ENCHANTED WORLD SERIES BOOK 4: MOON CHILD'S WAR

Alli woke up with a headache the size of Devil’s Peak that next morning. She groaned softly and rolled over coming into contact with a warm body next to hers. She went rigid in apprehension trying to recall what happened last night and who she managed to leave with from the club. She sent a pleading prayer that it wasn’t Tyson as she slowly pulled the sheets away and revealed the sleeping Donny.

A wave of relief went through her as she jumped on Donny and hugged her then dotted kisses on her face. “Oh thank goodness it is you! You don’t know how glad I am to see you sleeping in my bed!”

“What pill did you take, Alli?” Donny groaned trying to pull the sheets back up but Alli was sleeping on them. “I am still so tired so please let me sleep.”

“Donny...” Alli shook her friend’s arm lightly. “It’s Sunday at ten in the morning and you are sleeping in my bed...”

She waited for a few seconds for the words to sink in and hastily, Donny shot up. “Oh shit!” She clenched her teeth and held on to her head. “Remind me never to do that again. Oh, fuck! My Mom is going to kill me! I promised to help her bake for the brunch today. I didn’t even call her to tell her I was sleeping at your place. Oh, she’s going to grill my ass!” Donny scrambled out of bed as the door flew open and Corleen entered all dressed up for work; a pair of snug black jeans, a black T-shirt, black boots, and her favorite jacket. She was tall and slim like a model but what people didn’t know was that she was lethal and could kill without even blinking. It was the reason she was Head of Security for the Clan Leader, Faelen. Her brown hair dangled on her head in a high pony that brushed her shoulder blades and her hazel eyes swept across Alli.

Corleen narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What time did you come in last night? I didn’t hear you enter.”

Alli shook her head helplessly. “I can’t remember.”

“You were wasted on that cheap booze you like so much, huh? Get up, take a couple of aspirins. I’m heading off to Lord Faelen’s. There is breakfast downstairs--good morning, Donny!” she called out.

“’ Morning Corleen!” Donny called back.

Alli sighed and walked to her sister then straightened one side of her jacket. “You are the best.”

Corleen smirked. “I try, now get your butt into the bathroom. You reek of cheap alcohol. I know you can afford the good brands, I just don’t know why you keep drinking that terrible shit.”

“You just have to concentrate on that unique taste right at the back.” Alli grinned as her sister went out. “Have a nice day!”

“You too.” Corleen placed her dark shades over her eyes and went out.

Alli turned to her bed that was still calling to her. Her head throbbed like an open wound and she was sluggish and tired. That was what she got for taking cheap booze. She should have drunk the beer that the hot stranger bought for her then smashed the bottle on his glass encasement up at the VIP area. She smirked as she made her way towards the bathroom. That would teach him to ever think about looking down on her again. The beer she liked was not that bad tasting, it was just that a large percentage of people had terrible taste buds.

“Pass me the shampoo. I need to clean up real good because my mother is a hound. She can smell alcohol miles away, literally.” Donny peeped from the fogged-up glass shower door as Alli entered the bathroom.

Alli took hold of her toothbrush as she passed Donny the shampoo. “Can I come for the brunch?” She mumbled with her toothbrush in her mouth.

Donny smiled sweetly. “Alli, you know just how much my mother loves you but how my aunt hates you with a passion? Well, because my mother will be busy preparing the brunch, you will have to stick around Aunt Alyse and she might stab you in the back--literally.”

Alli cringed remembering how terrible the woman was. “These are the times I wish Louise was still around.” just thinking about Donny’s older brother made Alli sigh dreamily. She had always had a crush on him since she could remember! He was all muscle and chocolate with a casual smile and sexy coffee brown eyes that called her mind to envision not-so-innocent thoughts.

“Oh, did I forget to tell you? I talked to him a few days ago and he told me that Lord Faelen asked him to return. He might already be home by now.” Donny said behind the glass.

That caught Alli’s attention. Tyson was always a jealous mess when he saw her hanging out with Louise and now that they broke up and Louise was returning to Ashwick, Alli wanted to make sure Tyson regretted ever humiliating her in public but she couldn’t shake the curiosity as to why Faelen would have asked him back to Ashwick after a full year away from home? “Do you think it has something to do with the Ghost Runners?” Alli asked suddenly.

Idonea scoffed as she stuck her head out again. “You believe in that crap too?”

Alli didn’t know what to believe because she once heard Corleen talk about it to a fellow security person. Ghost Runners might have been mythical to others but Alli was a bookworm and read several unexplained stories like rogue wolves disappearing, people getting rescued during the full moon. It felt as if there was someone keeping them in check and it wasn’t Faelen nor Titus, his younger brother who also happened to be one of the House of Five members. These were five members of the wolf clan that advised the clan leader and made sure he was doing everything for the benefit of the wolf community and not for himself. Alli made another dreamy face. Titus was nothing like Faelen. He had a good heart and he always associated himself with the common folks.

“Maybe the Ghost Runners are real. I mean if you told a human outside of Ashwick that wolves and Nightwalkers existed, they would sign you up into a mental asylum!”

“True, but then I think Ghost Runners are a little far-fetched. I mean we know each other through our scents. If there were new wolves in town doing all this vigilante bullshit then we would have known by now.” Donny said. “Plus, Corleen is the head of security for a reason. She is one of the best tracks woman I know. She is bound to smell foul play if there was any but so far she’s found nothing.”

Alli rinsed her mouth and sighed. “I don’t know though. Sometimes I feel there is someone stronger than even Faelen watching over Ashwick.”

“Yeah, God.” Donny stepped out of the shower and Alli threw her the face towel.

“Smartass.”

Donny giggled as she padded out. “Hurry up, we are late.”

“Ten minutes,” Alli said as she undressed and stepped into the shower.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ruvin woke up to the loud crushing sound outside his sleeping quarters followed by angry growls.

“Lukas! You are dead!” The voice belonged to Izzy. Only Izzy got away alive after yelling words like that to Lukas.

The very air that surrounded Lukas was feral. Ruvin growled angrily as he managed to pull himself out of the bed and padded to his door. If he wasn’t going to stop them, they were bound to bring down the house on their asses. Just as he was about to open his door, a body slammed hard against it and the wood splintered.

He yanked the broken door open and growled in warning as his eyes flashed amber. Izzy whimpered and hid behind Lukas who stiffened suddenly and turned to him. Though Lukas had the reputation of a menace it did not beat Ruvin’s and the half-blood recognized he was still under Ruvin’s order.

“What the fuck is going on?” Ruvin demanded sleep still coursing through his veins. Last night after the club, they went scouting for the most part of the night.

The full moon was already sending newly fledged weakbloods into bloodlust or mating frenzy. The team managed to subdue a few college kids who were about to commit a heinous crime at a party just outside Faelen’s woods. The weakbloods had rounded up several human females, got them drunk and wanted to force themselves on them. Enchanted beings had a high tolerance for human alcohol so by the time the human females were passed out, the weakbloods weren’t even tipsy.

Several of the weakbloods landed in the hospital with broken fingers, black eyes, and dislocated bones courtesy of Lukas and his low tolerance of bullshit. The team didn’t even have four hours of sleep once they got home and already Izzy and Lukas were at each other’s throats.

“He started it,” Izzy muttered from behind.

Ruvin turned his amber eyes to Lukas. “Explain.”

Lukas smirked and crossed his arms on his broad chest. Even with all the racket, they were causing, his white crisp shirt was immaculate with no crease or smudge. “Training.”

“The reason we are situated here is because of the woodland surrounding the residence. That is where training is done.” Ruvin didn’t buy the training shit.

Lukas and Izzy fought over the darndest things. He once caught them arguing over a bowl of cereals.

“We were heading there just before you came out, right Izzy?” Lukas turned to her.

She gave a small nod. “I will go and tell Briar since she wanted to join us.” She quickly slipped away and streaked across the corridor towards the stairs.

Ruvin mimicked Lukas’ stance and crossed his arms on his bare chest. “What’s the deal with you picking on Izzy at every chance you get? She is the youngest and the most vulnerable member of this team. You have the experience of ten honed warriors.”

Lukas sighed and ran his hand through his slick black mane. “Someone has got to look out for her, you know.”

“The fighting and clawing that goes on every other day is your way of looking out for her?” Ruvin quirked his eyebrow at the half-blood.

“One of these days she will thank me for what I put her through,” Lukas assured him and walked away.

Ruvin rubbed his eyes feeling Shadow turn in his mind. He was tired and all he wanted to do was to get back to sleep. He looked at the splintered door and groaned inwardly. Good thing they had very handy people around.

The place that they lived was in the out of the city and stark in the middle of the woods. It was a three-story mansion with a basement that they had converted to a computer/laboratory/research facility. It was also where they were able to hide their guns and gadgets. It was unfortunate that they could not cross over with their weapons from the Enchanted World but Izzy was able to hack, make an absurd order and they found themselves owning some of the best and latest weaponry and gadgets that would make any army green with envy.

Since Corleen, the head of security for Faelen was hot on their asses, Willow and Tron had to put up a twenty-four-hour cloaking spell that made the house look like an abandoned building in the middle of the woods and that everyone and everything that came close to it had sudden overwhelming dread that caused them to flee. However, the two High Mage were using too much power and their energies depleted quickly but recovered slowly because the enchanted energies banks were small.

It was only a matter of time until Corleen found out where they were hiding.

Ruvin knew there would come a day when they made themselves present in the eyes of the weakbloods. He couldn’t hide forever and he couldn’t afford to either. He had a horde of half-bloods who were as hot-blooded as the rest of the wolves. They were soon going to be discovered so it was better if they came clean.

“Commander!” Edon came rushing through the corridor with Raul right behind him. “I think you should come and see this.”

Just when Ruvin thought he was going to return to his bed. “What is it?”

“Another body has been found in the city park pond. It is the third one, just like the other two at the end of last month. The source of death is unknown. No lacerations, no bruises...no blood.” Edon explained.

Ruvin followed his second hand out until they arrived at the TV room where everyone was watching grimly as the body was fished out of the pond and packed in white plastic before being taken away. It was still a puzzle as to what had killed the boy.

“Do you think that perhaps it is a Nosferatu?” Briar asked, her cherry-red hair curling around her pale face making her look like a cherub.

Raul shook his head his hands digging deeper into his pockets. “There would have been punch marks somewhere and the wounds would have turned purple but there is nothing like that.”

“Can we get to the body?”

Izzy shrugged her shoulders as she turned to him. “I can reschedule Briar as the doctor on duty to do the postmortem. With her in, it is easy for you and Edon to enter.”

“Do that.” Ruvin nodded and turned to Vixen who stood so rigid and stunned because somehow whatever happened to that boy had hit home. “Vixen, Tron, and Raul, get ready. We are going to that site now, do you hear me, Vixen? Get anything and everything you can find.”

Vixen jumped lightly and turned to him then nodded before she walked out, her hands in tight fists on her sides and her face as white as a ghost. Her signature Louboutin black heels made a soft echo on the wooden floor as she disappeared around the corner. Ruvin knew what Vixen was going through because of what was happening with the Duma back in the Enchanted World. The race was dying without a reason and not even their young saw two months.

Seeing dead bodies affected Vixen terribly but she was efficient when it came to site scanning and Ruvin knew she would not see the body by the time they arrived there so she was safe.

Quentin, their human helper came through the hallway with a frown. “Did someone go running last night in the south end of the residence?”

Quentin and his family knew that the new house owners were non-human. They had been working for wolf families in Ashwick for quite a while so they were not shocked. However, Ruvin had to make Quentin sign a silent contract that bound him to keep quiet about his newly acquired job. He and his two children, Jake and Tessa, looked after the house, the vehicles and served warm meals for the Lycans every day.

They also took care of the business that the Lycans couldn’t take care of themselves.

“No....” Ruvin’s eyes narrowed. “We went scouting and entered the premises through the east.”

Quentin scratched his head. “I was doing some edge scouting around the residence and found some paws--about three hours, four hours old. It could be just a normal wolf though. We have quite a lot coming down from the hills to find food when it is scarce.”

“Or it could be a Varga." Briar suggested shrugging her shoulders.

“There hasn’t been a report of a Varga for months. I doubt one can risk hunting alone in these lands down here and risk the chance of being discovered.” Ruvin shook his head. “My best guess is either a curious wolf or one of Faelen’s hunters. How far did the prints come?”

“Close to the kitchen window,” Quentin replied.

“Tessa didn’t bake a meat pie last night.” Raul teased. “So it couldn’t have been a normal wolf.”

“We could always look at last night’s footage. Cameras never lie.” Izzy suggested making her way out of the room.

Ruvin, Quentin, Edon, and Tron followed her down to their computer room where Izzy settled cozily on her bean bag-like chair and stretched her lucid body before she started working, sequentially looking through the security footage that was recorded last night.

“Could it be Corleen?” Edon hinted as his brow furrowed with lines of worry. “Or Titus? Those two are very keen on finding the Ghost Runners."

Ruvin had the same thought. He had never really been around Titus to see how he worked but the male must have been the commander of his brother’s army for a good reason. For the time that he served that position though still recognized as one of the House Of Five; Faelen’s inner circle that comprised of his brother and four of the most trusted weakbloods in the wolf community, Titus had an outstanding reputation of eradicating Varga packs within Ashwick and the surrounding towns.

He was not the wolf to underestimate. Corleen, too, was bad news for them because he had seen how she watched him and Edon whenever they managed to bump into her in the city. Ruvin was very sure she knew they were not human. Since the surrounding towns had more wolf clans, Corleen had never interrogated them as to who they were or why they were in Ashwick but Ruvin was positive the Head of Security was doing a background check on them silently. She wasn’t the female to let anything pass.

Ruvin wasn’t worried about that though. Thanks to Izzy, their story was on point with no loopholes. They were foreign wolves out in Ashwick on business. Izzy was able to make documentation to show that they were renting out a house close by the city and their fake IDs.

“What the fuck....” Izzy’s reaction brought Ruvin’s attention back to the mysterious paw prints at the back of their residence.

He moved forward and watched as the giant wolf moved into the premises, his intelligent blue eyes scanning both the ground and trees. That was normal for any beast or animal but what shocked them was the fact that the wolf seemed to know exactly where all the security cameras were placed and it purposely passed in front of them to be seen.

“Tron, was the cloaking spell up?” Ruvin narrowed his eyes, taking in the blue-black giant with care.

Tron nodded, his moon-sliver eyes narrowing slightly. “The cloaking spell is always up.”

“Yet it doesn’t look like the weakblood is affected by it.” Izzy breathed settling back on her chair while she pushed her thigh-long braids from her face. On one side of her head, the braids were plaited in artwork of slashes and curves and they were all directed to one side of her head where they fell freely down her shoulder. Some had silver-plated leaves, gold beads, and swirling chains with tiny charms.

“That is not a weakblood.” Quentin answered, his voice thick with awe. “My family has worked for weakbloods for generations and mind you, strong bloodlines but I have never seen a weakblood that big and that intelligent before.”

Ruvin felt his heart burst in his ribs and Shadow stirred in his head with interest. Were there other half-bloods from the enchanted world that he didn’t know about? The sheer size of that wolf showed power and age. When Shadow stood among the half-bloods, no one needed intelligence to tell he was the most powerful and the leader there. “That’s an enchanted beast.”

Everyone turned to him.

Ruvin sighed and continued. “I don’t know who he is but he wants to be found that was is why he was sloppy. He passed along all the cameras in order to be seen. Then he left clean paw prints, I mean come on, this shithead is begging to be found. Edon, I want you, Willow and Lukas to go and find this fucking clown. Take Quentin with you since he is good with the location.”

Edon nodded and moved out.

“Don’t cause trouble while I am gone.” Lukas pulled Izzy’s braids teasingly.

Izzy’s wolf growled and snapped at Lukas earning her chuckles all around.

Ruvin returned to his room to clean up and dress before he joined his selected team and they went out.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A chill went down Alli’s spine as she increased the volume of the radio in her black Mini Cooper.

’The dead boy has been identified as Conrad Amaster, a twenty-three year old last seen walking his dog last night near the Ashwick City Park where he was found dead this morning...

A terrible quake went down Alli as she turned her alarmed face to Donny. “Wasn’t he that half-crazy wolf living with his uncle, the owner of that supermarket around the corner?”

“Yep.” Donny squeaked. “Do you think he was killed like the other two at the end of last month?”

Alli shrugged her shoulders but she was positive this was no accident. Someone was going around killing off people, wolves for that matter.

Just last month, a girl and another guy were found dead. No one could conclude what was the cause of death because there was nothing physical but the strangest thing was that they were all drained of blood.

“This city gets scarier and scarier by the moment.” Donny cuddled in her seat.

“Do you think we can sneak from the brunch later on and go to Ashwick Park?” Alli asked cautiously knowing what Idonea would say.

“Oooh! I knew you were thinking along those lines!” Donny groaned. “Why do you have to subject me to such brutality?”

Alli rolled her eyes. “Oh come on! The body is long gone plus....you know how I am. I can pick up things that others can’t. Maybe I could aid Corleen in finding this killer before more people end up dead.”

Idonea glanced at her friend for a moment then sighed. “I don’t envy your gift even for a moment. I mean, spirit walking in a crime scene where someone actually died is not something to flaunt.”

Alli laughed nervously but truth be told, she hated her gift. It enabled her to relive someone’s last moments, especially within a few hours after the death. She saw her sister’s mate, Xavier, die after Corleen managed to carry his body back home. She saw him battle the rogue wolf who isolated Xavier from the others and strategically killed him. Xavier was a very good hunter and it never made sense to Alli as to how he could fall so easily but after seeing his thoughts, she knew how.

Xavier was poisoned that evening and was led to his death. It was all planned out for him and the three other hunters he went with to die. He was the Head of Security before Corleen.

Alli told her sister what she saw but Corleen had to make her swear that she kept her mouth closed. The next thing she knew, Corleen had challenged for the Head of Security position....of which she won effortlessly.

Alli knew her sister very well and that her keen determination to find out what really happened to her mate was what drove her to challenge for the position. Alli knew it was dangerous for her to be there and that was why she wanted them to move from Ashwick but her sister wouldn’t have it.

“Fine, if you think you can pick up something this time around then we will go. You failed twice, what makes you think you will be able to detect whatever it is this time around?”

“Because no one can make the perfect kill every time. He is bound to make a mistake and I will be there to pick it up.” Alli said coldly as she swung the car into Donny’s driveway. “I pray that your aunt Alyse suddenly had a running stomach and she couldn’t make it to the brunch.”

Donny smirked. “You would have been more successful if you prayed that she got run over by a car. Aunt Alyse has a stomach made out of iron!”

Alli chuckled as she got out and straightened her short white autumn dress with pink and red flowers down around the hem and ran her fingers through her tousled hair. Alli wasn’t a fan of dresses but since this was a church brunch, she had to be the good girl. Good thing Donny and she were almost the same sizes but Donny had wider hips and was a little shorter than her. She had to ditch her smoke and booze-sodded clothing and put on something decent since the pastor was going to be there.

“Oh, damn, what is Titus doing here?” Donny gasped as she hid behind Alli.

Alli turned to where Donny was staring and frowned. Titus was talking to the pastor and his wife. Alli wondered if he came with Corleen. Her eyes strayed around and suddenly they clashed with Louise’s. Her heart burst in her chest. Her childhood crush was there, looking cuter and more muscular than she remembered. A grin spread on his lips as he made his way towards them.

“Alli....” He drawled holding his hands out for her.

“I should definitely ask Louise to Claim me when I become of age.” She murmured to Donny as she walked to Louise and smiled sweetly at him. “Louise!” She jumped into his arms and he pulled her up from the ground. He smelled divine, she just wanted to take a bite out of him.

When he placed her down, he patted her hair lightly. “You’ve grown since the last time I saw you.”

“I’m almost coming of age, you know.” She told him, quite proud of herself.

“Corleen told me.” His eyes took on a concerned expression. “It is not something you will smile about afterward. It is quite painful that it can push you--”

“--to the edge and become a Varga.” Alli finished the sentence for him. “Believe me when I say I have heard that particular line so much coming from Corleen that if you wake me up in the middle of the night and ask me to recite it, I wouldn’t even forget a punctuation mark.”

Louise grinned, showing off his perfectly straight white teeth. Alli shivered at how handsome he was. “Two more full moons?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know yet but Corleen told me I will feel it before it happens.”

“You and Donny are not that far apart. The symptoms will come slowly; loss of appetite, grouchy and moody, rising in body temperature, hiking and numbing of senses and an insatiable desire to kill....” Louise moved his head close to hers and smirked. “Or to mate...”

Alli swallowed visibly as Donny came forward and grabbed her arm. “Louise, stop it.” She frowned at him and pulled Alli away muttering. “You still want him to Claim you?”

A stupid grin appeared on Alli’s lips. “Hell yes.” She giggled.

“You are such a sucker.” Donny rolled her eyes then stiffened and dropped her eyes to the ground. “Titus.” she whimpered.

Alli looked at the approaching man and frowned. Because he was her superior, she was not allowed to look at him straight in the eye but Titus knew better than to dictate to Alli. She tried the same with Faelen but it didn’t work so well because the moment she raised her eyes to look up at Faelen, Manny, the monstrous guard that followed Faelen around like a tail moved forward and forced her body to kneel before him and apologized.

Manny man-handled her and once the news reached Corleen, there was hell to pay. Corleen made sure that Manny got the bigger picture since she was his superior and he man-handled her baby sister.

“Baby Corleen. Haven’t seen you in a while.” Titus smiled softly as he then turned to Donny who was still staring at her shoes and frowned. “What is she doing?”

“She is praying that you don’t--” Donny suddenly elbowed Alli hard on her ribs making her cringe and she cleared her throat. “She is a good girl that follows the wolf codes. No looking at your superior in the eye shit.”

Titus chuckled. “You should learn a thing or two from her.”

“What are you doing here? I know you are not here for brunch? Is it about Conrad Amaster, the boy who was found dead in the park pond?”

Titus’ face became serious abruptly. “Alli, why do you always go looking for trouble? If Corleen hears about this?”

“Corleen won’t hear about it. Titus--” He growled at her and she rolled her eyes. ”Sir, if you want us to survive such attacks then you have to prepare us for them.”

“You shouldn’t walk around alone in the middle of the night. Every inactive wolf has a curfew to keep and this will be announced in a few days’ time.”

“Curfew!” Both Donny and Alli exclaimed together catching the attention of the people around them.

“Oh....she has a tongue and voice afterall.” Titus teased Donny whose face darkened with color as she quickly looked back down. He sighed and said. “I don’t know why but I am more worried about the two of you than anyone else right now. You two trouble makers should keep yourselves from getting involved--Alli, Corleen has lost so much already, don’t make her lose her sister too.”

Alli’s heart drowned in its liquids when Titus mentioned Corleen’s situation. “We’ll keep safe, Titu--” He growled again and she sighed. ”Sir.”

“I’ll see you around.” He moved around the two of them but not after a quick look at Donny.

Alli grinned knowingly. “Did you just see that look, Donny?” She was greeted by silence and when she turned to her, Donny was rushing through the crowd to get to the kitchen where she thought she would be safe. “Hey, wait for me!” Alli exclaimed following her racing girl.