Moon Tortured (Sky Brooks Series Book 1) by McKenzie Hunter Page A

“They are humans who serve the seethe in various ways but mostly as food supply. Some do it in hopes of being changed and others to satisfy their own perverted needs. Those who do it in hope of being changed become slaves, willing to do anything to please their master, including abducting you,” he said as he looked at me.
    He shifted in his seat and looked out the window. “You don’t trust us.”
    I didn’t know how to answer that question. “I’ve never had to trust anyone other than my mother. I don’t think I know how to,” I admitted. But it was only a partial truth. No, I didn’t trust them and I doubted I ever would.
    I wanted to say something to put an end to this long uncomfortable silence. We drove the rest of the way in silence; every so often, he looked in my direction and I couldn’t quite read his expression. After I pulled into the driveway, I quickly got out the car and went to the passenger side to help him. He closed the distance between us as he stepped out of the car. His face was mild, almost gentle as he grasped strands of my hair. Rolling them absently over his fingers in a manner that seemed intimate, his gaze roved over my face carefully. “You need to trust us, or at the very least learn to fake it,” he stated in a cool voice. He held my gaze; it was rapacious and hard. His comment wasn’t so much a suggestion as it was a well-worded threat. Dr. Baker met us at the door, his face etched with concern. Holding the bullet between my fingers, I looked at it again and dropped it into his hand.
    “Well done,” he stated appreciatively as I walked past him. Since I was the reason for the injury, helping him didn’t seem to warrant appreciation.
    “How’s the shoulder,” he asked Ethan before he walked past him.
    “Still here.”
    “Meet me in my office. I still would like to look at it,” he called after him.
    Ethan nodded heading toward Sebastian’s office, but he was out the door before Ethan could knock. His lips curved into a half smile, giving the shoulder a once over. “It’s been a long time since you’ve felt the tinge of silver on your flesh,” Sebastian stated.
    “It’s a pain one never forgets. I don’t need a reminder of it anytime soon.”
    “Skylar, I see that your daytrip was quite eventful. You now see that the vampires don’t have to take a stroll in the daylight to get to you,” he stated contemptuously. “There won’t be any more trips for you until this is over. So don’t ask again.”
    I started counting from a thousand giving myself time to cool off before I ended up telling him what I thought about having to ask permission to leave the house. I missed several numbers in the process—too angry to concentrate. It’s not that I didn’t agree with him because it was quite tiring getting attacked every time I left the house. But would it have hurt him to ask me like an adult rather than commanding me as though I were a child?
    “Being attacked every time I go out of the house really makes for a bad day. And because of the ever-so-sweet way you asked, I think I can comply with that,” I stated in a cloying tone. His eyes narrowed into a glare before he directed his attention back to Ethan.
    I started up the stairs but didn’t miss him telling Ethan that Josh had returned. By the time I backtracked down, they had disappeared behind the office door. Since fighting with a controlling Alpha wasn’t on my to-do list, I abandoned the idea of knocking on the office door.
     

     
    By the time I had showered and eaten dinner, once again alone in the bedroom, I had grown impatient, waiting for them to let me speak to this Josh. I hadn’t seen or heard anything from Ethan since we had pulled up to the house three hours earlier. Pacing the room wasn’t helping either. I wandered through the house, which had become suspiciously quiet since his arrival. Did he have the same effect on them that I had when I first came to the house? Did everyone just