A Werewolf's Moon (The Council) (20 page)

“She smelled him.” I knew what he meant now. Quinn’s scent was so much richer and woodsy. “I could track you through a burning building, I’m sure. So…so it must be him.”

“The question is, how?”

I held out my hand for him to take and he pulled me up next to him. “Will my dad recognize her?”

“I don’t know. We’re going to find out.” He phased, holding me tight.

We appeared in a rustic room full of cushy old furniture and lace curtains. There were dried flowers everywhere, and dream catchers and paintings, mostly of landscapes
and houses. There was even one on an easel that looked half finished. It was a painting of a big red barn.

“Is your aunt an artist?” the smell of the paint was kind of chalky, a little waxy.

“Yeah, I think you two will get along great.” He chuckled, tugging on my streak of pink hair. I might have to change that color to gold now.

“Quinn, that was fast.” A classic southern belle accent came from behind me. I wanted to turn around and throw out a quote from
Gone
With
the Wind
, but I managed to keep my mouth shut. “You’re new mate must be anxious to see her father.”

I came face to face with a beautiful woman. She had light purple eyes, the strangest color I’d ever seen, and pale blonde hair. She wasn’t dressed for this century either. She had on a floor length lace gown. Crystals dangled from a delicate chain around her neck, and her hands had multiple rings on them. I’m thinking in her time, she’d been the original eccentric dresser. I liked her already.

“I’m
Pepper
,” I held out my hand, but she hugged me.

“I’m so glad to see you are feeling well,” she smiled. “Quinn, would you like to help me in the kitchen while
Pepper
sees her father?”

Quinn didn’t seem thrilled, but he went, and Sarah directed me to a pair of doors leading out the back of the house.

I didn’t know what to expect.
“Dad?”

I walked onto a covered deck on the back of, what I’m guessing, was a Victorian house. My dad was standing with a coffee mug next to the railing, looking out at a shimmering lake.

He turned, smiling. “Hey, honey.”

It seemed silly, but I wasn’t sure how to proceed. “Uh, how are you?”

He set his mug on the railing and crossed the deck, pulling me into a fierce hug. “I’m okay, and I’m not going anywhere ever. I’m sorry.”

“I love you dad. It’s okay.” I hugged him tight, fighting tears. “So you’re like me now?”

He stepped back, shaking his head. His hair had a lot more gray in it since last I saw him, but now that he was like me, I could get used to the idea that I wouldn’t have an elderly parent to care for thirty years from now. I’d also be able to tell him anything I wanted about my new life. “No, I’m not.”

I frowned, looking up at him. “But, how are you alive?”

“Shortly after Quinn left I worsened, and Sarah, his aunt, only knew one way to save me that was faster than waiting for the moon to
rise
.”

“Dad, what happened?” I realized he didn’t smell like
Quinn,
or me even. He was sharper, sweeter. It wasn’t all that nice, but it didn’t put me
off. He just smelled…different.

I knew instinctively that it wasn’t werewolf I
was smelling
.

“She called a favor in to an old friend.” He smiled, showing off his fangs.

Holy bejesus!
“A vampire?
Are you kidding me?”

“No,” he closed his mouth, a tad uncomfortable.

“Are you okay with this? I mean, you’re not human no
w. You’re not even a werewolf.”

He let out a breath. “I only know that it wasn’t my time to go yet. I’m willing to live any way I can to make sure you aren’t left without any family.
Even if it means drinking cow’s blood from a coffee mug.”

I glanced over at the cup on the railing and wrinkled my nose. The smell was even sharper, and kind of…meaty and rusty. “Well, no one’s perfect. I’m just happy you’re alive and not freaking out over this.”

“Me too,” he look up and smiled.
“Hey, Quinn.”

My werewolf couldn’t stay away for long. He came over and shook hands with my dad. “Sir, glad to see you’re alright.”

“I’m good,” my dad grinned.
“And happy that I won’t turn to dust from too much sunlight.”

“So,” I glanced back at the house and up at my dad. “What do you think of Quinn’s aunt?”

I wasn’t sure if Sarah had told him yet.

“She’s lovely,” he grinned.

Lovely?
Really?
“And?”

“I’m not sure about this whole civil war, coming back. But, there’s no denying she’s telling the truth.”

He picked up an old photo I hadn’t noticed sitting next to his mug on the railing. It was a picture of a six men at a camp, all solemnly staring in the direction of the camera. There, on the far left, was my dad. It looked exactly like him. Right down to the way he shaved his sideburns.

“This is crazy,” I showed Quinn.

My dad nodded, “I’ve been talking with Sarah, and I’m going to stay here for a few days. I need to get used to things and figure out how to function. I wasn’t exposed to their way of doing things like you kiddo.”

I hugged him, giving him back the picture. “Quinn and I can
phase
back, just text me.”

He kissed the top of my head, “I will, you two be safe and take care of each other.”

Quinn shook his hand, but before we phased, my dad stopped us.

“Are you really a prince?” he asked.

Quinn nodded, “Yeah, that means
Pepper
gets to be queen one day.

My dad grinned wide and laughed. “I better be on my best behavior then.”

Chapter 21

Quinn

We left
Pepper
’s father with Sarah. It was the best place for him. He had a past life and catching up to do, not to mention learning our rules. I didn’t see him boasting to everyone about his recent transformation, but it was important that Sarah teach him the basics, at least for now. He had a future laid out for him that hadn’t been on his radar twenty-four hours ago.

We appeared in the living room of the Langley house in Capeside, and it was amidst a lot of people. Davy was there,
Henry
, Venna, Zane, and Flora, in addition several men gathered in the backyard with Captain Luke, awaiting orders.

“Here’s how it’s going to go,”
Henry
started. “We are going to leave the house in pairs. We will spread out and search the woods. If you find anything, phone one of us immediately.”

Davy nodded, “I’ve got them paired up and ready.”

Flora smiled, tugging on Zane’s shirt sleeve to bring him into the group. “We get to help, right?”

“Yeah,” Zane nodded with enthusiasm. “Flora’s even dressed normal today.”

“Jeans, I never wear jeans.” She laughed, checking out her legs.

“Only one problem,” Zane said to me. “We can’t smell like you can.”

I fixed that. In a matter of minutes I had
Garret
and Kylie join the party. The younger ones would form a group of four.
Henry
and I felt better about letting them go off on their own like that “You guys just act normal, go to town and hang out. Blend in.”

Kylie smiled, holding
Garret
’s hand and swinging his arm playfully back and forth between them. “I like this
idea,
no one will ever suspect we’re spying.”

Henry
gave a nod, “Right, just watch out for Mara. She’s the only human that could catch onto what you’re doing.”

“Isn’t this a little late though?” Zane asked. “Shouldn’t you have looked for the werewolf last night right after the attack?”

“We don’t expect to find him.
Can’t trace them once they phase.
What we need to find are clues. Maybe somewhere he’s been staying.” Davy shook his big blond head, bracing his hands on his hips. “He was targeting
Pepper
. Now, he could have phased in and out from home base, but I don’t think he would have let his prey out of his sight for long periods of time. He’d want to know where she was going, and who she was with.”

I felt my stomach bottom out. He’d been watching the house, and I left her with Zane, who wasn’t that well equipped to deal with a full grown werewolf.

“Hey,”
Pepper
jabbed my arm with her finger. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. Everyone makes mistakes.”

How could she have known what I was thinking? “That was a massive mistake though.”

She shrugged. “And you’ll probably make another mistake, but you learn from it and move on.”

She was right. “And how did you know what I was thinking about?”

“Please,” she snorted, tucking her streak of pink hair behind her ear. “That look on your face means one of two things. You’re mad at somebody, or mad at yourself. So far, no one in this room has pissed you off.”

“Okay, if you’re done analyzing my brother—which was spot on by the way, bravo—we should get going.”
Garret
led the way out the back door, pulling Kylie with him. Zane and Flora followed. They left through the gate covered in ivy, heading into the woods.

“
Pepper
,” I said. “We’ll be with Davy.”

“Actually, I’ve got a partner already.” She smiled, hooking her arm through Venna’s.

“Oh, really?”
I wasn’t sure that was such a good idea.

Venna nodded. “We’ll be fine. Besides, we have a lot to talk about.”

“See you later, dog man.”
Pepper
pecked a kiss on my cheek and went with Venna out the back gate.

I wasn’t okay with this. She’d been a werewolf for less than twenty-four hours.

“Venna is right. They will be fine.”
Henry
put his hand on my shoulder to keep me from going after
Pepper
. “You look a little green.”

“She just
left…
” I went with him out the back into the woods, trying not to track the cherry scent I knew so well. Davy went with Captain Luke. “It’s not like she knows how to do anything yet.”

“Don’t discount instinct. She’ll know exactly what she has to do.”

I nodded, keeping my nose to the ground, figuratively speaking of course. We walked in silence for about an hour. I didn’t catch the scent of anything out of place.
Henry
didn’t feel anything magical.

I was thinking Zane might be right. We could have waited too long. Not that the scent would have dissipated that quickly, but the werewolf had time to clear out and cover his tracks.

“So how’s it going?”
Henry
wound his way through the trees with his hands in his pockets as if he was taking a leisurely stroll through the woods.

“It’s going,” I caught a whiff of something…dead animal.

“In a good or bad way?”

“I’m not sure yet, and I’m only half sure you’re talking about things between me and
Pepper
.”

Henry
wasn’t the kind of guy to stick his nose in other people’s business, but in this case, he was looking for a little information. Probably Venna put him up to it. “Y
ou were leading a different life
a month ago.”

“Not that different.” I said. “And you’ve got room to talk. You’ve been with Venna only a few days more.”

He shook his head, “I’ve been with Venna my whole life.
Since we were kids.
Neither of us remembered it until her birthday. But even before we remembered being together as kids, there was something between us.”

“So it’s not weird, being in an instant relationship?” because that’s what I found myself in. That’s what everyone in our world found
themselves
in eventually.”

“Had we not been friends, past memories aside, I don’t know how either of us would have fared.” He smiled, chuckling to himself. “But I’ve loved her it seems my whole life. There are some things that we’re adjusting to, I won’t lie. It’s not perfect. Though what conflicts we have had are insignificant. We’ll get through them together and figure out what works best for both of us.”

“Yeah, but it’s different for you guys. You actually love each other.”

Henry
stopped, rocking back on his heels with a laugh, “Are you saying you don’t love
Pepper
?”

“No, that’s no
t
it.” Was I really having this conversation with him? “I like
Pepper
.”

“You like her?” he echoed, grinning. “That’s all?”