Moon Crossed (Werewolf Hunter Series): Season 1 (Episodes 1-6) (Crescent Hunter) (29 page)

Mica is going on and on
about a new cross bow he got. There isn't much more I can take of all
the talk about killing wolves. It's as though they don’t
realize that everyone else here is a wolf and we are in the minority.
Not to mention that I think it's in poor taste.

“Mica, a cross
bow is a stupid weapon. It's heavy, loud, and cumbersome. How can you
possibly move as swiftly and quietly as you need to with one of
those?” I shake my head and get up, moving to the railing.
“Besides, it's too easy to miss, making the kill less humane.”

Cole catches me
accidentally giving him a dirty look because he has his hand squarely
on one of the she-wolve's asses. He smiles at catching me and starts
to lay his charm on the other girl sitting next to him. Yeah, this is
just rude. I know he's with other girls, but he doesn't have to
flaunt it in front of me. I wouldn't do that to him.

This entire night has
been a terribly choreographed waltz of keep Claire and Cole apart.
Dillon joins me at the railing. “I totally agree with you. Mica
isn't a very good hunter.” He whispers that last part.

“I can only
imagine.” I roll my eyes, but don't turn to face Dillon.

“So other than
Mica, are you having a good time?” he asks, scooting in closer.

“Yeah.” My
enthusiasm is anemic.

“I'm sorry.”
He puts his hand on my shoulder. “You want to go for a walk?”

I would like to get
away from Cole and his fan club, but really don't want to end up in
the woods with someone I hardly know. I hear the sound of Cole's
truck starting up in the front yard. I turn around and see that he's
gone.

I look to Locke.
“Where's Cole going?”

He shrugs. “He
didn't say goodbye.”

I take inventory of the
she-wolves. There's one missing. I pull out my cell phone.

Where are you going?
~Claire

Home .~Cole

Why? ~Claire

Tired. ~Cole

Bullshit. ~Claire

Really. ~Cole

You didn't say
goodbye :*( ~Claire

Goodbye. ~Cole

Watch the sunrise
with me? ~Claire

No answer.

Just fuck. I blow out a
breath. “Goodnight.” I walk in the house.

Locke follows behind
me. “What's up?”

“I'm really not
in the mood to stick around to see who can pay the dowry,” I
snap at him as I push past.

“What do you
mean?” He has the nerve to act offended.

“You don't think
I can see right through you and your little plan?” I lean more
forward with each word.

“We didn't have a
'little plan.'” He shakes his head. “Lili just thought it
would be good for you to meet other people. People you might actually
have a future with.” He spears me with a knowing look.

“Future?” I
inhale, because this is going to be good. “She has no concept
of what 'future' means to me. I have to take what happiness I can get
when I can get it. Not from those douche bag hunters out there. Cole
makes me happy.” I can't believe I just said that out loud.

“You need to
lower your voice,” Locke scolds.

Dillon pops his head in
and gives me an offended look.

I blow out an
exasperated breath. “I didn't mean you're a douche bag.”
I shake my head. “Well, Mica is. But you and Gabriel are cool.”

I can't believe that
we're having this conversation. Kyle comes in the kitchen. “What's
wrong?”

“I just don't
like getting set up.” My insides are churning with bile and
acid at the thought of whatever girl Cole took home.

“Who set you up?”
Kyle asks innocently.

I purse my lips and
give Locke a look that would wilt most men. “Oh Locke and
Lili.”

Kyle shakes his head.
“Can't you guys leave things alone?” He takes me by the
shoulders because clearly I'm about to lose it and start crying.

When we get to my door,
he slides down the wall, sitting down. “I'm so sorry everyone's
getting in the way of you two.”

“There isn't
a...” Oh, screw it. I'm done trying to defend what I feel for
him.

“Everyone means
well.” He tries to justify Lili and Locke's actions, but there
is no justification for that.

“Yeah, well they
did great by Cole. He's going to sleep with what's-her-fuck wolfpussy
and I'm going to cry my eyes out all night.” I shake my head.

“You're not going
to cry your eyes out all night,” he says, mocking me. “You're
not a weak flower.”

I turn my head toward
him so that he can see my tears in the dim light. “Aren't I?”

He just stares at me
blankly. “Why do you think he's going to sleep with Amber?”

“Because that's
what Cole does.” I say it for the fact it is.

“That's funny.”
He laughs a little.

“Yeah, not
laughing.” I narrow my eyes on him.

“You're
overreacting. He's not going to sleep with her.” He puts his
hand on my shoulder.

“How can you be
so sure?” I wipe my tears from my cheeks at the glimmer of
hope.

“Because there
are two hand-carved, stained, and painted planters on your porch that
tells me who he loves.” He arches his eyebrows to drive the
point home

I think about it for a
moment. I want to believe it, but could it actually be true? “You
really think Cole loves me?”

Kyle presses his lips
into a thin line. “Yes, and that's the biggest tragedy of all:
you both love each other, but neither of you will admit it. You walk
around, squandering your feelings, because you're worried what
everyone will think.” He shakes his head in frustration.
“You're both going to lose if you don't get your heads out of
your asses.” He pushes himself up from the floor and offers his
hand to help me up.

“But–”
He cuts me off.

“No buts. Just be
at the clearing before sunrise. He'll be there,” he says,
walking down the stairs.

“Thanks, Kyle.”
I sniffle and dry my face again before heading into my room.

It's about thirty
minutes until sunrise. I waited until the very last minute. If he
doesn't show, it won't be nearly as pathetic had I been sitting here
for hours. I sulked in my room for hours, wiped all of that stupid
makeup off of my face, and changed into something that was actually
comfortable.

I hug my knees into my
chest to chase away the cold. Okay, maybe not the cold, just the fear
of him not showing up.

I check my phone again.
He never texted me to let me know that he got home okay. I'm not sure
what's worse: thinking that he got hurt, or thinking that he was too
busy with Amber. It's not so bad; in most cases, if he got hurt,
he'll heal, right?

Fifteen minutes until
sunrise and he's still not here. My mind is racing with all of the
things that happened at the party. I really want to be angry with
Lili for setting up that party. I'm also going to be finding out how
much influence Locke had on this whole soiree.

The first tingles of
Cole being nearby start moving from my toes up my legs and straight
to my heart. I hear his footfalls, so heavy. I don't turn around; I
wait for him to come to me.

He sits down without
saying a word; as much as I want to turn my head to look at him, I
don't.

Cole's knees are pulled
up and his arms are resting on them at the elbow, plucking at a long
piece of grass. It's not in my nature to be quiet, especially in
situations like this. He has patience, though. I'll bet that he could
sit like this forever without saying a word. It's really maddening.

I try not to fidget,
but fail. My eyes keep shifting in his direction to see if he turns
to look at me. The silence is killing me; I don't know how much more
of this I can take.

He inhales a deep
breath. Oh, thank God, he's going to say something. He blows out
slowly.

He doesn't say
anything. Shit.

The horizon begins to
shift and change to the brilliant sort of colors words could never do
justice. I feel like I'm running out of time with him. It should be
easy, it should feel good. It does in a painful, strained sort of
way. I don't know what he's thinking or wanting. I don't know what he
thinks happened tonight.

Do I follow my pride,
or do I swallow it, tell him how I feel? If I do, will it scare him?
Will he bolt based on just that? Does he feel the same way?

No, he can't. There's
no way that he can feel this way about me. But he's here. Just stay
quiet, Claire.

The plain, simple truth
here is that the first one to talk, loses. But what exactly do we
lose, if talking makes it all better, even better than it was? Maybe
we do have a chance together.

Okay, now my psychotic
internal ramblings are getting out of control. There's no way that
he'd actually want to be together.

It's almost completely
light out; the sun is above the horizon. He inhales deeply once
again; he's definitely going to say something.

He pushes himself up
off the ground. I turn to look at him as he's walking away. He moves
his hand in a circular motion as he disappears into the tree line. I
turn back toward the sun, and there's a spiral of butterflies in
front of me, spelling out, “Watch the sunrise with me?”

On a quiet, slow
whisper, I say, “Til the end.”

The
last three days have been nothing but silence with Cole. We've
watched the sunrise together, but we haven't spoken a word. It's
driving me crazy; short drive, I know, but honestly this is
maddening. Just like everything with him.

Everyone has been
avoiding me since the party. I'm starting to get a complex. The only
one I've actually talked to is Tor. He always makes a point to come
and talk with me at least once a day.

Aunt Rain hasn't come
to see me, which means she either knows I have some questions for her
or things did not go well with the council. Maybe both.

I'm starting to go
cross-eyed analyzing these test results. I still don't have any
answers. I've taken the elixir again, but strengthened it to see if
it has any effect on me. Nothing.

Even though I'm not
wolf-borne, all hunters are still part wolf. It's how we carry their
healing magic, but there's likely not enough of me that's wolf-borne
to make a difference.

I pick up my phone and
look to see if Cole has texted. I already know that he hasn't, but I
still check. Maybe it's broken. Lord, how pathetic is that?

To test it, I text
Locke.

Hey, where've you
been? ~Claire

I put the phone back on
the desk and look at the computer. There's got to be more that I can
do. Looking at the screen, I see the live cells moving and dancing
around. What am I missing?

I rack my brain for
another twenty minutes or so, thinking of different things that I can
do. I've moved on from the anti-shift elixir and am now working on
the cure for the moon-touch.

I check my phone again.
Nothing. No one is responding. Maybe it isn't working. Who can I text
that I know for a fact will text me back? Corey! He'll text me back.

Hey, are you in Red
Top tonight? ~Claire

That's pretty
innocuous. Before the screen dims, he responds.

Yeah, you? ~Corey

Yeah~ Claire

CU 2Night ~Corey

Well, phone works.

“Knock, knock.”
Kyle is standing at the door to the lab.

“Hey.”
There's way too much enthusiasm in my tone, but I really am that
happy to see someone. And, of course, I love Kyle.

“You busy?”
He walks through the door cautiously.

“Nah, just
getting ready to beat my head against the wall. I've been staring at
this for way too long.” I roll my eyes, getting up from the lab
table. “What's up?”

“I just wanted to
check on you,” he says in a weird tone.

“I don't know.”
I sit at my desk and he sits across from me.