A Werewolf's Moon (The Council) (9 page)

It took no time at all for my eyes to adjust. I could make out the furniture more clearly than ever before. I was even able to see the moonlight reflecting off the puddles through the window in the backdoor. Wow. That was awesome. Not too long ago I’d been blind without glasses. Maybe the perks of being a werewolf weren’t so bad.

The boards on the back porch groaned again, as if something was moving across them.

It wasn’t the rain.

A family of bunnies lived in the backyard, ones I didn’t want to hunt. They weren’t heavy enough to cause the noise, even if all of them hopped on the porch at the same time. So if hopping bunnies weren’t to blame...

A bubble of nervous laughter burst from my lips.

I was being silly.

Scared silly.

I raced for my bedroom and locked the door behind me. For good measure I pushed my chair across the
room and barricaded myself in.

There, now I felt lots better, lots and lots. I was doing great, quite capable of taking care of myself. I had a hair dryer, and a big lamp, steel spiked stilettos….plenty of makesh
ift weapons should I need them.

Although, I hadn’t the faint
est idea why I’d need a weapon.

I normally didn’t stand in the middle of my room wringing my hands b
ecause of bad feelings, either.

The creepy crawlies skittered down my sp
ine and my tummy did the flips.

I hated the flips.

It was like being sick and getting a sinking feeling in the bottom of your stomach, like you’re actually moving down.
Downward flips.

Oh, who am I kidding?

I might as we
ll be wearing chicken slippers.

It was obvious I had more in commo
n with the foul than the furry.

“Quinn?”

I waited, hoping what he said was true. That all I had to do was say his name and he’d hear me, he’d come.

“Quinn?” please let that grouchy wolf come.

A cool breeze danced over my skin and he appeared right in front of me, towering, wild brown hair, tan skin, lethal to anyone who pissed him off.

Yep, I was doing okay now.

Chapter 10

“Miss me?” Quinn asked with a deep chuckle.

“No, not really.”
I said, glancing back toward my door.

He raised his good eyebrow, “Why did you call for me?”

I licked my lips, turning back to him. “I’m spooked.”

A grin showed off his pearly teeth. Teeth capable of sprouting fangs, and I didn’t flinch. “Is it the boogeyman?”

“No, this isn’t a joke. I’m serious, Quinn.” I grabbed handfuls of his shirt and stood on my tiptoes, trying to look him in the eye. He was just so
tall
. “I don’t get spooked.
Ever.
Something doesn’t feel right to me.”

We were silent for a minute, staring into each other’s eyes. I was thinking he would lean in and kiss me.

He dipped his
head lower, staring at my lips.

I wondered if I should
pull away, but he reared back.

“Stay here.” His nostrils flared and his eyes glowed.

“Why?” the floor trembled under my feet. “What was that?”

“Stay,
Pepper
.” Quinn pried his shirt from my fingers. He was gone in blink.

I stood dumbly, wondering when I’d turned into a doormat. Was I really going to let him boss me around like that?

A crash sounded downstairs. Like an explosion.

“Quinn?” I shoved the chair away from the door and burst into the hallway, leaning over the banister.
“Oh my god!”

Quinn was standing over what was left of my backdoor, arms crossed over his chest.

He didn’t turn to look at me. “Go back to your room.”

“No, way,” I bound downstairs to get a closer look at what was left of the backdoor. The brass knob was crushed, the window shattered into a million shiny pieces on the floor. What was left of the door dangled in its frame by a
hinge.

Quinn had
a grimness
in his hard-set frown. “He was in here.”

“He?”

“It smells like a werewolf but…”

Every drop of blood drained from my face, “I thought you were the only werewolf in Capeside!”

“The only one as of this morning.
He was probably just passing through and caught your scent.” He rubbed his jaw.
“Doesn’t make sense though.
His scent was different.”

Marked.

Taken by a werewolf.

“I’m a sitting duck!”

He didn’t respond.

“There might as well be a neon sign blinking over my house advertising werewolf bait!”

“
Pepper
, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I promise.” He said, sniffing the air. “I’d try tracking him, but they’re almost impossible to find after they phase. He’s long gone.”

“So, what, am I safe now? Will he come back?” I inched closer to get a better look at my mangled door. Panic clawed at my insides, desperate to break free. This wasn’t good. This was like a nightmare times a million.

“We won’t be around to find out.” He snagged me around the waist and hauled me back before I could get any closer. “Bunny slippers aren’t good protection against glass.”

Yeah, there was glass all over, but it wasn’t nearly as interesting as being wrapped up in Quinn’s arms. The crippling panic vanished as soon as his skin touched mine.

I twisted around to look up at him. “How did I know something bad was going to happen?”

“You sensed it. The transformation is very close.”

He touched my cheek with his fingertips and I couldn’t help myself. I threw my arms around his neck and hung on as tightly as I could.

His voice filled with shock, “
Pepper
, are you okay?”

“I’m great.” I said. “Just, you know, happy I’ve got my own personal guard dog.”

He shook his head, laughter vibrating his chest and humming against my ear. Uh-oh, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I was plastered to him, and he didn’t seem to mind it, either, wrapping his other arm around me.

Cool air trailed over my skin. I pushed away from him to find us back in my room.

He grabbed my suitcase, “I’ll be right back.”

I opened my mouth to ask him where he was taking them, but he’d gone.
Poof.
And then he was back, not three seconds later.

“That was fast.” I observed. “Where’s my luggage?”

“My place.”

Oh, really, “Why?”

He didn’t answer me and pulled his cell phone out, speed dialing, and spoke, “I need a cleanup, nothing too fancy.
Yeah, and a duplication of a door.
No, see if you can sniff him out… there was something off about him. I know it’s a male, werewolf. But his scent was different. Almost…” Quinn’s eyes flashed bright gold and he shook his head. “You’ll scent
it
. I’m sending the location. No, give me twenty.”

He hung up, hit another button, and frowned. “Have you eaten dinner?”

I blinked. “How can you think about food? My door was just killed by a werewolf!”

“We’ll go out. You can’t go to bed without eating.”

I shook my head, “That was a major subject change. Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

“Later, let’s go.”

“Go where?”

He mumbled something to himself, looking at the floor. “I’m sorry, but I’m not leaving you here.”

I sighed, “So stay with me.”

“No, this house is going to be active with my men in less than twenty minutes. They’re going to fix your door and see if it’s possible to scent out where the intruder went.” He strode toward me and draped his arm around my shoulders in what I felt was a possessive gesture. “I would prefer it if you weren’t around a bunch of males.”

“Oh, right. Wait, how come you aren’t reacting the same way?”

He stiffened, “It’s not the same for me.”

“I don’t understand. Are you a gay werewolf?”

He just stood with his arm around me, staring at the wall now, not the floor. “Mated males won’t find you interesting, but a single one is incomplete. Although he may sense you are not his
true
mate, the power you could give him makes him sway.”

“You aren’t mated.” I bit my lip. “Do you feel what they feel?”

He nodded.

“Then why aren’t you trying to bite me?” I tipped my head back to meet his eyes, trying to detect any emotion in their depths. He was being very careful. His eyes weren’t showing any shimmer or glow. The color was flat and unremarkable, no dimension.

“Because I respect you, and not all males are going
to
act inappropriately.” I wasn’t expecting him to say that. “You deserve a choice. Couple hundred years ago, you wouldn’t have had any say in the matter.”

“Why?”

“Because females weren’t viewed as equals.
It was the same for humans.”

“Oh,” I swallowed, knowing I that I could get myself into a serious pickle, but I had to know. “Do you want to?”

His arm tightened around me, “
Pepper
…”

Why couldn’t I quit when I was ahead? “Seriously, do you want to?”

He nodded again, slowly, holding my gaze with searing intensity.

“If your desire to bite me is a result of the change you sense, then how come you still want to?”

“I think you’re smart enough to figure that out on your own.” He murmured, sending a shiver through me, “I wanted to bite you the first time I caught your scent. You were human then.”

I ran through what I’d learned about werewolves. They did everything by smell, and he obviously liked the way I smelled. His eyes glowed a lot. He was very protective, wanting to shadow me like a big bad thundercloud, ready to zap any threats. I also got the feeling he wasn’t going to stop coming around after I changed. He kissed my cheek earlier, which felt wonderful. I took a deep breath, wondering if his scent was something I found appealing. He smelled unbe
lievably good, warm and woodsy.

The grouchy werewolf was growing on me. Maybe I was going soft. Or maybe he’d worn me down. Whatever it was, I enjoyed his company, and found myself hopi
ng my mom didn’t scare him off.

I would never tell him this, but I think I’m becoming attached.

So did that mean…was I his
mate?

“Hypothetically,
if
, you were
to bite me, what would happen?”

He let go of me and prowled the room, bracing his hands on his hips, “I can control myself.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Stand still, will you? Just pretend that you did bite me, what happens after?”

“You could never be with another, ever.”

“I figured that much…what else?”

“Use your imagination. You can’t leave me, and I can’t leave you. It’s more binding than a marriage.” His eyes were wild, wide, the shimmer of gold trying to break through. He rubbed his hand over his jaw and ceased pacing like a caged animal. “You’d become a Council member. We’d live together… I can go on, but I’m sure you get the idea.”

Oh I got it. I’d be forever attached to a werewolf prince. “We could take things slow, uh, date for a few years before living together…and other stuff.”

“No.” he was firm.

I gulped, “What do you mean?”

He made an exasperated sound, “You won’t understand how it feels until you’re turned. You’ll want me around. No, more than want. You’ll
crave
.”

“I will? You mean, like, the way Venna can’t be without
Henry
?”

“Exactly.”

I took a step back as he took one toward me, feeling a little apprehensive by the way his eyes glowed, because I was craving now. “Venna told me we can’t sleep alone, or maybe we stop sleeping?”

“
It’s
how we know we’ve found the right person. You can’t rest fully without them. It would be the same for us.”

“Quinn, be honest with me.” I pleaded. “Just tell me.”

His eyes were blazing gold. “This isn’t something I have control over, and once you change you’ll feel it too. What I felt the first time I smelled you was torturous, like
dangling a steak in front of a starving animal. I barely contained myself. Instinct tells me you’re mine, and for me to resist is harder than you could ever imagine. What sets me apart from that animal inside me is my conscience.”

“Right,” I reached out to grab the chair before I hit the floor. This was the thing he was leaving out. I had a sneaky suspicion he wasn’t telling me something. And boy was it something. “That makes sense, I guess.”