Chase sat her down on the bench and then took a few steps back so that the pond stood behind him, a dark halo encompassing the majority of his body. The wind played with his hair, moving in the rapidly cooling air. His face was solemn, almost resigned to a fate he wished desperately to avoid.
“Are you sure you want to do this? It’s not too late”, he told her, his voice betraying the emotion he was trying to hide.
Luna nodded. “I’m sure. Now let me see”.
“As you wish, princess”. Chase tore off his clothing, throwing them close to the bench. Normally a tidy person, bordering on obsessive compulsive disorder when it came to tidiness, Luna ignored the heap of clothing and focused on the very naked man standing in front of her. His chest was hard and smooth, his skin dark in the rapidly dimming light, his legs long and muscled. It was futile trying to avoid looking at that one spot she shouldn’t be looking at but it was hard not to. Even soft, he was thick and long and the memory of him inside her sent a shiver down her spine. Raising her head, she watched Chase’s face as he started to Change.
Movies had always portrayed the transformation from human into werewolf as painful, their bodies contorting and elongating. Screams would be just audible over the popping of bones, the stretching of sinews, fur spouting over their bodies until they stood a fearsome and terrifying beast.
What Luna saw was different. There were no screams, just a sigh escaping from Chase’s lips. A shimmer of silver surrounded him as he closed his eyes and gave in. Where the movie transformations seemed violent, as though they were willing themselves not to give into the Change, Chase appeared to melt willingly and smoothly. He seemed to get both longer and smaller at the same time, his face softening and extending out to form a muzzle. Milk chocolate eyes liquefied into amber and grey fur grew all over his body.
Chase had transformed into a werewolf.
Whether it was like in the movies or not, she had watched him Change from human into a supernatural creature.
Those amber eyes locked onto Luna’s, causing her breath to catch in her throat. The whole situation was surreal, as though it shouldn’t be happening. Legends may tell of so many extraordinary creatures, from werewolves to griffins to hydras, but she had never imagined in her wildest dreams that she would ever see such creatures in her life.
The werewolf in front of her seemed larger than a natural one, but not by much. Chase’s coat was a beautiful combination of dark greys and black with white speckles along his back and down his tail. He walked over to her, slowly, until he could rest his head in her lap. From his stance, Luna thought he looked pensive, as though he was waiting for her to reject him.
Slowly, Luna reached out to touch him. The fur underneath her fingers was soft and thick, the white speckles catching the starlight which had started to brighten. She rubbed his ears, scratched the top of his head, and noticed when Chase’s body had started to relax underneath her hand.
He had accepted her acceptance of what he truly was.
Dropping down on his front paws, his tongue hanging out his mouth. The quick motion made Luna jump but watching him prance about in front of the pond quickly had her laughing softly.
“Such a big bad wolf”, she admonished. “You’re nothing but a playful puppy really, aren’t you?”
Chase just snorted at her words and began to run, darting in and out of the trees which surrounded the pond and the clearing. The light caught his fur at times, but it was hard to see him in the now dark air. The atmosphere was still, as though it was waiting for something else, something more.
Sitting there trying to catch sight of Chase moving amongst the trees, Luna’s mind began to wander. This must be the place where mum saw dad Change for the first time, too, she thought to herself. The transformation was wonderful, strange and alien, yet mesmerising at the same time. It was a thing of beauty and magic, and Luna wondered if her mother had felt the same way.
It was also the same pond that Luna had pushed Chase in when they were children she realised. The bench and her mother’s favourite flavours confirmed in her mind that her parents would come to this part of the woods often. Did her mother watch her family and the rest of the pack Change play around in the trees throughout the years? She would never know.
Luna had brought her mother gifts over the years that featured yellow roses so the sweet smelling plants came as no surprise to her. The wolfsbane, however, was something of an enigma. History said that the plant was one of the most deadly plants in existence, able to kill someone just by touching it. Why it was here, she couldn’t guess.
Searching her memory, Luna remembered one myth which told that a man was transformed into a wolf just by touching the petals. Weren’t there legends telling of warriors dipping the tips of their arrows in the poison to kill wolves?
“It’s a pity it can’t do the same with the Fae”, Luna muttered under her breath. But she didn’t need a poison; she needed to find the artefact her family had hidden.
“If I needed a place to store a magical item where would I hide it?” she asked herself, her voice a gentle whisper on the night air. There was nothing in the safe or anywhere in the study, she had ransacked that place looking for paperwork and didn’t come up with anything. If it wasn’t in the safe, it wasn’t likely to be anywhere else in the house. “It would need to be somewhere close by, somewhere easy enough to get to in case of an emergency but somewhere you would never think of looking”.
Luna thought about where she would hide such an item. Keeping it in the house would be too dangerous but Michael’s garage would be even worse. If I had my way I’d keep it out here, hidden in the open. No one would think to search for it here, she thought. But where?
An idea popped into her head. She called for Chase. “Chase, come here”.
Chase was a whirlwind of black and grey movement, appearing at her side within a few seconds. Luna gestured to the yellow roses. “Dig, puppy”, she ordered.
Another snort was directed at her and Luna chuckled at the sight of Chase doing a wolf impression of rolling his eyes. But he started digging, the roses scattered lying helplessly on the ground. Her mother would be upset if she was still alive but she had to know if her hunch was correct or not.
Within a few minutes, however, Chase hit something with his paws. Luna bent down and brushed the dirt away. An outline of a metal box came to view and Chase continued digging with his paws around the surface so Luna could free it from the dirt. The glint of silver showed the box was locked with a small padlock.
“I wonder …” she whispered. Reaching in her pocket, she pulled out the small key and placed it in the padlock. Turning it, they both heard the click.
With trembling hands, Luna opened the black metal box. A piece of red velvet hid something from view. Luna unwrapped the material when bright white light exploded, blinding her and Chase completely.
Sixteen
Luna’s first thought was that the world had exploded. The intense light sent a pulse of wind outwards, sending her hair flying through the darkness. Light flooded the woods, pulsating throughout the trees, causing the woodland creatures in the area to be revealed.
The energy quietened and the woods returned to darkness.
It was only when the woods were completely quiet again that Luna discovered she had been holding her breath. Drawing in as much air as her lungs could hold, she looked down.
Lying on the red velvet cloth lay a dagger. The blade was roughly six inches long, the handle an elaborate design of lines, vines and tiny flowers. It was made from silver, the handle dulled by centuries of time but the blade itself was incredibly shiny, almost as blinding as the light which exploded from the box. Luna reached in and ran her fingers over it.
The silver was cold to the touch but it was when she gripped the handle that a crawling sensation travelled up her arm. When it finished travelling all over her body, energy vibrated from within. It was though the dagger held a heart deep inside and her own body was pulsating in time to i
ts heartbeat. Closing her eyes, she gave herself over to the pulses, riding the energy until it died down, finally lying still within her hand.
Chase was looking up at her, growling softly. “Can you turn back into human, please?” she asked, her voice a breathless whisper on the air.
Moving backwards, shimmers the colour of moonlight lit up the sky, as though someone had thrown up a handful of diamond dust. One moment there was a beautiful wolf, the next, a naked Chase. Not bothering to dress, Chase quickly knelt beside Luna and examined the dagger, wonder in his eyes.
“So this is the dagger that the first of our kind held. All the magic of the werewolves lays within”, he whispered, the awe unmistakable in his voice.
“Yes”, she said. “This is what Lyulf is after”.
Chase covered Luna’s hand which held the dagger with his own. “He can’t get this, Luna. He could destroy mankind with it, using the werewolves as his own personal weapons. Even now I can feel the power inside, calling my wolf, making him want to submit”.
“We won’t give it to him then. Let’s get Michael, see what he thinks”.
“Michael is Alpha now”, Chase told her. “It’s his decision. Where’s he gone?”
Luna informed him that Michael had gone to Angel’s house, although she left out the part that the only reason he had gone was to have sex with her. Chase dressed as quickly as he could and together they made their way back to the house and jumped into his black four by four.
The drive across town was quiet. Only a few cars were on the road, something quite unusual compared to Paris. In the City of Light the streets were constantly busy no matter what time you were out. Cars raced by, competing with each other to get ahead. Virginia, on the other hand, seemed quieter in contrast. There were so many comparisons she could make between Virginia and Paris but Luna dismissed them, keeping her mind focused on the task at hand.
Chase drove them to a small rural property although it was nowhere near as rural as her family’s. The one storey house was situated on a road with half a dozen properties and had obviously seen better days, the paint peeling on the woodwork and the porch needed mending, but the garden looked neat and tidy.
Parking the car, they got out and headed towards the front door. As Chase was about to knock, he stopped mid-air and sniffed, his face pulled in a look of puzzlement. Sniffing the air again, he just pulled open the door and hurried inside without a word. He was gone in an instant, heading for a specific room in the back.
Luna followed in the direction she thought he had gone. When she got there it took a moment for her brain to register what she was seeing.
Blood.
Michael was bleeding, laying on top of the bed, unresponsive, his wrists tied together with rope. The crimson of his blood stained the cream satin sheets. Chase tore the ropes off and examined him, trying to see how much damage had been done.
A woman stood in the corner. Wearing nothing but a red lacy negligee, her tight black curls stood out against her creamy flesh smeared with blood. Her brother’s blood. Luna saw the fear in the other woman’s eyes along with anger. She reeked of both emotions.
Sensing that Luna was standing in the doorway, Chase spoke. “It’s not as bad as it looks. He’s lost a lot of blood but when he Changes he should be fine. I’m going to wrap the wounds up just to stop the bleeding”. He ripped the satin sheets and used them to bandage his friend. Looking up, he glowered at the woman, the anger emanating from him caused the little hairs on Luna’s arms to stand up on point. “Why the hell did you do this to your alpha, Angel?”
So this Angel, the female werewolf Michael had intended to bed tonight. “I didn’t-”
“Don’t lie to me, woman”, Chase barked, not bothering to hide his disgust and anger. “I can smell your lies like shit on a hot day so tell me why you tried to kill Michael”. He made his way to Angel, each step slow and calculated, as though he was trying extremely hard not to rush over and kill her.
Whether it was the fear of him trying to restrain himself or the pulse of energy radiating from him, the anger in her stance melted away, leaving nothing but terror behind. Tearing her eyes away from Chase’s, Angel dropped to her knees and cowered. “He made me do it”, she whispered.
Luna went to her brother’s side. His skin was lukewarm, his blood coating her hands where she touched him. She brushed his honey blonde locks out of his face and he looked like he was sleeping peacefully, as though he hadn’t been aware of his lover had tried to do. “Who made you do this?” she asked, her voice hard and low.
Angel kept her head down. “My old alpha, Dean Russo. He transferred me from Maine to Nevada so I could join the Desert Moon Pack there. I was given specific orders. First, I was to spend a year with them before I could request to join the Silver Moon Pack. My other orders were to kill both the alpha and his son within six months by whatever means necessary. George died in that car crash so I didn’t have to do anything with him, but I knew my wolf couldn’t beat Michael’s so I used … other means to get him here”.
“You used the promise of sex to lure my brother here so you could kill him?” Luna growled, her face murderous at the thought of what they had walked into.
Nodding, Angel continued, her voice trembling. “Yes. I convinced him to let me tie him up and then I Changed my hands so I could kill him that way but then you arrived”.
Luna looked at Chase, who had gone still as he towered over the cowering woman. “Can you really just transform part of your body?”
Chase shook his head. “Partial transformations are rare. They require the utmost concentration and I’ve never heard of a female being able to do it”.
Angel looked up sharply, a look of pride stretched across her features. “There’s only three other wolves in this country that can partially Change and I’m the only woman who can”. The pride disappeared. “He said that it was why he chose me, that I could take them by surprise”.
“Why did he order you to kill George and Michael?” Chase demanded. When she didn’t answer, Chase grabbed her by the hair and yanked her upwards, flinging her to the wall. Cracks appeared around her body with the force. “Tell me now and I might not rip out your tongue!”
“I don’t know why. I swear!” she cried, trying not to grimace with the pain. “All I was told was to kill them both, anyway that I could and then get out of town as soon as the job was done. When I asked why he just said that it wasn’t any of my business and to just do it otherwise he’ll kill me”. She looked up at Chase, her lower lip trembling. “You have no idea what he’s like”.
Chase shook her, causing angel to hit her head on the wall again. The plaster cracked, sending dust up in the air. “What the hell do you think I’m going to do to you, Angel?”
Angel stared back, tears shimmering in her hazel eyes. She shook her head. “Nothing as bad as what Dean will do. One of our young wolves, Victor, angered him one day and he tortured him. Tortured him, Chase! He skinned him alive and then used his own intestines as a leash. You’ll kill me for what’s happened here tonight but you won’t torture me like he will”.
The room plunged into silence, save for Michael’s breathing. Luna’s thoughts raced through her head. Whoever this Dean was, he had sent Angel here to kill her family and the anger bubbled up inside. Why did so many people want to hurt them?
“If Michael lives I won’t kill you, Angel”, Chase spoke, his words low and deep.
“No you won’t, but I haven’t made up my mind as to whether I will”, came a tired, strained voice.
“Michael!” Luna exclaimed, tears falling down her face as she watched her brother sluggishly open his eyes. Scowling in pain, Michael tried to move his body so he could watch Angel who was now staring back at him in terror, as though her own personal bogeyman had come to life in front of her.
“I am very, very disappointed in you, Angel”. Luna had never heard her brother’s voice as dangerous as then, but then he’d never had anyone try to kill him. Or had he?
“Forgive me”, she whispered.
Michael raised himself up, slowly, the discomfort plain to see. “Don’t expect any mercy from me. There’s none left”. When he tried to swing his legs over the bed, Luna attempted to get him to lie back down but he just waved his sister away. Michael was able to stand up on his own, although he stumbled a few times. Taking a deep breath, he made his way over to Chase and Angel on shaky legs. Drops of blood followed in his path. Just follow the bloody red road, Luna thought suddenly.
“Look at me, Angel”, he commanded. She looked up, terrified. “I will ask you one question and you will tell me the truth. Did you have anything to do with my parents’ deaths?”
Angel shook her head. “I know nothing about it. As far as I am aware, the crash was an accident”.
Michael let loose a weary sigh, one which Luna echoed. Now they had a Fae and a werewolf wanting to hurt them, right at the same time. Perhaps I should have stayed in Paris, Luna thought. I swear it’s safer there.
“What do you want to do with her?” Chase asked, his face still glowering in anger.
Luna came around so that she was standing behind him, just a little to the side. “We found it, Michael”, she said softly.
Michael glanced back at his sister and then at Chase before turning his attention back to Angel. “Angel, you have come here to assassinate both the previous alpha and myself. It is within my rights to kill you now. As strange as it may sound, I actually have other matters to attend to that are more important than dealing with you. Chase, call Mike and Emily. They can guard her until we get back. Tell them to bring the silver handcuffs”.
Temptation of the Wolf: A Silver Moon Novel (Book 1) Page 10
