Page 62 of Bane of Hate and Silver (Primordial Inheritance #1)

“It’s my right to worry about you,” he said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I thought the…” He hesitated and lowered his voice. They were a stone’s throw away from a student in every direction. “Wolves may have found you.”

Jules sighed, she’d been doing this over protective song and dance for too many years now.

Jules had thought that bringing Eileen into the coven would have mellowed him out in that respect but, if anything, his need to know everything had amplified.

“I’m sorry Gabriel. You’ll just have to trust that I can take care of myself. ”

“Why are you being like this?” Gabriel asked, but it sounded like an accusation.

It grated Jules’s nerves more than it had the right too. “You set them on this path Gabriel. But the consequences are ours to bare.”

“I didn’t realize my caring about your wellbeing was such a burden,” Gabriel snapped.

Jules tried not to roll her eyes. She knew his intentions were pure but if she was going to keep Luca a secret she needed him to back off and let her breathe, metaphorically of course.

“We should have moved when we discovered a pack resided here, like I wanted to, years ago,” Gabriel said, crossing his arms.

“I’m not having this fight again.” Jules was so tired of this merry-go-round of the same fight repeating every couple of months. “And we can’t talk about this now anyway. You know that.” Jules’s tone was harsh, authoritative.

“We can’t just not talk about it either,” he said, under his breath. Their body language must have been giving off the signals of their argument, because kids were skirting around them and beginning to stare.

Gabriel sighed audibly. “Fine. I have to run study hall today. Come to our place tonight, we can talk about it then.”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” She turned and began walking toward the library once more.

“What do you mean maybe? What else do you have to do tonight?” he shouted after her, making more than one student gasp and giggle.

Jules ignored this outburst and continued on her way to her destination.

Luca had been in relatively constant contact with Jules throughout the day.

He now knew that she worked at the school library.

And that she very much enjoyed her current job.

That Monica had questions and suspicions, which was probably his fault.

He hadn’t been very subtle when asking Tai for Jules’s number.

And he now knew that the male vampire in her coven was being weirdly overprotective.

Luca thought he was being more possessive than protective but didn’t say this to Jules.

He read her latest message before he started the Jeep.

I have to go over to Gabriel’s tonight or he will keep pushing me. I probably won’t respond for a while. I get a dopey smile on my face every time I read a message you send. He’s bound to notice.

Luca laughed out loud, then punched in a reply. Perfect timing. I’ll be away from my phone for the next few hours. Apex full moon . And then as an afterthought he added another message. That dopey smile. I have it too.

The Jeep’s engine roared to life as the key turned.

He was not looking forward to all the inquiries concerning his behavior of late.

However, if he was late this time, Carson may actually have his head.

Still, it was comforting to know that Jules was safe for the night. All the wolves would be preoccupied.

Luca’s phone beeped.

Do you, Boo. Go howl at that moon.

Yet another burst of laughter escaped him. At the next stoplight, he replied. Very funny . Luca glanced up through the windshield. The moon was already on the rise.

The next message he received winked at him with the addition of, I think it was funny. Have a good hunt.

I will. Have a good night.

Luca put his phone down, in the center console.

He had arrived. He pulled up to the fence at the local preserve, which was already lined with cars.

This was the night of the full moon, tonight the animal would take over.

Werewolves could, of course, turn at will.

But during the apex of each full moon cycle, the animal inside was forcibly, wonderfully, released.

The patch of gravel next to Carson’s vehicle was left open for the pack’s Beta.

Luca parked the Jeep there and climbed out.

With a running leap, he launched himself over the chain-link fence, landing with a thump on the other side.

Luca wasn’t sure how Carson managed this, but every full moon, the pack that Carson called his own, gathered to pay their respects to their Alpha and run as one.

A few young wolves howled as Luca approached one of several groupings of werewolves. “Hi Luca,” said a female wolf, batting her eyelashes at him.

He smiled cordially but moved farther into their midst. Some wolves bowed slightly toward him when he passed. Luca saw many familiar faces, some of which he did not expect to see tonight.

Kyle playfully barked in his direction. Hayley, standing next to him, smacked him on the back of the head. Luca joined them near the center of the gathering pack.

“I’m surprised you’re here,” Luca commented.

“I am too,” Kyle admitted. “However, our almighty Alpha informed me that I was to be here, or else.”

“What do you suppose that means?” Hayley asked. A look of barely restrained panic on her face. She took Kyle’s hand and made a face at Adam, who had scowled at her.

Luca shrugged. He didn’t want to worry Hayley, but, he figured it probably had something to do with whatever punishment Carson had decided Kyle deserved for his insubordination.

Kyle ran his hand down Hayley’s long, silky hair, kissing her on the side of the head. “It’ll be fine.”

Watching them together made him think of Jules. Of his new-found passion for her. Of his need to protect her. Everything seemed to bring his mind back to Jules .

Carson’s howl pierced the darkening night sky. It was met with more howls. Luca, Hayley, and Kyle did not join them.

“Once again, it is pleasing to see you all,” Carson began.

Some wolves continued to stand in their human form. Some of the more feral wolves crept from the woods in their wolf form. Luca, Kyle, and some others began to sit on the grass, knowing Carson’s speeches tended to run long.

“Looking at all of you shows me the inspiring strength I have behind me…”

“Here we go,” Kyle muttered.

Hayley kicked him lightly.

Luca suppressed a snicker.

“A lot has progressed since the last Moon Hunt, but first and foremost I must announce a cause for celebration.”

Kyle looked at Luca, who was silently hoping Carson hadn’t had Jules killed in the last three minutes since he’d left his phone.

“A wedding has taken place,” Carson continued.

Hayley nervously took a step closer to her husband, who instinctively wrapped a hand around the back of her calf.

“Kyle Cooper, Mrs. Cooper, please join me.”

The couple looked at each other, apprehension in their eyes.

“Go.” Joe Reynolds nudged his hesitant daughter. Hayley reached both hands out to Kyle, who took them, pulling himself off the ground.

Kyle spun his wife into him and kissed her full on the lips, dipping her. Chuckles, cheers, and wolf whistles followed the display. The motivation being one of falsified joy to sway the crowd to their cause.

Hand in hand the newlyweds approached their Alpha. Luca watched, attempting to conceal his worry with a smile.

“We all know these two. We’ve grown up with them, raised them.

The Reynolds are an esteemed family, who have resided in Aboit for generations.

Kyle Cooper has been like a son and a constant asset to me, time and time again.

With all this in mind and with my full blessing, they have been joined together as one in marriage. ”

Hate, frustration, and annoyance showed through the facade to those who knew the Alpha well enough. Luca clapped loudly, praising his Alpha’s choice, even though it was a lie. Kyle, still smiling, tucked Hayley even closer to his side.

Carson had recently declared his intention to talk to Hayley’s father, to claim the rare jewel she was, for himself.

Luca had informed her actual boyfriend, setting the couple’s elopement into motion.

Smiling and agreeing that Carson had given his blessing was the best course of action to help keep his friends alive.

“After tonight’s hunt has concluded, a celebration will be held at my home, the home of your Alpha.

All are welcome.” At this, he gave a sweeping gesture, but the statement was untrue.

If you were not one of Carson’s favorites, you were not actually invited.

This was a common understanding amongst the pack.

The suggested inclusion was just for show.

Luca suppressed an eye roll as he half-listened to Carson prattle on.

His mind began to wander after Kyle and Hayley had safely rejoined him in the grass.

He listened for the word vampire to pull him back to what Carson was saying, but it never came.

Carson didn’t say a word about the current threat to Aboit, or the pack.

Luca found this odd but was relieved all the same.

As Carson’s voice continued to wreck the peace of the evening, Luca spied a pair of late arrivals over Carson’s shoulder.

Being late to the Moon Hunt was not a normal practice and often had less than desirable consequences.

It was a woman Luca had never seen before and a teenage boy.

The woman was tall, curvy, and beautiful.

Her dark skin gleaming in the moonlight.

The boy’s hair was braided tight to his head.

He wore tight, ripped jeans, a dark colored hoodie, and a scuffed-up pair of Jordan ones.

His facial expression looked like he pretty much permanently had something better to do with his time.