House
of
Wolves
L S Slayford
© Copyright 2018 - All rights reserved.
The contents of this book may not be reproduced, duplicated or transmitted without direct written permission from the author.
Under no circumstances will any legal responsibility or blame be held against the publisher for any reparation, damages, or monetary loss due to the information herein, either directly or indirectly.
The characters within this book are fictitious and any resemblance between them and real people is purely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
One
Two
Three
Four
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Epilogue
One
The stifling heat weighed down upon Luna’s shoulders, adding pressure to her already weary body, never mind her bruised and battered heart. The nine-hour plane ride may have been smooth sailing for the rest of the passengers, but for Luna it meant gruelling hours of holding back hot tears and nail biting. It didn’t help that the man sitting next to her snored in her ear for much of the trip.
As the doors opened and she stood to meld into the line of people scrambling to get off the plane, a wave of hot air crashed into her, threatening to send her staggering backwards. Damn it. Why did Pierre have to forget her travel fan? It must have been the only thing he’d forgotten.
Thoughts of her boyfriend melted under the intense heat and humidity, replaced by chaotic emotions as she hurried to collect her luggage. Sweat trickled down her back and settled at the base of her spine. Trust her to arrive on the one day that the airport’s air conditioning didn’t appear to work. The disgruntled moans of fellow passengers swirled around her, but Luna couldn’t focus on them.
Anxiety raced down each nerve ending as she tried to recall the last time she’d been there. Nothing sprang to mind, but then she’d only been six years old. Any airport was bound to change in twenty-one years.
She couldn’t recall anything of her childhood in Virginia. Her earliest memories stemmed from the prestigious boarding school in Paris her parents had arranged for her to attend. They’d raved about how good it would be for her but to Luna it was like any other school. Just with nicer, more expensive uniforms. Although her passport clearly stated American, in many ways Luna couldn’t see herself as anything other than European. She’d spent more time in France and England than in her home country.
She didn’t speak with the same accent as her family for a start, neither did she use the same terminology which typically resulted in constant teasing. Her brother’s taunts echoed in her mind. Do you think you’re the posh one in the family or something? The only answer she’d ever given him was a mock haughty look as their parents laughed in the background.
But now there would be no more laughter.
She already knew that the next few days promised to be strange and emotional. Deep down, she ached for Pierre to be with her, to help her through what lay ahead. For the hundredth time, she cursed the firm for not letting him fly with her.
After passing through customs, Luna finally emerged within the arrival’s hall. Brushing a thick lock of pale blonde hair away from her sweaty face, she twisted her head and searched for the one person she longed to see.
“Looking for me?”
Instantly turning her head in the direction of the familiar voice, Michael’s face suddenly appeared.
“Why are you always sneaking up on me?” she admonished, although the tone in her voice and the smile on her face betrayed the lack of seriousness behind the tone. She couldn’t stay mad at him for too long. She never could. Damn him, too.
Michael hadn’t changed in the last six months since she’d seen him. Honey blonde hair glimmered in the artificial light overhead, highlighting slivers of platinum that contrasted beautifully with the natural sun-kissed tone of his skin. Cornflower blue eyes stared down at her, and his thin lips stretched into a warm smile. Thankfully, he seemed to give up on the idea of growing a beard since their last time together. Denim jeans encased his long legs and a simple blue t-shirt stretched over the broad expanse of his chest. His sunglasses sat on the neckline, completing the look.
“It gives me practice for when I go out searching for hot girls to hang out with,” he winked, one side of his mouth curling upwards further.
Luna sighed. “Hang out? You? Don’t make me laugh. You never ‘hang out’. You just sleep with them.”
The smile morphed into a full grin. “Can’t hide anything from you, can I?”
“Not at all,” Luna chuckled softly as she set her suitcase down. “Well, are you going to give your baby sister a hug or what? It’s been months since I’ve seen you.”
The laughter in Michael’s eyes faded as quickly as his smile and strong arms wrapped around her. Familiarity and comfort embraced her. Quickly so did the reason for why she stood there. Tears burned the back of her eyes, but she forced them back. She sank into her brother’s embrace, breathing in the recognisable scent of salted caramel that always enveloped him. An entire ocean, a different time zone, and even lifestyles separated them, but Michael was family at the end of the day. Things always felt right with him even when the world around her threatened to go to hell. If she stayed here, she could almost forget.
Almost, but everyone knew that almost doesn’t count.
After what seemed like a lifetime, Michael pulled away and picked up her suitcase. “Come on, let’s get out of here. Don’t know if you remember or not, but we’ve got an hour’s drive to reach home.”
Luna suppressed a sigh. Home. Could she really call it home after all these years? “Non, I don’t remember much before I was shipped overseas.” Despite the softness to her tone, Luna couldn’t quite make the trace of bitterness beneath them disappear. She never could.
But Michael heard them. Every time.
He snorted and turned around, the sound abrasive to her ears. “You weren’t shipped, you were given the chance of a lifetime. Not many get opportunities like you did. Count your blessings,” Michael replied, meandering through the crowds without looking over his shoulder.
A stab of pain rolled through her ankle as a trolley laden with suitcases ran into her. Damn it. Why did parents allow kids to run off with trolleys in a busy airport? Grunting, Luna continued to follow her brother, glowering over her shoulder at the family with the trolley calling half-convincing apologies her way. Several hours on a packed flight with a man snoring his head off hadn’t done her disposition any favours.
Nor had Michael’s utter dismissal of how she felt about being sent away as a child. It was the same thing, over and over again, no matter where they were.
Finally, after several minutes making their way through crowds and dodging more kids running around with luggage trolleys, they stopped at what she assumed was Michael’s vehicle. A cherry red pickup truck stood gleaming in the sunshine, obviously recently washed and polished. Where her love had always been books, his was cars. Luna watched as he slung the suitcase into the back before opening the passenger door for her.
“Still the gentleman, aren’t you?” she said, deliberately trying to keep her tone light. She didn’t want an argument, not today.
An acknowledgement of how she felt, well, t
hat was different. She’d take that any time.
A soft chuckle floated on the gentle breeze as Luna climbed into the truck. “No woman has ever complained that I’ve opened the door for her before.”
“Pfft.” Thankful that she’d decided to wear trousers instead of jeans, Luna wriggled her way into the seat, mentally hating the humidity. Never in her life had she enjoyed the heat. The mint t-shirt she wore stuck to her sweaty skin and her sandals were in danger of being glued to her feet forever. Once inside, she reached down and unclasped the annoying things. Her toes sighed in contentment. Thank goodness Michael’s air conditioning works.
As Michael jumped into his seat and pulled his belt around him, Luna began pulling on a lock of her hair, an annoying trait she’d picked up at boarding school. Her parents had always detested it. Michael would always tease her about it. Even Pierre hated when she did it, but could she stop? Nope. Not any time soon, anyway.
It took a minute before she realised Michael hadn’t started the engine. Luna turned to her brother. His hands clasped either side of the wheel, a look of uncharacteristic seriousness spread across his features. “What’s wrong?”
Blue eyes searched her face. “Are you ready for this?” he asked, the words edged with uncertainty.
A long paused stretched between them as her eyes concentrated on the family getting into the vehicle in front of them. Even through the window and the noise of overhead planes taking off, Luna could hear the kids screaming shotgun. A heavy sigh escaped the confines of her mouth, and the one question she didn’t want to ask came tumbling out. “What do the police think?”
Michael returned the sigh with one of his own. A second later, the engine roared to life and the vehicle slowly made its way through the parking lot. “The toxicology reports went in yesterday. They won’t know anything until the results come through. It’s just a waiting game now.”
“Do they think Dad was drunk or something?” she asked, her voice on the verge of breaking. She’d managed to hold in the tears all throughout the journey, she didn’t want to start now.
Michael shrugged. “Who knows? One cop had the fucking nerve to suggest Dad was high on something, but no one really believes that.”
Disgust etched across Luna’s face. “That’s absurd. Dad hardly drank, let alone did drugs.”
“Hey, no need to tell me, sis, I already know that. Dad’s car is totalled, though. Whatever happened, happened fast. I don’t think he or Mom felt a damn thing.”
At least that’s a blessing, Luna thought to herself as her head tilted backwards and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think about the accident. Or anything really. All she wanted was to sink into darkness where nothing could reach her.
Silence fell heavy between them. Tears trickled down her cheeks, the taste of salt heavy on her bottom lip.
For three days her world seemed to be nothing more than burning tears and a shattered heart she couldn’t piece back together again. Three days since that fateful day that started like any other. She woken early, eaten the usual breakfast of toast and tea, then got ready for work.
Then Michael’s phone call ruined it all.
At first, she’d thought it a joke, just another one of his stupid pranks but she’d heard the catch in his throat, the tears down the line as he recounted what had happened. A freak car crash. Nothing could’ve saved them. She’d screamed and cried and threatened to kill him if he didn’t tell her he was kidding. But it was the truth, and nothing she yelled at him could change that.
Luna couldn’t remember much of the rest of that day. A haze of chaos and turbulent emotions seized control of her being for the next twenty-four hours. Even now, she barely recalled opening the door to her apartment to find her boyfriend standing in front of her impatiently to find out why she hadn’t turned up for work. All she could remember was the sweet scent of lavender, the curve of his neck, and strong hands around her waist as she cried in his arms, great heaving sobs. Eventually, she’d calmed down enough to tell him.
After that, Pierre took control of everything as he always did. He’d arranged her travel arrangements back to America. Hell, he’d even packed for her. Luna didn’t know what lay within her suitcase – she wasn’t even sure she cared – but knowing Pierre, she’d find everything she’d need. He was far too practical, too observant, to do anything else. Pierre was reliable, dependable. Someone she could always count on.
The second part of her journey stretched before her. Everything was different and she didn’t like it. Sure, the trees here seemed like any other trees back in France, but it just felt wrong somehow. Virginia was a world away from Paris and its picturesque-surrounding countryside, where lavender fields covered the meadows in heavy fragrant blankets, and the leaves of trees gleamed in the sunlight like jade. There was nothing familiar here, nothing that called to her, that welcomed her back as one of their own.
The roads stretched on, taking her further and further into unfamiliar territory.
Finally, Michael pulled off the freeway onto a smaller road. None of the names on the signs sparked any recognition. Luna attempted to pull something from the far reaches of her memory, to feel some sort of connection with the place she’d called home for the first six years of her life, but nothing. The madness was infuriating. Her family had lived here for generations, but still she found herself an outcast.
Twenty minutes and half a dozen roads that resembled each other later, they turned off and headed down a gravel-lined path mostly hidden by trees. Barely wide enough for two vehicles to pass and cloaked in shade, it seemed to stretch for miles. We must be close. A frown pulled at Luna’s forehead as she struggled to try to remember.
Tall trees crowned with lush green leaves flanked either side, the tops bending over and blocking out most of the sky. Slivers of light filtered through the canopy here and there, the sunbeams making spots they landed on appear almost magical. Dense woodland surrounded them, and although she couldn’t see it, Luna suddenly recalled that the trees went on for miles in all directions. Acres and acres of land that belonged to the family. Isn’t there a creek or a pond somewhere near? Not too far from the main house?
The realisation of a pond allowed other things to push their way to the front of her mind, little nuggets of memories knocking around inside her head. A large house where both she and her brother were born and raised in, and a guesthouse not far away.
Michael’s voice snapped her out of her daydream. “Remember anything yet, sis?”
Luna’s brow furrowed as she strained to recall more. “I don’t know. There’s a pond near the house, right? That’s all I can think of.”
Nodding, Michael slowed down before hitting a pothole. “Yep. It’s a good ten-minute walk through the woods. The main house has seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, and a kitchen the size of your apartment. Mom and Dad kept your bedroom exactly the way it was since you left. Hope you still like pink.” Laughing at the face she pulled, Michael sped up once more, the gravel crunching under his tires. “What used to be the guesthouse is now mine. Mom hated me being too far away from the family.”
Luna pursed her lips at the remark and tried her best to swallow the retort that sat on the tip of her tongue. It left a bitter taste in the back of her mouth.
The boarding school she’d been sent to may have been held in high regard by her parents – something they claimed numerous times over the years that she should be grateful for – but Luna had never managed to forgive them. Especially when they kept Michael at home. At just six years old, she’d seen it as nothing less than betrayal. Even now at twenty-seven, it remained a sore topic, one that none of her family liked to discuss. Michael may have been three years older, although he acted like a dumb teenager at times, but he’d always been the golden boy. Never once had anyone given her an explanation as to why he got to stay and not her other than the usual ‘we did what we thought best for you’ excuse.
She was sick of excuses.
Another three miles down the
gravel-lined road and the main house finally came into sight. As they emerged through the tunnel of trees, they drove into a large clearing. The trees stretched high, as if reaching for the heavens, and surrounded the two-storey wood and brick house on all sides. Despite the noon-day sun burning down, the trees encasing the property showered it with shade. Luna started to pull on her sandals.
They came to a stop.
Luna stepped out of the car, her pulse running wild, and glanced around. A black Isuzu D-Max sat beside a sleek silver car. Luna wondered if either belonged to her parents.
Her eyes scanned the area. Nothing seemed familiar, save from the few photos she’d begged her parents to send. They’d been careful not to show her too many of what she’d desperately missed – her home. Seeing them had been a kind of torture; not seeing them just as painful.
No matter what she’d done, nothing gave her peace of mind.
The house stood tall, an eclectic mixture of architectural styles obviously due to several expansion projects stretched over at least two hundred years. Still, it stood proud, a silent testament to its age. Several steps led up to a porch that extended along the front of the building. Two chairs sat beside the front door, a small metal bistro table positioned between them. Luna could imagine her parents sitting out there in the evening with cups of coffee, watching the fading sunlight dye the surrounding trees a shimmering kaleidoscope of colours. Beams of bright sunshine struck the house, mesmerising Luna as she stepped closer to her childhood home. Part of her wanted to remember more, yet another feared the emotional pain it could possibly bring.
The porch stairs creaked under her feet, sending the birds flying abruptly out of the trees. With each step, Luna’s heart increased in speed until she reached the front door and paused.
For twenty-one years, Luna had ached to be here, to stand at the door and wait for her parents to open it and welcome her inside. It didn’t matter how many times they’d travelled to France to visit her over the years, it didn’t matter how many times they whispered I love you at the school gates before they left, it didn’t matter that she was a grown woman now; that six-year-old girl still screamed within, yearning and crying to come home.
House of Wolves (Silver Moon Series Book 1) Page 1
