Read After the Moon Rises for Free Online

I’ll dig some from this side.
    Tom pulled back and let Vonda work. This time he was able to pull himself through. Picking up the rifle, he followed Vonda as she led him through the woods.
    The road wound between trees for what seemed like miles. Time crept forward, slower than Layla in the winter. Probably because they took the scenic route through the woods instead of trotting on the dirt-packed road. Less chance of being seen. Hopefully.
    At least it gave Tom plenty of time to think, to plan new ways of killing the bastards who took his daughter. Shooting was too clean. So was snapping their necks. He should have brought the axe.
    They’re in the clearing.
    “Huh?”
    Shh! Just think it. Do you really want them to hear you?
    Tom glared at her. She stared back, amber eyes unblinking. Brave women were sexy.
    Canines gleamed in the darkness as Vonda stood a little straighter.
    Damn. He’d projected thoughts he hadn’t meant to. Again. Well, he was new at this telepathy thing. He planned on getting better at it once he had Elizabeth back. Then he could concentrate on Vonda. Until then visions of long legs wrapped around his waist and amber eyes glowing in the moonlight were relegated to the back of his mind.
    Dropping to the ground, Tom crawled toward the clearing, Vonda following.
    Wonder if they can smell me.
    Why ...Tom started, remembered why and shut his mental trap. Can’t you mask your scent?
    Her head tilted to the side as she stared at him. See any dead animals around?
    What does that have to do with it?
    Vonda shook her head. In order for me to mask my scent, I need to roll on something dead.
    Before Tom could think a reply to that little pleasantry, they arrived at the clearing. Numerous men, women and wolves—which he assumed to be of the were variety—stood huddled in a circle, staring in the middle of ring. Too many for him to take out, even if Vonda managed to take a couple down.
    Where was Elizabeth? He looked around the clearing, surprised by how light it seemed. The moon was full, but it should be shadowed in the woods, clearing or not. Tom looked to the tops of the trees, searched for lights and saw none. Maybe there was something he couldn’t see that reflected the light, making the shadows disappear.
    Or maybe his eyes had adjusted so well to the dark that the dark now seemed light.
    A person moved, allowing him a glimpse into the circle, a glimpse into what they hid, and a glimpse at his daughter.
    Elizabeth huddled on the ground, knees to her chest, face buried in her knees.
    And then the person moved again and his glimpse vanished.
    Tom felt an almost overwhelming need to kill them all. His heart pounded in his chest, beat in his head, pulsed in his teeth, down his throat.
    An unearthly sound echoed in his ears, turning every head in the clearing to him.
    Like he cared.
    They had his daughter, his only child, and they would die.
    He sprang forward.

Chapter 5
    Vonda turned to Tom as he howled. Howled. Since when did men howl?
    Okay, maybe in the heat of passion, but nothing like what he let out. Her bones felt like ants crawling through them, small tingles burning deep.
    She took a deep breath and gasped. What the...
    Tom sprang from where he laid, muscles bulging. Vonda tried to reach for him, remembering at the last second she had no hands to pull him back.
    Tom, no! Wait!
    Of course he didn’t. Since when did men listen to a woman? And he’d left his rifle behind. Brilliant. Fight a bunch of werewolves barehanded.
    If what she smelled on him was accurate, and her nose didn’t lie, he might have a better chance than she thought.
    By now the startled werewolves flocked around Tom, while Elizabeth screamed, “Daddy!”
    She should help Tom fight, she really should, but fighting was so not her thing. Sneaking, now that she was good at. She could sneak right around the clearing while Tom distracted them all and try to free Elizabeth. Two women stood by the girl, obviously guarding her.
    Vonda