Moon Kissed

+ bring on the night +

If there was one thing you could count on, it was that things always got weird right before a full moon. Still, Jenner held out hope, month after month, that there would come a night when his fellow creatures of the night would collectively behave themselves.

Tonight was not that night.

You're gonna want to get over here, Jenner. We've got a biter.

"Hell." Jackson Jenner gave a low growl and shoved away from the pool table, where he'd been about to make the shot that would relieve a couple of his pack mates of twenty bucks. Jax's voice had sounded loud and clear in his head, and there was no mistaking the urgency in the message. Being able to communicate telepathically with the other members of his pack came in handy, and it sure beat walkie-talkies, but there was also no hiding from it when you didn't want to be bothered. Especially when you were your pack's Lunari, second only to the Alpha in both power and responsibility, and said Alpha was giving you a dirty look from across the room.

Magnus was linked in to the conversation, of course. He always was. Jenner gave him a sharp nod.

I'm on it.

Magnus nodded back, then returned his attention to the pretty blonde who probably had no idea she was being hit on by a werewolf, much less one who headed up one of the larger packs in this part of the country.

No way would he ever want to be an Alpha, Jenner thought as he headed out the door. He couldn't stand to have all those voices yammering away in his head all the time. He liked Magnus, though he was an ornery bastard...hell, probably because of it...but running herd on all the Blackpaw in the area was a deeply unappealing thought. For one thing, it meant having to talk to people. A lot of people. And often.

Being what basically amounted to captain to captain of the guard could be a pain, but Jenner would take the hunt-and-chase any day over all of that talking. His opinion was often asked for, and given, in private, but he much preferred being the silent half of the pack's leadership in public. Diplomacy had never been his strong suit. Fighting, on the other hand...well, it turned out he had quite a knack for that. and being a werewolf meant having some interesting things to fight on a regular basis, if you wanted your pack to continue to exist.

His father, pampered and entitled, would be horrified if he knew the full truth of it. Actually, he was horrified enough at the little he did know about his oldest son's life. The thought made Jenner smile.

On my way, he though, giving it the little mental push he'd learned quickly after his own life-changing bite years before. Instantly, he felt a flash of Jax's relief, and sighed irritably. If Jax was twisted up about it, it couldn't be good.

Goddamn biters. It had been quite a while since the last one, which was good considering all the other crap he had to deal with out in the woods. There had been a lot more activity lately, a bad sigh, though the shadows has started up and then quieted down just as everyone got really jumpy many times before. But Jenner knew his luck couldn't hold forever. He just hoped that the woods were clear of any other annoyances tonight. Last night's hunt should have cleared those blood-sucking shadows out for a day or two, at least.

Jenner paused just outside the door of Rowdy's, the small ramshackle bar that was a pack favorite on weekends. He inhaled deeply, his sensitive nose painting him a mental picture of everything going on in the area. The air, faintly damp and with a snap of chill that was typical for a late September night in Northern Pennsylvania, was full of the scents that had become familiar, even comforting, since he'd come here ten years before. Maple and pine, earth and early fall air. Human and wolf, each with their own distinct musk.