Star-crossed Luna

Chapter 8

Marcellus

It was dark when I awoke. Confused, I checked the alarm clock on my nightstand. It was 9pm. s**t, I thought to myself. I slept through the whole day, though admittedly I felt well rested and refreshed. I sat up and stretched. My bed was a complete mess and looking over the tangled sheets and blankets vague memories of my dream started to come back to me. Subconsciously I felt my neck and face for any wounds, which there were none, and sighed in relief. The yearning for the woman in my dreams still nagged at me. I tried to shake it off and focus my mind with minimal effect.

I got up and made my way down stairs, pausing on the second floor to see if Azriel or Zane were there. Azriel’s door was closed and light filtered out from under the door and Zane’s door was closed as well though the lights were off. I thought about knocking on Azriel’s door to discuss our guest but I was starving, and decided to do it later. The kitchen was empty but the lingering smell of whatever was made for dinner permeated the air. Looking in the refrigerator I saw leftover alfredo, but I opted for eggs and bacon. While I was frying up my eggs and bacon I heard a small gasp behind me.

“Alpha! My goodness let me do that for you, you should have let me know you were hungry,” my housekeeper Florence said horrified.

“Flo it’s fine,” I smiled at her, “Go get some rest, it’s late, and believe it or not I do know how to cook.”

“No, no, it is my job to do the cooking,” She insisted.

“Flo, you look exhausted, go home, that’s an order.” She thanked me and left. I toasted up some bread and took my heaping plate of eggs, bacon, and toast to the dining table. I was only a couple bites in when Zane sat down across from me.

“Good morning sleeping beauty,” he teased.

“Why didn’t you wake me up,” I asked annoyed.

“Because you hadn’t slept in days and needed rest,” he said pointedly. I grunted and continued eating.

“Any updates? Did I miss anything?” I asked between bites.

“No, all is quiet,” Zane had a look on his face, like he had something he wanted to say.

“What is it?”

“Well,” Zaned had a slight smirk, “Az seems to be getting cozy with Amora.”

“Tell me he didn’t f**k her,” I groaned.

“No, not to my knowledge, but they do seem to be getting along well and becoming close,” He explained.

“I’ll talk to him in the morning,” I sighed, “I want to oversee training tomorrow anyway.” Zane nodded in agreement and went back to his suite upstairs. I finished my meal in peace and washed all the dishes I had dirtied. Gazing out the window above the sink, the moon was beautiful and bright. The whole yard was lit by the moonlight and everything was quiet except for the sound of frogs peeping in the distance.I had tried to ignore the sweet smell of lilac that lingered all over the first floor, but the longer I was exposed to it the hard it got to pretend it wasn’t there. It was calling to me and it’s the strongest I had ever encountered it. I finally caved and decided to follow it. The scent took me outside into the cool night air where it became much fainter. The wind was gently blowing, making it hard to find a direction. It seemed to go east toward the ocean but also west across the estate grounds.

I headed east toward the ocean, finding myself on the old beach path. It was overgrown but had obviously been used recently, branches were broken and the moss had been pressed flat from being walked on. I hadn’t been on this path in a long time, not since my mother was alive. We used to go all the time during the summer and spend the day on our private beach. After she passed the path was no longer cared for, slowly dissolving back into the surrounding forest, and I stopped making trips down to the water.

The water glistened in the moonlight and the familiar sound of gentle waves washing over the shore felt nostalgic. The sand was disturbed with footprints that lead into the water and back out again. Salty air overpowered the sweet floral scent but it was still there. I sat down at the edge of the water with just the tips of my feet getting wet with every crashing wave. I missed my younger days when I came here with my mother and longed for her to still be here with me, to guide me. Time seemed to cease to exist as I sat there, I had no idea what time it was or how long I had been there. Standing up, I brushed the sand off my sweats and started back down the path. The scent was getting weaker and had to concentrate to stay focused on it.

Once back at the pack house I followed the scent west to the other side of the property. The sweet aroma got stronger as I approached the guest house and the Jeep parked in front of it was saturated with it. I peered inside the vehicle, it was clean of any trash but had a dream catcher hanging from the rear view mirror and few other decorative knick knacks. I inhaled deeply. The scent was so concentrated, intoxicating, that my wolf began to stir inside me. He pushed me to venture further, to find the source of the smell. Turning my attention back to the guest house, I already knew who it belonged to. The lights were still on and despite my better judgment, I crept to the door. Azriel’s scent was here and it was recent. An odd feeling began rising inside me, though I couldn’t place what it was. Anger? Annoyance? Whatever it was, I didn’t like it. It took all my strength to walk away. My wolf howled in anger and frustration. It pained me to walk away too but now was not the time to approach this strange and alluring shifter. I needed to gather my thoughts, I needed to speak with Azriel first.

It was a long couple hours of waiting for morning to arrive. I busied myself with paperwork in my office, the ticking of the clock making every second agonizing. When 6am finally rolled around I heard the muffled sound of Azriel’s alarm clock going off. I quickly finished up what I had been working on and made my way down stairs and heard a running shower in Azriel’s room as I passed the second floor. I got a cup of coffee, sat at the breakfast bar, and waited.

“Hey Boss,” Azriel greeted me.

“Morning,” I replied and took a sip of coffee.

“You’re up early,” he commented as he poured himself some coffee.

“Yeah, I woke up late last night, been up since. Sorry I missed meeting Amora.”

“No worries, she went to the beach yesterday, really enjoyed herself.” Azriel had a smirk on his face as he spoke that really irked me.

“Mhm,” I eyed him, “I hear you two seem to be getting along well, really well.”

“Uh, yeah, she’s fun to hang with,” He avoided eye contact, his tell tale sign he was hiding something.

“Az,” I said with authority, “I told you you can’t sleep with her.”

“And I didn’t! Wouldn’t…” He still wouldn’t look at me. I kept my eyes on him, burning into him until he told me what he didn’t want to.

“I kinda got a thing for her,” He finally admitted. The hair on the back of my neck started to bristle but I wasn’t sure why. Was I jealous?

“You have a thing for any female with a pretty face and a hot body,” I scolded him.

“This is different. She’s different," he explained.

“You’ve said that before and then a heartbroken girl comes crying to me when she finds out you’ve been sleeping with other shewolves,” I said sternly, “Do NOT sleep with her. Do not romance her. Friends, but nothing more.” Azriel glared at me, obviously pissed, but chose not to respond. I glared back, daring him to challenge me.

“When is training today?” I asked, changing the subject.

“In about half an hour,” Azriel answered flatly.

“Perfect, I want to oversee it today.”

The sky was clear and blue with no clouds in sight. It was hot and humid already at only barely 8am. As shifters filtered in the closer to 8 it got, I could sense the anxiety in all of them when they became aware of my presence. When everyone was accounted for Azriel began the session.

“Square off! As you can see the Alpha is here to observe. Don’t disappoint him,” Azriel’s voice was more serious than usual, obviously still miffed about our conversation from earlier. Everyone was doing very well, much improved from the last time I watched them. Everything was going well, everyone seemed to be evenly matched with their sparring partner and I saw a lot of good sportsmanship. Except for Garret.

“Is that all you got? I want a real challenge,” Garret sneered at his poor beaten and battered partner.

“Garret,” I boomed, “I heard you got a challenge the other day from Amora. Was that not enough for you?”

“Pfft,” he scoffed, “that b***h just caught me off guard.” My fist clenched at his remark and I marched over to him. I towered over him and stared him down.

“I won’t tolerate that kind of disrespect towards our guest. Your next opponent will be me.”

“What?! No, no Alpha I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-” he stammered.

“Square up. Now,” I ordered. Garret looked terrified, as he should be. He raised his fists up into a defensive stance and I did the same while staring him down, waiting for him to make the first move. He could be dropped in one swift movement, but I wanted to teach him a lesson. Finally his forward positioned foot shifted and he threw himself at me with a fist pulled back. He threw a punch but it was easily deflected and let his own inertia knock the wind out of him when his stomach collided with my knee. He dropped to his knees while holding his stomach and gasped for air.

“You have a lot to learn,” I sighed, “you were the worst warrior here today.” I knew my words were harsh, but he needed an ego check.

“I’m sorry Alpha,” Garret wheezed.

“Don’t apologize, just do better,” I instructed and helped him up to his feet.

“That’ll be it for today everyone,” Azriel yelled and everyone started to disperse.

“Hopefully he’ll take your words to heart, Goddess knows he never listened to mine,” Azriel said as he made his way over to me.

“He’ll get himself killed if he doesn’t realize brute strength isn’t all he needs,” I sighed and looked across the yard at the guest house.

“When would you like to meet her?” Azriel asked, noticing my gaze.

“Az,” I paused, uncertain how, or if I should ask this question, “what does she smell like?” Azriel looked at me like I was crazy.

“Um, kinda floral I suppose?” He answered confused, “A strong smell but nothing special.” Azriel shrugged and his words ‘nothing special’ struck a nerve. I had hoped he would describe a similar scent that carried the same affect on him as it did to me. She was a shiny new toy to him, but to me… s**t. Was she my mate? At the thought of mate, my wolf came to life inside me, howling and tail wagging. I guess that was my answer.

“I’d like to meet her tonight,” I finally said. I only had a couple hours to figure out how to approach this without it ending in disaster.