Page 7 of His Blue Moon Princess (The Silver City #1)

The next morning, I can still feel his lips against my forehead, like traces of a burn. I stay in bed for a while, thinking it over and over. The whole evening felt so unreal. Damian exuded this aura of untouchability, yet he was so close to me. I could also feel his wolf, so noble yet dangerous. As mysterious as his human self... I can’t fully understand him, but I sure want to.

I feel something moving on my bed, and notice Bobo’s head looking at me at the end of the mattress, his tongue sticking out.

“Good Morning, Bobo.”

It’s a bit late for training, so I take a quick shower, and I can’t help but remember Damian’s scent. Is it so enticing because he is my mate? Or do other female werewolves feel it, too? My wolf growls loudly. Yeah, I don’t like the idea either. I choose a pair of dark jeans and an oversized grey t-shirt and pull my hair up in a messy ponytail while exiting my bathroom. Bobo is right there waiting for me.

Tonia, however, is absent from the apartment that day. She just left me a somewhat mysterious note, saying: “Pack Business. Will be back in the afternoon.” I read it and just cook breakfast for Bobo and myself. I wonder what’s going on. A Rogue attack? Or from another Clan? I heard the Purple Clan is quite aggressive...

I can’t help but leave my thoughts to drift to my own Clan during breakfast. Am I still part of the Jade Moon? I wish I knew what happened. It’s been weeks now. December is coming, what could Alec be doing now? Did he manage to pay his debts off?

“Bobo, can we go out? Please.”

The wolf ignores me, his massive head still on his plate. I get up and go back to my bedroom to grab a white hoodie that seems warm enough, get a pair of sneakers, and head for the entrance.

But once I push the handle, it won’t open. What? I’ve seen Tonia go in and out about a dozen times! Did she close it after leaving? Bobo probably knew I wouldn’t be able to go, so he didn’t bother to stop me. Great!

Annoyed, I go back to eating my breakfast, trying to think. Is there a spare key somewhere? If we are locked inside, they must have a plan in case an emergency arises? I try to convince Bobo a bit longer, but he ignores me as usual, even when I threaten to stop cooking. How can he be even more stubborn than Tonia!

I try to keep myself busy, but all I want is to exit the apartment and at least take a walk in the city. I know how crazy it is after what he’s done to me, but I can’t help but worry about Alec. He is my brother, after all. And there is the matter about Marcus...

I still can’t remember clearly what happened that night, and it worries me more than anything. I see bloodstains everywhere each time I try, and I’m scared I’ve done something terrible. They got rid of my dress when they found me, but every time I picture it, she’s not white anymore...

Bobo doesn’t care about what I do all day. I guess he’s confident I won’t be able to find the spare key -if there is one- anyway. As soon as I start innocently reading one of my study books, Bobo resumes his favorite activity: sleeping. It doesn’t take five minutes until he starts snoring.

Usually, when he’s napping, Tonia takes over in watching me, and she won’t leave the room I’m in. This time, however, Tonia’s away, and I may have two to three hours of no-surveillance time. After a few minutes, I get up to grab a cup of water in the kitchen, checking if Bobo will wake up and follow me. But he doesn’t. I can hear him snoring peacefully, and I don’t know if I should be glad he won’t wake up or a bit annoyed that he is that confident in me not being able to leave.

Taking my chance, I tiptoe to the entrance and look at the keyhole once again. Can I try and force it with a hairpin, like in movies? I don’t feel too confident about the idea... And all the clicketing might wake up my bodyguard. I try to force the handle a couple of times as quietly as possible, but of course, it won’t just open. So frustrating! I was about to turn around and give up when I hear steps from the other side. Is Tonia coming back earlier than planned? Someone abruptly opens the door, and to my surprise, it turns out to be a teenager with a hoodie and a backpack.

“Liam?” I ask, surprised to see the younger brother here.

He puts an index on his lips, mimicking to shut up with a pissed look. It seems like he is a bit... anxious? Is he avoiding someone? He looks at me from head to toe, then whispers softly.

“You alone?”

“No, Bobo is sleeping in the salon, but...”

He makes a grimace. Did he think I’d be alone? He is about to close the door behind him, but I put my feet in between. He frowns.

“What are you doing?” He whispers.

“I was about to go out!”

“What? Alone? Why? My brother knows?”

Why so many questions? I’m pretty sure the “Brother” he’s thinking about is Damian, and I can’t help but hesitate a second, biting my lip. Will he report me? He understands my reaction and shakes his head.

“You can’t! He is going to get really mad!”

This time it’s my turn to make a “stay quiet” gesture. We can still hear Bobo snoring, but I’m pretty sure he will wake up if he hears something suspicious, and I’m running out of time.

“What about you?” I ask.

He shrugs and shows his backpack.

“Skipping school. Nath’s going to beat the shit out of me if he grabs me.”

“Okay. I won’t tell if you don’t tell.” I suggest.

Great, now I am bargaining with a school-skipping teenager.

“No! Damian will kill me!”

It looks like he is much more worried about his older brother’s reaction than Nathaniel’s. I thought I was lucky that he chose today to try and sneak here, but now turns out he is focused on making me stay! As if dodging Bobo wasn’t complicated enough!

“Please!” I insist. “I only need a couple of hours, Tonia is away, and Bobo is sleeping like a baby!”

His eyes light up suddenly, and he makes a sneaky grin.

“Right! The meeting! There was a meeting with the Gold Moon Clan, earlier this morning, so they are all at the Office! I forgot about that stupid thing.”

A meeting with the Gold Moon? Why would they meet? Vincent mentioned once that the Blood Moon Clan was looking for more allies, but... Is that happening at their office? The Black Corporation has its headquarters in a building, from what I heard... is that where they are now? My wolf instantly asks if we can go meet our mate, but before I can even think about it, I feel my wrist grabbed, and Liam pulls me out of the apartment.

I’m a bit shocked, but before I can say anything, he carefully closes the door behind us.

“How did you get in, by the way?” I ask.

“It’s an eight digits code: 20071203. I just found it by chance after trying a few times. I’ve seen my brother use that one before.”

How funny, it’s the date of my seventh birthday. I wonder if something happened to Damian that day. I follow Liam to the elevator, as I don’t remember coming to the building. While the elevator gets down, I realize what I just did. I escaped the room! I feel bad for Bobo, but hopefully, I will be back before he even wakes up.

Next to me, Liam seems a lot less nervous now that he knows his brothers are busy. He looks more like Damian than Nathaniel. The youngest of the three has messy dark brown hair, not as black as his brother, but his eyes are almost the same as Damian, a dark grey. He is a bit smaller and thinner, though. We are probably the same age if he is in high school now.

“What?” He asks suddenly, noticing that I was staring.

“Sorry, but it’s kind of the first time we see each other properly, so...”

He rolls his eyes.

“Oh, I got plenty of time to look at you when you were in the hospital. But you look better now, not like a skeleton.”

He is as straight-forward as I remember... I wonder why his brothers made him look after me, too, when I was hospitalized since he doesn’t look very responsible. Maybe he was just being watched at the same time.

We finally get downstairs, and I can’t help but take a deep breath when we exit the building. Free at last! It may only be a couple of hours before I go back to my golden cage, though.

“Okay, what now, princess? Where do you want to go?”

“You’re going to follow me?” I ask, surprised.

“Hell yeah. I don’t want my ass kicked when we get back just because you stupidly tripped and hurt yourself or something. I’m sticking with you, so tell me where it is we are going.”

“We’re going east, then.”

I start walking, but he just looks at me as if I was doing something stupid.

“What?” I ask, dumbfounded.

“What, are you waiting for me to shapeshift? Aren’t we supposed to get there fast?”

I shake my head. “I can’t... shapeshift. I’ve never done it before.”

He stares at me for a few seconds, shocked. “Wow, you really are as useless as you look. Okay, never mind then, let’s walk like useless humans. But you better walk fast!”

We did walk for quite a while. I hadn’t realized how far we were from the Jade Moon turf. At some point, we even took the subway when Liam realized where we were headed, and he paid the tickets for both of us. Surprisingly enough, he doesn’t ask me anything. He even took his headphones out to listen to some music on the way and asked me if I liked any music in particular. I didn’t, but he kept talking to me about his favorite groups, telling me which songs I should listen to and about the concerts he wanted to go to later that year.

“Liam? Can you tell me about your brothers?”

He looks a bit surprised by my question but put his headphones back into his backpack. We are walking through the last streets of the city now, a few minutes away from our destination. I probably should have asked earlier.

“What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know, things like... What do they do for a living? And where do they live?”

“Just that? Well, I’m not sure about what Damian does... He is a CEO, and busy with Alpha stuff most of the time. But he owns five or six buildings and some establishments in the city. Like the one you live in.”

What? I thought he earned the apartment, not the whole building!

“Nathaniel is mainly at his restaurants and clubs. He likes it, so Damian lets him runs all the resorts we have when he’s not busy with the Clan.”

I shouldn’t be so surprised... The Blood Moon Clan is the wealthiest and largest of Silver City. Even I know a few places they own and about how big their turf is. No wonder they have to split the work.

“My brothers run the Blood Moon Clan since a few years ago... Since they got rid of our Father.”

I’m stunned by how casually Liam can say such things. Is this really a thing to say out loud? And talking about Nathaniel, too, I can’t imagine him killing someone as simple as that; it sounds so... coldhearted.

But then again, they are the Blood Moon Clan.

As we get closer to my Clan’s turf -if I’m still part of it somehow-, my thoughts are no longer about the Black brother’s bloody history, but about my own dark past. I’m genuinely scared of what might happen.Will they reject me? Am I considered dead? Or as a Rogue?

I decide to head for Robert’s bar first, as it’s one of the Jade Clan’s only establishments in the city, and far enough from the main house. Moreover, if I can talk to anyone first, I would pick Elisabeth. She’s the only one I ever considered to be a friend. Liam is walking next to me, and I can see him frowning, unfamiliar with that territory. The streets we are in now are a bit too poor to be of any interest to anyone, so it’s hard to say whose turf it is.

I stop a few steps before entering the bar and try to hide my hair a bit as I put my hood on.

“The Jade Moon Clan? Seriously? You’re from this Clan of weaklings?” Scoffs Liam.

“Yes, now please, I don’t want them to notice me for now, okay?”

He rolls his eyes as he lets me enters first. Honestly, I have to say, having Liam with me is really reassuring. He is one of the Black brothers, and I’m pretty sure he can warn one of his brothers through their mind-link if anything goes wrong. Which I hope won’t happen.

At this early hour, the bar is entirely empty, as usual. And behind the counter, it’s only Elisabeth, cleaning glasses while whistling.She probably partied again last night, as I recognize her familiar messy bun, tired eyes, and jean jumpsuit. She notices us entering right away.

“Hello, what can I... Oh, Moon Goddess, Nora? Is that really you?”

She looks so shocked; she stares at me blankly for a few seconds before running to me. She pats and examines me as if to see if I’m real. Liam stays silent, but he’s looking at her like she’s some annoying fly.

“Hi, Liz...”

“Don’t act like this! You crazy girl! I thought we would never see you again after what happened!”

She’s almost yelling at me, and I feel awkward. We haven’t seen each other for weeks, and I have no idea what to tell her. For now, she just looks like she’s still in shock from my returning and sighs while looking at me.

“Oh girl, you have to tell me what happened, okay? Sit down, you can tell me all about it.”

She pushes us to one of the nearest tables and brings three bottles of soda from the bar. I don’t feel too comfortable being here, but it’s better than being at the main house. I’m still afraid one of the pack members might suddenly walk in but having Liam next to me is kind of reassuring. Liz barely looks at him, too busy focusing on me.

“Gosh, girl, you really have to tell me what happened. Things got crazy after you killed Marcus, you know.”

After I... what?

Beside me, Liam raises an eyebrow and gives me an interrogating look, but I couldn’t care less. I didn’t kill anyone! As far as I know... I shake my head. I have way too many things left unknown until now, I need to start filling in the blanks.

“Liz, please tell me what happened since I... I was gone.”

She sighs a bit too dramatically, and I can tell she’s happy to gossip. Even when she mentioned Marcus’ death, she didn’t seem sorry. She starts talking while playing with some of the sparkles on her nails.

“Well, the Alpha noticed you and your brother were gone for a while, so he sent people looking for you guys. But Alec returned alone in the middle of the night, looking like hell. I was there because I had just come home from work. He had a giant bite mark on his face, and he acted so weirdly! He said you had gone crazy and killed Marcus! And that you tried to kill him too!”

What? Alec was the one that tried to kill me! How crazy is that story! Even though I can’t exactly remember what happened with Marcus, Alec left me to die, Tonia and Bobo barely got there in time! Is Bobo the one that attacked my brother? To chase him away? I’m so shocked, I can’t speak for a moment, but Liz doesn’t notice. She starts checking her nails. Next to me, Liam is watching my reaction, but I just ignore him.

“And Vincent believed this?”

Elisabeth shakes her head.

“Not really. A lot of people didn’t. To start with, Alec was obviously attacked by a huge wolf, and we all know you can’t shift. You couldn’t possibly be that big, anyway. And Marcus’ body? Nowhere to be found. Dead or alive, he disappeared the same day as you. The guys said his apartment was a bloody mess, though. None of us really knew what to believe. You had disappeared, and your brother kept saying all this weird stuff! Some thought you might have gone crazy for real, but I didn’t, of course. I know my girl. Oh, and Vincent and Peter didn’t believe Alec either, so they told everyone to shut up until we were sure about what was going on.”

Marcus is missing? Is he dead? I know the “bloody mess” part is real, I can remember some of it now, but I’m unclear about what really happened... And it’s scarier than before, with what Elisabeth said. Did I really kill him...? I can’t remember anything but him trying to rape me, and then Alec pursuing me. But what if he is alive? Will he leave me alone? The idea alone is terrifying...

In front of me, Elisabeth’s mind has already jumped somewhere else.

“Hey, tell me what happened to you now! You look all better, girl! And I know the brand of your hoodie! Is it real?”

Elisabeth is in girl’s gossip mode, but I’m miles from it. How can she be smiling right now? It’s like she doesn’t care about all that happened. I know she wasn’t there, and she is not close to Marcus or Alec either, but... Am I the only one who thinks this whole story is crazy?

“What about Alec?” I ask, ignoring her questions. “Is he still there?”

She frowns and scratches her head, looking a bit hesitant.

“Uh... Not anymore. Things kind of got messy the week after your disappearance. Vincent was, like, super angry at him for not properly explaining what happened with Marcus and you, and a lot of people started accusing him of borrowing lots and lots of money. It seems like he even stole stuff from the main house to sell it! Can you believe that? Peter unleashed on him one day, it was crazy. He beat him really bad, and eventually banished him.”

“He did what?”

My brother got banished from the Clan? And a month ago, to boot? I’m not surprised that Peter beat him–Alec was never strong, to begin with. But where in the world could he be now? No one wants to be a Rogue! All they can do is live like beggars, stealing from other wolves, and sleeping outside all the turfs. Every pack always outcasts Rogues and won’t let them on their territory. It would be hard for him to even be in Silver City now. Did he escape to the wild like others? They say some even go back to completely wildlife and forget they were humans once.

No, wait. Alecwas spotted in the hospital days after that. So why was he looking for me? Did Alec know who had rescued me? Or was he pushed to the wall and tried to find me to help him? And there is still the Marcus matter...

“Nora, who’s the kid?”

I turn to Liam, but he is growling already. Guess the “kid” part didn’t please him... Liz immediately avoids his eyes, reacting to his Alpha aura. He may be young and not have a proper pack yet, but no one can deny Liam’s authority. He has the same dominating presence as his brothers, and Liz is just a regular wolf. He finally stops, and Elisabeth decides to address to me instead of him.

“Why did you bring a stranger to our turf? Do you want Vince to be mad as soon as you come home?”

I raise my head, shocked. To go home? Am I still considered part of the pack? I thought they might have excluded me as soon as they did for my brother! But before I can answer, Liam surprises me by being the one to raise his voice for the first time since we entered the bar.

“To be mad at her? What do you mean? Does this stupid Alpha of yours knows what’s coming to him?” He says with a mean grin.

Now Elisabeth’s smile is completely gone, and she looks petrified. I can tell she’s trying hard not to gaze into Liam’s direction and focuses on me solely.

“Nora, what does he mean? What is coming?”

But I turn to Liam and give him a “hush!” look. “Stop it. You’re not saying anything, we agreed!”

“Whatever. My brother’s going to find them, anyway. Sooner or later, your weak former Clan will be destroyed,” he shrugs

I don’t like the sadistic smile he has on now, and I can see Elisabeth has started shaking. And it’s not my “former” Clan, I’m still part of the Jade Moon, it seems! But Liam doesn’t care; he’s having fun right now. He is intentionally scaring her and using his aura. I don’t like how he is cruelly making fun of her.

“Liam, stop it!”

He stops but gives me an annoyed look, like a kid who just got his favorite toy confiscated. Idon’t care. I point my index at the door, ignoring that pissed teen attitude of his.

“If you’re going to make things difficult, you can wait for me outside.”

“Tsk... Weakling.” He growls while exiting the bar.

Elisabeth seems to relax as soon as he’s out.

“Nora, who is this guy? And how can you not be scared! I had to fight all I can to keep myself seated; my wolf was going nuts with this guy here.”

Now that I think about it, it’s true I should have been just as scared as she was. But I’ve never been really affected by an Alpha’s aura. Vincent, Nathaniel, Liam, none of them intimidated me. Only Damian could scare me, but only when he was furious. And now even his little brother could make a grown wolf shiver so much within seconds?

I, indeed, must have some immunity of some sort because of my mate. I don’t know how to explain what happened any other way.

“Don’t mind him, he’s just a... friend.”

And Liam Black, my mate ‘s youngest brother, but that I won’t tell her. I feel like I’m desperately trying to prevent two worlds from colliding. I run my fingers through my hair, trying to relax a little. This is way too much information for me to take all at once. I sigh and take a sip of my soda, but Elisabeth can barely contain herself.

“Now, will you tell me? I’m dying here, girl! You’ve been away for weeks!”

“Sorry, Liz. I... Someone attacked me, and I was taken to the hospital. I stayed there a full month, and then a friend took me in.”

She looks at me suspiciously, apparently disappointed by my lousy explanation. So far, I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. I just made sure not to mention any names. Even if he’s outside, I’m pretty sure Liam can still hear us, and I don’t want him to hear anything bad that could reach Damian’s ears. Elisabeth ponders for a while, then points an index at me. I’ve seen her do that before. She is about to fire all her questions at once.

“Who attacked you?”

“I don’t know,” I lie.

“How did you escape?”

“My friends intervened just in time. They chased my attacker away and took me to a hospital.”

“How long? In the hospital, how long did you stay there?” She asks.

“About a month. I was in a coma for a few days, and they asked me to rest after that.”

“And now, where are you staying?”

“I told you... at a friend’s place, in the city.”

“A friend?”