The Blood Moon Luna (Luna of the Pack Series Book 1)

by SJ Hayslett

  "Yeah." Reed looked at back at the paperwork on his desk. He felt bad that he didn't tell Garrett that Evony was also his mate. And that that was the main reason that he had enforcers watching over her. "And right now he's a spoiled brat whose daughter ran away and humiliated him. He's going to make a play for Evony and I want to be prepared for when that happens."

  "Alright. Let's get to work." Garrett was always ready for a fight but Reed had a feeling this was going to be a game of more brains than brawn.

  ~*~

  "Hi. So, I guess you're Amy?" Evony said when she walked into the dorm room that was assigned to her. "I'm Evony."

  Evony hadn't wanted to speak to anyone once Reed walked away from her. She didn't know how to process meeting her mate and having him walk away from her. He didn't formally reject her, so she wasn't sure what was going to happen next. Garrett attempted to coax out a conversation with her but she didn't want to participate in anything he had to offer. Even though it was tempting when he tried restarting their earlier argument. The one before Reed interrupted them.

  She didn't have to speak again until she had to go to the Registrar's Office so that she could claim the luggage that she had sent ahead of her arrival. Once she signed off that everything was there, they promised that someone would bring her items to her dorm room in Canaday Hall within the hour. With nothing else to do, she went to meet her roommate.

  But that seemed to be a task that was proving harder than Evony imagined. Her roommate, Amy didn't seem to want anything to do with a conversation with Evony, and she wasn't sure how to process that. There's no need to be rude about it.

  "Have you gone around campus yet? Is it as beautiful as the brochure?" Evony floundered on what she could say to get Amy to respond to her, but she just sat at her desk stoically typing on her laptop. Evony sighed, vowing to just give up when there was a knock on the door. Before she could put her stuff on the top bunk, Amy rushed to the door and greeted whoever was on the other side.

  "It's for you," was her hostile reply before she slammed the door back for Evony to see it was another student with her belongings on a cart. Evony was grateful for the distraction of putting her stuff away instead of foolishly trying to become friends with the girl.

  "Evony J. Morris?" The cute student looked her up and down and licked his lips before bringing his eyes up to her eyes. When he saw that Evony nodded and scowled her disapproval, he quickly regained his composure and cleared his throat. "Your room has been reassigned. I’m to bring you and your belongings to the single rooms."

  "What?" Evony gasped at the same time Amy said, "Yes!" So that was her problem? The guy stayed in the threshold of the door and looked Amy in the eyes.

  "Sorry, you still have a roommate, it's my understanding that she'll be arriving tomorrow." He looked back at Evony, "I was just told to come get you and take you to your new room.

  "Why can't I have the single?" Amy shrieked. Evony was kind of glad to get away from her psycho roommate so she wasn't about to question it. She looked as Amy's red hair seemed to frizz up with the tension. Her Evony noted that had it not been for the "Gorgon-ite" glare that she was sending her way, Amy could have been really pretty. However, her personality would make it difficult for anyone to find her attractive.

  "I don't know, probably because you’re a freshman. I'm just going where they tell me to go. You have a problem, take it up with Housing." The guy dismissed Amy and practically Evony, if she didn't keep up, by walking away and pulling Evony's belongings with him. Evony had just enough time to grab her bag before leaving Amy huffing to herself, before she lost the guy to the elevator.

  "Thank you." She whispered once the doors closed. "I'd only been there for five minutes, I think you saved me."

  Evony watched his profile loosen some tension enough so that he could smile genuinely. His dark hair was sort of an angular fringe, it was tapered on the sides but the top layer was long and angled to the front of his round face. His bright green eyes lit up his entire face, especially when his smile was so genuine. He would be considered handsome to her if it hadn't been for finding her mate. A mate who didn't want her.

  'You don't know that for sure Evony,' her wolf tried to console her but even Evony could hear how her wolf was hurting.

  Evony was more than just hurting for her mate. She was pissed. Finding a mate should have been the happiest moment in her life. She should be wrapped in his arms at the moment and enjoying life. Instead, she was in limbo, not knowing whether she was rejected or not. And there was no way she was rejecting him. It didn't matter whether a person was completely human or in the werewolf world, there was a double standard when it came to males, females, and sex. It was expected of Evony as a female and as the Alpha's daughter to be a virgin, and she had no problems of carrying that out since there was no one who ever caught her eye before. However, the males could whore around all they wanted and nobody would blink an eye. And there was no way she was going to reject an alpha that looked as good as he did. She-wolves were attracted to power and Evony knew that if she rejected Alpha Reed, she'd probably be feeling the goddess' wrath every night. No, if there were going to be a rejection, Reed would have to do it. And in the meantime, all other potential partners were ruined for Evony.

  "Oh you mean saving you from staying with her? You're welcome," he said.

  "Actually, thank you for saving me from killing her. I'm not so sure orange would look too great on me." The elevator ride was short, only to the fourth floor, when they were previously on the second floor. As soon as the doors opened, their laughter died and Evony followed behind the boy and her luggage. He brought her to the last door in the hallway and opened it with the key in his hand. He placed the key on the dresser that was pushed against the wall. There wasn't much to look at; it was a similar layout to the room she previously left, minus a bunk bed. One major difference to her room versus the room with Amy, was the skylight. The room was slightly cramped, especially compared to her room back home. Even though she was looking forward to having a roommate, and the possibility of being friends with her, she'd much rather not have to deal with Amy ever again.

  "I'm pretty sure you'd look great in anything," he muttered probably expecting that she wouldn't hear him. But with her acute werewolf ears, she was able to make out his words. Evony wasn't going to embarrass him for it.

  "Thank you." He looked at her confused wondering if she heard him. Evony realized this as well and quickly said, "for bringing my luggage. Are you in this building also? I'm sorry, I don't even know your name."

  "Oh my bad. I'm Arthur. Arthur Curry at your service. And no, I'm a sophomore I live over in Dunster House. It's like a fifteen-minute walk from here. Actually, if you want, we're having a welcome back party at the house if you want to come. Me and a couple of friends get off from work at 7, we can swing by here and get you."

  "Umm, maybe? I'm a little tired with my flight and all. How about you call me just before you get off and I can let you know how I feel then?"

  "Yeah, ok that works!" Arthur passed his phone over to Evony and she entered her phone number. "That way you can get settled and all that. Great," he said when she handed him his phone back. "I hope to see you tonight, and if not, maybe we'll see each other around campus."

  Arthur made his way out of her room with a smile on his face. Evony hoped that the smile that she returned to him didn't make her face look like she was cringing, even though she was definitely cringing on the inside.

  Part of her wished she could return his obvious infatuation on her, though until he officially rejected her, she was still fated to be mated with Alpha Reed. Evony groaned in frustration even as she pulled her own phone from her bag. It was well past the time that she should have landed in California for the Daniels to pick her up from the airport, had she followed her father's plan.

  Evony stared at the phone hard before turning it on, and then turning off the airplane mood. She sat on the bed and waited for it to load but her heart sank when s
he saw 73 missed calls from her dad, 50 voicemails from him, along with several missed texts and phone calls from Alpha Daniels and Alex.

  This will be worth it when I get my degree from the school I wanted, not my father's dream. She kept telling herself as she pressed the screen to call her father.

  It has to be worth it.

  Chapter 6

  "Where the hell are you?" Her father screamed as soon as the call connected. Evony didn't even think that the phone rang once before she could hear her father's growl.

  "Daddy, I'm sorry! You wouldn't listen to me. I didn't want to go to California. And I don't want to marry Alex. This was the only way I could live my life for me and not the pack!

  "Evony Jaymes Morris, I will be on a plane first thing. And don't you dare unpack."

  "You can't do that! You'll start a war between packs if you come here unannounced. And..." Evony debated telling her father that she found her mate. But where would that leave her if Reed ended up rejecting her. She'd have no choice but to marry Alex. Well, she'd always have a choice, there were just so few options that would keep her happy and alive.

  "Daddy please. I would make a much better alpha mate for Alex if I learn some diplomacy here." Evony's only option was to make it seem like this was his idea, but she couldn't figure out how to quite do that. "There's a compromise here. Alex graduates in three years. I'll stay here for three years, and then I'll transfer to his school for my final year. That way, I'll be close whenever he's ready to take over for his father. Meanwhile, while I'm here, I'll cram as many credits as I can; including classes during winter and summer breaks. Maybe I can finish faster than expected. Please, daddy, you know it's always been my dream to go to Harvard." And you're the only parent who wouldn't want their kid to strive for Harvard –with a full ride, at that. But she didn't dare say that out loud.

  Evony considered it a good sign that her father chuckled a little before he spoke. "You already don't need to learn diplomacy, Evy. And nice try by the way. Alex graduates in two years not three. I'll allow those two years for you to milk everything you can from Harvard on the condition that you marry Alex at the end of the spring term of your second year. And listen to me, daughter of mine," her father's voice became darker. So much so, that Evony was scared what message was about to be relayed through the phone. "If you ever cross me or pull a stunt like this again, you will regret the consequences with every fiber of your being."

  Evony narrowed her eyes at the threat and tried to keep the anger out of her voice when she answered back okay. She wasn't sure if she succeeded since her father promptly hung up the phone on her.

  Well that went better than she could have hoped for. She was sure that her father would have preferred starting his war with Alpha Reed sooner, if it meant getting her back under his control. Evony preferred not giving her issues with her father another thought and proceeded to spend the next few hours getting her room together; making the bed, putting her clothes away in the closet and dresser, and setting up her laptop on the desk. She had a few pictures that she kept from her room back home and placed them on top of the dresser.

  When she looked at the clock, she saw she only had about an hour before Arthur would call to see if she wanted to go to the party. Evony was a little tired, that wasn't a lie, but the only thing she had planned to do the following day was to go purchase her books from the bookstore. There would be plenty of time to still do that even if she slept in. Maybe she should go to this party and meet new people. At the very least, she'd get to see a little bit more of the campus.

  Having made her decision to go to the party, Evony grabbed a change of clothes, her key, a towel, and her bag of toiletries and made her way across the hall for the showers. She said hello to the few people in the hallway and quickly found a stall that she could shower in. Evony felt so much better after washing away the stress from traveling incognito from her father's enforcers, and the stress of finding her mate who was probably contemplating rejecting her.

  'I mean why else would he walk away from us?' Evony asked her wolf, but the thought of the possibility of being rejected was too distressing for her to answer.

  Once she was clean, Evony dressed into her clothes and cleaned up after herself before returning to her room. As soon as she entered the door, her phone rang.

  "Hey Arthur! Are you leaving work now?" She asked after checking the caller id.

  "Yeah I was able to get off a little early. How did you know it was me?" He asked.

  "I just figured that since it came up a Boston number it was you. Unless the school was calling me for some reason. You're the only one that I actually know out here."

  'Lies. It could have been our mate,' Evony's wolf hummed.

  "Great deduction skills, I guess. You want to meet me outside Canaday? I'll be there in like five minutes."

  Evony quickly accepted and hung up the phone. Grabbing her keys, she then made sure her room was secure and hurried the elevator. Arthur was waiting for her in the lobby of the dorms and he started giving her a tour of the campus along their walk to his campus house. It was already getting dark early but she could make out better the buildings he pointed in the general vicinity of, thanks to her werewolf vision.

  "So what are you going to major in, do you know yet?"

  "Yeah, something in political science. Possibly international studies. Politics and diplomacy is very important to me. I guess you could say my family as well."

  "Ahhh, so you come from a generational political family? Am I walking beside the next Kennedy dynasty?

  "Something like that. We're more community affairs back home. I'm technically the first to consider international affairs. But I figured whatever works on the bigger picture can work on the smaller scale as well. Especially since some of the people that we deal with are so diverse. And then again who knows, maybe more can get done at the community level that will affect the main stage. You know?"

  Evony looked over to Arthur who was staring at her in awe. "What is there something on my face or something?" She asked and started feeling her face.

  "Uhh, no. I'm sorry. You're kind of amazing. I've never heard anyone speak about politics so passionately before. The few people I know in poli-sci, are kind of stuck-up, know-it-alls. You kind of make me want to switch my major." Arthur chuckled and Evony joined in.

  "What is your major?"

  "Pre-law. I started out in journalism but there was this one elective that I took my first semester that made me change my mind. My parents are happier. They were kind of disappointed that I was spending so much money for a journalism degree that every college can offer. But I didn't do it for them."

  "We'll look at us, we're pretty passionate people who seem to have it all figured out."

  They were comfortable together, even while walking in silence. Evony's ears pricked up at the rising sounds of a party coming close to its peak. She was sure it was too soon for her to hear it if she was human, so she didn't mention it to Arthur yet.

  "So, I was kind of wondering if you had a boyfriend. If you don't, I would love to take you out sometime for dinner. Or maybe drinks." Arthur blushed, and Evony, for one second, wished that she could say yes.

  "I'm sorry Arthur. I am in a relationship right now. But I really would love it if we could be friends." She hoped she let him down gently. She really did want him as a friend that she could trust.

  "Yeah it's cool. I should have known that you were involved with someone. I would definitely love to have you as a friend."

  They were closer to the house, and Arthur pointed out the building like he did previously. "Well, here we are. Come on, I'll show you around. You're not gonna be the only freshman here, I'm sure, but there probably aren't going to be too many of you." Arthur warned.

  "So I should feel honored, is what you're saying?"

  "Actually yes. You should." Arthur smiled and Evony was glad that everything was good between them and that they could go back to joking around. Arthur introduced her to some of t
he guys that stayed at Dunster House with him along the way to the kitchen. While on the way, Evony caught a familiar scent of a wolf and she was happy that maybe there was a chance she could connect with someone who could show her the best places to run.

  After grabbing drinks for them, Arthur started a conversation with some of his friends, and Evony started to get antsy. She excused herself from the group that she just met and went in search of the werewolf scent that she caught earlier. As she drew closer to the common room while people milled around or danced in clusters, she was able to distinguish that there were three wolf scents in the corner. A couple was making out and there was a girl who looked to be with them, but wished she could be elsewhere.

  At the same time, Evony watched as all three caught her scent and turned her way. Evony lifted the necklace that looked like dog tags that signified that she had amnesty. They relaxed when they caught a look at her badge.

  "Hey, I'm Evony. Are you guys sophomores?"

  "Yeah, I'm Denise, these two lovebirds are Nick and Madeline. Or Maddie for short. Where are you from?"

  "Colorado, Silver Fang to be exact." Evony said it as if Silver Fang could be a town in Colorado in case anyone happened to overhear. Though with the way the music was pumping, there was no way a human could hear anything they said.

  "Oh aren't we about to go to war with them?" Maddie said pulling out of another make out session with Nick.

  "Maddie, stop. We're not supposed to speak about pack business."

  "Everyone knows it. It's been gearing up for like years."

  "You're right, everyone seems to know about it. But for the sake of getting your head probed by witches, I wouldn't risk saying anything else about it." Evony warned Maddie and Nick nodded his head.

  "Are you a sophomore as well Evony?" Nick asked.

  "No. I'm a freshman. Arthur helped me move in today and invited me here tonight. So are there any more of us here?"

  Nick and Madeline had checked out and started making out again. Denise rolled her green eyes at them. "I'm so glad you're here, now I'm not the idiot third wheel with them." Denise gave Evony her first smile since they met, and Evony hoped that she could also count her as a friend. "And to answer your question, yeah. When you get a chance, join the Reservoir Club. It's not advertised for people to join if they're human. It has to be by invite only. We meet Sunday's, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at sundown. We drive out to different reservoirs or the pack house to give our wolves a chance to run. Here," she handed over her phone and Evony entered her phone number for the second time that day. "I'll text you when we have a location to meet on Sunday."