Moonsong (15 page)

“You’re supposed to trust your family, that’s what.”

“Well, I’m sorry, I’ve known my
family
less than a week; excuse me if I have a couple of trust issues.”

“I forget this is all so new to you sometimes. And you really never had a clue, never a suspicion that your family was… different?”

Millie gave an inelegant snort. “Who doesn’t think their family is harboring some kind of weirdness? But werewolves? No, never in a million, zillion years did that enter into my mind as a possibility.”

“Oh, come on now, is that common knowledge, or is that tainted by the opinion of someone who happens to shift into a wolf?” she cocked a brow at him.

“It’s common knowledge,” he replied loftily. “Wolves are at the top of the food chain, so to speak. When we have larger gatherings the wolves are always ranked higher than other forms.”

Despite his explanation she had to wonder if that was true or merely his own interpretation of things. “So, what other forms can shifters change into? Bears? Lions? Badgers? Should I wonder if the next skunk I encounter is really a shifter in disguise?”

“Careful now… or I’ll show you just how fearsome a wolf can be.” Chase plucked Millie out of her seat, neatly depositing her onto his lap. Unbidden, the memory of being similarly pulled onto Cutter’s lap slipped in and she lost her cheerful grin, a sense of loss clouding her mood over what would never be.

“Hey, I was just kidding, baby.” Chase tilted her face up gently, fingers brushing light over her jaw. “I would never hurt you, you know that don’t you?”

“No, I know.” Millie forcibly pushed away all thoughts of Cutter. After all, why should she pine over someone she barely knew when there was a man wooing her in the moonlight for chrissakes? “I know you wouldn’t hurt me.” She draped her arms around his shoulders, taking comfort in his warmth.

“Good,” he said simply, holding her close, his breath tickling her neck. “So… technically, now that I’m courting you, that entitles me to certain… benefits doesn’t it?” A hopeful tone crept into his voice as he pressed a soft kiss to her exposed neck.

“Ah… what kind of benefits are you looking for?” Millie’s head canted to one side, willing to allow him access for the moment, especially when his lips brought shivers of delight down her spine.

“Well…” Chase all but purred, lips curving against the hollow behind her ear. “Would it be fair to say I can kiss you whenever I want?”

“Not
whenever
you want. I mean, sometimes it’s inappropriate to kiss.”

“I can’t think of when it could possibly be inappropriate to kiss you,” he grinned, nipping her tender flesh lightly.

“How about at the dinner table? I think Adele might frown on that a bit, don’t you?”

“Oh, I don’t know, she might surprise you. She was young once too you know,” he added, catching her earlobe with his teeth and closing his lips around it.

“Yeah, but when she was young nobody was into public displays of affection. People didn’t even sleep in the same beds back then, did they?”

“Something tells me her married life wasn’t anything like Leave It to Beaver. I can’t see June Cleaver ruling a pack of wolves with an iron fist, now can you?”

“True,” she allowed, taking a moment to gather her thoughts as Chase continued his slow exploration of her tender flesh. “I’m getting the distinct impression you people are a bit more… physical. Would you say that’s a correct assumption?”

“
Us
Millie, you’re one of us,” he turned her face towards his. “You have those same wants and desires within you, waiting to be set free…”

“I told you Chase, I’m not exactly an innocent little virgin…”

“It’s not the same,” he promised, brushing his lips over hers lightly. “Being with one of our kind, it’s not like regular sex, it’s more… it’s just more. Once you choose me as your mate… it will be unlike anything either of us has known before, part of our souls merging…”

Amelia wanted to believe his pretty words, the lure of fantastically magical sex was a powerful one, especially coupled with the man’s attentions. The almost poetic expression of their joining took her by surprise; she hadn’t expected him to be that sensitive to such things. But again there was that pressure to choose him as her mate when they’d known each other less than a week.

“Chase…” she pulled away in a warning tone.

“Millie… I’m not trying to push you, I swear. But I do have to look to the future, and I see you in it. What’s wrong with trying to plan a future for us together?”

“When you’re planning that future as a foregone conclusion, that’s the part that gets me, Chase. You said
once
I choose you as my mate, not
if
. Maybe I’ll never marry, did you ever think about that?”

He looked at her as if she’d said something sacrilegious. “Don’t you want to share your life with someone, Millie? Raise a family? Be part of something bigger than yourself?”

“I don’t know, maybe. We’ll see… but I’m telling you, I won’t be rushed into anything. If you can’t just date me for now… well then maybe we need to…”

“Okay, okay,” the interruption came swiftly. “I’m sorry, we’ll date for now, I can handle it. I’ll be good, I promise.” He raised his hand in a fair approximation of scout’s honor. “You know, I’ve never had a girl object to me talking about taking things in a more serious direction before, usually I have the other problem,” he remarked with a dramatic sigh.

“Oh? You’ve got other girls lined up around the block wanting to move into the big house and have your puppies?” she smirked in return.

“Maybe,” he answered a trifle smugly.

“So why the big pursuit after me, if not because of the prophecy?” Millie pressed a little harder, thinking she already knew the answer to that one.

“Because you’re different, in a cute, clueless sort of way.” She opened her mouth to protest but he silenced her with a finger to her lips. “I like that you’re not sucking up to me because of my position in the pack. I’ve had the same sort of problem you’re having right now. Never knowing if someone likes me because of my devastatingly charming smile, or because they want to be the mate of the next Alpha. So yeah, I get what you’re saying, and no Millie, I’m not playing you just because of the prophecy.” He let the ever present smile drop for a moment and returned her gaze earnestly.

Her expression softened at the admission, and Millie’s hand rose to stroke against his smooth shaven jaw. “Then you can understand my wanting to take thing slow, see if this attraction between us is more than hormones and plans for the future. After all, wolves mate for life don’t they?”

The smile returned to his face and he leaned closer. “Yes, they do, and the same holds true for us. Once you choose your true mate you’re joined for life. We don’t hold true to any modern concepts of divorce or annulment.”

“Wow, that’s a pretty heavy commitment then. But if we’re fated to be together…” Millie closed the distance between them, brushing her lips over his. “…then there’s nothing for you to be worried about, now is there?” Lips curved into a smile as she kissed him, a reward for being patient through all the heavy talk. Chase responded, letting her set the pace. Millie was only too happy to remain in command of the kiss and she deepened it, seeking out his tongue with hers, searching for the spark that emerged the other night when he’d first kissed her in the woods.

The kiss grew in intensity, and it was he who pulled back first. “We should go in now, it’s getting late and I don’t want you to get sick, you’re such a delicate little thing,” he rubbed her back softly.

Still a little dazed by the kiss, it took a moment for his words to sink in, a pucker of a frown appearing on her brow before she smoothed it away with an effort. He made it sound like she was helpless, naïve and almost sickly, when she was none of those things. But she nodded without commenting on his last ludicrous statement. “It is getting late.”

“We should have dinner in town tomorrow, maybe try a real date, what do you say?” he asked suddenly.

“Ah sure, that sounds like fun.” It would be interesting to see how he interacted with the rest of the town, not just at a pack meeting. “Casual or dressy?”

A chuckle left his lips and he tapped her lightly on the nose. “We don’t do dressy here in Cutter’s Folly, not at any of the restaurants in town at any rate, though Gran has had some fancy shindigs here at the house in her day.”

“Oh, right.” It stood to reason; nothing from her trips into town had shown anything fancier than a family steakhouse type restaurant. “Okay then, do you want to meet in town or drive in together?”

“I’ll drive,” Chase said decisively, helping her off his lap before he rose to his feet. “You haven’t been for a ride in my baby yet, have you?”

“Nope, I haven’t had that pleasure,” Millie shook her head. He was one of
those
was he?

“Alright then, maybe after dinner we can go for a little drive, I promise not to run out of gas,” he grinned.

“Alright, it’s a date.”

Chapter Fifteen

“Amelie, please come in here for a moment.” Adele’s voice came floating out to her the moment her foot hit the bottom stair. Pausing for a moment, Amelia tried to think if she could get away with pretending as if she hadn’t heard the call…

Probably not.

Obediently responding, Millie came to stand before the old wooden desk, waiting expectantly.

“Please, take a seat, I believe we have much to discuss.” Silently Amelia did as instructed, half expecting to be told they’d reached an ‘accord’ and she’d be shipped off to Seattle or some place else. “Amelie…” Adele sighed, taking off her glasses, setting them down on the corner of her scarred desk blotter. “I understand you are under the impression that I intend to… ‘sell you off to the highest bidder’, I believe was the expression.”

Not quite trusting herself to speak yet, Millie simply nodded. Did that mean she was contradicting that particular theory?

“After the way I took you in, after the talk we had only the other day about your future here with the pack, you honestly believe me to be so callous, so cold, as to sell my own grandchild? What have I done to earn such distrust?” She directed the full power of her steely gaze upon the girl.

Surprised by the accusation, it took a moment for Millie to find her voice. “Oh, I dunno, those guys showing up with a satchel full of cash and you trotting me out for inspection… that does give a girl something to think about. I’m surprised they didn’t examine my teeth,” she scoffed.

“Those
guys,
as you call them, are powerful men of a rival pack and not to be dealt with lightly,” Adele replied. “We do have an accord with them, as well as many years of peaceful co-existence, but all of that can be destroyed in a heartbeat if this was not handled carefully. I had to let them think we are giving their offer all of the consideration it deserves.”

Not having thought about it from that perspective, Millie wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. “But the money… you accepted it.”

“That was a mere token, as Mr. Jaeger tried to explain to you,
ma chere
. You would be worth much, much more should any agreement be reached. Think of it as a gift, to be kept no matter what we decide.”

“A gift.”
Those shifters sure took courting to a whole different level, didn’t they?

“Indeed, a gift to be set aside for you as a bridal present, no matter who you choose as your mate. That doesn’t sound quite as barbaric a custom, does it?”

“Set aside for me?” That did take the sinister edge off of things, and Amelia started to doubt herself as the righteous anger deflated. Had she been wrong in making snap judgments against her grandmother too quickly?

“As I said,
ma chere
, I’m not trying to sell you into anything. I have my own hopes where your future is concerned, of course, but I am confident the fates will allow for the best course before you to be revealed when the time is right,” she smiled at Millie sagely.

“I’m trying to trust in that too,” Millie admitted softly. “Grandmother, I’m sorry if I come across as ungrateful or untrusting. The last thing I want to do is alienate myself from you, you’re the only family I’ve got left. But you can understand how things looked…”

Adele waved away the concern. “It’s forgotten; I merely wanted to clear the air between us, as they say. Is anything else troubling you?”

Nothing that could be solved by a conversation with her grandmother.
“No, except… well, I was thinking about getting a job in town.” Millie waited to hear what Adele thought about the idea before taking it any further.

“A job?” Adele frowned, “but why? You haven’t exhausted the funds I’ve put at your disposal already have you?”

“No, not even close.” Amelia couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m used to having a lot more to fill my day and I miss the human interaction is all.”

“I see,” she replied slowly. “And what sort of work would you like to pursue in town?”

Pleased she hadn’t said anything forbidding so far, Amelia realized the idea was only half formed in her mind. “I’m not really sure; I don’t know who’s hiring, or what positions there are really. I mean I’ve worked at a sandwich shop before, and one summer at the mall selling sunglasses.”

“And you would find fulfillment in such a job?”