Page 3 of The Red Moon

I take a deep breath, letting the chains tighten over my chest and fall back to their rightful place. “And Viktor?”

Your brother ... is another story. Something far worse.

“What do you mean?”

Viktor didn’t just embrace his wolf. It was there from the moment he was born. The moment they were born, really.

I think back on every memory I have of Viktor growing up. How he rarely spoke, unless it was to himself when he thought no one else was around. The way he would much rather be alone in his room than play despite my persistence. Because he never was alone. Not truly. There was another voice in his head. Something occupying his thoughts. It wasn’t until his first full moon transformation that a different side of him started breaching the surface. Private staff around our estate began missing shifts. Claw marks appeared on different parts of the house more frequently—my door the usual victim. I had my suspicions but my father always insisted it was one of the new wolves in the manor learning to control themselves. How could I have been so blinded by it all? Was it ignorance or my love for Viktor shielding me from the truth?

Both, the wolf agrees. Like I said before, you humans aren’t nearly as perceptive.

“Can we stop him?” I ask, disrupting the plane’s interior.

Oh, now we’re a team? Only took thirty years.

Great. I’ve finally learned to tap into the wolf side of myself, and it turns out my wolf is petty.

A stern huff rumbles my ears. You try sitting in the backseat and watch the driver steer into oncoming traffic.

And he has jokes, too.

You’ve managed to miss my best ones blocking me out.

“Enough!” I writhe again, rattling the chains louder this time. “Can we stop Viktor?”

Dimitri rustles in his seat. He opens his eyes and peers up at the small lights rapidly losing luster against the sun emerging through each oval window. “Nikolai? What’s wrong?” he finally asks and glances in my direction.

“Nothing. Just thinking.”

“With him?” he asks and points at his temple.

I nod. It wasn’t easy explaining what happened at Völk. This out-of-body experience where I watched myself and the wolf lurking in the darkest parts of me, ripping my pack to pieces. A dream might be the best way to describe it. One where you wake up and your hands are still stained with the blood of each traitor you sent to the same hell they create during the lunar cycle. It wasn’t a dream though. I transformed without the power of a full moon. I did what was always called a myth among my kind. Except Viktor. There is a long list of words my brother might be. Conniving. Sadistic. Bloodthirsty. Something he is not, though, is a liar.

“Even if you could shift without the moon, brother—” he had said when I found him stalking my little wolf. I wanted nothing more than to rip his throat out and let his fluids rain down on every unsuspecting person in that goddamn club. But his words weren’t merely a threat. They were just a glimpse into what he’s become. What I’ve fought so hard to achieve myself. He can shift at will, too. He’s far more dangerous than I’ve ever considered. And now, I’m not so sure I can stop him.

Wolves do not feel fear. That is the human side of you.

“Answer the fucking question,” I demand, and the stale air inside the plane tightens. “Can we stop him?”

Dimitri stays silent, and I, too, await the wolf’s response.

For the first time since I’ve heard this other voice in my head, there’s something different. Something in his voice that gives me pause.

“What did he say?” Dimitri asks, hunching forward with a hand on each large knee.

I say nothing and repeat the wolf’s words in my head, ignoring the gusty winds shaking the airframe. The way the pilots coordinate a descent through the clouds on a final approach to my family’s private airfield. We’re almost there, but that doesn’t matter anymore. Three words. Three simple fucking words that leave me with nothing but uncertainty.

We will try.

THREE

NATALIE

My body stiffens as Veronica clenches onto me even tighter. Her hair, a tangled mess, nets around my face in the embrace. She doesn’t smell of the high-end perfume anymore. No, distinct odor of dirt and sweat emanates from Veronica Tate now. Heavy sobs bump her chest against mine, and it takes everything not to shove her back to the floor.

“They drugged me in that backroom, and I woke up here,” she cries, nuzzling into the crook of my neck. “With all of these …” She pauses and takes a sharp breath in. “People.”

I peer between her matted hair to the couple of dozen other captives. Nik said Viktor stopped following his orders and started taking whoever he saw fit. Apparently, no one was off-limits. They were ripped from the streets with no clue who the Vostiks even were. And now, they’re here with me, and Veronica fucking Tate.