Moon of the Terrible (Seasons of the Moon) Read Online Free PDF

my hand, pick these locks, and we can worry about the werewolf thing after we escape. Worst case scenario…” He gripped her hand tightly in his. “Cain wants a werewolf for his ritual? He can have a werewolf. But he can’t have you.”
    She pushed him away. “No. I’m not going to do it. I would rather change and take my chances against all of them with my teeth.”
    “If Abel can handle being a werewolf, so can I,” he said.
    Rylie gave a disbelieving laugh. “That’s not what this is about, is it? Like, some new phase of your stupid competition with your brother? Who can be the bigger, badder wolf? No! It’s not worth it, Seth!”
    “This is about survival, and keeping you safe. I can’t protect you if I don’t heal this hand,” he said, getting onto his knees in front of her as the chains rattled. “I’m sorry.”
    And then Seth slapped her.
    Rylie’s hand flew to the heated spot on her cheek where he had struck. She sucked in a hard gasp. “Hey!”
    “Bite me,” he said, and he hit her again on the opposite cheek.
    Anger built inside of her, making the werewolf stir.
    Was he insane? Suicidal?
    “Be careful,” she whispered, scooting back into the corner until she hit the wall and had nowhere else to go. “You’re making me mad. The wolf—”
    Seth’s lips were stretched into a grimace, as if he was the one getting hit. “I know.”
    His third blow was a close-fisted strike. Pain exploded in Rylie’s jaw. She sprawled on all fours.
    “I’m not going to bite you,” she said, but her voice was deeper than usual, and her teeth were aching.
    One of her canines dropped out of her mouth.
    “Don’t transform,” Seth warned her.
    She tried to say, “Then stop hitting me!” But all that came out was a low whine. The bones in her face ached.
    He shoved his wounded arm into her mouth.
    The wolf bit .
    Rylie shoved him back, but it was too late. The taste of blood had flooded her tongue, coppery and tangy and sickeningly delicious.
    “No,” she whispered.
    She tried to wipe the blood off of her tongue—tried to take back what she had done. But it was too late. It didn’t take much to spread lycanthropy.
    Her mingled fear and horror was strong enough to drive away the wolf, leaving Rylie feeling emotionally raw and exposed.
    She had bitten Seth .
    He leaned against the wall with a groan, eyes squeezed shut. His forehead shone with sweat. “Now we just have to wait,” he panted, cradling his bleeding arm.
    Rylie gave up fighting it. She collapsed in the corner and began to sob.

S EVEN
    Bloodhounds
    When they were less than an hour from the house, Crystal insisted on making one more pit stop. Just an hour away, and she couldn’t hold it.
    “Women,” Abel muttered, leaning on the hood of the van while he waited. Trevin had gone inside for another burrito, but Vanthe stuck around to keep him company.
    “No kidding,” Vanthe agreed. He pulled off his knitted cap, rubbed the coarse blond hair on his head, and then tugged it back on. “I heard Scott and Levi talking before we left. They said that Seth was going to your old house.”
    “Yeah. But my family’s not there.”
    “Where are they? I mean, I know that Seth’s your brother, but what about mom? Dad?”
    Abel stuffed his hands under his armpits to keep them warm, even though he hadn’t really been cold a moment before. “They’re both dead. Killed by werewolves.”
    Vanthe clicked his tongue against the back of his teeth. “That’s rough.”
    Abel thought back on the day his mother died. Eleanor had stabbed him with a knife before she went down. She used his transformation into werewolf as her excuse for attacking, but Abel felt like she had been stabbing him in smaller, less-literal ways for years.
    Constantly showing preference to Seth, her precious baby. Ignoring him. Being condescending and outright hateful.
    And yet, until she fell from the cliff, some part of him had still hoped that they could be a family again someday. A