring Jaeger down and then…”

“Not possible.” After hunting Jaeger, he had unfinished business with his pack leader. Lazarus’ reign couldn’t continue. It was against their rules, their oaths. If it meant challenging him, so be it.

“Maddox, what exactly did you mean about Lazarus being a prophet?”

Raven foresight must have picked up on his thoughts. He furrowed his brow. Everything he told her she’d relay back to his enemies. What did it matter? They would find out soon enough since they had the advantage of bird shifters spying for them. “Because of the possibility of the birth of a dragon wizard, our pater claims God chose him to lead the Benandanti as a prophet against your pack friends.”

Rave scoffed. “We should quit fighting over ridiculous legends and focus on stopping the Bane. Not to mention the tankers and other more sinister baddies. Like the Proteus shifters suspected of releasing the zombie virus.”

“Dirk mated a powerful Melandanti witch. Think of the consequences of a dragon wizard being born.”

“Dora is not a wicked witch and actually when your pack betrayed her pack and sent a horde of zombies against us, she saved everyone. In Glenda, the good witch, mode. That is if Glenda morphed into a comic book super hero badass. Anyway, who says if they have a son, he will be evil? It’s not like the pack is going to let him torture small animals.”

“The dragon is Lucifer’s servant.”

“Get out of the dark ages, Templar.”

“It’s what I’ve been taught.”

“Do you not have any memory of your Arbor pack upbringing?”

Maddox sighed. “No. I only know the love of my foster mother and Mariah.”

Rave stared at the road ahead. “I’m sorry you lost Mariah.”

“She was one of the finest hunters.” He released a low growl. “I must avenge her death.” He explained how the Kindred captured her and Diego, collared them with gleipnirs so they could not shift, and sold them to the tankers. Only to die in the sick betting arenas as they fought a throng of zombies.

Rave’s voice softened, “You and Mariah would have made a perfect couple.”

Maddox raised his brow at the scent of her jealousy. “Mariah and I had a bond because we were orphans and grew to love each other but we were more like siblings than lovers.”

“Siblings don’t mate, but then again she was not a close relative.”

He sighed. “True, that’s why we made love.”

Rave gaped and he imagined in her mind she cawed. “You mean…you and her had sex?” She scoffed. “And here I thought you were a holier than thou virginal Templar.”

Maddox blushed. “It was a lapse in judgment and we confessed to Priest Obadiah who forgave our transgression.” Yet, making love to Mariah was not driven by lust but to get the sexy raven out of his system. Not only did it not work, but it backfired. Saddened that he did not claim her, Mariah left with Diego to hunt the Kindred. How ironic he’d left for England to forget Rave. And now Mariah was dead and the object of his forbidden desire sat so close he could almost taste her aromatic silk-soft skin. The same aroma, his mind had been branded with since he first caught a whiff of Rave almost a year ago.

“I’m telling you, repressing your wolf is going to bite you in the ass.”

Already has
.
Better yet, bite yours.
“Mariah might have agreed with you.” He smiled. “Fortunately, I’ve gained control of my wolf.”

“What? Who was leering at me at the farmhouse?” She frowned. “And what about…never mind.”

“About our kiss at Stonefield?” Maddox stared out the window. “You don’t know how close my wolf came to taking you there. Fortunately, I’ve taken control.” His inner wolf grinned. Liar.

“Hmm. So why didn’t you let the beast take the blame and had hot werewolf sex with me?” She elbowed him and flirted. “I would have been totally cool with it.”

“Benandanti law forbids fornicating with other shifters, but my inner beast often overrules my loyalty.”

Rave shook her head. “Yeah, right.”

“God commands we remain in his image and not give in to the wolf.”

“Says some priest one thousand years ago.”

“Father Paul found our pack and saved our souls with holy baptism, cleansing us from the wolf’s dark soul.”

“Hello? Didn’t the Church excommunicate the Benandanti and then send the Kindred to hunt you down? First, they killed the original wolf Templars and then in the 1500’s killing you as werewolves after you rid the land of witches for them?”

He smiled. “You know our history.”

“Actually, I studied all the art depicting your kind.”

“The Church misunderstood us, but we remained faithful.”

“And now you follow some cultish prophet.”

Maddox clenched his jaw. Because of his pagan roots and his predisposition for evil, he’d been more devout than the other born Benandanti children. Mariah had been years older and more defiant against the priests. Fostered at age seven, she knew the old ways and swore it had not been devil worship. She’d begged Maddox when he was six to run away with her but he refused. She wouldn’t leave without him. In privacy, she told him of their old life that conflicted with his beliefs. Nonetheless, they had devoted their lives to hunting the Kindred. Guilt shaded his heart. If he had left their loving foster mother to run away with her, Mariah might still be alive.

“Too touchy a subject?”

Maddox snapped out from his thoughts. “No, I’m just questioning…” He sighed. “Everything.”

“Do you still think I’m the devil’s get?”

“More like an enchantress.”

“Seriously?” She glanced at him and beamed as if being gifted with magic was a good thing.

Maddox stared out the window. “Of course not, but then again it looks like I’m damned anyway.” His skin flushed, craving her touch, tasting her, and wanting his wolf to mark her. His wolf didn’t give a shit about the Benandanti faith. Yet, it was the man, not the wolf, who desired her despite the dire consequences.

“How can you think you’ll burn in hell for going against your nature and following a human belief system?”

“We were given the task to protect mankind from evil.”

“Really? And I assume by evil, you mean us? Except for the Vircolac pack, we all agree to protect humans from the zombies. Besides, the zombies are not evil but hungry. And where were the
holy
Benandanti when humans fought each other in bloody wars? Remember Hitler and Stalin?”

“God does not want us to interfere with human politics.” But how could his kind not think of the likes of Hitler as evil incarnate?

Rave rolled her eyes. “Right.”

Maddox rubbed his face. “I’m tired.” He’d slept little the last few days. Was that why his faith was waning? It seemed all he cared about was protecting the raven princess. And worse, making her his. The wolf understood.
Mine
.

“Go on and take a nap. I promise I won’t hit a tree.”

“Or more than one zombie.” He leaned back and snoozed. The scent of lilacs and sky flooded his senses as he ran through the field as a white wolf with the shadow of a beautiful raven above him.

Maddox opened his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck. The dark clouds out the windshield looked ominous. He looked at his watch. Damn. It wasn’t a late afternoon storm. He’d slept the day away and it was almost dusk. “Drop me off here.”

Rave shot him a quick smile. “Are you sure you got enough ‘eye candy’ beauty sleep?”

He sure as hell liked that she found him attractive but brushed it off and kept his tone neutral. “Yes, quite rested.” He rolled down the windows. “Fresh air.” Not just fresh air, but the scent of pastures and mixed woodland. Not the dry plains heading toward New Mexico. He grabbed the steering wheel. “Stop the car.”

“Why? Do you need to mark your territory?”

“Damn it, now!”

“Okay, okay! Just let go before you get us killed.” Rave brought the jeep to a screeching halt. A small swarm of zombies tilted their heads and slowly shuffled out of the woods.

Maddox glared at her. “We’re heading north!” He reached in the glove compartment and dragged out a map and then stared at a sign that said, Oklahoma City, fifty miles.

Rave gave him a sheepish smile. “Oops, maybe I should have turned left fifty miles back. My bad.”

Bird shifters, even grounded ones, had the best sense of direction and he had trusted her. That explained why she volunteered to drive. He growled. “You need to go back home, toward Yosemite!”

“Plan to. But not until I complete my mission.”

“You tricked me!”

Rave laughed. “Why do you think they call us tricksters?”

Maddox fumed. “Bloody hell. I should have known.”

Her tone turned serious. “I’m duty bound to seek justice for my flock brothers.”

“Without consulting me?” His fangs extended and he garbled. “Instead, you took advantage of me while I napped.”

“You wish.” Her toned turned haughty. “I am Alpha of our Avian intel team, so I don’t have to consult anyone.” Not my parents or holier than thou enemy Benandanti werewolves. “Besides, I didn’t want to wake you from your wolfish REM dream.”

He muttered. “Some gratitude. I should have bloody left you back in San Antonio.”

“No one asked you to rescue me.” She softened her tone and grabbed his hand. “But know that I’ll always be grateful you did.”

“Humph.” Her touch sent an electrical charge up his spine. His inner wolf grinned.

Rave smiled. “Let’s find Jaeger, send him to hell, and kill the chimpanzombies.”

Tonight was the full moon. He needed distance from her and damn quick. Thunder drummed and the moaning horde heading toward them added to the crescendo of the bellowing wind. The stench of their decaying bodies accosted his nose. Maybe slashing off some zombie heads would alleviate his wolf madness.

“I owe it to Cashel and Beccan to find and kill the chimpanzombies and you need to rescue the pilot.”

He understood her loyalty but what if he could not control the beast, then what? “I doubt, he’s still alive.”

“He could be collared for their entertainment.”

Like Mariah and Diego had been. “You’ll just hinder me.”

Rave stared out at the trees swaying in the wind, glanced at her watch then at the nearing horde. “Why don’t we find a place for the night before the storm hits and you can think it over?”

“All right, but I’m driving.” Yes, a safe place where he could leave her for good. But his wolf shadow overruled him and snarled,
Mine!

Chapter 15

Rave pointed to a sign beyond a broken down gate that read, Greenly Family Racehorse Farm. “Should we check it out?”

Maddox parked the jeep in front of the gate and jumped out. She joined him and stretched. The wind whipped her hair about her face. Birds flew low to the ground and though she missed her phone weather app, her raven mind sensed the low air pressure. A big storm approached. A strong shelter was needed, perhaps one that could withstand a tornado.

He flared his nostrils. “There are a few horses nearby in the fields, but probably most were captured by survivors. No people and definitely no zombies.”

“Horses?” It had been a year since the Bane wiped out most of humanity. Would pampered thoroughbreds last that long?

“Probably gone feral and living off the grass.”

Bands of survivors were more likely to eat rather than ride captured horses. “I hope so. I used to ride.”

His blue eyes glinted in mirth. “I’m sure you did. English saddle?”

Rave playfully slapped his arm. “How did you know? In fact I love riding
the
English.” His face flushed, although not as much as he used to whenever she implied sex. Maybe he was learning to ignore her teasing. And willing to break more Benandanti taboos.

Maddox straightened his cuffs and shot her a warning glower as if she had crossed a line in naughty coquettishness. “Get in.”

They drove down a long tree-lined path toward a spectacular mansion estate. “Holy cow. Nice digs.” The overgrown weedy front lawn was surrounded by what was once a grand garden. A large waterless fountain must have cost a fortune. Very Versailles-like. The country estate looked like a hybrid between a Versailles Chateau and
Gone With the Wind
’s Tara plantation mansion. A landing circle for a helicopter sat empty. Had they escaped to some island paradise?

Whoever these filthy rich folks were, they intended never to return. Stable doors were left open and pasture fences torn down. No right-minded person would release million dollar racehorses to the wilds. But then again, this was the zombie apocalypse.

Maddox left the engine running and rolled down the window. He shrugged. “This is as good a place as any. You can have the house. I’ll sleep in the stables.”

Rave frowned. “No way, I’m not sleeping alone in that big place.” She gave him a playful shove. “Don’t worry, it’s big enough so you can go big bad werewolf downstairs. You won’t even notice me.” Truth was she was the elephant in the room.
Don’t think I haven’t noticed your wallet bulge in your tight pants.
It was obvious he could barely keep his claws off of her. Or rather, how could she keep her talons from raking his broad muscular back?