Read Blood Moon Harvest (Seasons of the Moon) for Free Online Page A

do.”
    Rylie spent the next month doing two big things: recovering and avoiding.
    The first one was the easy part, relatively speaking. The barn was a total loss, and healing from her wounds was mostly a matter of time.
    She healed slowly—it took two weeks for her bruises to vanish. Much longer than usual.
    The avoiding thing was a lot trickier.
    Yasir brought the rest of his unit to investigate the fire. They brought two of the Union’s RVs, which gave the displaced werewolves somewhere to sleep, but it still wasn’t enough room. Rylie began spending her nights outside in a sleeping bag.
    It was also hard to sleep when men who had tried to kill her two years ago were patrolling her home.
    “This is a good thing,” Seth told her one morning when the unit was jogging in formation along the highway. “They can protect us better than I can alone.”
    “But do they want to protect us?” Rylie asked.
    He said yes, but he didn’t sound very convincing.
    The Union wasn’t the only thing Rylie was avoiding. She was also avoiding talking about marriage—although Seth only tried to bring it up once or twice after the first night—and avoiding Abel.
    And everyone was avoiding the obvious truth that was staring them in the face: it was time to abandon the sanctuary.
    Scott Whyte flew out to help them file the insurance reports. He had gained weight in the last couple of years; he used to look like Sean Connery, but the rugged jaw had since gotten a few layers of fat over it. He looked more like Santa Claus than an aging James Bond.
    “Nothing in the barn can be recovered,” he told Rylie and Gwyn. “I can arrange to have it bulldozed and rebuilt. But this location isn’t safe now. Cain has made it clear that he’s not afraid of attacking the ranch. We need to move everyone to the California sanctuary.”
    Gwyn nodded. “There’s somewhere I can stay in the city.”
    “You’re not coming to California with us?” Rylie asked.
    “I don’t belong with a bunch of werewolves, babe. I have friends in the city.” Gwyn paused. “A girlfriend, actually.”
    “What?” All of her other concerns immediately vanished at Gwyn’s confession. “You’re dating again, and you didn’t tell me?”
    That would definitely explain all of her aunt’s mysterious disappearances, but Rylie didn’t have time to interrogate her for detail.
    Scott stepped in.
    “I should probably warn you now—Seth isn’t going to California either, Rylie,” he said, putting a heavy hand on her shoulder. He wore a thick gold thumb ring etched with pentagrams. “Not at first. I need his help finding Cain.”
    “But he’s supposed to be going back to college in a couple of weeks.”
    Scott’s bushy eyebrows joined together. “He graduated in the spring. He’s not starting medical school until next year.”
    Shock washed over her, and Rylie shielded her eyes from the sun to watch Seth training with the other hunters on the opposite hill. They were all wearing black Union sweatpants and practicing fight moves. Seth was better than everyone but Yasir—he had grown up hunting werewolves, and even a couple years of college couldn’t soften those hard edges.
    He had graduated. He was taking a whole year off of school. She felt a little dizzy at the realization.
    Why hadn’t he told her?

S EVEN
    A Promise
    “I didn’t know that you already graduated,” Rylie told Seth that night. They were curled up together in a sleeping bag to watch the stars. Even with the autumn chill, it was far better than sharing a bedroom—and she definitely wasn’t cold while wrapped around her boyfriend.
    It was almost the full moon again, and it sparkled on the water of the brook. They had chosen to camp in a valley where nobody could see them, and it was quiet, private, and absolutely beautiful.
    Seth traced a line on her shoulder. “After everything that happened, I didn’t want to make you worry about it. I don’t want to pressure you.”
    “How would that