Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Description
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
About the Author
Dear Readers...
Gems of Romantic Fiction
ResplendencePublishing.com
Runaway Moon
A Touch of Gray Story
By Dakota Rebel
Resplendence Publishing
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www.resplendencepublishing.com
Gems of Romantic Fiction
Runaway Moon
Copyright © 2016, Dakota Rebel
Edited by Michele Paulin and Marti Ocilka
Cover Art by Les Byerley
Published by Resplendence Publishing, LLC
1093 A1A Beach Blvd, #146
St. Augustine, FL 32080
Electronic format ISBN: 978-1-60735-958-6
Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Electronic Release: August 2016
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.
After being gone for two months, Bryce Grayson, alpha of the Detroit were-panther clan, sends out a call to his cats, pulling their beasts before the full-moon cycle and causing all of them, including his brother Cole’s boyfriend, Sebastian, to run north to find him. An eclipse and a blood moon in perigee right over Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are affecting more than just the tides in Lake Superior. The lunar storm has weres, ghosts and hormones running rampant.
Emotions run high between the brothers, the lovers and the panthers. The boys soon learn that when the demon you’re running from is nature, there aren’t a whole lot of places to hide.
Note: Runaway Moon is part of the Touch of Gray series, telling the ongoing adventures of Cole, Bryce and Sebastian. Each book can be read and enjoyed as a standalone story.
This one is for Liza
Chapter One
“Hey, Bast,” I called to Sebastian from the front office. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Yeah?”
“Will you marry me?”
“You have to fucking stop that,” he yelled. I heard something heavy smash in the back and cringed.
I’d been asking him to marry me for two months, and as of yet, he still refused. I hoped that if I caught him off guard one day, he’d say yes. Whether out of confusion or frustration, I didn’t really care. I just wanted him to agree.
Since my brother, Bryce, had taken off on us after a job in Cleveland, Sebastian and I had been trying to find our way alone. We’d both grown accustomed to Bryce’s presence in our relationship, and the adjustment wasn’t going well. Especially for Sebastian. The absence of Bryce, his panther clan’s alpha, was driving Sebastian up a wall. The panther inside him wasn’t taking the situation well, either. The beast was so close to the surface all the time now, lashing out at any given moment. It wanted its master back. Bryce and Bastian had been a couple in their furry forms, and that had been my brother’s catalyst to leave us in the first place. He was falling for my lover, and he didn’t want to come between us, so he’d split. The problem was, neither of us had wanted him to go.
It had been hard sharing Sebastian with him three nights a month, but not as hard as this was. This was torture. This was agony. This was bullshit.
At least, his panther clan had held up reasonably well. I couldn’t have taken a leap of big cats bitching and screaming and trashing my living room at all hours of the day and night. One asshole doing that was enough for me, thanks.
The crashing in the back of the office got louder, and I feared I knew what Sebastian was doing back there. As much as I didn’t want to, I got to my feet and headed toward the storm brewing in the rear of the building.
I stood in the doorway, leaning on the jamb and watching Sebastian destroying Bryce’s cage with a sledgehammer. He was shirtless, sweaty and swinging the tool with such force I saw the muscles playing in his arms on every downward thrust.
They hadn’t used the cages in over a year anyway, so the destruction wasn’t really going to affect anything. But that it was my brother’s cage getting the smash treatment spoke volumes about my lover’s anger toward Bryce at the moment.
“Whatcha doin’?” I asked, when he didn’t bother to acknowledge me.
“Cleaning,” he replied, his tone clipped. “Isn’t that what we’re doing today? Cleaning the office for all of the clients who’ve stopped coming around?”
“Maybe—and this is just a thought—they wouldn’t have disappeared if you didn’t act like a bitchy queen every time someone walked in the door. I’m sorry it’s not Bryce when the bell rings. I’m sorry I’m not him, and I can’t fill that hole in your heart. But you have to pull yourself together. If you’re going to be pissed at someone, be pissed at him, not me. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m still here.”
He deflated, dropping the hammer to the floor and staring down at it, his whole body sagging. A heavy sigh blew from his lips, his shoulders shaking with suppressed sobs. If I hadn’t been so pissed at him, I’d have wrapped my arms around him to try to comfort him. Part of me feared he’d punch me if I tried to get near him.
It had been a rough couple months, to say the least.
“I’m sorry,” he said, after a full minute. “I know I’ve been a dick. I just… I don’t know what to do. I didn’t know… I didn’t realize…”
“What he really meant to you until he was gone?” I offered as I took a tentative step toward him. “Yeah, I understand that.”
Because I felt the same. Yes, Bryce was my brother and we’d always been close. But him being gone was like losing one of my limbs. On most days, I felt as if I were operating without my dominant hand. I’d never fully appreciated what a huge part of my life he was. He was more
