House of Wolves (Silver Moon Series Book 1)

by L. S. Slayford

  Questions fluttered around Luna’s head. I know you can grieve the loss of a pet but a wolf? Seriously?

  But then another question shot into her brain. Why hadn’t her parents or brother ever mentioned wolves before? She tried to recall if they had, but nothing came to mind.

  OK, that is seriously strange.

  Finishing the last of her tea and suddenly restless, Luna grabbed the mugs and headed towards the sink. She’d wash them and put the rest of the dinner stuff away, that would give her something productive to do. Trying to figure out where everything went would keep her thoughts away from butchered wolves and overbearing brothers. At least for a few minutes.

  The scent of pine and fresh dew floated on a soft breeze, caressing her skin. Turning swiftly, she jumped as she saw Chase standing in the middle of the doorway, just watching her with those piercing dark eyes.

  “Oh,” she exclaimed, her voice breathy with surprise, her hand resting over her thumping heart. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “I didn’t expect you to,” he replied, one corner of his mouth slightly upturned and sounding vaguely amused. “Any coffee going or am I stuck with tea?”

  Luna shrugged and pulled a mask of nonchalance over her face. “I made some for you earlier, but I think it’s cold now.” She watched as he grimaced when the liquid touched his lips and tried to repress a satisfied smile. “Want me to make some more?”

  His black hair and tanned skin shone with perspiration as he shook his head. “No need, I’ll just nuke it.” Placing it in the microwave, he hit a few buttons and waited. Luna sighed at the way he treated his coffee, glad it wasn’t tea; no one should heat tea in a microwave for goodness sake. Chase glanced at her from the corner of his eye, any trace of amusement fading as quickly as it had come. “Your brother tell you he wanted me to stay here while he’s out?”

  Trying to hide the annoyance in her voice, Luna inhaled sharply before answering. “Oui, he did. But I will tell you what I told him. It’s not as if we found a human leg. I don’t need a babysitter.”

  The microwave pinged. Grabbing the now steaming mug of coffee, Chase faced her as he leaned against the counter. “Princess, someone killed one of our pack and left it in a place where they knew we’d find it. I think it’s best you listen to Michael.” Dark brows winged down, and a strand of black hair dangled on his forehead, just centimetres from his eyes. Luna gazed into them, puzzled to see the concern within them. “Let us deal with it.”

  Pulling a face, Luna grabbed the empty kettle and filled it up with fresh water. Great, just what she needed, another man who thought women needed protecting from the slightest thing. Give me a break. Grateful that her mother had the sense to purchase an electric kettle, she switched it on; the old-fashioned ones took far too long to heat up. If she was going to have to listen to any more macho bullshit, then she needed tea. ASAP. “So let me ask you what I asked him, who would do that? And why put it there for him to find?”

  Chase slowly sipped his coffee and Luna swore she caught him checking out her arse as she turned towards the sink for a clean spoon. “No idea, sweetheart, but I don’t think it’s an accident. The blood’s fresh, but I can’t find any trace of any in the woods. She’s not there either. I reckon she’d been caught earlier and killed elsewhere.”

  A grimace pulled at Luna’s face at the matter-of-fact tone to his words. She dunked the bag in the cup. “How awful. But why would they leave it here?”

  Chase shrugged. “There’s a few idiots in town who’d love to hunt them. Think its sport,” he told her, the disdain in his voice all too evident. “But it’s nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about. You’ll be gone next week, back to your regular old life.”

  Condescending arsehole. “If my family protected them, then surely it’s my responsibility, too,” she told him, although she didn’t believe her own words. Silence stretched between them for a moment. “I never knew my family loved wolves so much,” she said finally, a tinge of sadness lacing her words. Just another thing about her family she didn’t know.

  Nodding, Chase gave her a genuine smile and she tried to ignore the way his t-shirt outlined his muscular torso. “What’s not to love? Wolves are beautiful creatures. Smart, loyal, fierce. This is their land as much as ours. Your family’s been protecting them all their lives.”

  “I didn’t even remember they were there,” Luna admitted, her words barely audible as she lifted the mug to her lips.

  Mug drained, Chase set it down on the counter and shrugged one shoulder. “How could you? You were six when you left for school.” A devilish grin curved his lips. “By the way, you came back with a sweet accent. It sounds like a mixture of French and English.”

  Unable to help it, Luna smiled. “I know. Pierre says he likes the contrast.”

  Chase arched a brow. “Pierre, huh?”

  It was Luna’s turn to shrug a shoulder. “My boyfriend. We’ve been dating for a few months. Nothing serious. He’s nice.”

  Chase let out an amused snort. “Nice, huh? He must be boring as hell then.”

  Luna’s brows knitted together, confused. “What do you mean by that?”

  The smirk grew wider, more wicked. “When a woman says her boyfriend’s nice, it means she’s bored out of her mind.”

  Luna narrowed her green eyes at him. “No one has ever called you nice then, Chase?”

  “Not once, princess.”

  Luna fixed her gaze on his chocolate-brown eyes and with a flick of her pale golden hair headed towards the door. She paused and threw him a look over her shoulder. “Then I feel sorry for you, Chase,” she told him before leaving him in the kitchen alone, a look of surprise stretched across his features.

  Five

  As night descended, Luna’s worries of being unable to fall asleep proved unfounded. Between all the events of the day, any thoughts of restlessness faded away as soon not long after her head touched the pillow.

  Luna couldn’t remember dreaming, just being surrounded by a void of inky darkness. It took a few moments to realise she was no longer asleep.

  Black shadows drenched the pale pink walls, the only light seeping through the open curtains from the almost full moon. A heavy stillness hung in the air and weighed upon her body much like the tangled sheets around her legs.

  She reached for her phone on the nightstand. A groan spilled into the darkness as she realised the time. A little after two a.m.

  Jetlag is such a bitch.

  Kicking the sheets away, Luna lay in the dark and peered into the shadows. A sense of unease rippled through her. Something felt ... off. Shaking her head, she recalled where she was. Her childhood home, not her cosy apartment where the neighbour played his flute at midnight, or the people upstairs decided to have loud angry sex first thing in the morning. Instead, she was back in America, in the rural heartland of Virginia where the nights seemed so deep. It was a stark contrast to Paris, where the stars, streetlamps, and lights from surrounding buildings punched their way through even the darkest night.

  Luna rolled onto her side, contemplating whether to try to get some more sleep, when a faint scratching noise emanated through the stillness. Wondering about mice infestations – the house was in the country, after all – she sat up. Brushing away the hair from her face, her body stilled as she attempted to determine where the sound stemmed from.

  The scratching grew louder. It seemed to come from somewhere outside. Reluctantly, Luna forced her weary body to stand. A thin layer of perspiration coated her skin but didn’t stop all the little hairs on her bare arms and legs stand to attention. Cautiously, she made her way over to the window.

  Stars twinkled in the velvet darkness of the night sky and the moon shone brightly through the glass. Set back slightly and positioned above the front door, the window offered perfect views over the porch and driveway. Luna strained her eyes, trying to see anything that would explain the noise. Nothing stirred except for the gentle swaying of the trees in the breeze.
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  Ready to turn back and attempt more sleep, Luna froze as the noise started once again. A shiver snaked down her spine. She stepped closer. Placing her hands on the edge of the windowsill, she peered out.

  Still nothing.

  The noise grew louder; it sounded as though something was scratching the windowsill, but she couldn’t see anything but stars, trees, and an endless black void that stretched over everything.

  Shaking her head, Luna turned away from the window. What was she thinking? It was probably bats in the attic, or an owl perched on the roof. Damn jetlag. It could do funny things to a mind.

  Stretching her arms and yawning, Luna made her way back to bed. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but it would do. And, like Michael said earlier, it wasn’t as if she would be here for much longer anyway.

  Without warning, a sharp crack echoed through the room like a gunshot.

  Luna’s heart jumped into her throat and her body froze as her head whipped in the direction it came from. Horror raced down her veins.

  Something hideous stood at the window. Luna’s brain struggled to rationalise what she saw. A creature of some sort, something she’d never seen before, not even from one of the many crappy B-horror movies her friends would force her to watch at school. Roughly the size of a large terrier, its body was thick and twisted with a protruding bloated stomach. An open mouth displayed incredibly sharp, discoloured teeth ready to tear flesh from bone.

  Suddenly, its mouth widened further, and it let loose a piercing shriek that reverberated through her ears. Pain bloomed through her skull. Luna jumped back, panic drowning out rational thought. Her own screams tore through the air as the creature’s razor-sharp nails scratched down the window, leaving gorges on the glass as it went. As black as the night sky, its nails appeared as long as her own fingers. Inky shadows stained much of its body, but enough light from the moon allowed Luna to watch as its eyes fixated on her face.

  What the hell is that thing? Luna swallowed down the lump forming in the back of her throat, wondering if this was nothing more than a figment of her overworked, overtired imagination – a representation of all the fucked-up events of the day.

  Nothing more. Right?

  Before she could tell herself to wake up from this nightmare, her bedroom door flung open and struck the wall with a thundering thump. Dressed only in jeans, Chase’s eyes flicked from her to the window, and drank in the horrid sight. The disbelief on his face mirrored her own.

  “Chase!” Luna cried. She rushed over to him but stopped herself from touching him or hiding behind his body. That would be far too pathetic. She’d never played the damsel in distress before and she wouldn’t start now.

  But neither could she lie that that she wasn’t comforted by his presence right then.

  Chase’s eyes widened. “What the hell ...” he whispered. “What the fuck is that on your window?”

  Luna’s whispers resonated like a shout throughout the room as she stared in the monstrous thing’s direction. “Oh, it’s just my pet pooch I let out to do its business. It wants to come in and snuggle next to me. Don’t ask me stupid questions, Chase. I have no bloody idea,” she shot back, coming out more of a squeak than she’d intended.

  “Well, neither do I, princess, but it doesn’t look too friendly now, does it?”

  It certainly didn’t. Whatever it was, it was hell-bent on trying to get into the room. Its elongated nails continued to claw at the window, the marks etched into the glass growing deeper from the ferocity of the scratching.

  Abruptly, it stopped.

  Hunching its shoulders, it bent its long scraggly legs, as if preparing to leap through the glass. Its twin black orbs darted between Luna and Chase.

  Sudden, unreasoning fear clenched her stomach and ice slid around her heart.

  No one, not even the creature, moved.

  Only when her lungs screamed for air did Luna realise she’d held her breath. Long, agonizing moments of silence passed.

  Without warning, it stretched out its twisted body as far as it could go and let out a piercing shriek that threatened to turn everyone deaf in a ten-mile radius. Luna covered her ears with her hands, her face scrunched in pain as the screeching penetrated her skull, forcing her to double over. The screaming didn’t seem to end – nor did the pain. Beside her, Chase growled, hunched over in his own discomfort.

  Then the screams suddenly stopped.

  Luna glanced up.

  With one last swipe at the glass, the creature hissed menacingly at them before leaping off the windowsill and quickly blending in with the night.

  Chase rushed to the window but didn’t open it. Luna quickly followed him. Peering into the darkness, a sliver of moonlight highlighted its outline as it darted into the forest and vanished from sight.

  Those strong hands gripped the windowsill while Chase pressed his face up against the glass. Running his fingers over the marks left in the glass, a shiver surged down Luna’s spine. Every last drop of blood turned to ice, as if she’d suddenly jumped into a frozen pool. “Chase, what was that?” Her voice trembled, matching the thudding of her heart.

  Chase shook his head, still squinting through the darkness. “Fucked if I know, princess. Never seen anything like it in my life.” Chase turned towards her, the moonlight caressing the contours of his muscular chest. His eyes fixated on hers and it suddenly Luna found it hard to pull away from the intensity of his gaze. “What the hell happened. Leave nothing out.”

  Luna told him everything.

  The chill in her blood refused to disappear. Rubbing her arms, the straps of the cami top slid off both shoulders. Every hair on her arms and legs stood upright. The image of that creature in her mind sent a fresh wave of ice coursing through her veins.

  She’d never seen anything like that in Paris. Or anywhere else for that matter. Hell, the scariest thing she’d seen was when the café she frequently went to once run out of her favourite pastries.

  Whatever that thing was, it looked as though someone had plucked that monstrosity out of a bad horror movie and set it outside her bedroom window.

  Chase pushed the window open, the chilly air hitting her already cold skin, and inhaled deeply. Luna’s brow knitted in confusion as one half of her mind silently begged for him to close it. Then board it up.

  Why is he constantly sniffing? Is there something wrong with his nose?

  “I can’t smell anything,” he said softly, closing the window once more.

  Tilting her head to the side, the frown grew deeper. “Were you expecting to?”

  Chase shrugged. “Some creatures leave a very distinctive smell. When you spend as much time as I have in the woods, you can identify what they are just by their scent. This one, whatever the hell it is, isn’t like anything I’ve ever come across. That’s strange.” Frustration swept through his obsidian gaze and the moonlight danced along his bare shoulders.

  “Strange?” Luna’s voice rose in disbelief. “An unknown horrible creature with claws the size of human hands and teeth that could rival a great white shark trying to claw its way into my bedroom is fine, but the fact it doesn’t smell like anything you’ve smelt in your life is strange?” The words tumbled out of her mouth, the pitch rising with each syllable. Luna hated the fear in her voice but couldn’t stop it from showing.

  Chase took several steps forward and touched her arm, his fingers warm to the touch. The chill in her blood slowly began to melt away. “I’ve seen worse, princess.”

  “Like what?” she challenged, folding her arms over her chest.

  The corners of Chase’s lips tugged upwards. “Like a lot of things. Your brother buck-ass naked, for once. That wasn’t a pretty sight, trust me.”

  Laughter shot from Luna’s mouth before she could stop herself. The last twenty-four hours had been nothing but a nightmare. Severed animal legs, an unknown monstrous creature ... and now the image of her brother naked. She shook her head, trying to dispel the image. Yuck.

  The warmth of
Chase’s hand on her arms and his body so close to hers suddenly reminded Luna just how underdressed she was. Everything important may have been covered, but a lot of skin still showed.

  And not just on her body.

  Moonlight painted the edges of Chase’s naked chest. Well-defined abs strained against smooth golden tanned skin. Her eyes darted below. The jeans he wore earlier hung low on his hips, but what lay beneath started to stir. Luna quickly glanced away, hoping the darkness would hide the stain of embarrassment on her cheeks.

  Somehow she didn’t think it did.

  An amused chuckle hit her ears. “See something you like, princess?”

  Narrowing her green eyes, she sent mental daggers flying through the air, picturing them landing in various delicate areas of his body. “Stop calling me princess!”

  Chase continued to laugh at her, his fingers starting to rub circles on her arm with his thumb. Abruptly, he released her and stepped back, the amusement instantly drained from his features. “I don’t think it’ll be back tonight, but maybe you’d better stay close just in case. Grab a blanket and we’ll stay downstairs. Unless you want me to stay in your room?”

  Luna glanced over at the window, the gouges in the glass etched deep.

  Not a chance.

  A frown pulled a line between her brows as she swept a tousled lock of hair away from her face. “Where’s Michael? Is he home yet?” Perhaps her brother knew something they didn’t. Like if there were any nuclear accidents or toxic waste spills in the area that might account for that thing.

  Shaking his head, Chase took a last glance out of the window before heading towards the door. “Not yet, sweetheart. He’ll be back by morning. You might want to grab a pillow, too. The couch ain’t that comfy.”

  Six

  Chase may have been a gigantic pain in the arse, but when he was right, he was right; the couch wasn’t made for sleeping.

  Luna spent the rest of the night, or early morning, in a restless doze. The leather stuck to her arse and the stiff arms meant they were too hard for her head, even with the pillow she’d brought downstairs. She’d spent long hours watching Chase prowling in and out of the room, checking the windows and doors remained locked. At some point Luna made tea, but it’d grown stone cold by the time she’d woken up.