Moon Song

The Mixer

Chapter 4

The two arrived at the conference suite doubling as this evening’s party room. There were no decorations but there were funky laser lights and a series of lime lights on a makeshift stage for the karaoke star.

Lydian was feeling pretty under dressed. It looked like most girls had changed into something more akin to club attire with short skirts, heels, and tube tops.

Lydian looked down at her skinny jeans, long sleeved t-shirt, and white Adidas.

“I feel a bit under dressed.” She said to Jenny.

“Stop, you look great! With those perfect trusses, you could never look under dressed. Honestly, I'm so jealous of your hair! And you don’t look like a hoochie mamma like that skank over there trying to rock the under-boob. C’mon classy lassie! Let’s sign up to sing something.”

Jenny picked “Don’t Speak.” By No Doubt.

Lydian signed up for “Can’t Fight the Moonlight” by Leanne Rymes. An oldie, but a goodie, and one she knew she could kick ass at. Those melodic runs at the end were hers.

“That’s a really difficult song to pull off.” Melody said, looking over her shoulder. “You sure, you’ve got the pipes?”

“I guess we’ll see!” Lydian answered before walking over to join Jenny chatting to a group of girls.

From the corner of her eye she saw Melody mimicking her ‘I guess we’ll see!’ while making an unflattering face.

“Classy indeed.” Lydian thought.

Before Lydian could join the conversation, Cristofori appeared at her side. He said something to her, but music had just begun blaring from the speakers and she didn't hear him.

“What?” Lydian shouted at him over the music. She expected him to shout back, but instead he bent down until his lips were touching her ear and he said at a normal decibel “What should we sing together?”

Lydian's legs turned to jelly as his breath warmed her ear. She couldn't help the heaviness of her own breathing and the rise and fall of her chest. Did he have any idea what he was doing to her? She felt for guilty enjoying it. She wanted to stay like this forever. Him touching her shoulder with his perfectly calloused hand and his soft full lips touching her ear like a secret kiss. She didn’t think she would ever be able to enjoy something like this. In fact, in the last two years, when a guy got even a little close to her, she would feel sick to her stomach. Something was different with Cristofori though. She could almost see the sparks flying between them. She turned and looked at him hoping her face didn't read “Hold me, thrill me, kiss me” like she was thinking.

“Um.” She gulped “How about something like “I know what you did last summer?”

He placed his lips against her ear again. The movement sent electric shocks down her spine that made her core tingle. “I want something that will showcase our voices better,” he answered.

Lydian’s mind was racing as he held his lips against her ear lobe. It took every ounce of willpower not to close her eyes and lean into him. Oh, how she wanted to put a hand against his chest and just... feel the ripple of muscle through his shirt. He was driving her wild. Lydian tried to think of a vocal show casing duet that would be fun to karaoke. But all she could think about was his lips. If they felt this good speaking against her ear, how good would it feel if he nibbled her ear lobe with them... or kissed her lips, or bit her neck. Lydian pushed away from him, getting a hold of herself. She had never wanted to be bitten before. Why did she keep coming back to him biting her neck? Maybe she had turned part vampire.

“How about ‘Rewrite the Stars’?” She shouted at him.

“Yeah!” He said. “I like that one. Perfect!” He said, pulling away from her. Lydian suddenly felt like a part of her was missing when he was no longer next to her. She turned to see Melody pull him into a dance with her. I heard her shout “I signed us up to sing ‘Come What May,’ babe, like we did last year. Everyone loved it!” She lifted her arms in the air and began to grind against Cristofori.

Lydian looked away and went back to Jenny’s group. Jenny introduced her to everyone in the circle. They were all fellow band mates of hers. Lydian tried to join in the conversation as much as possible, but she was having trouble concentrating with Melody’s arms wrapped around Cristofori.

Jenny pulled her next to her and said “You look a bit shaken up. Is everything OK?”

“Yeah Jenny, sorry. I'm just nervous about karaoke is all. Once I’m up I will feel better.” Lydian lied.

“Oh good! Don’t worry! I’m sure you’ll do great! Look, Jason wants to ask you to dance but I was going to dissuade him if you’re not up for dancing.”

“No! Don’t do that. I would love to dance!” Lydian said.

“Great! I will let him know.”

Cristofori had finally managed to get away from Melody to sign Lydian and himself up for their duet. When he looked up, he could see her dancing with one of the band guys. He couldn’t help but emit a low growl. Ever since he saw her basking in the glow of the sun, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Her pale skin with the cutest freckles sprinkled across her cheeks and nose. Her long waves of chestnut hair, or the way her brown eyes looked like pure golden honey when the sun hit them just right.

Hell, even with spaghetti hanging out of her mouth, she was so damn sexy. It was all he could do not to lick the noodles right off her lips. He hadn't stopped thinking of her lips since. He knew how she felt. He could hear her heart beating faster every time he was near. She fascinated him, but he was a werewolf, and werewolves have mates of destiny. One single wolf chosen by the moon goddess to spend our lives with. He was only nine months away from his eighteenth birthday when he would come of age and his wolf would be born in him. Then they could find their destined mate, he hoped.

Sadly, some werewolves never found their destined mate, or if they did, they hadn’t waited. They were already married and had to reject their destined mate. This was incredibly painful for both werewolves as the chord of destiny that tied them together by the moon goddess herself was ripped apart. He had even heard of wolves going crazy and dying or going rogue when their human-side rejected their mate.

Bad things happen when you don’t follow the moon goddess's plan.

The goddess had always been good to him. He had never bothered to date girls knowing his true mate was out there. He didn't want to get too attached to someone only to find his mate and have to break someone’s heart. He had seen it happen too many times in his pack, and he just didn’t have it in him to make anyone go through that. He didn’t want to go against that conviction now. Not even with Lydian, but oh goddess, she was the first one to ever tempt him, and damn it if he was at least going to dance with her tonight.

After the current song finished, he made his way over to Lydian. “Save the next dance for me?” he said. She nodded back, the honey-coloured eyes of hers made him catch his breath. The desire to kiss her was so strong.

He smiled and walked over to Jenny. “Dance with me, Jenny?” he asked.

“Oh sure!” she said.

He walked her to the group of people dancing. He really liked Jenny. She was one of the sweetest girls he knew. She was petit, which made dancing with her look hilarious. He was about a foot and a half taller than she was. That was a big difference. She had this girl next door look, and even with a few extra pounds on her she carried herself well and was kind to everyone, even Melody, who had never been particularly nice to her over the years, so he had always found her sweetly attractive. Beauty really was only skin deep, and he hoped his mate would be someone with as much character as Jenny had.

The song ended and he thanked Jenny for the dance, then looked around for Lydian. She was thanking her dance partner and then she turned, locking eyes with him.

The room stood still for him as they walked closer together. An acoustic guitar began playing Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” as he took her in his arms. She softly wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt so good there. He pulled her in closer, feeling all her perfect curves against his body. She looked straight into his eyes as though they were begging to be kissed. He wanted to kiss her so badly, but she was human. She wasn't his mate. If he kissed her, it would only end up hurting them both in the end. She smelled so good. Sweet and citrusy, but also earthy like basil. It was an amazing combination. Feminine, and perfect.

She looked away and slowly lowered her head against his chest. That sweet little action made him come undone; he couldn’t stop himself. “Goddess forgive me,” he whispered as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. She didn't move. Didn't acknowledge the action, but her heartbeat raced faster and so did his.

When the song ended, she gently pulled away and squeezed his hand. “Thank you. You’re a good dancer.” She said, letting go of his hand. Just then the DJ came on announcing it was karaoke time. Everyone cheered.

A girl he recognised but didn't know her name went up and sang ‘These boots are made for walking.’ She did great. Sounded just like the original.

Next was Jenny. She had a super sweet voice. She wasn’t going to win any singing awards, but she knew how to work a crowd. During the verses of “Don’t Speak” she was practically whispering, but as soon as the chorus came on, she was yelling, the crowd was yelling, everyone was yelling. It was fun.

Afterwards, a confident looking Lydian went up. He loved this side of her. She took the mic off of the stand and looked at the ground, waiting for the music to start. The first two chords came loudly over the speaker followed by the next three chords.

He chuckled when he recognised the song. The werewolf theme song.

When her voice rang out over the speakers, a hush came across the room. People not taking part in the karaoke stopped talking and turned their heads to see who was singing. She was incredible.

Her voice was clear as a bell and sweet as a songbird. He could listen to her forever.

“You can try to resist, try to hide from my kiss, but you know, but you know that you, can't fight the moonlight.”

"True," he thought. He couldn’t do any of those things, couldn’t resist her or fight the moonlight.

“There's no escaping love

Once the gentle breeze

Weaves its spell upon your heart

No matter what you think

It won't be too long

'Til you're in my arms

Underneath the starlight, starlight

We'll be lost in the rhythm, so right

Feel it steal your heart tonight”

Cristofori was so entranced by her as she sang it felt almost magical. He kept stopping himself. Praying to the goddess to resist the temptation, but as her voice sung on, he didn't care. Mate be damned. He wanted Lydian.

Everyone cheered like crazy after Lydian finished her song. She smiled a huge smile as she left the stage. Melody went up and took the stage after. She did a great rendition of Selena Gomez Wolves, but she just didn’t have the attention of the crowd like Lydian did. She got a good clap when she was done but Cristofori knew she was disappointed with her reception. He made a point to tell her she was great, and Melody’s face lit up.

“Are you ready for our duet?” she asked sweetly.

“I was born ready.” He quipped back.

He liked showtunes and had enjoyed the Moulin Rouge Musical, but he felt a bit self-conscious singing “I will love you until my dying day” to Melody. He already felt like he was cheating on Lydian by singing it.

Melody was a little off key as she tried really punching her vibrato. She had a naturally great voice, but she didn’t like voice lessons because they made her feel like a bad singer, so she just went on with her natural talent. Unfortunately, she never learned good breath support and sometimes she tried a little too hard and the strain in her throat could cause some pretty unpleasant sounds, such was the case tonight. On top of that, his heart was just not in it. When they finished, they got a small round of applause, but he was fairly sure he heard someone cough over the meager hand clapping.

The next guy went on singing “Feeling Good” by Michael Bublé. That really got the girls in the crowd going. They were going to start throwing their panties at him any minute.

A few more mediocre singers went up and then it was time for his duet with Lydian.

He couldn’t have meant it anymore when he sang “You know I want you. It's not a secret I try to hide. I know you want me...”

He sang with such conviction in his voice, he surprised himself.

He is a good singer, but right now, with her, he was a great singer.

“You think it’s easy?” she sang to him. She walked towards him until she was singing in his arms. “You think I don’t want to run to you?”

She pulled away just as he leaned in.

“But there are mountains, and there are doors that we can’t walk through.” She teased him.

She was a pure siren captivating the crowd. She wasn’t trying to put on a show, she just loved performing. He could see it in the glow of her honey eyes, and they were dripping with love for the music.

Their voices blended together perfectly, and all he could do was become the part. Convince her they were supposed to be together. Convince her he would do anything, even rewrite the stars for her. At the end of the song, she sang her final line of “but I can’t have you, we’re bound to break, and my hands are tied.” and then walked off the stage.

The crowd went crazy! She was incredible. He caught up to her off stage “That was amazing! You have an incredible voice!” he said to her, picking her up and spinning her around. She giggled and said, “Put me down silly!”

He set her down gently. “Honestly, I'm so impressed Lydian.” She blushed and mumbled “Thank you. You were a wonderful partner. I hope we can sing together again sometime.”

“You can bet on it,” he said.

A few other camp goers came up to tell her what a fantastic job she did. The girl who sang “These boots were made for walking” introduced herself as Kayla. She seemed to know Jenny.

“Do you go to Dakota Crescent High as well, Kayla?” Lydian asked.

“Yeah! I’m going to be a junior this year, but Jenny was saying we would probably have choir together this year and you will be a shoe in for all state chorus!” Kayla gushed.

“That’s so nice of you to say. I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone. I’ve heard the choir is really good.”

“Yeah. I love that I go to a school where the same guys making touchdowns on the football field, are the same guys leading the jazz band to all state championships and singing in the choir.” she beamed. Lydia liked her right away.

“You mean I won’t have to be a choir geek?” Lydia feigned excitement.

“And I’m not a band nerd!” Jenny chimed in.

“I wish I went to your school! I’m a total choir geek at mine.” Cristofori said.

The girls laughed, knowing full well he was the most eligible teenaged bachelor everywhere he went, and on no planet did anyone in their right mind think he was a geek.

“Jenny and I are going to head back to our dorm. We are pretty tired.” Lydian said. “It was really nice to meet you, Kayla. I loved your song. You sounded better than original!”

“Agreed, Kayla. You were amazing!” Cristofori echoed.

Kayla hugged them all goodnight and headed back over to the crowd, still enjoying the karaoke.

“Can I walk you girls to your dorm?” Cristofori asked.

“That would be really kind of you” Jenny said as she pulled her bag over her shoulder.