Beneath a Blood Moon - Book Two (Moon Child Series)

Chapter Three

“You may now kiss the bride.” Whoops and cheers sounded throughout the clearing as Seth kissed Elizabeth. “I present to you the new Mr and Mrs Cane.” More cheers echoed through the air as they walked down the aisle hand in hand. I followed behind them as they walked towards the reception underneath multiple gazebos. Everyone found their places as food was placed in front of them. My stomach growled as I stared down at the delicious steak and mash in front of me and dug in straight away.

After the compulsory speeches and cake cutting Seth led his new bride onto the dance floor for their first dance. I stood from my seat and stood beside Mia as she gazed lovingly at the couple. Chicks. I thought as I rolled my eyes. I watched them with a soft smile on my faces, happy for my best friend, when my attention was pulled to the side as a flash of grey flicked across the side of my vision. My eyes narrow as I focus on a shadow amongst the trees. They think they are well hidden, but I have trained myself to see into the darkest shadows. My heart clenched as I realised what I was seeing.

“Rogues!” I cry as I run to my brothers and little sister and shove them at Mia. Chaos ensues as women run into the centre of the room and are surrounded by a large group of warriors for protection. “Go. Protect the kids.” I cried to Mia as I shifted and attacked an oncoming rogue. My vision goes red as I go into fighting mode. I’m only think about attacking. No mercy.

Tinkling laughter makes my body stiffen and I follow the direction of it. My eyes fall on her then and blood pumps loudly in my ears.

“Adrienne.” I growl.

“Ah, little wolfie. Did you miss me?” A flash of her fangs and she’s off, giggling as she runs. I zero in on her, my only target. Rogues bounce off of me as I dismiss them and run for my real target. I follow her scent at full speed. My goal? Find and kill. That b***h was gonna die today. She darts in and out of the trees, my nose leading me to her. And then a new scent hits me. Lilies. And the stench of an intruder. I growl as I come to a halt, my eyes landing on a woman as she runs into the direction that Adrienne had run in. An accomplice? Aero growled. Snarling I took off after her, keeping speed with her easily. I timed it perfectly; as she was leaping across a clearing to land in another tree. I intercepted, my paws pinning her chest to the ground as we landed with a thud. My teeth pulled back in a snarl and then I was surrounded by the scent of lilies.

Mate. Nero cried out excitedly in my head and I froze, unwillingly shifting.

“Shit.” I exclaimed as her eyes fell on mine, my hands landing either side of her head.

“Shit.” She said back, her eyes wide. Next minute there is a blinding pain behind my eyes and I’m reeling back. I can hear feet running from me and I shift, giving chase. I have her pinned in a second and growl down at her, linking Seth, my dad, and my sister. She struggles beneath my paws and it takes everything in me to hold Nero back from claiming our mate. Minutes pass and Seth, dad and Mia run into the clearing. Mia’s hands crackle with electricity as she approaches, her eyes angry.

“An accomplice?” She spits. The woman’s eyes go wide with disgust as she sinks her nails into my paws making me yelp and step off of her. She leaps to her feet and hisses.

“I am no accomplice of that bitch.” She hissed. Her eyes narrowed as they landed on me. “This stupid mutt got in my way; I was this close to catching her.” Seth and my dad growl at the insult and step forward threateningly. Mia puts her hand out to stop them and steps towards the woman before her eyes go wide. Damn Crimson Wolf powers. She knows.

“You’re his second chance.” She gasps and I cringe as I change back to my human form.

“She is not. She is a lying leech.” I look up into the branches of a tree and predictably Viktor is hanging there in bat form, keeping a watchful eye on Mia.

“No offence Viktor.” Viktor dropped down from the branch, transforming mid-way as he came to stood beside Mia.

“None taken, young wolf.” His gaze falls on the young woman a soft smile on his face. “But she is not lying. She is no ally of Adrienne.” The young woman’s eyes go wide as she smiles incredulously.

“Uncle Viktor?!” She runs to his arms and we all watch in shock as they embrace. “Where have you been all these years?” Viktor strokes her cheek lovingly.

“A story for another time, Amelia. Unfortunately, you must explain why you are trespassing on pack lands.”

Amelia. Her name is like music to my ears. I shake my head to clear it. What the hell is wrong with me? Amelia’s attention turns to Seth and she bows respectfully.

“Alpha, I apologise for trespassing on your land, however it was for a good cause.” Seth huffed for her to continue. “I have been following the trail of Adrienne for months and I finally caught wind of her. I was on her tail until someone” she glared at me and I rolled my eyes “stopped me.” Seth mind-linked me his answer as he stepped forward.

“My alpha accepts your apology and asks that you follow us back to the pack house to discuss more.” Amelia agrees and I shift back into my wolf and follow them all back to the house making sure to walk in front of everyone so I wouldn’t catch her scent. It was intoxicating and was making my wolf lose its mind. I wouldn’t let it take me over though. She was one of them, like Adrienne, who killed my beautiful Fae. My heart broke at the thought of her and I pushed the pain back inside as I focused on the situation at hand. We shifted back into our human forms and dressed in the clothes we keep in baskets around the forest and walked into the house. Mia hangs back with Viktor and Amelia as we walk, listening to the two catch up. We follow Seth up to his office and sat around his desk. I stand next to the open window, trying to not get lost in the vampire’s scent. Damn mate bond. Seth sits authoritatively in his chair as he gestures for Amelia to explain, and I take the moment to look at the woman, the leech, who is supposed to be my mate. Her eyes are a mix between blue and green, her hair a rich honey blonde that hangs to her waist. Her skin soft porcelain, not a blemish in sight. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was a leech I might even consider her to be gorgeous.

“I have been hunting Adrienne for years,” Amelia starts, her voice making my wolf claw at the wall I put up, “after she killed my father. She never explained why, she just laughed and left us to watch him die.” Tears sprang into her eyes and I had to stop myself from reaching out and comforting her. I clench my hands into fists, my claws digging into my palms. “I’ve been finding her scent all over the place and she was leading me on a wild goose chase and then she came here. And she stayed here long enough for me to follow her. If I hadn’t of been interrupted, I would have gotten her.” Her eyes fell on me with a glare and I glared back.

“Why was she here?” Seth asked, pulling her attention back to him. Mia stood from her seat beside Viktor and walked over to me, nudging me with her elbow. I glare at her as I turn my attention back to the situation at hand.

“I don’t know. All I know is that she’s never been in one place for too long. And this is the first time in three years that she’s been trackable.” Three years? My heart clenches in my chest as I realise that time had been when she’d killed my beautiful Fae. Mia’s hand grabs mine as she comes to the realisation too. I squeeze her hand reassuringly as I take a deep breath, trying my hardest to ignore the soft sting of tears as they well in my eyes. Seth glances sideways at me, checking if I’m alright.

“Does that mean anything to you?” She asked the room as she looked between Seth and I. Seth searches my face for permission to tell her. I nod and look away as I try to keep the memories from my brain.

“Three years ago, at the Shifter summit, Adrienne cursed and killed the king’s younger sister, claiming it was for revenge.” I stare coldly at the ground as my hand squeezes Mia’s tightly.

“So, we have a common enemy. Maybe we should work together.” My eyes snap up to her, her eyes determined. Work with her? A vampire? The only vampire we allowed on our land and whom we trusted was Viktor. No way would I work with a blood sucking leech.

“That’s not going to happen. We don’t work with leeches.” I growl through clenched teeth. Mia’s hand holds me back and she strokes my arm. Seth glares at me, a low growl warning me.

“Step down, beta.” He growled. I step back and clench my teeth. Seth glares at me a moment more before turning back to Amelia. “What did you have in mind?” I was sure I was breaking Mia’s hand with how hard I was squeezing it, but she just squeezed back.

“Well, I’ve got the tracking skills, my powers assure that, and you obviously have the magic,” she says gesturing towards Mia. I step in front of her with a growl and Mia smacks me. I step back and glare at her for hitting me. “She also seems to have a great interest in your pack.” We all look at her confusedly.

“What does that mean?” Mia asked from my side.

“Well, I have a map back home where I mark every spot that she has appeared over the past six years since my dad was murdered. A majority of them either circle your pack or are on your pack lands.” Seth growls obviously upset that she had managed to trespass on our land without our knowledge.

“The activity increased more three years ago, and then that’s when she appeared at the Shifter Palace.” My mind whirled with the information overload. Why the hell had she been hanging around our land? What was her interest in us?

“What leads do you have that could help us?” Seth asked as he rubbed his eyes with his fingers in frustration.

“Only whispers amongst the supernatural community. It is rumoured that she seeks vengeance for the death of her mother, but no one knows anything else. Anyone who gets remotely close enough to her to find out end up dead.” Silence reigns in the room after her statement and I can tell that Seth is weighing his options and of course, worrying about whether his choice will affect me in any way. With an internal sigh I bucked up the courage and mind linked him.

Seth, we don’t have a choice. If we want to rid ourselves of this leech, we must then team up with another leech. It is ok. He glances at me just to confirm and when I nod my head he turns back to Amelia and stands.

“Very well. But if this alliance is going to happen, we do it on our turf.” My head whips around to him with a glare. That wasn’t what I was thinking when I agreed to this alliance. “Mia, will you show Amelia to a guest room please?”

“Might I have permission to go home and collect all of my materials? And to inform my mother?” Seth thought about this for a moment before he nodded.

“Very well. But you will take my beta with you, so he can keep an eye on you.”

“What?!” Amelia and I exclaim at the same time. Seth smirked and shrugged. I was going to kill him.

“Either that or I send someone to grab your materials for you and you stay here, guarded.” Amelia’s scowl could peel paint, but she nods and stares furiously down at the floor. Seth turns his attention to me and with a clenched jaw, I nodded.

“Great. Let’s get to work. Now if you don’t mind,” he walks to the door as he talks, “I have a wife to get to.” And then he’s gone. Leaving a fuming vampire and shifter with two awkward bystanders.