Crimson (The Silver Series Book 3) by Cheree Alsop

worn
out. “What do we know about our attackers tonight?” I forced myself
to ask.
    “ Not much,” Jaze admitted,
frustration clear in his voice. “But we left quite a mess. The FBI
should be on our tail before long. We should have been more
careful.”
    “ We’ve been watching the
news,” Meg said, her tone curious.
    “ What did they say about
the bodies?” Jaze asked.
    She shook her head. “Nothing, not a darn
thing.” The disbelief on her face was echoed on Roger’s. “You’d
think that something like a shooting at a gas station with,” she
glanced at Jet, “At least several dead, would call for some sort of
story.”
    “ Unless they’re covering it
up,” Roger concluded.
    “ Which means your friends
have got some powerful allies,” Jaze said to me, his eyes tight
with concern.
    My muscles tightened. I wanted more than
anything to lie down and think of something besides werewolves.
Jaze must have read my expression. “Let's go. I know Grace is
anxious to see you.”
    I thanked Meg and Roger, then Jaze helped me
out the door and across the lawn. The midnight sky had lightened at
the western edge, and the moon hovered close to the horizon behind
us. I turned toward it and Jaze stopped.
    “ Feels good, doesn't it?”
he said quietly.
    I closed my eyes and filled my lungs with
the humid night air while moonlight bathed my face with an almost
palpable caress. I nodded. “Why?”
    A smile touched Jaze's voice. “The moon is
our mistress, or it's the other way around. It calls to us the same
way sunflowers turn their faces to the path of the sun. It's in our
blood.”
    I nodded because even though it didn't make
sense, I felt the call of the moon through my veins. My bones
throbbed to answer the call and I fought a brief urge to phase.
    “ Like endless acceptance,”
Jet said quietly behind me.
    My heart surged in answer to his words. It
felt like to the moon I was the most important thing in the world,
as if each breath I took here was answered in the haunting
moonlight. I took another deep breath, then turned back to Jaze's
house.
    “ Kaynan!” Nikki, Taye, and
Grace rose from the couch when we entered. The girls led Grace over
and she threw her arms around my neck. “Never, ever do that again,”
she said with tears in her eyes.
    “ Which part, going to the
mall, fighting off attackers, or taking a bullet so I could get a
break?”
    She grimaced. “All three.”
    Nikki gave me a hug. “My mom says you're
pretty tough. I told Grace I doubted a bullet would slow you
down.”
    “ Not by much,” Jaze said
from behind me.
    Nikki's arms tightened. “Thank you for
saving him,” she said. She gave me a warm smile and stepped
back.
    Taye gave me a hug as well. “You werewolves
and your need to endure as much pain as possible.” She let go and
shook her head at all three of us. “Next time, call the cops.”
    “ And tell them what? We're
werewolves being attacked by humans who want to take us back to
their lab so they can perform experiments on us?” Jaze asked, his
smile wry.
    Taye sighed and went back to sit on the
floor by the couch. Nikki joined her as Mrs. Carso entered the
room.
    “ Oh, Kaynan,” Jaze’s mom
said, her voice filled with both relief and anxiety. “Thank
goodness you were there.” She gave me a motherly hug, then stepped
back to give me a critical once-over. “You better sit down before
you fall over,” she said, motioning to the empty cushions. I
settled slowly on the couch and Grace sat down next to
me.
    “ It's not like I was
waiting to be shot or anything, Mom,” Jaze said,
chagrined.
    “ Just the same,” Mrs. Carso
replied. “You boys need to figure out what's going on before they
find us here and you don't get off as easily next time.”
    “ That was easy?” Brock
asked, coming from the kitchen with a plate of heated pizza
rolls.
    “ Easier than if they bring
backup, which they will from here on out.” Jaze glanced at me. “We
have to figure out how they