Blood Moon

Chapter 03

Elouise’s POV

An hour after my class today, I needed to be at work. I normally would have gone home, painted for forty-five minutes, then drove to the cafe with five minutes to spare for me to change into my uniform. Today, I had agreed to sit with Jack in the canteen during his break between lessons.

What I had not agreed to was sitting next to George.

I looked around the room for the rest of his pack, but they weren’t there. I couldn’t smell them either.

Liz appeared behind me by putting her hands on my shoulders.

I squirmed under her, turning to grab her wrists. “Why are they so cold?”

“I had a slush.” She stuck out her blue tongue and I had never felt more betrayed by her. She laughed at my open mouth. “I would have gotten you one too if I knew you were still here.”

I put my hand on my heart. “I will never forget this, Elizabeth.”

Her eyes narrowed. Under her breath, she muttered: “I hate that name.”

I looped my arm through hers and dragged us both to Jack and George. Jack smiled at us but whatever George was talking about died down to a whisper before he decided even that was too much talking in front of us.

I almost rolled my eyes until I noticed what Jack was wearing. It was nothing unusual, in fact it suited more than his regular clothes, but what shocked me was how he had covered his mating mark.

“Be nice,” came his voice in my mind. I rose an eyebrow at him in response. “We’re making friends.”

I don’t know compelled him to want to make friends so suddenly, and I certainly don’t know what he was thinking when he invited me over if he wanted this to go well. It’s not that I had a bad opinion of George and The Rest, I didn’t have a particularly good opinion of them either, but there was no reason for Jack to want to be friends with them if not to build a pack alliance.

That must be why I’m here too.

“You better have thought this through.”

He looked confused but shook it away as he smiled at George.

Two more bodies joined us which made my wolf groan. I’m glad to know she’s still there sharing my feelings, but I would appreciate it if she didn’t play dead all of the time.

Wyatt sat next to George, casting me a look to put me in my place. I straightened my back and smiled. He didn’t need to put me in my place, I was already there.

Next Lucas sat in the chair beside mine. He too kept a careful eye on me and if it wasn’t for Jack pleading with me, I would have left.

I wasn’t wanted here. I wasn’t trusted. Sure, I was so used to it by now that it was something I expected upon meeting new people, but that doesn’t make it feel any less wrong. If anything, it makes it worse.

I kept my expression vacant as I stared away from everyone and focused on the back wall. When Liz looked at me, I told her through the mind link that I didn’t want her to do anything rash.

Jack, with his talent of talking, was able to carry the conversation on his back with Liz and George responding to him. Once Wyatt was done with me and he saw that George was comfortable with us, he joined in.

Lucas didn’t speak. In the corner of my eye, I could see him watching me. His aristocratic face rested in the palm of his hand, blond hair swept back from his forehead. He looked so unlike any alpha I had ever met in his white hoodie sitting so casually in front of others. 

“You can stop staring,” I said to him.

Jack’s voice picked up as he tried to carry on with his conversation over the top of me. I didn’t care.

Lucas gave a crooked smile. “Sorry, I was just thinking.”

“I’m sure you’re more than capable of doing that without looking at me.”

Wyatt wasn’t listening to Jack’s attempts at a smooth conversation anymore. Neither was Liz.

“I was thinking about you.”

At this, Jack stopped speaking and looked on to us with the rest of the table. Nothing good was going to come out of this conversation and that’s why everyone surrounding us was ready to fight at the first wrong move.

I knew Lucas was trying to play with me, but I didn’t know his reasons or his motives. Without those answers, it felt impossible to see where he was taking this.

I grit my teeth. “Why?”

Lucas shrugged, removing his face from his hand so he could fold his arms across himself.

I remembered why I was here and how I needed to be pleasant.

“Well, I’m glad your mind is only filled with the most important things.”

Next to me, Liz slapped a hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing. Jack’s smile beamed at me and even George looked like he was struggling to keep his face placid.

Lucas looked like he was done thinking. He had a smug smile which told me I was still caught in his little game. “Do you have a response to everything?”

I forced my confidence with a laugh. “Smart girls always do.”

“And you’re a smart girl?” His head tilted, looking like a confused dog. “Wouldn’t a smart girl where she is supposed to go?”

I swallowed and said with a smile that bared my teeth, “I don’t think you’re in any position to tell me what a smart girl should do.”

He smirked, hitting the same nerve he had torn into last night at my café.

“Why are you so bothered about my pack not going to the stupid gala?” I was seething. My chest heaved with every heavy breath, burning me from the inside until I gave it a release. I’m sure if we were outside in the rain, my skin would steam. “Do you not have anything more important to worry about?”

His face was calm. A natural at being stoic. “I’m from an old pack. Upholding traditions is something we are very fond of.”

Something snapped in me. A white light, blinding and hot, running through my body in a flash as my eyes flickered.

Wyatt looked like he was torn between duty and survival. He was scared of me, that much was obvious by his open expression, but it was his duty to protect Lucas from any threat and right now that threat was a she-wolf who had unwillingly gained the reputation of Rebekah Hyde—the psychopathic alpha.

“My pack has been around for a very long time too. We-“

“Blood Moon,” he said as if he was tasting wine. “Feel free to correct me any time I’m wrong but if I remember correctly, a few years ago the Blood Moon pack were somewhat renowned. What was it they used to say?  A blood moon is a warning, the brighter it is, the more we should all fear the Blood Moon pack. But suddenly, over night, they disappeared. And there hasn’t been a blood moon since.”

He threw his arm around the back of my chair as his face inched closer to mine. His breath cooled my skin, it made me realise how close we actually were since I wasn’t looking at him. When I did look, I had no air in me to control.

I had never noticed his eyes before. They were the colour of ash and smoke. The shades swam together, iridescent and silver. Wolves were supposed to be allergic to silver.

“Tell me,” his voice was deep and guttural. I felt it in my bones. “Are you the cause of your pack’s collapse? Did you fail so poorly as an alpha that you single-handedly managed to clear decades worth of reputation as quickly as you did?”

I could have slapped him. I could have grabbed a fistful of his hair and bashed his face against the edge of the table and cause enough damage before Wyatt could even bring himself to try and stop me.

But my pack was already at war and I didn’t need to add Lucas to the list of people who wanted me dead.

I took in his words because I didn’t have a choice. I stared at him because there was nothing else that I could do. But in that stare, I pulled every thread of my being, every string of strength, pain, spirit and power and I used it all to give him a glare worthy of an alpha.

He flinched when my eyes blazed. “I would do things for my pack that you couldn’t even imagine.”

I was going to go on and tell him everything I have already done, but I liked how my words left the air foggy. I liked the way his pack looked at me when they imaged all of the horrible things they thought I was capable of.