Blood Moon (Howl #2) (9 page)

“No, thanks,” Samara said politely. With the way she gobbled down food lately, she wasn’t about to embarrass herself by eating in front of people from school. Most of Emma’s friends were really judgmental, too.

Samara scanned the room for Luke, t
rying to ignore the smell of c
hicken that filled her nostrils. She
spotted his short-cut brown hair in the corner. Ashley Everest, one of Emma’s
close
friends, was talking to him. Flashing him a
bubble-gum
pink lip gloss
ed
smile, she tossed her
long
auburn hair (which seemed to change colors every week) over her shoulder. Laughing at something Luke had said, Ashley threw her head back lau
ghing and placed a hand on hi
s shoulder.

Samara felt t
he low growl form in her throat. She wasn’t sure if she released it, and if she had, no one seemed to notice. Staring at them from across the room, Samara scowled.
Luke was
her
mate. How dare Ashley touch him? Besides, didn’t she know that Luke and Samara were involved with each other
? Everyone else seemed to know.
Or did she know and just not care?

Feeling the anger build up
inside of her and the tingly sensation
that she always had when she
was about to transform start to build up in her legs,
Samara darted
through the crowd of people in
the living room
and hurried out the front door.

She ran
behind Emma’s house and felt
her
body shifting out of her
control
.

Staring up at the half moon that hovered in the sky, she let out a loud, angry howl. Samara heard someone gasp from behin
d her, and she whirled around.

Tina McFarley, a girl from school, and a guy who Samara didn’t recognize stood feet away from her, frozen in their steps. “What is it?” Tina whispered to t
he guy.
Samara could see the fear in her eyes; it was the same fear that Sama
ra had experienced that night during the
summer when she had seen the wolf at Emma's party. At the time, she had thought it was just a wild, rabid animal. Now, she knew that it had been a werewolf, even though she still wasn't sure who it had been or why they had been there, eyeing her up . . . the same way she was staring
at Tina and this guy right now.

The guy didn't appear t
o be scared, though.
He shrugged nonch
alantly. “I think it’s a
just
dog.”
Samara chuckled inside her head. This reminded her of when Emma had argued with her for months that the wolf in her yard the first time had been a Husky when everyone else seemed to know it was a wolf.

Tina shook her head. “I’ve never seen a dog that looked like that before . . . I’ve never seen anything
that looked like that before.”
Samara remembered that her own white fur was striking; she might resemble a Samoyed, but there really were no dogs that she could be confused with and even she hadn’t known that white wolves existed before she became one herself.

Samara took a step
forward, wanting to tell them that she wasn’t going to hurt them, that it wa
s Ashley who she was angry at.

Her closeness to them seemed to intimidate them even more
, though
. They stared bac
k at her like she was nothing more than a beast before they
slowly inched away, unsure of what to do.

Samara had figured that, one day, she was going to come across a human while she was in wolf form. What she hadn’t realized w
as that it would hurt so much for people to be afraid of her.

To ease their worried faces, Samara turned around and ran through
the woods behind Emma’s house, away from everyone.

*

When she got to Starlight Lake, Samara found a wolf sitting next to the water, in the same area where her pack normally hosted its fires and gatherings. It was a wolf who she couldn’t recognize – and its scent didn’t match her pack’s pineapple peppermint scent that they had when they were in wolf form. This wolf was a stranger . . .
and it was in their territory.

Samara waited for it to turn around, to take notice of her, but the wolf continued to stare into the depths of the water. She felt grateful that that it didn’t recognize her presence because she was alone. If it had wanted to fight, she definitely was ready . . . especially by herself.

Guys, there’s another wolf in our territory,
Samara thought, sending a message to her pack. She paused.
She wasn’t exactly sure how, but she realized she
did
know who he was.
I recognize him . . .  I think it’s Rocco.

I’ve been looking all over
for
you. I’ll be right there,
Luke responded right away.
Samara immediately picked up on the urgency in his voice, and she felt a sense of relief. If she ever needed someone from the pack to back her up for anything, Luke would be the first one by her side. All thoughts about what she had just seen between him and
Ashley Everest escaped her mind. Luke was her mate; n
othing would ever come between them.

Colby was the next to respond.
I’m right behind Luke.

None of the other guys answered her, but within minutes, she saw Kyle running towards he
r, his furry ears pinned back.

It wasn’t long before all of the other guys on her pack were coming at Samara from all angles, surroundin
g her in a protective barrier.

Now that her pack was here, Samara knew that it was time for her to do something. She couldn’t just let another wolf, a wolf whose own territory wasn’t even in the same area of woods
– unlike the Vyka –
pass through without questions.

Taking a few steps toward Rocco, Samara said,
This is our te
rritory.
W
hat brings you here?

Rocco sat down on the cold ground, curling his gray furry tail underneath of him.
You.

Chapter 7

****

Luke growled, pinning his ears back.
What do you want from Samara?

Staring at Samara from behind his icy blue eyes, Rocco growled back.
She has two choices. She comes and joins our pack willingly . . . or we attack and conquer her.

Samara shook her head.
No. I will not just come and join your pack willingly. I don’t want to be a Shomecossee.

Then, we have no choice but to kill you,
Rocco replied
, baring his teeth
.
You are far too powerful to be kept alive this close to our territory.

Try it and see what happens,
Luke snarled back in between fierce growls.
If you touch my mate, I will personally kill you.

Rocco chuckled at them.
You’re high and mighty right now, but we’ll see what happens once you can no l
onger rely on your mate’s power
.
You’ll be nothing more than just a weak wolf. A pup.

This time it was Samara’s turn to growl
at Rocco
. No one insulted her mate like that
and got away with it
.
Leave. Now,
Samara commanded, her voice firm.

Rocco stood up and continued to stare at her for a few minut
es before turning to walk away.

As he turned to walk away, he glanced over his shoulder.
We
will come for you when you’re least expecting it, McKinley.

As Rocco disappeared into the woods on the other side of Starlight Lake that led to the street, Samara paced back and forth. So much had happened since the night of her fake initiation with the Vyka that she had nearly forgotten that the Shomec
ossee had it out for her, too.

Samara turned to her pack.
Guys? I ne
ed to learn how to fight. Now.
No more procrastinating.

I agree,
Luke replied.
He eyed the pack. Finally, he asked
,
who wants to teach her first?

No one said anything for a minute. Finally, Steve spoke up.
I think Colby should teach her first. She needs to learn some werewolf confidence before
she can master anything else.

That sounds reasonable,
Kyle agreed.

Okay, so it’s settled then,
Luke replied.
We’re each going to take one night this week to teach Samara what she needs to learn. Colby starts now. We really need to be prepared to fight the Vyka and Shomecos
see now. These threats are real.

All of the guys
except for
Colby stood up and began walking away from the circle that they had formed next to the lake. Luke came over to Samara and nuzzled his forehead against her chest be
fore following the other guys.

Colby took a few steps forward and sat down closer to her.
I’ve never taught anyone this before. I don’t know if I’ll be a very good teacher.

Don’t worry,
Samara said.
I’m sure you’ll do great.

Okay, well, it’s mostly about posture,
Colby told her. He stood up and walked in a line in front of her, pushing his shoulders back, making them appear broader and making himself seem taller.
Pretend you
’re a puppet whose master has a
puppet string attached to your head that’s lifting
your chin, shoulders, and neck.

Samara nodded. When she had taken ballet when she was eight years old, her instructor had taught them this method.
This is going to be a piece of cake,
Samara told Colby as she strutted past him, pretending she was flouncing ac
ross the room in ballet class.

That’s good, but
you look too dainty. F
luff your chest up a little,
Colby instructed.

How do I do that?
Samara asked, puzzled. She had alw
ays wondered how dogs did that.
Somehow, she had always assumed that it was just one of their natural instincts. She didn’t know that they could f
orce their chests to fluff up.

You kind of just . . . move your chest,
Colby said, looking down at his own chest as it fluffed up.
When your skin moves, your fur goes with it.

Samara strutted past Colby again, this time pushing her chest slightly forward. It wasn’t much different from the advice that Emma had always given her over the years when she wanted Samara to learn how to grab a guy’s attention; it was strange that acting confident as a teenage girl was so similar
to acting confident as a wolf.

That’s perfect,
Colby said, as Samara sat back down on the cold ground across from him.
You just have to remember that you need to remain confident, even when someone freaks you out. If you don’t remain confident, they’ll see you as a weakling, which will
make them more eager to attack.

How do you know all of this?
Samara asked.
I mean, have you been in a lot of fights?

Colby shook his head.
I’ve been in a few, but I’ve learned most of what I know from my parents. My father is one of the strongest Alphas in the area. I do know that what he says works, though.
Colby paused and scratched his side with one of his hind paws.
Do you remember the night at Emma’s party, when Luke and Jason got into an argument and I stayed behind?

Samara nodded and one of her ears flopped over. She had a crystal clear memory of that night. It was the first time she had ever heard Luke communicat
e with her through mind-speak.

Jason and I went out to the woods, and I threatened him. He wanted to attack Luke because he thought he was the one who bit you at first,
Colby told her.
I told him to leave Luke alone. He didn’t listen to me about not telling you the truth, but I’m pretty sure my confident posture helped me prevent a battle between him and Luke.

So that’s what that argument had been about. Samara had been wondering all along why Jason and Luke
had caused that scene at Emma’s par
t
y
– and what had prompted her mate to leave early that night. If only Emma knew the real reason why Luke and Jason hated each other
.
. . .

Rocco must have known that I’m Alpha now
or why else would he have shown up?
D
o you think someone’s told Jason yet?