Bad Moon Rising: A Loup Garou World Novel (Tempting Fate Book 2) Read online

  Bad Moon Rising

  A Loup Garou World Novel (Tempting Fate)

  Mandy M. Roth

  Raven Happy Hour, LLC

  Contents

  Blurb

  Tempting Fate Series

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  About the Author

  Bad Moon Rising: A Loup Garou World Novel (Tempting Fate) © Copyright 2018 by Mandy M. Roth

  First Electronic Printing March, 2018, The Raven Books

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  All books copyrighted to the author and may not be resold or given away without written permission from the author, Mandy M. Roth.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Any and all characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or events or places is merely coincidence. This book is intended for a mature audience only. Must be 18 years or older.

  Published by Raven Books and Raven Happy Hour, LLC

  www.ravenhappyhour.com

  Blurb

  Bad Moon Rising

  Tempting Fate: Loup Garou Series Book Two

  A Loup Garou World Novel

  Gina, a natural-born slayer with a little something special, has been looking for love in all the wrong places. She’s not holding out for Prince Charming and for some strange reason, she can’t stop having feelings she shouldn’t for a man she considers just a friend. Sure, he’s hot, but he’s an alpha male shifter. Shifters and slayers don’t mix. It’s just the way of it. Plus, he’s been friend zoned.

  Detective Jay Gonzales is so in love with the spitfire redheaded slayer he can’t see straight. She keeps him at arm’s length and he can’t blame her. He’s got a history as a ladies’ man and he’s not what her slayer buddies would consider a catch. He doesn’t care. She means something to him, and this alpha wolf shifter isn’t about to take no for an answer, especially since he’s sure she’s his mate. Breaking the news to his pack, and keeping her safe from a rising dark threat in the city, are just two more obstacles he has to overcome to make Gina his forever.

  Tempting Fate Series

  Tempting Fate Series

  Loup Garou

  Bad Moon Rising

  And more to come!

  More coming soon. Visit www.MandyRoth.com for details.

  Dedication

  To every one of you who have waited since 2007 to read the next book in the series world. Thank you for understanding the highs and lows of the publishing world and for standing behind me while I worked to get Jay and Gina’s story into your hands.

  1

  I kept a fake sexy smile pressed to my face as I did my job—policing the supernatural. My current assignment was to gather intel on a new nightclub that had opened in the city. Rumor on the street was the place was run by vampires. I’d already confirmed as much. Not that there was any problem with vamps owning a business, even clubs, but there had been an uptick in violent, supernatural-related deaths in the area. As a slayer, I was there to make sure the place was on the level and wasn’t offering an all-you-can-eat buffet of humans, or run by Satan himself.

  One never knew.

  I’d yet to meet him.

  I knew his son—the Prince of Darkness.

  He was cool.

  Wasn’t sure if Daddy was hip as well.

  Supernaturals lived among humans without humans ever realizing as much. My boss, Zachariah, was the head of the slayers for the city and had explained more than once what had happened each time throughout history when supernaturals had been discovered. After countless lectures on the matter, I knew that bad, bad things had happened. He liked to blame the Dark Ages on it all. I liked to nod and try to get out of hearing any more about the topic.

  The club’s music was extra loud, and it made me wonder if the fact I thought as much meant I was getting old. Glancing around, I realized I wasn’t any older than most of the patrons. My deep-cut, fit-and-flare red dress fit right in with what other women were wearing to the upscale club. I’d paired the dress with four-inch heels, adding height to my five-foot-six-inch frame. While the heels fit the party scene, they weren’t exactly practical in my line of work.

  Nothing I was wearing was mine.

  Zachariah kept a vast roomful of clothing that might be needed by the slayers. The dress had been pulled from there.

  I sat on a stool at the bar while observing my surroundings, keeping an eye on the vampires I could see, looking for signs that things weren’t quite right. So far, other than a lot of trips to the back feeding room with women who looked as if they charged by the hour, nothing had stuck out. I was ready to go home. So far, I’d been hit on by six different vampires, and three really smarmy humans who actually made the vampires look like great picks.

  There had been a time, not that long ago, when I’d have been happy to spend an entire night at a club such as this one, getting hit on by hot men. Things had changed for me recently, but I wasn’t sure why.

  All I knew was each time a hot guy, living or dead, approached me, trying to buy me drinks and sweet-talk me out of my panties, the idea of letting them touch me nearly sent me into a panic. I’d never had a problem with random hookups before. In fact, I preferred them.

  But not now.

  As if on cue, a tall man with long dark hair approached, his blue-gray gaze centered on me. Everything about him said rich and powerful. His deep blue suit was tailored to fit him perfectly, and no doubt cost a pretty penny. I had to admit, the man wore it well. The baby-blue shirt he’d paired with the suit was unbuttoned a bit, showing off his alabaster chest. He had a great body. The new me admired his hotness, but I didn’t want to grab a cab and head to a hotel with him like the old me would have wanted to do.

  Okay, what the old me would have already done.

  Everything about the man screamed vampire. The way he seemed to almost glide through the crowd, parting them with ease, his gaze never leaving me, was a big sign he was more than human. The fact he was flawless to look at was another sign. Most vampires that I’d met over the years were suave to the point they didn’t even need to bother with sweet-talking a woman out of anything. Women simply threw articles of clothing at them.

  I bit my lower lip, hoping he wasn’t coming to talk to me.

  The closer the vampire got, the more I could sense how dominant he was. He wasn’t like the others who had approached me over the past hour. They’d all had a dangerous vibe to them, which all vampires had, but this one screamed master and something else. Something that I couldn’t put my finger on.

  I was extremely happy I’d decided to use the perfume mixture my boss had made me. Since my boss was a super-friggin’-old vampire himself, he knew certain scents confused his senses, making him unable to detect another supernatural with any sort of ease.

  It would do me no good to show up to survey the place if I smelled of slayer to the vampires there. Some didn’t have an issue with what I did for a livi
ng. But some living-challenged folks clung to the old ways.

  When it was us against them.

  Good versus evil and that other crap.

  Vamps versus slayers.

  The master vampire eased in close to me, going to the stool next to mine that had been occupied only seconds before his arrival. I didn’t doubt he’d used his power to strongly encourage the person who had been in the seat to get up and move. Luckily the person had, because the master vampire didn’t seem like the type who took no for an answer.

  He didn’t sit, so much as he leaned on the edge of the stool, giving him that too-cool-for-school factor. He faced me, putting one of his long legs out, blocking me from exiting from that side. Had I not been on the current kick of apparently all but giving up my sex drive, I’d have thought the guy was hot.

  Very hot.

  He motioned to the bartender and then tapped the bar top. “Give the lady another drink.”

  I licked my lips. A fake smile appeared on my face. It was one I’d perfected over the years. “Thank you, but I’m good.”

  “I insist,” he said, notes of a French accent to his voice. Shamelessly, he pushed my long, dark red hair over my shoulder, his fingers gliding over my skin in the process. “Tell me why it is someone as beautiful as you has been sitting here alone for over an hour. And why you have turned down a number of other men.”

  I kept calm even though I wanted to shiver at his touch. “I’m meeting someone.”

  He skimmed a long finger over my bare upper arm, all the while his gaze fixed on the deep cut of my dress. I knew it showed part of my breasts since it was open to just above my navel. That had seemed like a great idea before I went to the club. You know, keep the guys, dead or not, focused on my boobs and not my face, just in case I bumped into one while on patrol.

  Being recognized by a vampire was an occupational hazard. Now the dress seemed like the worst idea I’d had lately, and I’d drank orange juice after I brushed my teeth when I woke for the day.

  The vampire leaned in towards me, and it was all I could do to stay on the stool and not thrust him away. He wasn’t what he appeared to be. He was something more, something darker.

  “Is your gentleman caller late?” he asked, his voice sliding over me like butter even though he leaked darkness.

  “Yes,” I said, keeping my tone light and sexy. “He’ll be here soon. I’m sure he got held up with work. This isn’t really like him.”

  “I can think of a variety of things to do if he does not appear,” the vampire said, standing and easing me off the bar stool, his hands finding my waist.

  He was over six feet tall, leaving him standing a good deal taller than me. Most supernatural males were freakishly tall. I swear there was something in the water that made them all grow over six feet—and be sexy as hell.

  He drew me in towards him as he licked his lips. “You are simply divine.”

  I stared up at him.

  He eased me in the direction of the dance floor, and I hesitated. It was clear he was the guy in charge because it was very rare to have more than one master vampire hanging out together, two powerful beings rarely liked sharing the spotlight. I could learn more from him about what was going on in the area than anyone else. I could also end up having to fight a master vampire, which was harder than dusting the normal ones. And everything about the man near me said he’d be very hard to take down.

  There was something else that bothered me about him. More than the added darkness even, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. But I did start to feel out of my depth near him.

  I hedged as he continued to walk in the direction of the dance floor. “I don’t think I should. My boyfriend might not really approve.”

  The vampire touched my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze, something a normal human should avoid at all cost. “Any man who would permit you to come to a club alone and then leave you waiting any length of time is not a man worth your worry or your concern. I can promise you a most enjoyable night. Come, let me show you pleasure like you’ve never known.”

  I had to hand it to him, he was so humble.

  Cutting my losses and leaving the club sounded great, but if the vampires at the club had something to do with the rise in violent crimes in the area, I needed to know. My job was to protect the innocent, and sometimes that meant I had to do things I didn’t want to.

  Like dance with the super-sexy vampire with undertones of evil.

  He licked his lips. “I see no boyfriend here. What he doesn’t know will not hurt him.”

  Giving in, I nodded and let him lead me deeper onto the dance floor. The song changed to one that had a substantial beat accompanied by the sounds of sex. It pumped through the club.

  I was sure the master vampire had a hand in the song change and choice. My brow quirked, and he chuckled softly.

  Yep. He was guilty.

  He then drew me against him and began to move in a way that surprised me. For some reason, I didn’t expect him to be much of a dancer. I was wrong. Very wrong. I moved with him, trying to glance around to watch for suspicious activity. He was so tall and big that it was hard to see much beyond him.

  One of his hands went to my hip and the other he tried to run down my chest.

  Catching his hand, I shook my head no.

  He grinned, his look screaming “challenge accepted.”

  He dipped his head going to my neck area. It took all of me to avoid tensing. His lips found my ear and spoke. “What is your name?”

  “Gina,” I said, surprised I’d blurted out my real name—or the shortened version of my real name.

  He kept his lips near my ear. “I am Reynaud.”

  My hands went to his chest in an attempt to put space between us. It didn’t work.

  The next I knew, he was moving my hair back from my neck, putting his face close to it.

  This time I did tense. “This feels wrong,” I said, hoping to find an out. “I’m sure this would upset my boyfriend. As nice as this is, he means a lot to me. I don’t want to hurt him.”

  There was no boyfriend.

  “Gina, I can give you so much pleasure. Beyond anything he could hope to hold a candle to.”

  Yep. Totally humble.

  I eased back a touch more. “Thank you for the offer, Reynaud, but I’m not willing to throw away what I have with him for a night of bliss with you.”

  His gaze held a hunger that was actually disconcerting. “It does not have to be one night of bliss. It can be hundreds of years’ worth.”

  2

  Out of nowhere, the club’s temperature seemed to increase as heat pulsed over me, warning me of danger and exciting me. I knew the power wasn’t from Reynaud. I sensed something powerful, alpha, and pissed close by. It wasn’t a vampire, but it was a force to be reckoned with. I was sure of that.

  Turning, I spotted Jayson “Jay” Gonzales about three feet behind me. I’d known him for years and trusted him fully. He had a presence that demanded attention. It didn’t hurt that he had an endless supply of muscles, making him hard all over. It wasn’t as if he looked overdone like some of those bodybuilder guys in the banana huggers who put on too much self-tanner and then flexed their freakish bulging muscles accompanied by popping veins.

  No. Jay was built with a perfect ratio.

  His black hair that was longer on top and shorter on the sides had gel in it tonight, looking messy yet stylishly so. His chiseled jawline had a light dusting of dark facial hair, which only made him sexier. The black long-sleeved shirt he wore was cuffed on his forearms with the top unbuttoned enough to show off his steely chest. He had on a pair of dark jeans and black biker boots.

  He looked great.

  Too great.

  At that moment, he looked like a lifeline, and I wasn’t about to pass up on the chance to put distance between myself and Reynaud. I may be able to beat the crap out of almost any supernatural, but I’m not stupid. Reynaud was tripping all my inner slayer alarms. I’d be a fool to ignore
the warnings.

  Jay’s deep brown gaze locked on the vampire behind me. From Jay’s expression, he wasn’t happy. In fact, he looked like he might attack someone, which would be very bad in a club full of vampires.

  Unsure what Jay’s problem was, and needing to avoid a big scene, I smiled wide at him, hoping to head off any problems. “You made it!”

  His gaze slid to me and heated instantly.

  This time I blushed, and it was for real.

  I went to him fast and leaped at him.

  He caught me and held me off my feet, leaving me able to put my lips to his ear. “Play nice.”

  He tightened his hold as I trailed kisses over his cheek to his full lips in an attempt to make it look like he really was the man I’d been waiting for. I was about to wiggle to get down when Jay surprised me, taking hold of my mouth with his. He thrust his tongue into my mouth, and my nipples hardened instantly.

  I moaned and returned the kiss tenfold. My entire body lit with need, and I had to force myself to stop kissing him. For a second, I was too shaken by what happened to comment. Two deep breaths later, I had my hormones under control enough to form a sentence. “Mmm, I was starting to think you forgot about me.”

  He didn’t even bother to help with the act. Instead, Jay kissed me again.