Temptation of the Wolf: A Silver Moon Novel (Book 1) (7 page)

“Are you OK?” he asked, his voice a low growl.

Luna nodded. “I’m fine, just a little shaken up but my knee hurts. Why would birds attack us? Not unless -” A thought came to her. “Not unless you think it was Lyulf? Could he have sent them?”

Chase curled his lip in anger. “After what you told me happened earlier, it wouldn’t surprise me. I haven’t run into any Fae before. Shifters yes, vampires yes, but the Fae? No”. His grip on her relaxed slightly. “C’mon, let’s get you inside and see what the damage is.”

Nodding, Luna and Chase mad their way over to the porch, Chase’s hand warm on the back of her shirt. Just as they were halfway up the porch, the sounds of a car engine rang through the woods.

Someone was coming towards them.

Werewolves, Fae and terrorising birds; what else could possibly turn up now?
Was the only thing that came to mind as Luna watched a silver car slowly make its way down the path and stop before the house. Chase’s hand stayed firm on her back, his eyes still narrowed to slits.

A man and woman got out of the car. They looked around the same age as her parents, Luna saw. The man appeared in his early fifties, salt and pepper hair cut close to his head. Wearing beige khakis and a brown shirt, he looked as though he was on his way to the golf course. The woman with him was slim, with red hair that shone vividly despite the relative darkness. Her face looked kind, almost motherly, but thick lines of worry were visible for all to see. A long black skirt and white shirt indicated that she worked in some sort of professional setting.
Maybe a teacher
, she thought.

Whoever they were, they were moving quickly towards them.

“Chase”, the man called, his tone obviously trying to remain calm.

“Brad. Sally”, he acknowledged.

So these were Brad and Sally Nieves, the couple her parents had been having dinner with the night they had died.

“Where’s Michael? We have to speak to him”, he demanded.

“My brother is asleep”, Luna said hesitantly. “What do you need to speak to him about?”

Brad looked her over as though seeing her for the first time. “Luna?” he asked. “I should have known, you look just like your mother”.

“Please accept our condolences for you loss, Luna”. Sally Nieves said, her voice thin and tight. “But we really need to talk to your brother”.

Chase shook his head. “What’s the trouble, Brad? If it’s anything to do with pack business you might as well tell us now. Don’t worry about Luna, she knows what we all are. Michael damn well Changed in front of her today”.

The sound of Brad’s sucking in air and Sally’s gasp sounded loud in the night air. “He
Changed
in front of her?” he exclaimed, the shock evident in his tone. “Goddamn it, Chase, we’re not meant to Change while humans are around us”.

Shrugging his shoulders, Chase pushed on Luna’s back, urging her into the house. “The night air has wings, Brad. Let’s get inside the house, grab a drink and Luna will tell you what’s been going on. It’s been a hell of a day”.

Brad and his wife followed them into the house.
Great, now there were three or four werewolves in the house,
she thought. Not wanting another repeat of what happened earlier, Luna had Chase lock the doors and windows while she poured drinks. Growing up at her boarding school, many of her school friends were British, sent over to Paris especially to learn the French language. As a result, Luna developed a love of British tea in addition to copying many British mannerisms. Even her accent was a unique combination of French and British. When her family had visited her in Paris when she was in her early teens, she had attempted to speak the way her family did, with that particular east coast American accent. However, by the time she had finished her education she had given in and stopped trying. She may be American, but she saw herself more European than anything. For the British, tea was drunk after every occasion.

Finding out your brother was a werewolf, being attacked by a flock of deranged birds, fighting off an ancient Fae and cheating on your boyfriend with a gorgeous werewolf who happened to be your brother’s best friend certainly called for a cup of tea.

Once she had made the teas and coffees, Luna was heading back to the living room when she remembered her torn clothing. Not wanting to spend time with company whilst having her breasts on display, she looked around for something to put on. Thankfully, Michael was a sloppy housekeeper and she quickly located one of his sweaters. Pulling the grey material over her head, she grabbed the tray and proceeded to the other room where everyone was waiting for her. The energy in the room was tangible, a layer resting upon her skin as though it were a thin sweater.

The two men stood by the fireplace, Sally perched on the edge of the couch, brushing off a black feather from the arm. The damage in the room caused by the birds was minimal. Only a few of her mother’s trinkets had suffered, along with some scratches to the heavy wooden furniture. Dark feathers lay scattered around, an eerie reminder of the terrifying event. Chase turned his head, watching her as she moved about the room. Once the drinks had been handed out, Luna sat next to Sally, cradling the hot mug as though it could warm the deepest part of her. It wasn’t working. Not really.

“So”, Chase began, “What are you doing here, Brad?”

Sipping his coffee, Brad grimaced. “Mary’s missing”.

“Who’s Mary?” Luna asked.

“One of our wolves. There are fourteen werewolves in our pack now your father’s gone”, Chase explained. “Your father was the Alpha, the leader of the Virginian pack. There’s a pack in most states and dozens more back in Europe. Your brother will now be the alpha. I’m the Beta, his second. I’m the guardian, the muscle of the pack. Brad is one of ours, so is Mary. She’s one of four females”. Seeing Luna’s eyes avert to the woman sitting beside her, Chase shook his head and continued. “No, Sally isn’t one of us. She’s like you and your mother, human. When Mary Changes she becomes a grey wolf”.

Luna’s brow furrowed. “Like the grey paw found on our porch?” Chase nodded grimly.

“What?” Brad demanded.

Turning back to the older man, Chase sighed, the weight of what he was about to say obviously heavy. “Earlier today, Michael rang me. He and Luna found the bloody paw of one of our wolves left on the porch for them to find. When I got there I checked it out. The blood was still fresh, the paw obviously ripped off. No marks from any knives or swords. The paw had been torn off. While she was alive”.

Sally gasped in horror, her hand covering her mouth. “It was
Mary
? Are you certain?” she whispered.

“Oh yes, I’m sure”, he spat. “When I left here earlier I headed out to Mary’s house. The door was open, her car was still in the garage and there was blood dripping throughout the house. Her body was in the kitchen, the place was a wreck. It looked like a tornado hit it. I found her in her human form on the floor. She was dead. Blood loss most probably. Her right arm was pulled right out the socket”.

A hiss escaped from Brad’s mouth. “Who the fuck would do that to her? Was it one of the other packs? Didn’t think we were at loggerheads with any of the others?”

Luna sighed, despair crystal clear in her tone. “I don’t think it was another pack, Mr Nieves. I think it was Lyulf”.

“Who the hell is Lyulf?”

Taking a deep breath, Luna gave her own explanation of the day’s events. “Michael and I had a meeting at the sheriff’s office. We were heading back to the house when we saw a tall man with long silver hair in robes standing in the middle of the road. Michael hit the brakes to stop from hitting him but the car just crashed, right into thin air. The truck was totalled. When he got out of the car, Michael shouted at him. He demanded that Michael return something that belonged to him. There was a fight and Michael transformed into a wolf right in front of me! Michael attacked him but the stranger was stronger and Michael was thrown away, like he was nothing. Then he turned to me and hit me. I grabbed the car iron and struck him with it. Where it came into contact with his skin it started to burn. When I asked him what he was he said his name was Lyulf and that he was Fae. We have until tomorrow to return this artefact or else he’s going to kill everyone”.

Silence flooded the room. It was only a few moments but it was deafening. Only the sounds of distant footsteps could be heard.

Michael’s honey blonde hair was the first thing she saw, the next was the tanned skin of his neck. Luna threw her arms around her older brother, her face buried in his neck. Looking up, the wince on his face informing her that he wasn’t one hundred percent healed yet. “Sorry”, she whispered. “I’m glad you’re OK”.

“It’s OK, I’m just happy you’re alive”, Michael said, the smile in his voice reaching his eyes. “Although I’m just a bit shocked that you hit a Fae, sis. You were never the type to hit anyone, even when they deserved it”.

It was true. Luna had never been one for violence, well aware that she scared far too easily. Pierre had once told her she would be the perfect damsel in distress if anything bad happened. When watching scary movies she still hid her head into a pillow and she couldn’t handle being in the same room as a spider without screaming. Anything fluttering around her head would send her running for the hills. How she had faced the Fae and actually attacked it was beyond her.

Michael faced the room, nodding to both Chase and Brad. Not so long ago, Luna thought her older brother terribly immature for his age. Yes, he had a business with Chase that was doing well but he couldn’t stay in a relationship with anyone for more than a week, hitting the clubs most weekends, still living on their parent’s property, always searching for fun and trying to get out of his responsibilities. Yet standing next to him, Luna could feel the change. It wasn’t the change from human to werewolf, but the change of taking charge. It was the same feeling she got whenever she stood next to their father. Knowing that her father was a werewolf explained a lot of things.

“You alright, Michael?” Brad asked, watching him as he made his way further into the room, Luna still hovering around, making sure he could walk unaided. Sitting down in an oversized leather chair, Michael nodded.

“Yeah. A few broken ribs and a concussion, that’s all. The Change went quicker than usual. What with that and being knocked twenty feet in the air, it’s taken it out of me. I’ll Change in a bit which should heal most of the damage.”

Eyeing him wearily, Brad opened his mouth. “So it’s true then? You were attacked by a Fae?”

Luna twisted around to face the older werewolf. “What, you didn’t believe me?” she demanded, but he just shrugged.

“Sorry, miss, but if you’ve only just been introduced into our world then it’s possible you could’ve seen anything. You’re young and inexperienced, even if you do smell like you’re telling the truth”.

She whispered to her brother, “You can
smell
if I’m telling the truth?”

Michael just laughed, although he did try to stifle it. “Yep. Werewolves can smell a lot of things, including if you’re telling the truth. Now you know why dad knew you had started dating boys when he asked and told him you weren’t. He could smell the lie”. The smile disappeared. “OK, listen up. This Lyulf character doesn’t seem to be messing around. We need to find out what this thing he wants is. Luna’s smart, I’ll get her to help me with that. In the meantime, I want you to stay safe. Sally, you might want to leave town but Brad will need to stay. Lyulf only seems to be interested in us wolves so you should be safe if you leave”.

Sally made a noise of protest but before Michael could answer, her husband spoke. “You can go stay with your sister in Florida. No arguments, woman. You’re going and that’s that”. Luna wasn’t impressed by the way he spoke to his wife but Michael whispered in her ear.

“It’s OK, he’s just being protective of her. Werewolves are fiercely protective of the ones we love”. Still, she didn’t like the tone; it was harsh and abrupt, with no room for negotiation.
He had better apologise to her when they get home
, she said to herself.

“What about Mary?” Brad asked. “What do we do about her body?”

“The police should’ve found her by now. Somehow I don’t think they’ll find out she was killed by a murderous mythological character. When the pathologist runs their tests I’ll just get Tom to edit her files. Like the rest of us, she requested to be cremated in her will”.

Confusion once again washed over Luna’s face. Chase explained. “Our DNA shows that we’re different from humans. One of our pack members works at the local hospital. When the sheriff hinted that he thought dad was drunk when the crash occurred, I contacted Tom to keep an eye out for dad’s tests. We don’t need to worry about mom since she was human, but dad’s tests would certainly show him to be something more, so he’ll do the necessary edits to the paperwork showing there was nothing wrong with him. On paperwork he’ll be nothing more than a sober human”.

This world her brother belonged to was something from a horror story, something completely alien to her. Luna had never been one for the supernatural, preferring romance novels and comedies over horror. Being thrust into a world where immortal beings and werewolves existed was truly overwhelming.

Her brother had a lot of explaining to do when everyone left.

Brad and Sally left after a while with instructions set out by Michael. It was a little surreal to see her brother take charge of something as big as the safety of the entire pack, but quite refreshing.

Only she, Michael and Chase were left. Chase had picked up the discarded vodka bottle and took a swallow. Michael picked up a feather from the floor and raised his eyebrows. “Want to tell me why the house is covered in bird feathers?”

“While you were sleeping upstairs a flock of deranged birds tried attacking us. Damn things scratched the hell out of us”, Chase clarified. Luna hadn’t really paid any attention but now she thought about it, she couldn’t make out any of the scratches from the fight with the birds. Werewolves really did heal fast.