Hunter Moon (The Moon Series)

by Jeanette Battista

  “Hold up a second,” Finn said, catching up with her at a run. “Will you just stop!”

  Laila whirled on him, her hands on her hips. “What, Finn?”

  “We’re not the bad guys here, L.” He tried to put his hand on her shoulder but she stepped away from him. She didn’t want him touching her. He sighed, his brown eyes sad. “I’m on your side.” When he smiled, it was sad as well. “Even if you’d kill me just as soon as look at me if it came to it.”

  She’d hurt him. She knew she had. Most people would say it wasn’t actually possible to hurt Finn, but Laila knew that wasn’t the case at all. He just didn’t let people see it. But he was letting her see it, and it made her feel things she didn’t want to think about. She was full of too many feelings already; she was drowning in them.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, the closest she could come to an apology.

  “Then don’t.” He took a step toward her, his arms down at his sides. “It’s pretty simple.”

  Laila took another step back. It wasn’t simple—that was the entire problem. Laila liked simple, she was good at simple. This was beyond complicated. It was like a maze and all Laila wanted to do was smash her way through it so she could kill whatever lay on the other side. Bloodshed was simple.

  She turned and began to walk away. “I can’t do this. Not right now. Just give me some space, okay?”

  “Sure,” he called.

  He didn’t come after her. Laila didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “We’ve got to hunt,” Kess argued, knowing that the guys weren’t going to like it.

  “Are you crazy?” Cormac asked, with Finn nodding emphatically beside him. “No way.”

  “You’re being ridiculous.”

  “I’m being ridiculous? Me?” Cormac looked to Finn for support. “I’m not the one with a were-obsessed hunter stalking me!”

  Kess frowned. “He could be though. We don’t know that he’s done collecting wolves.”

  Finn smirked. “That’s not exactly helping your hunting argument there, Kestrel.”

  She glared at him. “So says the king of debate and argumentation,” she mocked.

  Cormac interrupted. “Don’t try to change the subject, Kess. The Everglades are the last place you should be.”

  “I’ll call a clan hunt,” she said, trying to get them to see reason. This situation was so far from ideal as to be laughable, but they needed to change and to hunt. If they took precautions, they could be safe.

  Finn threw his hands in the air. “That’s brilliant. Give him a whole bunch more leopards to shoot at—that’s a great idea.”

  Kess spun, advancing on Finn in a stalk. “I’m not going to be a prisoner in my own city—in my own house! I didn’t even do this for Samara—why would I for Lukas?” She took a breath and calmed herself. Yes, definitely time to change and well past. She was not normally this quick to temper. “Look,” she began in a much more reasonable tone, “it’s a risk we’re going to have to take. We’ll have enough people out there, so no one needs to go off alone. Lukas doesn’t want to be found out, so the conditions won’t be ideal for him either.”

  “She’s got a point,” Rafe said quietly from his seat on the couch.

  Cormac glanced at Rafe for a moment, then nodded. “She does, doesn’t she?” Kess heard him sigh. “Okay, fine. But we’re all going with you and some of us will stay in human form. I think Lukas will be less likely to try something if there are humans present.”

  “Or anyone who might be a witness,” Finn added. “Fine. I don’t like it, but I see your point.”

  Kess tried hard not to smile. He was so petulant when he was outvoted; she knew that from sitting on the council with him. “We’ll take turns then. Everyone needs to hunt—I don’t want anyone weakened from NOT hunting.”

  She paused, then looked warily at Finn. “Should we invite Laila?”

  He shook his head. “I’m pretty sure that would be a bad idea.”

  Kess was relieved to hear Finn say that. It would make the hunt go much easier. Laila had never been what Kess would term predictable, but now she was so erratic that there was no telling what she’d do from moment to moment. If Laila caught even a glimpse of the hunter while they were in the Everglades, Kess knew there would be no stopping her—and no helping her. If something went wrong they might lose the hunter for good—and they might lose Laila. Kess didn’t want to put Finn through that, even if she did want to smack the werejackal into next year on a regular basis.

  Besides, she had other plans for the werejackal.

  “Tonight then,” Kess said. “I’ve got some calls to make.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Her phone buzzed at her. Laila was beginning to hate the sound of it; she’d turned the ringer off, but she’d set it to vibrate so she’d at least know when someone was trying to get in touch with her. That was turning out to be a colossal mistake. Her phone never seemed to stop going off. If it wasn’t her parents calling her to come home, it was her best friend Gen asking where she was, or Kess or Finn.

  She’d been avoiding calls from Finn. She’d been avoiding anything to do with Finn since their conversation outside of the restaurant. She hadn’t exactly covered herself in glory there, and it made her a little ashamed of herself. He was only trying to help her; it wasn’t his fault that the bloodthirsty side of her was in constant war with the more rational part of her mind. Laila didn’t want Finn to get hurt, not because of her.

  But she missed him.

  That was unexpected.

  Laila didn’t know what to do with these feelings either. She felt like they made her weak, and she needed to be strong, especially now. This hunter was hers to capture—he was hers to kill. If she turned into a sniveling ball of suck now, who was going to avenge Mebis? As much as she might like to weep against Finn’s manly shoulder—insert mad eyeroll here—it didn’t feel right. She wanted Finn with her, but at the same time, she didn’t.

  She shook her head. Nothing made sense anymore, most especially her.

  Still, Laila wanted to hear Finn’s voice. She hit the connect button on her phone, but didn’t say anything. She just stared at the display screen, at the picture she had of Finn that popped up whenever he called her.

  “Laila? You there?” His voice was strong and deep, like the current of the Big Muddy. She sighed without meaning to. She’d missed the sound of his voice.

  Instead of saying anything, she hit the one button. She was afraid if she spoke she’d somehow ruin everything.

  “Laila?” Finn’s voice was tentative, something she’d never heard before.

  Again she pressed one.

  “Not feeling much like talking, huh?”

  One.

  “One beep for yes, two for no, right?”

  One.

  “That’s fine. I always did love the sound of my own voice.” The grin was back, Laila could tell by his tone.

  She hit one once more.

  Finn laughed. “Fair enough. You okay?”

  Laila lay back in the bed of her cheap motel room. She wasn’t sure how to answer that. Should she be honest and let her guard down a little? Or should she just hit the button once and be done with it. Laila didn’t like to lie, not really, and not to someone that mattered to her. She believed that if you respected and cared about someone, you owed them the truth. Laila only lied to people she didn’t respect.

  She hit the button. Twice.

  Finn was quiet on the other end, but Laila could hear him breathing. It was comforting somehow. Like she wasn’t alone, even though she was.

  She heard him breathe in. “I wish there was something I could say that wouldn’t sound completely and utterly stupid.” There was a pause while she waited in silence for him to continue. She could feel that there was more coming. “This sucks.”

  One.

  He laughed then, but it wasn’t a happy one. “Yeah, my gift for understat
ement is mindblowing.” He waited, as if expecting her to do something. “You could object, you know.”

  Two.

  “Gee, thanks.” he chuckled. “I got Rafe really good today.”

  Laila listened as Finn described the prank war that was rapidly escalating between him and Rafe. She turned her brain off, trying desperately not to think about anything, only focusing on Finn’s words and the way they made her feel. With Finn talking like there was nothing wrong, it made it easier for Laila to believe that her brother wasn’t dead, even if only for a few minutes. His voice rooted her in the here and now, grounding her in the present and drawing a veil over her past and future. With his voice as a guide, it was almost like she could exist outside of time.

  She settled deeper against the pillow, letting Finn’s words—the special cadence of his sentences—wash over her. Laila threw her arm over her eyes and took a deep breath in through her nose. Tightness in her shoulders that she hadn’t even been aware of now began to flow out of her. She began to breathe in and out, deep and even.

  “Laila?”

  One press of the button.

  A pause as Finn seemed to gather his thoughts. Laila waited, wondering what was coming next. He’d been doing so well too.

  “This is probably the wrong time to say this and you probably don’t want to hear it, but I think you need to.” Another pause. Laila figured it had to be bad if he was taking this long to work up to saying it.

  “I’ve never said this to anyone before, dating-wise, and I never actually expected to. I mean, I kinda figured I wasn’t cut out for that type of thing. But then I met you. Your drive me nuts sometimes, but I’m pretty sure I’m no picnic either…” he trailed off, obviously working himself up to something.

  “I’m worried about you, Laila, and I want to help you, if you’ll let me. Because I kind of love you, okay? And I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Laila felt her throat closing up and her face felt hot. She gritted her teeth to keep from crying; her eyes seemed to have too much water in them. She blinked quickly.

  “Look, I’m probably saying this all wrong, but all I really want you to know is that I’m here if you need me. Okay?”

  One. Even if she’d wanted to talk, the words wouldn’t have made it out of her mouth anyway. She could barely manage to swallow around the enormous lump in her throat.

  Finn waited a few minutes. Laila tried to get her breathing back under control. Damn it, he wasn’t supposed to do this to her, not now. But there was warmth suddenly inside her, buffering the near-constant cold ache that was the loss of her brother. Finn had done that. He’d made her feel that.

  “Good night, Laila,” Finn said, his voice subdued.

  “Kinda love you too,” Laila managed to get out before disconnecting the call.

  She turned the phone off and rolled over to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Kess sat on the couch, watching Cormac as he flipped through channels. They’d been studiously avoiding discussing the thing they needed to talk most about, and it was beginning to drive her a little bit nuts. They couldn’t pretend their fight hadn’t happened, she couldn’t ignore the words that he’d said to her in anger, and he couldn’t come down here and expect that nothing had changed. After the initial joy and rush of seeing him, the things left unsaid were still a problem.

  “You want to go for a walk?” she asked, determined to get everything squared away between them. She hated feeling like she was navigating some kind of emotional minefield with him. It felt…unnatural.

  Cormac looked at her, a question in his eyes. “Sure,” he said, shutting off the television. He stood and offered her his hand. Kess took it.

  She waited until they were out of the house before she said anything. It wasn’t that she had anything to hide from Finn or Rafe; she just wanted privacy for what might be a very uncomfortable conversation. The less of an audience she had for it, the happier she’d be.

  They walked the backyard, circling the guest house. Cormac finally spoke. “What’s on your mind, Kess?” His voice told her that he already knew.

  “We left things kind of,” she flailed her hands, at a loss for words, “questionable between us when you left.”

  Cormac didn’t say anything, just ran a hand through his hair. Kess continued, her eyes focused on their path and not on him. It was easier to talk if she wasn’t looking at him. When had that happened? “I think we should really talk about what was said.”

  “Okay.” He paused. “I told you I was upset—finding out your sister has been kidnapped will do that to you. I’m sorry I took it out on you.”

  “And you apologized for it before you left,” Kess reminded him. It wasn’t about an apology. She wasn’t worried about that. It was the other things he’d said, and the way he’d blamed her for not following his suggestions that concerned her. If he couldn’t accept her role as a leader of her clan, than they didn’t have much of a future together.

  “I wish I could take back what I said.”

  Kess led them toward the boat dock, taking them around the side of the house. “But you can’t. And that’s the problem, because now I’m wondering if you really have always felt that way. About me.”

  “I don’t remem…” Cormac trailed off as he tried to recall exactly what was said. Kess waited quietly, walking steadily beside him. She saw his eyes widen as he remembered. “Oh.”

  “Oh,” Kess agreed. “Bringing up Sek like that and basically saying that I don’t know the bond between a brother and a sister because my family was too warped is not something I expected to hear from you. But if you really feel that way, I want to know it.”

  Cormac made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. “I don’t have a problem with it, or with you. I love you, Kess, and that includes all the parts of you. I was just angry and upset. And scared, I guess.” He tried to put his arm around her, but Kess held up her hand to forestall him.

  “Don’t you think the truth is more likely to come out when you’re angry?” she asked him.

  “You did have a messed up relationship with your brother. That is the truth,” Cormac said, crossing his arms over his chest.

  Kess led them down the wooden stairs to the dock that bobbed in the water. “And that wasn’t my fault. But it sure felt like it was my fault when you threw it in my face.” She paused, letting her hair fall across her face like a screen so she could hide a bit. Talking about all of these feelings made her feel uncomfortably exposed. “So I guess what I’m wondering is if every time we have an argument, are you going to bust that out to hurt me. Do I know for sure that you won’t bring that up?”

  Cormac was quiet for a few minutes, obviously digesting what Kess had just told him. She waited for his reply, unable to look at him. The silence stretched between them, but Kess didn’t feel like Cormac was angry; it felt more like he was trying to choose his words carefully. She appreciated the time he was taking.

  Finally he took her hands in his. “You don’t.”

  Kess was startled at his admission. Her eyes flashed up to meet his. “What?”

  He squeezed her fingers. “I’m telling the truth. Things get said in the heat of anger that otherwise wouldn’t get said. I know that. And as much as I wish I won’t ever lose my temper like that again, I can’t guarantee it. If you want me to make a false promise, I can, but I kind of thought you’d want honesty.” He pulled Kess down to sit beside him. “Look, neither of us has a crystal ball that will tell us what the next day might bring. I can’t predict what might happen. The only thing I can do is try to do better if it happens again.”

  She weighed his words, wanting to give what he said the same consideration Cormac had given hers. “You also seemed to have some trouble with my decisions and not taking your advice.” She met his silver eyes and continued. “I’m the head of the council and a clan leader. That means I’m going to do what I think is best for my people and my territory and that may not always agree with what
you think. Are you going to be okay with that?”

  He lay back, pillowing his head on his arms so he could watch the sky. There were a few cottony wisps of clouds, but nothing that was big enough to go shape spotting. “I probably deserve that one.” He blew out a breath. “You’re the alpha. I understand that. It took me a little while to wrap my head around it, but I get that now. This is your show to run, Kess. I’ll offer my advice when you ask for it, and I’ll try to be more reasonable when you decide not to take it.” He turned his head so he could gaze at her. “Is that fair enough?”

  “Yes.” It was more than she hoped for. “You’ve been thinking a lot about this, haven’t you?” She knew Cormac. He’d probably run his thoughts by Finn’s brother, Burke, before he’d left.

  “Yeah, pretty much since I left at the end of the summer. And I didn’t exactly have much else to occupy my attention up in the mountains except for school.” He grinned at her.

  Kess surprised herself by grinning back. “You know, it’s grossly unfair that your family is so perfect. I have absolutely no ammunition to throw back at you when we fight.”

  “Jealous much?”

  “Um, yeah.” She dug an elbow into his side. “I miss your mother’s cooking.”

  “I was in such a hurry to get down here that I didn’t think to have Mom pack up some food for you. Finn just called to say there was trouble, so I came.”

  “Finn’s pretty smart sometimes,” Kess said, wriggling around to find a more comfortable position.

  “Come here,” Cormac ordered, holding his arm out. She put her head against his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her. “Much better.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Just don’t tell Finn you said that. We’ll never hear the end of it.”

  Kess felt something uncoiling in her chest. It felt good to be lying next to Cormac, safe in his arms. But, as nice as it was, she was still a little worried. After a few minutes of quiet with nothing but the water lapping at the dock pylons, she asked, “Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle me running things?”