Prolog

In the centuries of time before the here and now, many Humans disappeared or their mutilated bodies turned up days later. Blamed for the horrible deaths, Vampires became the hunted. Over several centuries, the truths of the crimes were discovered as Vampires, no longer targets, witnessed the slaughter of the innocent Were and Wolves caught in the sweep for the Beasts. The horrendous tragedies formed a bond when Vampires became Gatherers or Hunters to a Were who sought protection.

The Lunacy consists of the week of the full moon each month, which starts three days before and ends three days after the rise of the full moon.

The Beast is neither Wolf nor Were, but is fierce in its hunt and hungry for the taste of flesh. This cold-blooded killer is an untamable feral disaster that lurks in the shadows for its next unsuspecting prey.

A Bitten is a Human with blood tainted by the bite of a Beast that is driven to either madness or a new life with the pull of the moon.

A Were is a Bitten who retains their Human mentality and seeks the help of selected Vampires when dire need strikes.

A Werewolf is the lupine form a Were takes by choice, usually at the peak of the full moon while maintaining their mental faculties.

A Wolf is the natural wild state a Bitten merges into when lost to the Gatherers and beyond the insanity of the Beast.

The Council is a committee of Vampire Overseers who select the Hunters and Gatherers in an effort to grant the Were their freedom and right to live.

A Gatherer is a select older, more gentle Vampire, which guides or captures a Bitten, helps a Were or protects a Wolf.

A Hunter is the chosen young, callous Vampire Huntsmen responsible for the destruction of uncontrolled Beasts in an effort to protect all involved.

The instinctive mental cry of a Bitten or Were winged into the night is in hopes a Gatherer might hear and intercede before the moon wraps its silvery fingers around their sanity is logged for the sake of history. With their minds trapped in the draw of the lunar cycle since the beginning of the disease, the Were long ago turned to Vampires to save not only their own kind, but that of Humans as well.

The bite of a Beast sends a Bitten into a state of savagery during the lunacy, which without the aid of a Gatherer, often leads to a Beast’s victory. Those trapped in Wolf form, either roam wildlife preserves or die from the mingled blood. A select few live in large zoological areas confined by fences designed to protect the animals from mankind.

 Chapter One

The soft hum of his wife’s voice lured Talen from the contented slumber their earlier lovemaking put him in. He moved from the bed and leaned his shoulder against the doorframe of the bedroom. This particular naked woman kneading bread dough on the worn surface of the old maple table seductive, he silenced his grunt.

Her reach in the cabinet lifted her arms and jiggled the sides of her full breasts. He licked his teased lips. Silky pale wheat blonde hair brushed the small of her back. Curvaceous hips summoned. As an urge to browse his teeth along smooth thighs one could nibble without fear of grazing bone filled his veins with passion’s fire. Plump women were goddesses to be worshipped.

His hungry gaze settled on the subtle wiggle of her sexy rounded backside. In every way. Talen eased behind the beauty, wrapped his arms around her waist and captured her in his unrelenting hold. “Mine.”

Mireille grabbed the veined and sculpted muscled forearms snug across her upper belly, her tone a gentle scold, “Talen!” The pressure of his rigid erection jutted against the small of her back. She squirmed in his hold. “I fed you an hour ago. I swear you’re insatiable!”

He chuckled against the softness of her shoulder. “Only for you, my sweet morsel. That table looks interesting.”

“Not while I’m making bread.”

Driven wild by her scent, Talen buried his face in the curve of her neck, his growl soft. Her warm scent provocative, he inhaled deep. “I need you, woman.”

Mireille loved the muscled feel of his body and shivered at his suggestive tone. “For how long this time, lover?”

He turned her toward him and cupped her face. “For as long as we both live.”

“Promise me you’ll never be alone.” She pressed her finger over his parted lips and silenced his objection. “Hush and hear me out. You’re an immortal nightwalker and I declined said honor, which I thank you for granting me such a right, but as I remain a mortal, it means eventually you will no longer have me. I don’t wish you alone in this world. If ever there comes a time where I no longer live, you must promise me you will never deny love’s ability to hold you again.”

Talen captured her soft hand in his and kissed her palm. The sparkle of love in her emerald green eyes dimmed only by the concern on her lovely face, he brushed a wisp of wheat blonde hair from her cheek. “Why do you worry of insignificant things, my sweet lady?”

Mireille smiled. “You being alone is not insignificant because I love you and dislike the prospect of you alone in the world. Promise me you will never deny love.”

He lowered her hand, held her palm over his heart and tilted his head. His gaze roved her beautiful face. “I will never deny love. Nor you.”

Her fingers caressed his chest. “You’re one of the gifted in that you still portray the traits of the living with warm flesh, a heartbeat, consumption and walks in the sun. Lift me to the counter and give me your word.”

Eager to oblige, Talen cupped her ass and effortlessly slid her up his body. “I will forever provide those gifts for you, my sweet.” The wrap of her legs around his waist welcomed, he set her on the counter and wedged his hips between her silky thighs. “You have my promise and my word.” He stared into her eyes while the bob of his engorged shaft brushed his swollen head across her succulent clit. “Please?”

The demanding hunger in his gaze countered by the gentle pleading of his voice, Mireille uttered a soft laugh. “You place such power over you in my hands yet wield the ability to overturn any choice I make with a simple look or caress.”

He framed her face with his hands and winked. “I hope such never changes.”

“You have my promise. Seal it with a kiss and take me.”

“With pleasure.” Talen claimed her mouth with intense passion and glided his tongue along hers with insatiable hunger. His body thrummed. He tugged down on her shoulders and slid her backside forward. The deep thrust between her fleshy thighs buried his unyielding hardness deep inside her snug passage. Hungry need pulsed through his veins. Raw inner velvet walls swallowed his entire cock. A backward fling of her head broke their oral embrace.

Mireille sucked in a breath. “Fill me, Talen.”

“You only need ask, my beloved.” He captured her face between his palms and adored her euphoric expression. His dynamic plunges heightened her until her body rocked with uncontrolled shudders.

She clutched his biceps. “Let me… breathe!”

Slowed sexual strokes, now deep and steady, granted him time to rein in his desire. “Anything you ask is yours, my lady.” His lips embraced hers in a brief, yet soft caress of love.

“You’re a good man, Talen.” Her shifted hips coaxed and her lover needed no other invite. The dynamic plunge of his thick length spread the walls of her pussy. She locked her legs and held him for a cherished moment. “You feel so good in so many ways. I love how long and thick you are.”

He pushed his erection deep. “So do you, my beloved Mireille. I find your softness perfect in every way.” His hungry shaft slammed into her silken sheath and he treasured her screamed climax.

“More, Talen, more!” She dug her nails into his shoulders and pushed her hips to meet his deep plunge. “All of you!”

Determined to please her, his single-minded drive to satisfy the woman he loved and sate them both turned into obsession. His powerful thrusts milked her toward a second ecstasy and spiraled them both into heaven. The pleasure of his hammered hardness glided through her hot satin tunnel cherished, he filled her with his seed. They professed their love in whispers and caresses through the night.

* * * *

The night of the unexpected attack four days before the full moon ripped through Talen. Horrified his beloved, now a wounded and weak Bitten in grave danger, he feared even a triple strength of the herb stood no chance and more than that alone would kill the woman he treasured. Her survival unlikely, his heart broke.

* * * *

Talen clutched a fistful of the blood-matted pale fur and held the deformed dying creature against his chest. He rocked the Beast until its final breath seeped into the night and it transformed back into the woman he loved. Every move gentle, he laid her body on the ground, stood and faced her murderer less than a dozen feet away. His fury intensified by the second.

Daemyn lowered his pistol and raised his hand to ward off the riled nightwalker. “I didn’t see much choice, Talen.”

The infuriated vampire stepped forward and planted his foot with finality. He snarled, “You did not need to shoot!”

“She targeted your throat.”

Incensed past any reason, Talen shook violently. “Human, Were, Beast or Wolf, Mireille is… was my wife. I intended to care for her until her natural death. Hunter.” He spat the last word with fierce contempt.

Daemyn stepped back from the menacing gaze, raised his chin and stared death in the face. “The lunacy sickened her with blood lust. She was suffering. You should have disregarded her wishes and enjoyed the taste of her sane blood months ago. Such might have brought her to our side, Gatherer.”

His low growl threatening, he lunged for the source of his anger and lengthened his fangs in midair. The impact of his airborne body drove the younger nightwalker to the ground while his hands ripped open his enemy’s throat in a haze of fury and the taste of blood filled his mouth.

 Chapter Two

Three centuries later.

The quiet of the Sunday night broken by the tips of his long fingers trailed down the fence pole, Talen fixed his gaze on the wolves who trotted over the distant hill. He opened the gate and entered the enclosed area as the large gray alpha led the pack closer. “How are you, Jasper?” A wag of the gray tail his answer, he understood the old one held claim to a few more years before a younger, stronger leader challenged and won.

The brush of a cool wet nose against his palm earned his chuckle. Ever slow, he crouched down and proffered a chunk of meat. “You’re a gentle one, Jasper.” He smiled and stroked the large gray wolf’s head. “I’ve made arrangements with Hollis to move you to his newest preserve in the spring.”

The ring of the cell phone on his belt scattered the pack back several yards. Talen zeroed in on the oddity of the sound. Only one number ever called him and annoyed his alert ears with the particular resounding tone. With the remainder of the meat tossed in a scattered pattern for the small pack, he stood, drew the little device from his side and flipped it open. He exited the enclosed area and shut gate. “Yes?”

“Talen. Problem.”

“Nice to hear from you, Sirus.”

“The missing Beast from the last full moon was located and killed an hour ago. I hate when they slip past you guys. Makes me lock my door. Good thing their bite heals in mere minutes. The growl froze her, but the Hunter wasn’t close enough to intercept the attack. Her injuries are minor. She’s lucky Seth made the kill, closed her wounds and obliterated the incident from her memory as fast as he did. I hate when a Bitten retains enough to drive them insane during their change.”

Talen despised what a Bitten suffered in a transformation. It pained him to witness a Human lose to the Beast should the Were or Wolf fail in strength. Many times he answered fearful cries of a Bitten fallen to the pull of a lunar cycle. His glance at the moon ascertained its phase. He shifted his stance. “Feed me, Sirus.”

“Um, Talen, I think you forgot I’m the human computer geek and said particular phrase is highly disliked. Please stop chuckling so I can get back to business. Thank you. Liana Jennings is a twenty-eight year old single woman who, on Friday nights, frequents a place with variety music called Night on the Town. She’s not the type to jump in bed. A bit on the plump side for me, but then I always did like women little enough to tangle with and golden-haired—”

 “Sirus.” Tempted to reach through the phone and strangle the young human, he simply pursed his lips.

“Sorry. Started thinking about that blonde and her redheaded sister.”

Agitated, Talen expelled a noisy breath. “Meanwhile I’m losing valuable time and gaining an appetite.”

“Sorry. Bred, born and raised a city girl, this five foot four, one hundred forty pound tanned beauty is curvaceous with full breasts and rounded hips. Waist length light chestnut brown hair, usually braided and no accessories, not even a necklace. Her nails are long, so be careful you don’t get clawed in all forms. She’s a receptionist at Aero Tech industrial park and lives at one ninety-seven Arbor Drive. Not much chance of her making it with the full moon in less than two weeks.”

“Don’t remind me, Sirus.” His preference of simple encounters with a Bitten, often three casual weekend meetings, served enough to build the needed bond without possibility of attachment. He found it easy to mind link with a willing woman and plant a pleasurable one-night stand without his actual participation. He glanced at the sky. My lack of time for her adjustment forces a more direct approach. “Can you get me high up inside AT and transfer her as my personal assistant?”

“Already completed. Check the fax coming to you there. You start tomorrow as an exec whose last assistant left him disorganized files. Liana will get her notification in about twenty minutes on the phone. The Counsel expects her to rip apart in the change or remain too wild to keep. Hollis offered his ranch if the wolf emerges in the shift and Ditmyer holds the contract to eliminate the Beast. He’s guarding her now. Talen, you dislike the concept, but I don’t see you winning this one. Especially with a city girl who doesn’t sleep around.”

“I won’t lose another. Consider neither needed.” His sigh heavy, Talen turned off the phone and shoved it back in the case on his side. Less than two weeks left him little to work with in an effort to gain a Bitten’s confidence before their life tumbled into chaos. Seldom did a Beast escape, but if one succeeded, it put every Hunter and Gatherer on the prowl. He settled his gaze on the reclined alpha on the other side of the gate. “She’ll be difficult, Jasper.”

As the large gray head swung around and ochre eyes locked on him, he welcomed the tail wag and pivoted. His mind drifted back in the past and the moment in time, he learned a hard lesson at the hand of another life. He only ever lost one Bitten to transformation and that beauty died in his arms mere moments after it tried to kill him. Angry with the huntsman, he attacked until his enemy died splayed on the ground in a pool of blood. In time, reality seeped in and made it clear none saved all Were, but his record bordered on close.

His disapproval of the looming threat to shoot any uncontrolled creature prodded Talen into the position of head zoologist at the local zoo, which after his persuasion, added a preserve for protection of the feral animals from the world’s cruelty. In a decade or so, another nightwalker would carry the torch.

In the office in mere strides, he retrieved the waiting fax, picked up the phone and dialed his replacement’s number. He scanned over the printed message in his hand until the sleepy voice on the other end yawned a greeting. “Dennis, I need to leave town on an emergency. I’ll be absent at least a week, maybe two, and don’t wish my back office disturbed. Can you take over until I return?”

“Yeah, sure. Uh, when do you have to leave?”

Talen needed to ascertain the Bitten’s predicament and situation. “Tonight. I fed the pack their early snack.”

“Give me a minute to yank on my clothes and I’ll be there within an hour.”

“Thanks. I’m heading out.” Talen hung up the phone and collected his gear. He yanked on his leather jacket, exited the office and checked on the wolves. “Hey, Jasper, Dennis is taking over for me. Be nice.”

A slowly wagged tail accompanied by a soft whine and an ochre stare earned his smile. He trotted to his motorcycle, secured his gear on the back and donned his silver helmet. With the face shield slapped down, he mounted the sleek silver machine, turned the key and pushed the ignition button. The powerful motorcycle growled into life.

Talen opened the throttle and sped toward his destination. In a short time, he slowed, turned onto Arbor Drive and scanned the picturesque area. Situated in perfect little rows, the small, but quaint houses seemed displayed, but cute. He smirked at the number one ninety-seven on an arctic white mailbox.

Too cute. The little powder blue Cape Cod house assessed as he passed, his senses prickled the hair on the nape of his neck. He honed in on the source. At the end of the street, he circled the cul-de-sac, drove back, pulled over and parked under a large oak tree that sheltered much of the road.

Talen turned off his cycle and lifted his face shield. He looked up into the tree above him and leveled his icy gaze on a young nightwalker he didn’t trust. “Evening, Hunter.”

 “Gatherer.” His nod of recognition slight, Ditmyer turned his head toward the woman’s house. “Looks like our prey isn’t happy with her caller.”

“She isn’t anyone’s prey and she is my charge, not yours.” He disregarded the shrug and focused his attention on the young woman across the street.

The redheaded vampire landed with almost no sound. “Little heavy for my taste. Cute nightshirt though. She’s your problem. Don’t let her become mine.”

Talen narrowed his eyes. “Your threats are not welcome nor will your services be needed. Hunter.”

Ditmyer proffered a wry grin. “We’ll see.”

“Stay away, Hunter.”

“The Council gives me my orders. Not you, Gatherer.” The redheaded vampire shifted into a raven and flew into the night.

Talen kicked down the stand with his heel, swung one leg over the gas tank of his motorcycle and sat sideways on the cycle seat. His gaze tracked the guarded Bitten while he removed his helmet and hung it on the cycle’s brake light. The woman in his view paced in a heated discussion on the phone, but his interest in her words paled when compared with her expressive face.

His gaze followed her every stormed step across the small room. The picture window started a mere foot past the front door, wrapped around the corner of the house and continued along the adjoined wall. He appreciated the large transparent barrier since the glass granted a perfect view of her living room, dining room and kitchen breakfast bar.