Hunt the Moon

by Kari Cole

  The werewolves’ laughter drowned out Freddie’s sputtering.

  Wrapped in a woolen blanket, Izzy hunkered down in her chair, keeping a wary eye on her foster mother.

  Babies? Jesus.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Luke snuggled Ginny Crandall close, inhaling her sweet baby-and-honeysuckle scent. His wolf sighed in happiness having the little female under their care. Nuzzling her cold nose against his neck, she wrapped a wet, mitten-covered hand around his ear and sniffled. He kissed her cheek.

  “You’re all right, precious. I’ve got you now.” He wished he could fix all his pack’s problems so easily.

  Stefan laughed. “She does like to lead people around by their ears, I’ve noticed.”

  Dev’s chuckle brought Ginny’s head up. “Oh, yeah. Gonna be a dominant, this one. Come here to Grampa, sweetie. Let’s go find your grandma. I heard her mention something about cookies.”

  “Ookies?” Ginny flung herself into her grandfather’s arms.

  “Oof. Later, Luke.”

  As they left, a dozen kids raced past laughing and squealing, their arms and legs wheeling in the slippery, packed snow. But it was the sight of Isabelle with her head thrown back, laughing, that had Luke tripping over his own feet.

  Damn, had there ever been anything prettier?

  “Ah, the mating dance,” Stefan said. “Your father would have liked to see you fall prey to that. ‘Far too independent for his own good,’ he liked to say about you.” He shook his head. “He had no idea.”

  Grief swept over Luke. At least a dozen times a day he wished his father were here, to offer advice, a smack in the head, or just to sit and have a drink with.

  Abruptly, Isabelle stopped and locked eyes with him, her brow furrowed in concern. For a second he thought a grizzly might have sat on his chest, it was so hard to drag in a breath. But then she offered a shy smile and the world started turning again.

  “He would have liked her,” Luke said. “She busts my chops every chance she gets.”

  Stefan laughed and cuffed him on the shoulder. “Oh, I dare say he would have. Go on, son. Your mate is waiting.”

  Luke didn’t have to be told twice. Isabelle rose from her rocking chair as he climbed the porch steps, gazing at him as if she’d never seen anything like him before.

  “Hey there,” he said once he stood in front of her.

  “Hi.”

  “Oh, for crying out loud,” Freddie muttered.

  Without taking his eyes off Isabelle, Luke punched him in the shoulder. A tap, really.

  Isabelle folded her arms across her chest.

  “What?” Luke asked. “I was being friendly.”

  “Uh-huh,” she said. “Stop whining, Fred.”

  Luke ignored the human’s gritted complaints as he greeted the other ladies. But really, he only had eyes for his mate. Despite her lingering injuries, she looked better today than she had the day they met. A faint blush of color had grown in her cheeks and the tiny muscles around her eyes seemed more relaxed.

  “Luke, why don’t you take Izzy for a walk around the yard while I get you both something to eat?” Abby said.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He wrapped an arm around Isabelle’s waist and hustled her down the steps before she could come up with an excuse to stay. When she huffed and pushed his arm off, he said, “I like your mom.”

  “You would. She’s as bossy and manipulative as you are.”

  “Why does everyone keep saying that? I’m not bossy. And ‘manipulative’ doesn’t sound very nice. I’m caring and shrewd.”

  Isabelle blinked, then there was that laugh again. Oh, yeah. He could get used to that sound. “You’re an idiot,” she said, taking some of the wind out of his sails. “But then, so am I.”

  “Oh-kay.” She was a little weird, too, but damned if he’d mention it.

  Grabbing her by the waist, he spun her out of the way of one of Dev and Liz Crandall’s grandkids as the boy darted by. Then more yelling juveniles charged through, followed by Hank Dodd yowling like something from a bad horror flick. Branches stuck out of the sleeves of his coat, and a knit scarf was tied around his head, one end trailing in the wind. He dragged his right leg behind him and waved his wooden appendages in front of him like feelers. “Arrrr-ga!”

  Luke laughed. “Sugar, your father is a brave man. The demon horde usually intimidates the heartiest souls.”

  “Please,” she said with a snort. “He raised foster kids from the streets. Unless one of those hellions changes into a wolf, there’s nothing new they can show him. Um...they won’t do that, will they? Get all grrr argh, right?”

  “Uh, no,” he laughed, again.

  Here and there people called out to them or stopped to say hi. On the lake side of the house, the land dipped down to the shore, allowing for French doors from the yard into the finished basement. Light filtered out the panes, throwing dancing shadows onto the snow from the pack’s teen contingent playing pool and foosball in the rec room.

  A sturdy blue missile flew around the corner and ran right into Luke’s legs, almost laying him out on his ass. “Whoa, Justin!” Dean’s younger son clung to his calf like a leech while several more of the horde gathered around them.

  “Uh...” Isabelle said. Half-a-dozen juveniles stared at her and sniffed. Eyes wide, she turned to Luke.

  “Little beasts,” he chided, before introducing them to his mate.

  Justin, always the ringleader despite being the youngest, let go of Luke and stepped in front of Isabelle. “My momma says you’re Luke’s mate.”

  Oh crap. “Justin—”

  “Guess she’s right about that,” Isabelle said, knocking the air from Luke’s lungs.

  Shrewd green eyes narrowed, Justin leaned closer to her and took a long, deep sniff. “You don’t smell like you’re mated.” She wouldn’t. Not until they’d claimed one another. Then everyone would know they were taken.

  “Uh...” she said, squirming a little.

  Before Luke could rescue her, Parker Crandall, ten years old and the oldest of Liz and Dev’s grandchildren, piped up. “My grandma says Ms. Izzy saved Rissa from the rogues.”

  This statement was met with gasps of wonder and oohs from the horde.

  “Well,” Isabelle said, a blush darkening her cheeks. “She came to save us. I just helped when she needed it.”

  A collective “ah” rose from the crowd.

  Justin nodded sagely. “Because that’s what a pack does.”

  Isabelle’s mouth dropped open. Finally, she met Luke’s gaze and a bright light burned in her eyes. “Yeah,” she said. “It is.”

  * * *

  Izzy breathed a sigh of relief as the kids finally moved off, enticed by the call of food. Their ready acceptance had knocked her for a loop. Hell, so had her own responses.

  Luke led her toward the frozen lakeshore a hundred feet from the house. “Are you all right?”

  Conversation and laughter drifted from the house. Freddie’s voice rose above the din as he shouted a greeting to someone. Through the enormous windows, she watched Abby nod at something Lena said and Marianne pick up the toddler Luke had cuddled.

  “Why are you sad?” he asked, pulling her to a stop under the bare branches of a maple tree.

  “It’s just...it’s stupid.”

  “What?”

  “You’re all so...normal.”

  Luke huffed a laugh. “What did you expect? Knockout dominance challenges among the preschool set?”

  “No. Yes. I don’t know.” God, how could she explain all the warring thoughts pounding in her head without insulting him? Well, more than she already had.

  He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Tell me.”

  She shivered at his touch. “My family is here, surrounded by werewolves. Werewolves. But then there’s
this tiny girl toddling around with her big brown eyes and dimples, for God’s sake.”

  “And how could you be afraid of dimples, right?”

  She nodded, frowning again. That child was just a baby. Lycanthrope or not.

  He tapped her on the nose. “That’s Ginny. Don’t let the pink sparkles, teddy bear hat and matching boots fool you. She’s vicious. She’ll steal chocolate chip cookies right out of your hand, without batting an eye.” He shuddered. “Vicious, I tell you.”

  “Hardy-har, jackass.”

  He grinned, his eyes twinkling in the torchlight. “Well, sugar, got to say you don’t seem too frightened of me anymore.”

  No. She wasn’t. At all. Or of his pack. She didn’t even see them as something foreign anymore. They just seemed like...people. And how insane was that?

  Taking her hands in his, he shifted to block her view of the house. “Isabelle?”

  For years, she and Bess had suffered alone under their grandmother’s cruelty. “Is this what we were missing? Don’t get me wrong, Hank and Abby were”—her voice broke—“everything. But before, could we have had this?”

  Luke let out a breath. “Probably not in Chicago with those murdering bastards running the show. But somewhere else?” He stroked a thumb over her cheek, brushing away a tear. “Yes.”

  Yes.

  The word ricocheted in her brain until it was the size of a ballistic missile. It hurt. Her sister—what would her sensitive and stubborn sister have been like if they’d had a pack, a family like this one for those eight years after their parents died?

  Izzy shuddered, sucking in a ragged breath.

  Luke cupped her face, his hands gentle and strong. “You can have it now, sugar.”

  Chapter Forty-Three

  “Freddie told me that everyone knew we were mates before I did,” Izzy said. “Including the kids, apparently.”

  “Isabelle—”

  “I’m not mad; I feel a little stupid. But I appreciate that you didn’t pressure me. You could have let the magic, or hormones, or whatever it is take the lead. But you didn’t. Thank you.”

  Gold flared in his eyes. “The mating dance is a blessing. A gift from the goddess. Normally, there’d be no question. We’d both have known exactly what was up and we’d have embraced it, trusted in it. But you were afraid of me and didn’t understand what was happening. Allowing the dance to drive us would have been forcing myself on you. I’d never break your trust that way, Isabelle.”

  “I know you wouldn’t,” she said, reaching for his hand. Within, her wolf’s buzz rose until it warbled, almost like a call.

  Luke swallowed, like he had a lump in his throat. “So I made Freddie a promise. I’d give you time and let you decide. Even—even if you decided to leave.”

  God, he floored her. Absolutely fucking wrecked her. How could this strong, honorable man want her, an ignorant, bitchy disaster? A dull ache throbbed in her hand and she realized she was squeezing Luke’s like she was hanging over the edge of a great abyss.

  “You’d really let me go?”

  A salty smell like the ocean surrounded them, totally wrong for the freshwater lake at their feet. All at once, she realized it was the scent of his grief. A sea of tears waiting to be shed. Luke’s eyes turned completely gold and the wolf hovered in his jagged voice. “If that’s what you really want. Isabelle—”

  “I don’t want to leave,” she whispered, reaching for the lifeline he offered.

  “Wha-what?”

  The naked hope burning in his eyes strengthened her voice. “I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to leave you.” Please, let me stay.

  Luke froze. As the seconds ticked by and she trembled, he didn’t even seem to breathe. Maybe despite his physical attraction for her, he’d realized that she was too much of a hassle.

  But then, he hauled her into a tight embrace. The breakneck pounding of his heart danced beneath her ear. Kisses rained down on her head, then drifted all over her face. She laughed. It tickled and he was making these happy little humming noises with each press of his lips. Burying his face in her neck, he inhaled deep and long, and his stubble rasped against her skin.

  “You smell so good. Rich and sweet. And...” Luke lifted his head to look in her eyes, all the playfulness gone. A slow grin, wild and provocative, spread across his face. The flush it ignited within scalded her down to her toes. “And mine. You smell like mine, sugar.”

  Without warning, he threw his head back and howled. The sound was eerie and strangely beautiful coming from his human throat. A hush fell over the woods and yard. Then an answering call sang from inside the house. And another. They were joined by others from the porch and the yard, until the mountains themselves seemed to ring with wolf song.

  She had the strongest urge to raise her voice, too, but she didn’t. “Hank and Abby—”

  He silenced her with a quick kiss. “Both their children are pack. They’re ours now, too.”

  As she tried to process that, Luke pinned her against the trunk of the giant tree. Large hands grabbed onto her butt and lifted her up. “Wrap your legs around me, Isabelle.” He nipped her bottom lip. “Now.”

  Clearly she’d left her old self in a snow bank somewhere, because she actually did what he demanded. His growl of approval vibrated through her entire body as he leaned down and nuzzled behind her ear, sending shivers dancing up and down her spine. When he scraped his teeth along the column of her throat, she moaned, throwing her head back and knocking it against the tree.

  She couldn’t breathe. Now that the sun had set, it was below freezing. Yet she was burning up, suffocating in her clothes. She yanked at her sweater collar. Yanked at Luke’s, too. “Please,” she said. He’d scrambled her brains so thoroughly, she had no idea what she was begging for. She just...wanted.

  A growl rumbled over her skin, and he pulled out his cell phone and dialed. When Rissa answered, he spoke, his voice sounding like he’d swallowed a Harley engine. “Taking Isabelle home. Don’t call. Unless emergency.”

  Good to know she wasn’t the only one muddled.

  He shoved the phone into his pocket and swung her legs around to carry her in front of him.

  “Luke, we can’t just leave.”

  A huge sigh blew across her skin as he buried his face in her neck again, making her shiver. When he lifted his head, it was the wolf looking out at her. “Can,” he said in a guttural voice barely recognizable as English.

  Blood pounded in her veins as he carried her deeper into the trees. The buzzing presence of her wolf grew until fur rubbed her skin on the inside, the sensation comforting rather than scary. Her vision changed and everything became clearer despite the dark.

  To her complete shock, a soft growl trickled from her lips. Tears sprang to her eyes as a strange voice she had never heard before, yet knew instantly, spoke in her head. As Izzy looked into the beautiful and fierce eyes of the Alpha, the voice said, “Mine.”

  * * *

  Trees blew past like wraiths as Luke ran through them, carrying her in his arms.

  She’d stopped telling him to let her walk after only a few yards, recognizing blind determination when she saw it. Besides, he smelled so damn good and she couldn’t get enough. The rich, spicy scent filled her senses and she rubbed her face back and forth across the bare skin of his throat, bringing as much of it into herself as she could.

  She wondered if he tasted as good as he smelled. The hollow at the base of his throat was especially intriguing, so she pressed her mouth there and licked. Intense, dark flavors like chocolate and cardamom burst on her tongue, and she hummed her delight.

  A growl ripped from Luke’s throat and he broke into an all-out sprint.

  They crossed the threshold of his cabin two minutes later. Without pausing to turn on a light or take off his boots, he carried her through the dark house. Suddenly, Iz
zy flew through the air and landed with a breath-stealing bounce on a bed. Luke’s warm, heavy weight dropped onto her before she could even gasp.

  He rubbed his stubbled jaw beneath her ear, and shivers danced over her skin. It tickled and she laughed. Then she squealed, because he did it again, adding a little bite to her lobe.

  “I like when you laugh, sugar. Do it again.”

  And she did. As if she had any choice. Not with him nipping and kissing and rasping his scruffy jaw over her neck, she didn’t.

  “Stop! Uncle!” she cried, pounding on his ribs. “I give up.”

  “No you don’t.” The room spun as Luke rolled to his back, taking her with him, draping her across his wide chest. “You never give up. It’s one of the things I like most about you.”

  Izzy stared at him, easily able to see his face in the bright moonlight streaming through the room’s many windows. Rays of gold sparkled in his eyes. They were watching her—Luke and his wolf—waiting for her to do what? Freak out, maybe. Tension hummed through Luke, creating a tangible frisson along her skin.

  But she wasn’t afraid or worried. Delight and a heaping dose of wonder filled her knowing that this strong, responsible, and caring man admired anything about her. She laid her head on his chest. Every breath he took raised her up, then brought her back down like drifting on a wave.

  Luke sighed and wrapped his arms around her, slowly caressing up and down her spine. “You know, I never just play anymore.”

  Something in his tone brought her head up.

  “Sure, I run with the pack during the full moon,” he continued, “but it’s been a long time since I’ve had a good wrestling match, or run around with the kids, or really laughed, for that matter. I guess I haven’t wanted to for a long time.” He tugged on a strand of her hair. “Not until you. You make me want to play again.”

  They stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment, Izzy’s heart beating hard.

  “Good,” she said finally, her voice choked with emotion. She had no freaking clue how to tell him about everything she was feeling. Everything he made her feel. So she kissed him. On the jaw. On the cheek. On the tip of his nose.