Moon Crossed (Werewolf Hunter Series): Season 1 (Episodes 1-6) (Crescent Hunter) (39 page)

“You've had...”
She looks around the room to be sure we're alone, and then whispers,
“sex.”

“Shut up.”
I can feel the heat of my embarrassment traveling up my neck to my
face.

“It was Cole,
wasn't it?” She follows me to the bathroom.

“Um, Lili, I
gotta pee. Can you gimme a sec?” I close the door to give
myself time to think. What am I going to tell her?

“You can't deny
it, Claire. I can tell.” She keeps talking to me through the
door.

I wash my hands and
come out. “You know, we were just talking about where you've
been.” Oh yeah, nice diversion; Lili is self-centered enough
that it just might work.

She looks down and her
cheeks redden. “Well, promise you won't be mad.”

Oh shit. “Lili?”
My eyes widen and my mind races with all of the different scenarios
that it could be. I climb back under the covers.

“Promise,”
she insists.

“Okay, I
promise.” I pull her down to sit on the bed. “What did
you do?”

“You know Lenny.”
She says it as a statement, tilting her head downward.

“Lili, no.”
My mouth falls open. I've warned her about wolves.

“Claire, there's
just something about him. I love him.” She says it in a
pleading tone.

“There is so much
here that you don't understand. Do you have any idea how dangerous
this is for you?” My voice reaches an upper register. I'm
trying not to be angry. “And love him? Are you kidding me?
You've known him for a couple of weeks.”

“I know there's a
lot that I don't know, but I'm learning. There are some things that
you
need to know.” She takes my hands in hers.

“Listen to me.
There's not likely anything you're going to tell me that I don't
already know. The Amicalola Pack wants me dead.” I roll my
eyes, even though I take the threat very seriously. I don't expect
her to know how deeply it does affect me.

“Yes, but there's
more.” She squeezes my hands.

“Okay, me first.”
I cock my head, hoping that she'll grasp the seriousness. “I
knew Lenny a long time ago. He's a beta now; he has a certain
responsibility to his pack, and seeing a human is
not
on the
list. He could be killed if they catch him with you. And they will
definitely kill you if they find out.” I shake my head at how
screwed up this is.

“It's going to be
okay.” She tries to convince me.

“Um, no it isn't.
Oh, God!” It occurs to me. “If they find out that you are
important to me, that you're my best friend? They will torture and
then kill you.”

“They aren't
going to do that. Pike isn't that bad.” She tries to press out
a half-smile.

“Wait, you've
talked to Pike?” My mouth falls open. I throw the covers off
and get out of the bed. “Are you kidding me? This is too
dangerous, Lili. There's more to this than you and Lenny. They are
using you. They know already and they are going to use you to get to
me.” I'm starting to babble as I pace the floor.

“They are all
totally cool with me and Lenny being together,” she says in a
reassuring tone.

“No, they
aren't.” My arms are tight against my sides and I'm trying not
to have some sort of panic attack. “They want the old
traditions, when killing humans was sport. Before the hunters were
created to control the wolves that become moon-touched.”

“No, they're just
wanting to be more tolerant. They're trying to bring everyone to a
new era. Where they aren't hunted, Claire. Can you really blame
them?” she pleads.

Lili has fallen for the
propaganda hook, line, and sinker. “It's dangerous and you're
going to get me, you, or both of us killed.” I shake my head. I
need to calm down. Calm and Cole have become synonymous, so I check
my phone again.

Nothing.

So much for calm.

“Dammit!” I
throw it on the bed; I'm starting to really worry about him.

Lili eyes the phone,
then me. She's working it out in her head that there's something else
that's bothering me. “What's up?”

“Oh, I don't
know. Against my insistence my best friend started dating a wolf,
which is very dangerous, and is about to get us all killed. Isn't
that enough?” Sarcasm drips from my tone like sweat off a solo
cup at a frat house.

Her cheeks flush with
color. “I'm sorry. I just couldn't help it.”

“When did you get
the digits? While they were threatening to kill me in my backyard or
here in the house when Cole and Lex were about to rip each other's
throats out?” I really hope that she feels the anger in my
words.

“No, I ran into
him at the store. He came through my checkout line.” She's
reveling in the memory, and I want to vomit.

“Wolves and
humans do not date, mate, or fraternize.” I say it like she's a
simpleton, because in this case she really is.

“What about you
and Cole?” Nice return, I have to respect that. Especially
since I have an answer.

“I'm not human.”
I wait for her reaction, hoping to blow her mind.

“What do you mean
you're not human?” She studies me closely.

“I'm not human.”
I say it again with a smile. “I told you, I'm a hunter. Hunters
were created by the wolves; we're magical beings. My DNA is different
from yours.”

“A magical being?
Really?” She purses her lips. “So, you're some kind of
wolficorn?”

“Wolficorn? Nice
one.” I laugh. “I guess you could say that, but no. I
have all of the keener senses of a wolf. Heightened strength and
speed, and when I'm around wolves I have some
powers
.”

“No shit,”
she gasps with her eyes wide. “Like what kind of powers?”

“I can move
things, heal, create a globe of light.” I give her a brief
demonstration. “Here, watch.”

My hand is flat in
front of me and I imagine a globe of light; it slowly grows and
appears. Lili's mouth hangs open. “Oh my God.”

She reaches for it,
stopping just before she touches it. “Will it hurt?”

“No, you can
touch it. It's just a low level of energy.” This is the first
time I've ever really shared my power with someone who is not part of
our world.

“This is freakin'
amazing.” She pokes at the globe and her finger goes straight
through it. “What else can you do?”

“I don't really
like to use too much of my magic. It can really suck the life out of
you, so we use it sparingly. It can also get out of hand very easily,
and since we only have it in the presence of wolves, we try not to
rely on it unless we need it,” I explain.

“So, like, do
wolves have this magic?” she asks, and I can hear the rusty
gears turning in her head.

“Yes and no.
There are some shaman-wolves that are very old and wise. They have
developed a level of magic, but not as powerful as ours. They created
us.” This is complicated and I can understand how it's hard to
take in, but I think that maybe Lili's read one too many paranormal
romances. She's not really seeming too shocked by any of this.

“But the regular
wolves don't have magic?” she asks for the clarification.

“Just healing
power.” I close my hand around the globe of light,
extinguishing it. “The shamans saw the need for us to be more
powerful than the wolves. It's possible that some wolves can develop
powers, but only with a lot of focus and training, like the shamans.”
I fondly recall the shaman I spent my summers with. “We spend
time training with them. It was really cool.”

“Really? Like in
teepees and sweat lodges?” She looks like she smells something
bad.

I laugh out loud,
realizing that she's imagining a smelly old man covered in deer skins
waiving sage around us or something. “No, we would go to like a
summer camp. There were cabins and canoes and camp counselors. It was
just like regular camp, but we were all hunters in training.”

She shakes her head and
sits on the bed. “This is all so crazy.”

“Yeah, I can
imagine how it must seem.” I sit with her. “Honestly,
it's nice being able to talk about it with someone who isn't involved
in this world.” I lament for a moment how I was never really
allowed to hang out with other kids, or go to sleepovers or birthday
parties. Trevor and I always kept to ourselves; it was safer that
way. “You understand why it could be dangerous if it got out,
right?”

“Oh yeah, Lenny
has explained how it could cause problems.” She nods
vehemently.

“Yeah, Lenny
should know better.” I purse my lips disapprovingly.

“Have you ever
thought that maybe it's nice for him to have a friend that's not a
wolf-borne?” She has a good point.

“It doesn't
matter. Neither of us should have brought you into this.” I
shake my head at our misstep.

“Well, I'm not
going to tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me.” She holds
up her pinky. “Pinky promise.”

I lock pinkies with
her. “I hope so.”

“So like, are you
allowed to date...humans?” She hesitates on the last word.
“Like, I realize that wolves are supposed to stick to wolves.
But are you supposed to stick to hunters?”

“Usually, hunters
are very solitary. We often don't marry, like my Aunt Rain. But we
really are guided toward being with other hunters. Some marriages are
arranged.” A breath of relief escapes me that my father never
did that.

“Your Aunt Rain
has never been married? I figured she was either divorced or a
widow.” She's truly surprised.

“Nope, she never
married, never had kids of her own.”

“But Trevor –”

“Is wolf-borne.”
I cut her off.

“Oh, yeah.”
She has a light bulb moment.

“Anyway, so aside
from spending time with Lenny...what else have you been doing?”
This conversation, while somewhat liberating, needs to come back to
the mundane.

“Not much, I mean
aside from work.” She lays back on the bed.

We sit silently for a
few minutes; it's so strange with her right now. We never run out of
things to talk about.

“Why so quiet?”
I break the silence.

“I really want to
talk to you about...” She trails off and it dawns on me.

“Oh no. Lili.”
I roll my eyes. “Did he send you?”

“Sort of, I mean,
yeah, well not totally. It was my idea to come and talk to you,”
she sputters, until she comes to a point where she just spits it out.

“This is
definitely not something you should be involved in.” I shake my
head and get up from the bed, pacing the floor.

“I just want
everyone to get along,” she whines, and I find myself feeling
irritated.

“Lili, do you
realize they want to
kill
me?”

“No, they just
want to talk,” she insists.

“Did you know
that they attacked us last night? They killed four hunters and three
of our wolf-borne friends.” My eyes widen, hoping that she'll
show some sort of understanding.

“They did?”
She's trying to hide her hurt. “How many of theirs did you
kill?”

“Whoa, we were
having a meeting on private property and they came at us and
attacked.” I look up at the ceiling in exasperation. How could
she be so stupid?

“How many?”
she snaps, and it startles me.

“Six,” I
respond quietly. “But we were defending ourselves.”

“The killing has
to stop.” She stands. “You can stop it, Claire.”

“With my death?
Then the death of many other hunters to come, and not to mention the
humans who will be killed.” I put my hands on my hips.

“They aren't like
that. They just want to talk to you. Don't you want peace?” Her
frustration is coming through loud and clear. “Pike said you
would never agree to peace talks.”

“I asked Pike for
a parley.” I blow out a frustrated breath because she doesn't
understand or know the hundreds of years of history. “There was
peace before he started all of this.”

“Please just go
and talk to them,” she pleads. “For me?”

“We are involving
the council. This will be worked out through the proper channels.”
I shake my head.

“I'm only asking
you –” I cut her off.

“No. End of
conversation,” I snap at her, and immediately feel bad for
being so harsh. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...”

She hangs her head.
“Well, I've got to get going. You want to hang out sometime
soon?”

“Definitely!”

Lili gives me a hug
that feels like it could be my last from her. “I'll see you
later, babe!”

“Bye. Love you.”
The latch on the door sounds heavy when it clicks.

Without
realizing it, I slam the kitchen door when I come in from the
sunrise. Cole was a no show again, and he also hasn't answered my
texts. My stomach is churning with a mixture of worry and anger. I
feel like he'd better be hurt, dead, or being held captive. He can't
just leave me hanging like this. I head for the coffee pot.