Warrior Cat (Full Moon Protectors Book 2) Read online

  Warrior Cat

  Full Moon Protectors - Book 2

  Sammie Joyce

  Copyright © 2020 by Sammie Joyce

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Sammie Joyce

  Warrior Cat

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Epilogue

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  About Sammie Joyce

  Warrior Cat

  Full Moon Protectors - Book 2

  Sammie Joyce

  Prologue

  Landon

  I could clearly read the boredom radiating off of the wolves’ faces, even in the animal form. It’s hard to believe that a beast can so openly display such disdain and yet Cronin looked ready to fall asleep where he stood, his lids dropping heavier and heavier before suddenly opening, as if he’d remembered where he was and what he was supposed to be doing.

  To my left, the panthers were frolicking about, trying not to bring too much attention to themselves but knowing Anton and Tybalt as well as I did, I knew they were doing it half for show. They were nothing if not exhibitionists—at least until the attention was bestowed upon them by the Council.

  The only Protector, beside myself, who seemed to be paying any mind to what was going on with the Council meeting was Tony and I knew that had more to do with the fact that he was trying to be on his best behavior rather than genuine interest. After what had happened a few weeks ago, we were both doing our best not to rouse Nia’s wrath; although it was much easier for me than Anthony, who had a natural boyishness about him and seemed to rub the councilwoman the wrong way the entire time.

  What’s wrong with these guys? Don’t they care about the future, about our security? They should be paying more attention to what’s going on, especially after the stunts that Inigo and Cronin pulled. If I were them, I’d be on full alert.

  But I wasn’t them and that was part of the problem. In many ways, I had nothing in common with the other Protectors. True, I’d been chosen because I was the fastest and strongest of our leap—or at least that was what the results of the competition had determined. It was hard to imagine, based on my physique. I wasn’t imposing like Cronin or solidly built like the wolves. Still, I held my own and the longer someone got to know me, the more they realized how much they had underestimated me at first impression. I liked to think of that as my secret weapon—being unassuming had its perks. Anthony and I were chosen to be the best of the leopards, although I sometimes wondered if the honor was as high as the Council presented it to be with these others among us.

  I knew I was an anomaly, not falling into the “save the world” mentality of my counterparts. My way was more akin to the elders and their tried and true methods of running things. It didn’t always jive with the others which was why I tended to keep mostly to myself. Luckily for me, Tony was social enough for both of us and saved me from having to speak too much out of turn.

  And why am I worried about what they’re doing when I’m supposed to be paying attention? Maybe they’re rubbing off on me more than I think.

  I refocused my amber-green eyes toward the meeting and tuned back in, eager to hear whatever the brightest minds of our time were discussing. We’d already been at the meeting an hour and there didn’t seem to be anything pressing enough to require the Protectors’ presences, but there was still time enough for Nia to go crazy if the wind blew wrong.

  I thought about how she had attacked us the last time we’d been invited to a Council meeting but from where I was standing, Jack seemed to have matters under control and she was in a good enough mood—for Nia.

  I heard someone grunt in annoyance and I knew it was one of the wolves but I didn’t pay him any mind. Whatever we were doing there, we had been asked for a reason. Everything the Council did was methodical and planned. The Protectors should have known that much by now.

  “Let’s wrap this up, shall we?” Bula sighed, checking her watch as she did. The glow of the fire pit didn’t do much to hide the annoyance in her face. “I have an early morning.”

  It was clear that the meeting had already gone on longer than she had anticipated but I frowned at her impatience. Sometimes I wondered about the Council members themselves too. Bula was acting more like one of the Protectors than the councilwoman for the bears.

  I have an early morning too, I growled to myself. You don’t see me complaining, even though I’m going to be dealing with a mass of high school students.

  “Good idea,” Lorna agreed, nodding toward the panther councilmen. “Amity, you had something you wanted to say to the Protectors, didn’t you?”

  The introduction surprised me as much as it did everyone else. Amity nodded and rose. All eyes turned to her and even Cronin perked up when he saw her. It was a rare occasion for Amity to speak and we were all curious about what she had to say.

  “We narrowly escaped a catastrophe not long ago,” she told us, her husky voice low but despite that, I could hear her clearly, even though I was still in my mortal form. “I don’t need to remind you about the semantics but our delicate balance with the humans was tested and we enacted a curfew for human interactions, if you recall.”

  “We remember,” Inigo muttered but everyone ignored him, their eyes still fixed on Amity. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the general look of worry as the others wondered if she might enforce one again.

  I secretly hoped she would. It was better for all of us that way. There was no need for the shifters and humans to fraternize after dark, unless of course there was a work-related matter but exceptions could be made. The other Protectors put much too much stalk into the value of the humans around us. Not that I hadn’t occasionally fallen into the group mentality with Tony in the lead, but for the most part, I was a firm believer in separating our worlds. It was just smarter and it had worked for centuries.

  You shouldn’t fix that that isn’t broken, I always reasoned. The other Protectors believed that with the times changing, we needed to be versatile. I, on the other hand, believed that if something worked, there was no need to alter views.

  “Are you bringing the curfew back?” Cronin demanded, his voice etched in nervousness. My brow rose slightly. I wondered why he cared so much. After all, he was the reason it had started in the first place…kind of.

  “No—at least not right now,” Amity replied. I could feel wind on my face with the collective sighs between them and I almost rolled my eyes. I ran a hand through my thick mop of dark hair and returned my eyes to Amity. Suddenly, I was annoyed and wanted to get out of there too. I disliked discussing the humans at these meetings. Things always tended to get intense when the subject was broached but it was a topic that was impossible to avoid.

  “We want you to exercise the same caution and vigilance that you used during that time, however,” Amity went on. I didn’t have to look to know that all eyebrows were up now, everyone in their human forms, lest they need to speak.

  “We’re always vigilant,” Dalton gr
umbled. Marcel, who stood at his side, elbowed him and he clamped his mouth closed.

  “Well be extra vigilant then,” Amity insisted. “Or I will be forced to bring the curfew back.”

  There was a confused murmur among the Protectors, but it was me who asked the question on everyone’s mind.

  “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

  Amity’s eyes narrowed slightly as her gaze rested on me.

  “Does something have to happen before you’ll be cautious, Landon?” she demanded and I found myself abashed by the question. I lowered my gaze and shook my head.

  “Of course not,” I muttered. “I just thought that something had brought this about.”

  “Just keep your wits about you and stop asking such stupid questions, Collier,” Nia barked at me, her infamous temper flaring.

  “Nia…” Jack said, half-exasperated, half-warning. “He just asked a question.”

  It was one of the many reasons I respected and liked Jack so much—he knew exactly how to handle Nia, despite her instability. It was hard to imagine how a man who looked so frail could keep such a firecracker under control yet he did, time and again. And thank gods for that. Who knew what would have happened to us leopards without Jack?

  “He and Tony ask too many questions,” she retorted but she settled back against him, her eyes still flashing at me.

  “Any other questions?” Amity asked, her eyes trailing along the group but no one stirred. Even if they had questions now, they wouldn’t ask them in fear of being ridiculed by Nia.

  “Fine. Let’s call it a night.”

  She dismissed the meeting and we dispersed in all directions, some of us shifting to disappear through the woods but I remained in my mortal form, Anthony at my side.

  “Was it just me or was that a very long meeting for no good reason?” Tony asked. I couldn’t help but smile, even though I hadn’t minded it.

  “The Council thought there was reason enough to have us there,” I offered.

  “I have no idea why you think they know everything,” Tony sighed. “They really are dinosaurs, you know? We’ll all be much better off when they finally hand off the torch and let the younger generation do their thing.”

  “Do you think if dinosaurs were still around that there would be dinosaur shifters?” I asked, completely irrelevantly. Tony snickered.

  “Are you always thinking like a biology teacher or is that your way of changing the subject so I don’t insult your idols on Council anymore?”

  I didn’t admit it to him but it was a bit of both.

  But dinosaur shifters. I’d be a raptor if I could.

  I didn’t let Tony see my smile.

  “Anyway, whatever they’re hiding, we’ll find out soon enough,” Tony went on. My brow furrowed.

  “You think they’re hiding something?” I asked, although I wasn’t sure he was wrong. I’d gotten the same sense myself.

  “You don’t?” he asked like he was reading my mind. I shrugged.

  “It’s not my place to determine,” I replied and picked up my pace slightly. Tony hurried to catch up as we entered the thick beyond the clearing where we’d been for the meeting. I’d parked my car near Crater Lake and I knew Tony was parked there too. In hindsight, we probably should have carpooled, but I’d had to do parent-teacher interviews that night before the meeting and had gotten a late start out. Anyway, I preferred the time to myself, driving giving me almost as much peace as a run.

  “I hate it when they do that,” Tony grumbled as we moved.

  “What’s that?”

  “Keep us in the dark until it’s too late and then we’re scrambling to fix what we could have prevented from the start.”

  “You don’t know that there’s anything going on,” I replied and Tony snorted.

  “I know and so do you. You just don’t want to say anything to contradict the Council.”

  He had a point but I didn’t tell him that.

  “But they’re right about one thing,” Tony continued. “We should probably stop coddling the humans as much as we have been.”

  I was so surprised at Tony’s words, I almost stopped in my tracks. I eyed him through my peripheral vision as we walked.

  “Why the change of heart?” I asked, trying to sound impassive but I was genuinely interested in the about-face. He’d dragged me into more human situations than I cared to admit.

  How many muggings have we stopped because of him?

  “I’m starting to think that maybe we underestimate the human ability to take care of themselves, even though they don’t have our talents.”

  “I’ve been saying that forever!” I grunted but I was happy that one of the Protectors was finally seeing things my way. “Not to mention that they can’t be trusted with our secrets.”

  “Well, that can be said about shifters too,” Tony said. Maybe he hadn’t done a full one-eighty but at least he was more on the Council’s side than he was before. I decided to take it as a win.

  “Does that mean we’re not interfering with human business anymore?” I asked hopefully, wondering if I was being naïve.

  “I think we should stay on Nia’s good side for a while,” he agreed.

  Is he saying that because he’s afraid of Nia or because he truly believes that we shouldn’t be helping the humans?

  Whatever the reason, I was glad he was seeing things more clearly. If only we could get the rest of the Protectors on board, we’d be in a much better place, not only with ourselves but with the Council.

  Baby steps, I thought wryly. I’ll take what I can get.

  I knew Jack would be happy to know that he had us both on his side. It was better to have a united front.

  “Staying on Nia’s good side is always a bonus,” I replied. Our vehicles were in view and I nodded at Tony.

  “I’m right up here,” I said, gesturing at the old BMW parked on the side of the road. I loved that car, even if it was ten years old. I had always wanted a BMW.

  “Hey Lan,” Tony called as I moved toward my vehicle. I paused and glanced over my shoulder at him.

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you think we have anything to worry about?”

  I blinked at the question, not really understanding it as he posed it.

  “With the Council? With Nia?” I asked, perplexed. He shook his head and frowned.

  “With what they’re not telling us,” he replied and I blinked again. It was clear that whatever Amity had said was bothering Tony a lot more than it was me. I wondered why that was. Tony was usually a lot more easy-going than he was acting in that moment. I decided to take a play out of his book and smile nonchalantly.

  “Like you said,” I replied lightly, turning back toward my car. “If there’s anything, we’ll find out about it soon enough.”

  “Or not soon enough,” Tony countered, also on the move. Yet as I settled into the driver’s side of my vehicle, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Tony’s sense was stronger than mine about things sometimes and that I would do well to heed his warning, even if I didn’t feel it.

  After all, I had faith in the Council.

  I just hoped that my faith wasn’t blind.

  1

  Christina

  There was something magical about dusk, something that I could never quite put my finger on.

  Perhaps it was the way the sunlight dappled off the coniferous trees, casting a surreal glow of purples, reds, and blues over the landscape, capturing the wildlife in the final throes of feeding before they hunkered back to their respective homes for the night. Maybe it was the mere feeling of mystery that seemed to enshroud our beautiful part of the country, a sense of which I’d been aware for almost my entire existence but had never been properly explained, even though many had tried. Whatever it was, it made that time of the day the best for capturing shots, whether work related or for my own private portfolio and I found myself out as often as I could, snapping pictures with my trusted but ridiculously expensive Canon Rebel EOS.
The device had cost me a month’s pay at a time when I could barely afford more than ramen noodles to eat but in the end, it had been well worth the money. It was my prized possession and I rarely went anywhere without it.

  Gone were the days of lugging around heavy bags and setting up tripod stands to get the perfect shot. With technology being what it was, I was able to run and move along with the stealthy evening creatures, clicking almost without their notice.

  Almost.

  I still needed to work on my own stealth game but I was getting better, especially as I began to learn the terrain I was exploring. I tried to make it a point to explore a different wild area every week but there was just so much of it in my part of Oregon that I knew I’d never really see it all.

  That night, I was inside the Willamette National Forest, relishing the chitter of birds and inhaling the extra oxygen the massive pines provided. Granted, Eugene wasn’t as polluted as some other cities I knew of, but it was still nice to be away and communing with nature. When darkness finally fell, I’d be able to clearly see a gazillion stars with my naked eye. I wish I’d thought to bring a picnic blanket to lay on.

  Oh right. Not tonight. No star-gazing tonight, I reminded myself. I had plans.

  I refocused my camera and paused to let my eyes adjust to the dimming light around me. I was hoping to sell this compilation to an up and coming nature magazine based out of Seattle. They had put out a call for pictures, depicting the natural side of America and I knew exactly where I needed to go to find them. Oregon had some of the most beautiful wilderness in America and I was going to capture it all.