Moonlight's Peril (Moonlight Series Book 1) Read Online Free

hand through his hair. “My grandfather left the town pack, because of Kane’s father, and took many of your grandparents out here so we could live apart from brutality and senseless killing.” He paused and waited for a nod or two of encouragement. A few people shuffled uncomfortably. “But I see some of you have forgotten a pack leader blurring the line between morality and his rules can become a threat. Anyone who believes I have the right to destroy a desperate mother, speak up.”
    Law stood taller and made eye contact with as many of his pack as he could. “An alpha who doesn’t have a code isn’t a man I want to follow. I won’t throw away my morals when it’s convenient. I’ll die to protect you, but I want to be a leader worth following.” He rubbed his sore neck. His temples throbbed. Saving Bianca Archer was giving him a migraine. At this rate, he’d be lucky if that’s the worst she did to his health.
    ***
    Bianca parked on state land. She got out of the car and grabbed her pack from the trunk before heading to the hiking trail. The path ended right at the property line to Foster’s farm. Up on the ridge, she’d have a good view.
    Birdsong and the metallic buzz of cicadas were the loudest noises as her feet crunched on the natural debris-strewn path. A slight breeze ruffled her hair. A few of the trees were starting to change color. She turned down an overgrown path. Nippy air left her chilled, but the weatherman had promised humidity was on its way to bring an evening thunderstorm. The bright blue sky gave no sign of the expected tempest. Dew still weighed down the foliage.
    Bianca hefted her pack higher up on her shoulders. A squirrel ran up the tree to her right. Moths fluttered in a sunny patch of late blooming wildflowers. She’d packed a lot more than she normally would for a day trip. If some miracle happened, and she found her daughter, she wanted to make sure she had enough water for them both. She’d even remembered Chessa’s favorite sweater.
    Beautiful scenery stretched in all directions, but she couldn’t enjoy the hike. Every step closer to Foster and his people pushed her anxiety higher.
    “I’m so out of shape,” Bianca muttered, leaning against a tree. She realized she’d been walking uphill. Taking a moment to rest, she gulped a breath down to slow her breathing.
    Sunlight glinted on something in the tall grass. Bianca went over and bent down. She picked up the metal fragment. Chessa’s locket. The tiny metal heart lay in her palm, almost unrecognizable, but the picture of Bianca’s father made it clear this was Chessa’s. The other picture, the one of Bianca’s mother, couldn’t be found. Her heart raced. She couldn’t draw a full breath into her lungs. Chessa never took the family heirloom off. The locket appeared beyond repair, but she put it in the front pocket of her jeans.
    Bianca tried to stand, but her knees buckled. Chessa had been up here miles from the crime scene. Her daughter hadn’t just fallen off the planet. Her feet had touched this same path. She fought the urge to scream Chessa’s name. Grief choked Bianca, but she kept going. There might be more clues the police had missed. Inexplicably, the search dogs had led the authorities away from this trail.
    Going until she reached the edge of the wooded bluff, Bianca found a break in the neglected old barbwire. Everything beyond the fence belonged to Foster. Bianca sat down and pulled her camera binoculars out of the bag. They’d been Lucas’s. Nature photography had taken him all over the world and yet he’d died here.
    Focusing on the large compound below, Bianca snapped some pictures. There were a lot of buildings. She saw the farm had cows and various buildings like a silo and corncrib. Estimating how many people lived there was hard, but she counted at least fifteen ranging from babies to the elderly. In all her years of hearing curious whispers in town about Foster’s family, she’d never heard