Beneath the Blood Moon (The Moon Series Trilogy#2)

Chapter 8

My head shot up just as my heart skipped a beat. "Why?"

He glared. "I asked a question."

"And I won't give you, a stranger, any information about my parents without a valid reason," I said defiantly, though amidst the courage I inwardly feared the outcome of my words. "I don't care how scary you appear to be."

The stranger's muscles tensed and I caught the way they flexed in the faint firelight, silently telling me to beware. "Do not test me she-wolf," he growled out before leaning in and gazing straight into my eyes. "Tell me about them."

Shit. I couldn't look away. Not when his eyes had changed from being just grey to a deeper, enchanting starlight silver, and also not when he used that voice on me again. That voice that seemed to have me constantly spellbound and unable to think clearly.

"What do you want to know?" I asked softly before I could help it, which just showed me how much trouble I was in. Why did he even want to know about my parents? He's clearly a rogue, because I've never seen him before, but what's his motive?

I might as well just throw those questions into a black hole because as long he kept looking at me like the way he was, compelling me, I didn't have much control over what my mouth would utter.

A flash of hatred crossed his expression before it disappeared that very second. "Your father, where did he meet your mother?"

Not being able to help myself, I replied, "They met at a tour. He was the tour guide."

"A tour where?"

"Here. In these woods."

His eyes narrowed. "He was not a tour guide, was he?"

"No," I answered. "He killed then impersonated the real one when he found out that my mother was coming on a trip here."

"Why did he need to impersonate when he could have had her any time and any how he wanted?"

"Mum said he saw no fun in that." I wanted to shrug, but damn if I could get my brain to send the signal to my shoulders. I was still hopelessly transfixed by this stranger, not able to concentrate on anything else but his voice and his eyes.

"It sounds almost the same," he muttered to no one, and I tried to not make sense of what he just said since nothing he had said so far made any sense to me. And it wasn't like I could anyway.

Suddenly, the brightness in his pupils dimmed and so did the compulsion. Finally, I could breathe again. "Are you going to cooperate or will you force me to compel the answers out of you?"

Seeing as my plan to escape couldn't be acted on if he was this watchful, I decided to go along with his inquiries until my moment came along. The moment when I would catch him unaware and helpless. That was if the odds were on my side.

"I'll cooperate," I agreed before adding, "But first, please, tell me who you are."

His eyebrows arched. "Why?"

Really? "Because I don't know what the hell is going on and I need answers way more than you do. I clearly don't know you, and I have no idea why you'd want information about my parents and why you'd kidnap me for it. "

He crossed his hands over the wide span of his chest and wore a serious expression. "I have my reasons, none of which concern you."

"But I have a right to-"

"You have no rights," he said through clenched teeth, as if the direction in which this conversation was going irritated him. "Not while with me."

I breathed out a frustrated sigh. "Fine." I thinned my lips before trying one more time, "But will you at least tell me how you know my grandmother and why exactly you're looking for her? And why you think I'm her?"

"That is none of your business."

"But I have a right to know." I raised my voice, aware of the tension emanating from both of us. It was obvious that my consistent questioning was getting him angry, but nevertheless, I continued to ask. Heck, I needed answers.

The werewolf released his arms from their entwinement and lifted a finger in warning. "Be careful, I will not tolerate your attitude. And lower your voice."

"I will once you tell me what the hell is going on!"

Before I could blink, my back was smashed against the wall for the millionth time tonight and I gasped as he held my hands behind me and lifted me a good two inches high off the ground to match his height so, I supposed, he could get his message clear.

"I said, lower your voice," he chastened with a stern glare before he shifted his gaze to face towards the far entrance of the cave.

Confused, I stopped talking and concentrated blindly on what he was apparently seeing or hearing as far as I knew. And that was when the sound hit me.

It was soft but fierce. A distant howling. One that I had grown used to hearing every time there had been a threat around. One that I knew by heart was a call to fight, to kill. A call to assemble the pack for revenge.

My heart thundered in my chest. Dad! Oh thank God, that means Mum's not far! I knew this because Dad never kept Mum far away from him. Never in his wolf form.

I need to get out of here. Now.

I could tell by the distant howling that he wasn't close to the cave we were in, but far. However, I had a feeling that he would be closing in in no time.

Breathing heavily since this insanely strong werewolf had unexpectedly knocked the air right out of my lungs with his sudden attack, I tried to get his mind off the howling, even though I knew it would be a lost cause even before I had started. "Why won't you tell me?"

It took quite a moment for him to reply, and after that, I had a feeling that he wasn't fully paying attention to me anymore. "You will think I am mad."

Don't I already? I almost said that aloud but instead chose to point out, "You came out of nowhere while I was in the middle of an escape-fight, chased away the person I was trying to run away from and the person I was trying to run away with then accused me of being my grandmother who died centuries ago. I don't think you have anything to lose."

He grunted but didn't look my way. Damn it. I needed to distract him. If he found out that my parents were within reach, I didn't know what he'd do to them. His weird interest in them had me more suspicious and confused than I ever had been in my life.

Then all of a sudden, his expression darkened as his eyes into a murderous glint and his voice deepened. "Who were the wolves I fought away?"

I opened my mouth to answer but then shut it again. What if he went after them if I told him they were my parents? He did seem adamant to know about them and I didn't want to risk my mother's life if he was interested in ending their lives for whatever reason. "That's not important."

"I asked," he finally turned to face me. A menacing scowl etched his facial features as a flicker of red flashed across his pupils. "Who were the wolves I fought away?"

I gulped. Just tell him! He hasn't killed you yet, has he? "I-I..."

"Do not dare lie to me, she-wolf," he said through gritted teeth as his chest rumbled fiercely with a growl.

"They were..." Please don't hurt my mother. "They were my parents."

The minute I let out those words, his fangs barred and he snarled before shoving me aside. Subsequently, I stumbled and had to lay a hand on the cave's wall for support.

"Wait! Stop!" I yelled when I saw his silhouette striding determinedly into the dark without as much as a single light source to guide his way.

"Stop! What do you want from them?" I picked up a burning piece of firewood and followed him towards the cave's entrance. "If it's answers you want I'll provide them for you, I promise. Just leave my mother out of this!"

"No." His voice sounded strained as it echoed from wherever he was throughout the cave's interior, as if he was right in the middle of morphing. "They have something I want, and it is not just answers."