Page 41 of Moonlight & Mayhem

“A lot,” he breathed.

The clubhouse erupted in motion. Chris’s voice boomed from the hall. “PERIMETERS!” Tempest shouted orders as weapons were grabbed.

Mayhem moved toward the door, and Moon caught his wrist. “You can’t shift.”

“I know, but I can still help,” he insisted. He saw the panic in her eyes as she shook her head at him.

“You need to stay here, Mayhem,” she insisted. “I mean it.”

“So do I,” he said. He grabbed his gun and checked the magazine, noting that it was full. Moon grabbed her own weapon, and Mayhem looked at her. He knew that it would be pointless to tell her to stay in the clinic, so he didn’t. “Stay behind me,” he ordered.

“No,” she growled. “I fight beside you. And stop telling me what to do,” she said.

“Had to try,” he grumbled. They ran into the main room. Chris stood near the reinforced front entrance, with her gun raised. Chrome beside her. Tempest was at the center of the room, watching Howler as he moved toward the window. Then everything went quiet—too quiet. A voice came from outside. It was female—calm and powerful.

“Silver Healer,” she shouted. Moon went completely still. Mayhem’s wolf exploded beneath his skin as the black veins surged up his arm.

“Fuck,” he growled. Moon grabbed his hand, and they faded slightly.

The woman outside laughed. It was a low, eerie sound that carried through the walls. “I know you’re in there.”

Mayhem lifted his weapon, and Tempest stepped toward the door, but Chris blocked her. “Prez.”

“I know,” Tempest said.

“You don’t go first,” Chris said. Tempest’s jaw tightened, but Chris didn’t move. For a heartbeat, Mayhem saw exactly why she was VP. She protected Tempest at all costs.

Moon whispered beside him. “I know that voice.”

Mayhem turned to face her and noticed that her face had gone white. “From the vision?” he asked. She nodded.

Outside, the woman spoke again. “Come home, Moonlight.” Mayhem’s entire body went cold, and Moon’s fingers tightened around his.

Chris glanced back at them, and Mayhem looked at Moon. “Do you know her?” Chris asked.

Moon shook her head. “No.”

The woman outside said the words that changed everything. “Your mother knew me, Moonlight.” Moon stopped breathing, and Mayhem’s wolf roared. This time, when he looked at the black veins climbing his arm, he understood one thing perfectly. This didn’t start with him. It started long before Moon was born or even met him.

Mayhem had heard a lot of bad ideas in his life. Opening the clubhouse door to the woman outside was climbing rapidly toward the top of the list. “Come home, Moonlight.” The words still hung in the air.

Moon’s fingers were wrapped around his hand so tightly that her nails bit into his skin. Mayhem welcomed it because the pain gave him something solid to focus on besides the black veins crawling higher beneath his forearm. His wolf was losing its mind—not because of the woman outside, but because Moon was scared. It wasn’t the quiet unease he’d smelled on her earlier, or the nervousness she tried to hide behind doctor bullshit and sarcasm. This was real fear. It was the kind that turned her scent sharp and made his wolf want to tear through the clubhouse walls with his teeth.

“Your mother knew me,” the old woman said. Mayhem looked down at Moon and noticed that her face had gone almost completely white.

“Moonlight.” She didn’t answer him. Hell, she didn’t even look at him. “Look at me,” he ordered. She didn’t, and his patience snapped. Mayhem released her hand long enough to cup the back of her neck and force her gaze up to his. The black veins immediately darkened, but he ignored them. “Moon.” Her eyes finally focused on him. “There you are.”

“She knew my mother,” Moon whispered.

“Maybe,” he said.

“She said⁠—”

“I heard her,” he said, cutting her off. Moon swallowed, and Mayhem brushed his thumb beneath her ear. “Doesn’t mean she’s telling the truth.”

Moon’s wolf stirred. He could feel it through whatever half-formed bond connected them now. “She is telling the truth.”

Mayhem’s jaw tightened. “How do you know?” he asked.