Moonbound (Moonfate Serial Book 1) by Sylvia Frost Read Free Book Online Page B

strengthens from a drizzle into a downpour.
    I bite the inside of my mouth, puzzling. I certainly don’t want to ride in this rain, especially because it’s late and who knows what’s lurking out there waiting for me. Maybe just common criminals. Maybe Cooper’s crazy homophobic boss. Or, maybe, the most dangerous of all: Orion.
    But that’s the exact reason why I can’t take Lola up on her offer. I’ve had enough people in my life hurt by werebeasts and other strange things. I don’t know why, but danger always seems to follow me. And Lola doesn’t deserve to get hurt.
    “No, I’m good.”
    She shrugs and pats my shoulder. “Okay, honey, but you should be extra careful and make sure to take East Avenue all the way home. The side streets aren’t safe at night.”
     

Chapter Ten
     
    The moment I open the bar’s door, I’m assaulted by warm water. On my skin, in my hair, cascading in waterfalls down my arms and into my pants. I’m drenched in seconds.
    To make matters worse, the street lamps’ anemic glow is losing the battle against the darkness and the oppressive rain. The visibility sucks. On my way to my bike, I almost trip into the gutter, already rushing with water. At least the rain keeps the street from feeling too empty.
    When I get to my bike, I unlock it quickly, even though my rusty lock protests. I stuff the lock my purse and am just about to get going when I catch something out of the corner of my eye. A shadow.
    I turn.
    It’s just a bush near a closed convenience store, rustling in the storm. My paranoia is out of control. I mount up, switch into a high gear, and speed down the slick road.
    By the time I’m halfway home, the rain stops, but I’m already soaked through and my black jeans and shirt are plastered onto my every curve. I’m the perfect prey. Weak, wet, alone.
    Shit!
    A shadow darts across my periphery, and it’s definitely not a bush this time. My finger twitches on the brake, but I pedal faster. I don’t see it again for another block, so I turn around to check if I’m safe.
    And there it is, low to the ground, four-legged, and sprinting right toward me. The darkness makes it seem even larger.
    I swerve into a nearby alleyway. An automatic light over a garage door flickers on with my movement, blinding me, and I almost crash right into the door.
    I can hear the thing behind me now. Water sloshing, claws scrabbling on the potholed road.
    It’s closer.
    Oh, God, what if it’s Orion? Or worse, what if it’s Cooper’s boss? What if he’s going to kill me like the werebeasts killed my parents?
    I hit a pothole and my teeth smash together with the force of it. I don’t fall off, but I do lose time. Enough so that now the creature is running next to me and then, suddenly, in front.
    I brake. My tires skid to a stop so fast I lurch off my bike and into the alley’s swelling river of runoff. My knees hit water first then the gravel. But that’s all. No teeth gnashing at my throat or velvety command warping my mind. Nothing.
    I open my eyes.
    A few feet away, nose buried in a trash bin, is a raccoon.
    I start to laugh. I was running away from what is basically a cute rat. God, how ridiculous I must’ve looked. How melodramatic.
    It turns. Well, it’s not a wereracoon, either. Its beady eyes are dull and entirely inhuman, and wide with fear.
    “You’re not so scary,” I say to it, standing next to my fallen bike.
    It snarls, back arching to a hideously sharp angle, bares its teeth, and then—before I even have a chance to feel afraid—it dives into a dumpster in a nearby alleyway.
    “That’s right, run, raccoon!” I shout, grinning, reveling in my somewhat deserved victory.
    “You’re very cute when you think you’ve won,” says an amused, gravelly voice. Right behind me.
    Slowly, so slowly, I turn. I don’t scream. I can’t. My lips are numb and my brain is caught in a monosyllabic loop of shock.
    No. No. No. No.
    But there’s no denying it. There, only a few