Full Moon Feral Read online

  With all great sacrifices for love, there must be consequences.

  Brendan has been at Moon Compound and gone through his first shift. He feels like hell when his mate walks into his life in chains. Devastated that his mate is feral, he mourns for the mate he is bound to lose before he ever has him. Desperate not to lose his mate, he does something that will forever change his life. Will Brendan be able to save his feral?

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  Full Moon Feral

  Copyright © 2013 Jackie Nacht

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-730-2

  Cover art by Angela Waters

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

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  Full Moon Feral

  Moon Compound, Book Two

  By

  Jackie Nacht

  Dedication

  To Janet. Thank you for being my sounding board and listening to me as I fleshed out Moon Compound. You have been amazingly helpful and I can't thank you enough. Hugs.

  Chapter One

  Malach sat in the helicopter, staring out at the cold, choppy waves of Lake Superior. They barely got past the full-moon shift when they got the call. Fuck, he hated this more than fighting ten hellhounds. This was the only time when he lost composure, and he hated that he was the only one who could lead a team of guards due to having experience in the situation. Personal experience, at that.

  Malach much preferred to stay at Moon Compound and help all the residents that had just had their shift. Some were still in beds, battered from still learning to have their wolf and human sides work as one. There were a lot of packs out there counting on him and the rest of his team of guards to help their loved ones get through these first brutal years of shifting. That’s why packs sent pre-shifters to Moon Compound, to make sure everyone stayed safe.

  Lukas, another guard from the compound, banked left as they searched for a spot to land.

  They were going to have to hunt. He wasn’t even sure how long it would take, but they had to find him before he hurt others or himself.

  Dammit, another feral. The compound had a few, and the numbers were lower these days, because pre-shifters were watched so damn closely when they shifted, and everyone did what they could to keep the madness at bay. However, this one slipped through the cracks, running wild through the forest. How the hell did that happen?

  Malach only hoped that they got to him in time. They hadn’t had a visual in the last twenty-four hours, and they weren’t even sure if he was still alive. While most wolves feared the change, a feral embraced and drove straight into the madness of it all. Crazed and out of control, a feral didn’t even care if it hurt itself, let alone others.

  Malach shivered at the thought of the last feral he had guarded over. The poor guy broke his neck on the cell doors trying to go after him. Cattle prods couldn’t even tame this guy. It only revved him up.

  So, time was of the essence if they were going to catch this guy before he caused harm to someone.

  Malach wasn’t even sure what they could do for the feral. Once a shifter went feral, there was no known way of bringing them back. Rubbing his short hair in frustration, Malach waited as the helicopter landed.

  “I’ve got a visual,” Lukas yelled from the front.

  Lukas landed, noise deafening, as Malach started grabbing for weapons.

  Rayce sat across from him, strapping on weapons. The guard didn’t look happy at having to leave Peyton, and he appeared to get more pissed off by the second.

  The thumping of the propellers slowed and finally ceased.

  Malach jumped down, and Lukas followed, geared to the teeth.

  “Ready?” Malach eyed the other two. From intel of packs that had seen this guy, he was going to be hard to take down.

  “Ready.”

  Lukas nodded.

  The three took off at a run and, for thirty minutes, continued through the woods where the feral had last been seen. They were just about to give up and turn back for the helicopter when the shifter came from around the tree, completely nude. He didn’t jump or run out…no, he simply walked, assessing them, tensing for a fight.

  Malach took a step back; ferals usually had no reasoning in them, understanding nothing but to attack, attack, attack. This one just stared, gray eyes lost to the madness.

  “Think he’s going to go easy?” Lukas murmured, all three standing uneasy.

  “No fucking way. He’s going to give us a run for our money.” Malach stood poised for the fight that was inevitable.

  Rayce walked forward and released the chains he had strapped to his hips. That’s when all hell broke loose.

  An inhuman roar came from the feral as he rammed into Rayce, lifting him off the ground and throwing him into the trunk of a nearby tree.

  “Fuck!” Malach screamed and charged in, ducking a wild swing from the feral.

  Lukas was working his way around with two cattle prods out.

  A swift kick to the feral’s mid-section only pissed him off more, and the next swing connected with Malach’s face. Lights exploded behind his eyes, and pain ignited on the side of his face before he fell flat on his back on the forest floor.

  The feral pounced atop him and was taking ruthless swings at his face.

  All Malach could do was lift his arms to block the worst of the damage. Malach was sure he was about to go lights out when the feral above him seized up before a swift kick from the side sent him flying off Malach.

  Choking and coughing, Malach rolled to his hands and knees as he watched Lukas and Rayce tag teaming the feral with the cattle prods. The fucker wasn’t going down even though they were juicing the hell out of him.

  Malach got his feet under him and raced to collect the fallen chains on the ground. After picking them up, he approached the scuffle as the feral finally fell to his damn knees.

  Rayce and Lukas pulled back swiftly, and the volts of electricity buzzing through his system caused tremors in the feral.

  Once the pair pulled back the prods, Malach made a grab for his hands and began chaining him.

  “Get the leg chains! We need him completely immobilized and give him a tranq!” Malach yelled as he tackled the feral to the ground.

  Lukas began working chains off his belt, and Rayce stumbled to get the tranq gun out.

  Rayce made a clean shot into the feral’s neck with the tranquilizer, and Lukas worked the leg chains on.

  By the time they were done, Malach was on the ground, looking up at the sky, huffing and puffing. Malach glanced over to find Lukas and Rayce bent over, hands on knees, also completely out of breath.

  “Fucker is strong, and I think he broke a couple of my ribs. Hurts like a mother to breath.” Rayce let out a couple more juicy curses as he grimaced in pain.

  “Lukas, take Rayce, and I’ll get the feral.” Malach glance
d over at their captive. “Do you have a name?”

  The feral just curled a lip and growled at him, foam at the side of his mouth dribbling down his chin.

  Scrubbing a hand over his bruised face, Malach remembered again why he hated this. This one had been on his own for more than a couple full moons to be this wild.

  “I can walk on my own. Lukas, help Malach.” Rayce groaned as he began walking back toward the helicopter. They had quite a hike to get there.

  Malach and Lukas each grabbed an arm and hauled the feral toward the helicopter. The hike was long, but they made pretty good time, because the feral didn’t put up much of a fight. He seemed in a stupor from the drug coursing through him and went along in the direction they were taking him. If Malach had been hit with that tranq, he would have been out for two days.

  Boarding the copter, they strapped the feral so tightly that he wouldn’t be able to move his pinky, let alone cause any more damage toward them.

  Lukas started up the rotors, and after a warm-up, they lifted off and headed toward Moon Compound.

  “Where are we going to place him?” Rayce hissed out, holding his left side.

  Malach thought it over. They had a section of the compound that was just for ferals, but without knowing anything about this guy, he wasn’t sure that was the right move. Hell, maybe someone would recognize the guy, and they could notify his family. They had room in several other wings.

  “Put him in the cell next to Knox.”

  “You think Knox can help him?” Rayce eyed the feral who tracked them with his eyes.

  Malach tracked him too. He was beginning to think the feral wasn’t looking quite as drugged as he wanted him to be.

  Malach wasn’t sure there was anyone that could help this guy out. He had seen a feral this far gone before, and the guy didn’t last two months before he broke his own neck, lost in the madness during the full moon.

  “I’m not sure, but someone may know him if they see him.” Malach glanced over. If the man weren’t feral, he’d be one of the biggest fucking alphas he had ever seen. The guy was well over six and half feet tall and built solid, but he was in desperate need of a shower and a shave.

  Twenty minutes later, they were landing at Isle Royale. Staring out below, Malach surmised that Lukas had called in some serious backup, because there was a whole team of guards waiting for them at the helicopter pad. Even a few Elders were amongst the ranks.

  After landing, Malach got out first, and a med team came over to help Rayce.

  “I’m fine, let me take care of the feral first,” Rayce shouted as a med went to tend to him. Malach knew, being his boss for so long, that Rayce hated to be fussed over.

  Four guards went into the helicopter and, a moment later, came out flanking the feral.

  The guy was shaking off the tranq too fast. His eyes were too aware. His muscles flexing, readying. Malach stepped up and took an arm, relieving one of the newer guards. No way could a new guard handle this situation if it got real, and this feral was ready for round two.

  They entered the compound as a team and made their way down the hall. Fuck, everyone is out and about. Malach thought this might take some finessing, but then, everyone parted, making a wide berth for them to walk down the hall, staring wide-eyed at the feral in chains.

  Malach was guiding them over to the cell when the feral jerked to a stop and then turned, going for a group and sniffing the pre- and post-shifters.

  “Pull him back! Pull him back!” Malach shouted.

  It took a huge effort, the feral was zeroing in on someone, sniffing loudly into the air before letting out an insane roar. Three guards came in, making it five, to drag the guy into his cell.

  Cattle prods were used over and over until they got the guy in the cell.

  Malach blew out a breath and was almost bulldozed by an Omega, Brendan, crying out for the feral. Malach made a grab for him as he almost reached the bars, and the feral just fucking lost it.

  Brendan let out a whimper before slowly crawling over to the bars. The Omega was small, barely five seven and thin. No way could he handle this feral.

  Oh shit. Oh shit. Malach felt his damn eyes sting. This wasn’t about recognizing a lost friend or a damn relative. The body language coming from Brendan was too damn similar to what Malach had seen before. No way could this be Brendan’s mate. No way would the gods fate him to find a mate who was lost to madness.

  Malach couldn’t watch anymore. He had lived it before, and the memories were about to consume, drown him. He just couldn’t go there again. Turning, he nodded at Lukas and got the hell out of there, painful memories hot on his heels.

  Chapter Two

  As he reached out to the bars but refrained from touching, Brendan wanted to scream for no one to hurt the feral. The feral had calmed down after the guards released him, so Brendan could finally look his fill.

  The shifter was huge, muscles bulging as he stared back at him, tan skin sleek with sweat from putting up a fight, completely nude. Brendan stared into cool gray eyes that were wild, and a whimper escaped him. How could this happen? This shifter had gone feral. How?

  “What’s your name?” Brendan whispered.

  The feral tilted his head as if he heard but didn’t recognize the words.

  Sighing, Brendan glanced down at the cold stone floor.

  Not knowing what was going on, he laid on the cold surface that seemed to be his only companion. He was still so damn weak from his shift at the full moon a couple days ago and grateful for the reprieve of the stone floor, even if the floor itself was unmerciful against the last of his bruises.

  Feeling a presence behind him, Brendan glanced over his shoulder, at a loss. “Colin?” Brendan whispered.

  Colin was one of his Omega friends at the compound and had recently found his mate, Sloan.

  When Colin reached to take his hand, the feral began to growl, a vibration that filled his whole body. He wasn’t sure why, but it bothered Brendan greatly that the feral was upset. All he wanted to do at the moment was calm the man.

  “Don’t, Colin. He doesn’t like it.” Brendan stared back at the feral as Colin put his hands up.

  The feral stopped growling immediately but approached the bars to pace. Back and forth, eyeing Brendan's friends who stood behind him like he was just waiting for them to come near him.

  Sloan, Colin’s mate and an Alpha, stepped closer but didn’t touch, just squatted next to him, elbows on his thighs as he assessed the feral. “Brendan, we need to talk to you. Why don’t you come to breakfast with us? You need the nutrition post-shift.”

  “I don’t want to leave him.” Brendan was at a loss as to what was going on. He didn’t know this guy, but he didn’t want to leave him after all the hell he had just gone through. A deep pain hit Brendan at simply thinking of walking away from him. He rubbed his chest, trying to appease the ache. It didn’t help.

  “We need to talk to you. It’s important, Brendan. Let us just have a few minutes of your time.” Colin sat next to him but didn’t touch him.

  “Please, Brendan.” His best friend, Dalton, came and sat with them. Another Omega, Dalton had been by his side for the last couple of days while Brendan healed from his first full moon. In fact, this was his first time getting out of bed since his change. Glancing down, he could see his arms were trembling and unsteady, a side effect of his shift. Mostly, he had healed but was still having a hard time holding objects and getting his brain and body to work together.

  “I can’t,” Brendan choked out.

  The group silently left, and Brendan stayed on the ground in front of the cell. He couldn’t leave the feral. The stranger needed him, so he stayed, feeling the cold stone touch his cheek as he eyed the man in the cell.

  Brendan wasn’t even sure how long he laid there, his post-shifting body protesting the hard surface. His friends brought him food, which he touched little of it. The sandwich still sat on a plate next to him, so he sat up, grabbed the food and slipped it thr
ough the bars. He might have lost his appetite, but the feral kept eyeing the sandwich.

  The feral eyed him for a moment, paced, eyed him again then paced some more before he struck and ripped the sandwich out of his hands, taking a huge mouthful, squatting in the corner.

  Brendan held his injured hand to his chest, the scratch marks from the feral's long nails stinging.

  “Don’t put your hand through the bars, Brendan. He’s not in control and could do some serious damage.” Lukas came up to him.

  “He’s hungry.” Brendan stared at the guard’s cattle prods, praying that he wouldn’t use it on the feral. Lukas was a fair guard and cared for all the ones he guarded over, but Brendan still didn’t want him hurting the feral. It was Brendan’s damn fault he put his hand through the bars.

  “We have a guard preparing a meal for him right now. We’ll take good care of him, Brendan. You don’t need to be worrying.” Lukas walked down the hall, surveying all the residents of the hallway.

  Brendan blew his bangs out his eyes. He knew they would feed him, but he wanted to take care of the feral.

  Lunch came then dinner and his friends would no longer take no for an answer. He might be small, but Brendan hated it when people tried to coddle him. He might not be the smartest Omega or even strongest, but he had an inner strength, dammit. Too bad no one else saw it.

  His friends returned, and the feral approached the bars, lip curling and gripping the bars with white knuckles. Could he rip the door off? Brendan sized him up…yeah, he sure had the capability.

  Colin sighed next to him. “Look, I know you don’t want to leave him. You know why? He’s your mate, Brendan. Please, let’s go talk to Elder Lewis and see what we can do for you and for him.”

  Dalton stepped up next to him. “We’ll be gone for an hour. Let’s just get some answers for you.”