Rafe stuck his face in hers. “You broke up with me because of the girl I killed to get Axel out of jail,” he said. “But I bet if you got a sniff of human blood you’d get your muzzle wet.”
She jerked away.
When the Goddess, the Lady Moon, gave wolf-kind the gift to change, she warned the first loups-garoux to pity humans for their soft, immutable flesh, for wolf-kind had once been like them. “Use your eyes,” the Goddess said. “Look at them and praise my name for changing you; kill them and kill yourselves.” But humans were vulnerable and preylike. They triggered the instinct to hunt.
“We should stay far from humans when we’re changed.”
“They are ours to hunt,” Rafe said. “Axel knew. He couldn’t hold back any longer. We were losing our balls in West Virginia, Vivian.”
“You can hold tight to your balls and twist,” said Vivian, dragging her T-shirt over her head.
How many of the pack yearn to hunt like the Five?
Vivian wondered later as she crawled into bed.
How long do we have until we are destroyed?
The phone rang while Vivian ate breakfast with Esmé. Rudy answered it. After a short conversation he came into the kitchen. “That was the last agreement. The Ordeal is on.”
“It can’t be this full moon,” Esmé said.
Rudy sat down at the table with them. “I know. Orlando says that by law we have to allow a full month in case others want to come from afar.”
“So it’s July then,” Esmé said. “July thirteenth?”
“Sounds right.” Rudy shook his head. “I wish it wasn’t so far away, though.” He finished his coffee and stood up. “Gotta get to work.”
“Yeah, me too.” Esmé said. “Wash up for me, babe. Okay?” She left, followed by the sounds of Vivian’s protests.
“I’m grounded,” Vivian told Aiden at lunchtime. The idea that someone could limit her freedom was mortifying, but the excuse was something Aiden could understand.
“Grounded?” He looked at her in amazement. “What did you do to get grounded?”
“Stayed out all night with my cousins smoking dope.” She was damned if she’d pretend to be grounded for some tame reason.
He ran his fingers through his hair as he digested what she’d told him. Silently, she dared him to tell her off. Apparently he decided not to comment. “How long?”
“Until I talk my mother out of it, which is usually a week.” That was a tiny bit of truth.
Aiden’s dark eyes lowered in disappointment. “I guess the party tomorrow night is off, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Never mind,” Aiden said, kissing her ear. “When you’re sprung, we’ll have our own party.”
He was gullible, Vivian thought. That irked her slightly. But he had no reason to distrust her; why shouldn’t he believe?
Aiden didn’t have to be at work until six so Vivian allowed him to drive her home. “But you can’t stay long,” she told him to keep up the act. “My mother will be home soon.” That was true, anyway. Esmé worked the day shift around the full moon. Biting customers didn’t make for good tips.
They sat on a log at the far edge of the backyard under the broccoli-headed summer trees.
“Which is your room?” Aiden asked.
Vivian pointed to the window above the screened-in back porch, and he sighed loudly to tease her.
“I’ll miss you tomorrow,” Aiden said. There were crinkles at the corners of his eyes when he smiled. He was a creature of warm sun and comfort.
“What made you write about werewolves?” she asked, thinking of the dark forest in his poem.
Aiden shrugged. “I like all that stuff-witches, vampires, werewolves. It’s exciting.”
“Why’s that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it. Because I want to be like them, maybe? I don’t want to be like everyone else.” He carefully allowed an ant to crawl from his wrist to a blade of grass.
Vivian laughed. Any one of the Five would have crushed that bug. “I don’t think you’d make a good werewolf.”
“Sure I would.” He grabbed her hand and playfully bit her fingers. His teeth set loose tiny lightning within her.
Raucous hoots filled the woods behind them, and bodies crashed through the undergrowth. She pulled her hand away.
“What’s that?” Aiden asked.
“My cousins,” she answered. “Damn them.” They couldn’t find him here with her. Not that she couldn’t handle them, but she didn’t want to raise any questions she couldn’t answer for Aiden. And what if he blamed them for getting her grounded? Great Moon, they’d laugh.
“I’ve got to go in,” she said. “I promised not to hang with them while I’m grounded. They’ve only come to screw around outside and piss off my mother.”
“Some family,” he said, and tried to kiss her.
She hated to push him away. “Go, go, go. They’re trouble.”
He glanced at the woods and she saw worry in his eyes, but his lips took on a stubborn hardness.
“Please, for my sake,” she said, to save his pride.
He hesitated. “Well, okay. See you before you know it,” he promised, and left by the side path.
Saturday evening stretched on forever, golden with sun and rich with the smell of honeysuckle.
“Come with us,” Esmé begged. Most of the pack were going up to the state park to run.
“Not this time,” Vivian said. She wanted to be alone. There would be fights, she knew. They would call it playing but they would be testing each other, seeing who had what it took for the Ordeal. She didn’t feel like fights. She only wanted the clear smells and the crazy stars. There was a new warmth in her and she wanted to embrace the night in peace.
You are smitten, she told herself, and she stretched like a happy puppy.
Up in her room she worked on her mural. She painted herself in her skin, watching the running wolves. It didn’t look right. Maybe she should show herself changing, ready to join them.
More Kickass Werewolf Reads
Dive into our collection of free werewolf romance novels—where fierce Alphas, daring heroines, and heart-stopping twists await. Every story burns with forbidden desire, loyalty, and destiny. Don’t wait—here’s a world where love bites hard and nothing is stronger than the call of the mate.
Leave a Reply