Ties to the Blood Moon 2nd Edition (17 page)

While I was standing outside the door, I heard the old man’s voice coming from somewhere inside the house. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but his conversation seemed one-sided. There was a couple of crates under the kitchen window, and even though I knew I shouldn’t, something compelled me to see who he was talking to. My whole body shook like crazy at the idea of him catching me peeking in his window.

After quietly situating the crate, I stepped up on it, and slowly stood. When I peeked in, he was standing in front of a cabinet with his back to the window, and I saw a curly black phone cord stretched up from inside a drawer to a receiver pressed against his ear. My elbow hit a can on the window ledge, sending it crashing to the ground. My stomach tensed with fear and I quickly ducked. When I heard his footsteps clomping across the wooden floor, I bolted and didn’t slow down until I’d made it around to the front where Luna and the boys were drinking.

As soon as I saw them dipping their hands in the barrel, it hit me and I promptly looked down at my empty hands.
Oh my God, the ladle.
I was in such a hurry, I’d left the ladle laying on the back steps.

I was about to sneak back and get it when the old man came out the front door and yelled for us. While we walked, I tried to think of a good excuse in case he asked who was around back, but he didn’t.

“Load up. I got one more stop, then I’ll drop you kids at Beaver’s. That’s the name of the truck stop I told you about.”

While riding, all I could think about was how the old man had lied. Finally, I couldn’t hold it in anymore and I told Joseph what I’d done.

“Are you trying to get yourself shot?” he scoffed. “Moonshine runners don’t play.”

“Chill out. He didn’t see me,” I huffed, but knew he was right. “What I want to know is why he lied about having a phone.” I had my chin propped on one knee, using my finger to draw objects in the small sand piles scattered across the bed of the truck.

I raised my head and looked around when we turned off the highway, again. I furrowed my brow. “Where are we going now?”

“Joshua said the old man had one more stop on the way to the truck stop, so I’m guessing this is it.” Joshua pointed to a much nicer house than the one we’d just been to. It was a large two story white house with a manicured lawn, and beautiful flower beds. It had a long circular drive with a massive fountain right in the middle. It looked out of place to me.

We drove around to the back, and passed a carport to our right with several ATVs and a golf cart parked underneath. A tall man wearing jeans, a bolo tie, and a cowboy hat came out as soon as we stopped.

“Howdy folks. I’m Walter. Welcome,” he smiled broadly, and tipped his hat. “Howdy, J.D.”

I assumed he was referring to the old man, since none of us were named J.D. and the old man answered to it.

“You kids look a bit on the parched side. Come on in and cool off in the air conditioning.” He stood at the back door, holding the screen open.

We just sort of looked at each other, and Luna shrugged her shoulders. They happily jumped out, but I remained hesitant. The whole thing seemed a little too … easy.

My stomach was in knots, and I tried to tell them we were making a mistake, but Joseph called me paranoid, so I reluctantly followed them inside.

Once we were all inside, he led us to the den where a football game played on a giant TV. He had us sit down, and I hated to admit it, but the cool air felt awesome. A couple minutes later he left and came back with a tray full of icy cold sodas and a bowl with chips and salsa. I was so thirsty, I couldn’t open mine fast enough.

Joseph was already up, stepping toward me when Walter stepped around the doorway leading to the kitchen, and he had a shotgun pointed at Joshua and James. They both stopped instantly.

Luna squeezed my hand, but didn’t say a word. Joseph slowly eased in front of us, then I heard two distinct clicks from somewhere behind. My heart hammered against my chest. Adrenaline mixed with panic rushed through me. I slowly turned my upper body. Two men we hadn’t seen before stood behind us with their guns aimed at the group.

Before I knew what happened, the deafening sound of a shotgun blast filled the room, causing my ears to ring. Joseph fell to the floor. I looked on in horror as a red stain slowly spread across his shirt. Luna screamed and dropped to her knees beside him.

“You! Get over here, before I shoot these two boys,” Walter said in a low evil tone, pointing at me.

I hesitated, and he pulled back the hammer on his shotgun. “All right, all right. Just don’t hurt them.”

I had taken only two or three steps when Joshua and James did some kind of jump, pounce thingy off the wall, and leaped clear across the room, transforming into Adlet wolves in mid-air, landing on the two gunmen. A fight ensued, and my eyes were fixed on them when Luna screamed for me to watch out.

Chapter 26

Evidently, Walter didn’t know about us, because he looped his arm around my throat and started firing aimlessly around the room. “What the hell are you?” he screamed in between shots.

I heard Luna grunt, then slump over on top of Joseph. Fear rushed through me. My whole body began to shake and I when I grabbed at his arm, my fingernails had changed to long sharp claws. I felt like my insides were on fire and my organs seemed to be moving around in my body. The smell of blood heightened my senses even more.

Everything went blank momentarily and then it was like a surge of electricity ran through me. I felt my strength increase. My sight was suddenly much better. I spotted a tiny drop of blood across the large room fall from Joshua’s fang, and I went wild. I dropped to all fours, and a ferocious growl unlike anything I’d ever heard before came from deep inside my chest. When I peered into Walter’s eyes, they displayed utter terror. He threw up his hands in surrender, but it was too late. The hunger for blood mixed with the infusion of immense power had completely taken over.

I leaped, taking him to the floor. When I looked down at what should have been my hands, they were covered in snow-white fur. I pushed the shock out of my mind. I couldn’t think about that then. All I cared about was stopping him before he hurt anyone else. I lowered my face next to his, letting out one, final, ear-piercing cry, before tearing into his throat. He immediately stopped fighting and I picked him up with my long fangs and slung his lifeless body across the room.

It was unlike any feeling I had ever known before. I couldn’t control it, nor did I want to. It was like raw power mixed with dominance and adrenaline. I felt so free.

I reared up, my head touched the ceiling, and I growled with such a monstrous fury it echoed as loud as thunder throughout the house. Before I had time to think, my animal instinct took over. I crouched low and leaped across the room, colliding with Joshua. He snarled and I latched onto him. He bared his teeth and bit down; fur mixed with blood, flying about the room. I was just about to bite down and crush his throat when James flew at me, knocking me off of Joshua. Our tangled bodies rolled across the room. I sank my teeth into the back of his neck and started to bite down.

Luna screamed something in a language I’d never heard, but I somehow understood and stopped, falling to the floor.

She rushed to my side. “Genevieve. It’s okay to stop now.” When she pulled me up, I was totally spent, and collapsed in her arms.

***

I woke up screaming Joseph’s name, and bolted upright on the couch. I quickly held out my hands turning them over, looking at both sides. Tears filled my eyes after I frantically scanned the room. Small puddles of blood and pieces of flesh lined the floor and blood spatters dotted the walls. Luna had a bloody cloth in her hand.

“What in the hell just happened to me?” Luna, Joshua, and James stood beside the couch, but I didn’t see Joseph.

“You turned,” Luna said softly. “How do you feel?” She wiped at my neck with the cloth.

“I’m fine. Everything’s just a little fuzzy.” I narrowed my eyes a bit and tilted my head to one side. “Where’s Joseph? Oh no, Is he … dead—”

“Of course I’m not dead.” My heart rose and fell all at the same time, and relief filled me as Joseph walked into the room, shirtless, towel drying his hair. “I hear you kicked ass.” He grinned broadly, causing his siblings to smile, too.

I tilted my head and chewed at the inside of my lip. “But you were shot,” I trailed off while my gaze shifted from Joseph to Luna. “Wait a minute. You were shot, too.” I stared at her bloody shoulder, bewildered.

“I hate to break up the party, but we’ve got to get the hell out of here.” Joshua said evenly.

I promptly remembered that I had gone after Joshua. I stood up and followed him into the kitchen. “I’m sorry, Joshua.” I put my hand on his arm when he reached for the fridge, but he jerked it away. “I didn’t mean to—”

“I know you didn’t.” He spun around to face me. “I just forgot what it’s like the first time someone turns. Just a little unnerving, that’s all.” He smiled thinly and patted my shoulder. “You and Luna go through the house and take anything you think we might need. Tell James and Joseph to look for the keys to those four-wheelers.” He nodded toward the back door. “I’m going to get what food and drinks we can carry.”

Luna came downstairs dragging a duffel bag. She obviously found a lot more upstairs than I did downstairs. I heard Joseph calling us from the back door.

“Come on. We gotta go now.” Joseph was holding the screen door when me and Luna came trotting through the kitchen. James and Joshua were under the carport topping of the gas tanks and firing up the four-wheelers one after another.

Joseph promptly tied down our gear on the ones that had cargo bars on the back, and James was the lookout, crouched down by the side of the house where he could spot anyone as soon as they turned off the highway.

James came running and started yelling before reaching us. “Let’s go, let’s go! Headlights just turned onto the driveway,” he said, jumping onto one of the ATVs. Luna and Joshua followed suit, and we took off through the back of the property.

Even though it was completely dark, we rode without our lights off. I promptly realized I could see just like it was day time, something I couldn’t do a week earlier. We hit a small gulley, and I flew up off the seat, but quickly wrapped my arms tighter around Joseph. He took his left hand and placed it over my interlaced fingers. His hand felt warm and strong, helping me to relax a bit. I scooted closer to him and rested my chin on his shoulder.

We rode for hours until finally stopping once we made it to the mountains. Nobody wasted any time climbing off the ATVs and stretching our aching muscles. James and Joshua went for firewood, while Joseph, Luna and I made camp.

Luna seemed nervous and fidgety. She rambled about stuff that had absolutely nothing to do with anything.

I kneeled on my knees right next to where she was sitting. “Did what I think happened earlier tonight, really happen?” I asked earnestly.

She looked through one of the bags, taking out three large cans of beef stew and sodas. I didn’t think she was going to answer me.

“Luna?” I gently placed my hand on her arm.

“You turned.” Her reply was flat, emotionless, and she’d said it without even looking at me.

“Why now? Why not the night I was about to be attacked in the woods, or the other day when I was with William?” I searched her eyes for an answer, but she didn’t seem to have one.

She didn’t get a chance to answer because James and Joshua approached us with two armloads of firewood. Joseph had spread out the only two sleeping bags we’d found back at Walters house. I cringed when I thought about his house.

If we hadn’t gotten in J.D’s truck, none of this would have happened. I told them I’d had a bad feeling about that old man, and I had been right.

That was all water under the bridge now. I’d turned into a monster and almost killed one of my friends. My throat tightened and my eyes grew blurry. I promptly turned away from the fire James had gotten roaring, and tried to blink away any tears.

“Here, Gen.”

I turned around, and Joseph had sat down on his knees next to me, waiting to share one of the cans of stew. We didn’t have dishes, so we would all be eating out of the same cans.

I took a few small bites and gave it back. “Thanks, but I’m not hungry,” I said quietly, and stood.

“I know why your upset,” Joseph called after me. When I didn’t answer, he rose and followed me. “Hey.” He gently grabbed at my shoulder, but I jerked away. “Gen, you need to talk to me.”

I spun around to face him, my face wet with confused tears. “I don’t understand why this had to happen to me. I was a perfectly normal, confused teenager. And now I’m a … a werewolf princess.”

“I can’t pretend to know how your feeling. I could only imagine the horrific thoughts that would be racing through my mind if I suddenly found out I was a princess.” Joseph chuckled warmly and I couldn’t help but laugh a little, too.

He reached out and gently wiped at one of the tears running down my cheek. “See, it’s not the end of the world. You have so many people who believe in you and a pack to fight with you.”

“It’s just all too overwhelming. I’m supposed to be doing normal teenager stuff. This is not what I had in mind,” I paused and sighed heavily. “My life’s never going to be the same again, is it?”

Joseph pulled me close to him, wrapping his arms tightly around me, and I pressed my face into his chest. I felt his heart beating against my cheek, strong and erratic, and I felt a nervous pit growing in my stomach. He pushed me back just enough to look at me. I trembled as he lifted my chin and fixed his gaze on me. I stared silently into his big soft eyes.