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

Chapter Five

Luca POV

Four hours later we were still in Seth’s office, going over the map and other intel that Amelia had managed to put together. It was pretty impressive. The map was colour coated for each sighting of Adrienne. Red was to mark where there had been a death, green was a sighting, and blue was all the times that she had circled our territory and trespassed. There was a lot more of those than any other colour and it had all the wolves in the room seeing red. How the hell had she managed to get onto our land without any of us getting wind of it. My mother, being the Moon Child, had placed many magical protections along our border and booby traps for those that managed to bypass said protections. Because of those magical protections the last rogue attack we experienced, aside from the one formulated by Adrienne herself during Seth and Elizabeth’s wedding, were little to none. So the fact that Adrienne had managed to step on pack lands not only undetected, but at all was making us all a little unnerved and on edge. Amelia had also managed to date each dot so we could see how long this had been going on. Six years! Six years she has been circling and trespassing on our land. What the hell did she want? Why had she killed Amelia’s father six years ago? Why had she killed my beautiful Fae three years ago? And what was her interest in our pack? So many unanswered questions that were swimming through my head and the room. Seth was pacing near the window, the tension rolling off of him putting everyone even more on edge, causing everyone to snap at each other and become impatient.

“I’ve got a lead I can follow up on regarding the rogue attack on your pack.” Amelia was saying, staring into a manila folder filled with papers.

“What kind of lead?” Seth asked, as he did another pace. He was extremely on edge. The fact that Adrienne was trespassing on his land was a definite sore spot for Seth. Alpha’s did not like uninvited people on their land, and when said people had killed their best friends’ mate, and interrupted their wedding reception, it was more personal.

“Well, I’ve managed to track down one of the rogues that participated in the attack last night. I’ll capture him, bring him back here and then interrogate the hell out of him.” The determination in her eyes was making me think very dirty things about her and I keep having to shake my head to snap myself out of it. All heads turn to Seth as his pacing continues to burn a hole in the carpet with his pacing. The door opening pulls my attention away from my stressed-out best friend, to his new wife and Luna, Elizabeth. She smiles at us all as she walks in an air of calm following her, and then she sees Seth, and her smile turns into a frown. I watch with a smile as she walks to her mate and steps right in front of his pacing, making him screech to a halt in front of her. Her small hands reach up and stroke his cheeks causing his eyes to slide closed and his face to visibly relax.

“My love, you are stressing out your friends.” Elizabeth gazes lovingly up at him as he returns her look. “Maybe you need to take a break. I’m sure Luca can handle anything that comes up and should anything extremely serious comes up they will link you.” I can see Seth fighting with himself but with one last stroke of his cheek he’s lost in his mate. He nods and follows behind Elizabeth as she leads him from the room. As he gets to the door, he turns to me.

“You’re in charge, Luca. Anything serious, contact me right away.” I give him a salute, and smile as he walks out with his mate. I turn to the group of people in the room, all eyes on me. Viktor stands in the corner, beside the chair that Mia is lounging in as she reads over the hundreds of manilla folders stacked beside her. Amelia stands in front of the large map, still holding the folder with the new lead. Her bright blue-green eyes stared into mine, pulling thoughts into my mind that had no place being there. Her scent was driving me insane, making it hard for me to concentrate. But I was trying my darndest to ignore it all. She and I could never be, as much as the Goddess’ wanted us to be. They made a mistake. A big one.

“Well, with your permission, Beta, I will be off to go and fetch the target.” Amelia places the folder back in the box on the floor and starts towards the door.

“You won’t be going alone.” She turns to me, surprise in her eyes.

“What?”

“I’ll be sending a team with you, in case things don’t go as planned.” I stand from the chair I’m sitting in and rise to my full height, my beta power radiating off of me. Her look of stubbornness made my heart skip, as she raised her eyebrow.

“Excuse me? Why wouldn’t it go as planned?” Her arms crossed over her chest as she c****d out her hip. Nero growled in my head, wanting to take her in our arms and make her ours. She was fiery and full of life. Just what we needed in a mate. I had to push him back and focus on the task at hand.

“I’m just preparing for everything.” Her eyes rolled as she huffs.

“In other words, you don’t trust a blood sucking leech to not make a mistake.” Her voice was full of anger and it was reflected in her eyes. Goddess it was hard not to take her then and there.

“I’m not saying that.” I say through gritted teeth, trying to control the growl I can feel rumbling in my chest. The dominant wolf in me both loved and hated to be challenged. Her eyebrow rose higher as her doubt in my words were made obvious.

“I work alone. Less likelihoods of ‘mistakes’,” her fingers made air quotes as she spoke, “happening. Less people to organise and keep an eye on.” Her determination and stubbornness held strong as she spoke, and I could see her point. This was not a mission that required strength, but finesse.

“Fine.” I said, her face quirking into a smirk as she got her way. I couldn’t help my own smirk as the next words leave my mouth. “Instead, it’ll just be you and me.” Her mouth opens wide as she processes my words before it pulls into a growl.

“How is that any better?” She growled at me. I smirked at her, loving the frustration on her face.

“At least this way I’ll be able to keep you from screwing up. And to keep an eye on you.” Her eyes were aflame with visible anger as her fangs extended with a growl.

“Not going to happen.” Her hands balled into tight fists as her eyes glowed red.

“Then you’re not going, and I’ll send someone else.”

“Like hell you will, you mutt!” She shouted at me. A growl rippled in my chest, filling the room with its vibration.

“I don’t like this anymore than you do, leech. But the Alpha put me in charge. So, suck it up princess.”

“Mutt.” She hissed before she stormed out, leaving Viktor and Mia to stare at the door she’d just slammed. Mia turned to Viktor with a smile.

“Maybe you should go talk to her, Viktor?” with a small nod, Viktor left me and my sister alone, and I could tell that was exactly how she wanted it.

“Don’t even, Mia.” I say as I head to Seth’s desk. I could just see the expression on her face, even though I was not facing her, smug and all knowing. Twenty-one years of being my twin and we could read each other like books.

“I can tell what you’re doing, bro.” she said as she stood beside me, leaning against the desk. I look up at her from where I was fiddling with the papers on the desk, facing away from the door. She leant over to get my attention and I caved and gave it to her.

“And what am I doing, dear sister?” I replied as I turned to lean on the desk next to her, bumping her shoulder. Her smug look made me confused.

“You’re trying to push her away and make her hate you, because you’re scared.” I stare at her in disbelief.

“I’m not trying to push her away, Mia. I’m not interested in her, so there’s no need to ‘push her away’ as you claim.” I push off the desk and walk to the window, gazing out the window. It was the very early hours of the morning.

“Mmhm. That’s not what I saw.” I turn to her from the window and roll my eyes.

“And what did you see?” my eyebrow raised as she walked to me from the window.

“The way you look at her, the way she looks at you. The way you rile her up on purpose because you like how stubborn and strong she is.” Her eyes bore into mine as she stands before me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I grumble as I look down, trying to avoid her knowing eyes.

“Luca.” My sister grabs at my face and lifts my gaze to hers. “I’m your sister. I know you better than anyone. I know you don’t care that she is a vampire, even though you hate them. So, what the hell is stopping you from being with her? She is your mate, Luca. Your second chance.” Her eyes fill with tears as she speaks, making mine itch with the feeling of my own unshed tears. “Not everyone gets those. Heck, not everyone gets their first.” She looks away from me, the loneliness evident in her eyes. “What is holding you back?” her gaze returns to mine as she searches my face for her answer.

Did I even know the answer to that? It’s true that the fact she was a vampire was meaningless to me after seeing her with her mother. Sure, I hated vampires, blood sucking fiends, but that was mostly because Adrienne herself was one. And she had taken from me the only love I’d ever known. I’d only known Fae moments, before she was cruelly stolen from me. I had been told my whole life that your mate was the most amazing gift you would ever be given by the Moon Goddess, even more so than the gift of your wolf. And mine had been taken from me. How could I move on with another when my heart still ached for my Fae? She was my first love, and I thought my last. I couldn’t open my heart to have it shattered again. I was not meant to be loved. I was not meant to love. My fate was to make sure that my family was happy, that they were safe. Fae was the only one who I had room for in my heart, whether the Goddess’ had another plan in mind or not.

“It’s because of Fae…. isn’t it?” stupid twin bond. I nod. A knot stuck in my throat, stopping me from speaking. “Luca.” I pull away from her and head to the door, no longer able or willing to talk of this anymore. “Don’t close your heart to love, Luca.” I spun from the door, her words making my heart almost leap from my chest.

“What did you just say?” I whisper, the lump in my throat almost suffocating me as my eyes burn with unshed tears.

“I said, don’t close your heart to love. The Goddess gave you this second chance for a reason. Don’t let your past stop your future.” She walks to my side and pulls me into a tight hug, and I squeeze her just as tightly back, relishing in the love that we shared. I didn’t know how I could live without her in my life, she was my rock. “I love you, Luca.” She presses her forehead to mine, like we used to as kids, before turning and leaving the room. I watch her leave and take a minute to breath before I followed. Lilies. The scent hits my nose as I exit and I glance around confusedly, but don’t see anyone else in the hallway. I make my way to the guest room I know Amelia is staying in and knock. When she opens the door, she glares at me and I smirk, enjoying her frustration towards me. Her fire, her tenacity, it was making my wolf claw at my consciousness. He was begging to take control, to take her, and it took everything in me to keep him from doing so. It didn’t help that she was wearing a deep green wrap around dress, held up with thin spaghetti straps and tied with an even thinner tie holding it together. Nero was practically drooling, and so was I.

“Are you ready to go?” with a frustrated growl and a roll of her eyes she slams the door closed behind her as she storms down the hall. She turns back as she reaches the staircase.

“Are you coming or what? Mutt.” With an amused chuckle, I follow after her, as she storms ahead of me down the stairs.