The Lunar Child: The Elemental Wolves

by M. D. Butler

  Finding out what’s going on with the little pixie that I’m fated to.

  Chapter 6

  Krix

  I meet Mav and Cash at the entrance to the cafeteria after second block. Cash looks like he’s walking on cloud nine. Bastard would, since he had her to himself for a whole class. I hope I get the same blessing in one of my next two. If we’re lucky, we may each have her in one.

  I can’t wait for y’all to see her eyes. You’re in for a fucking shock.

  Glad he has the presence of mind to use the link. He told us earlier that we need to keep the attention off her for the time being.

  What do you mean? They’re blue, right? That’s what it looked like when we first saw this morning outside. They looked light blue, or something.

  I’m with Mav on this one. They looked blue from our brief glimpse of her. Striking with her coloring.

  Just wait and see. He hesitates a bit before continuing. You have to stay calm, too. There’s something that you guys might notice, but you can’t let it get you out of control when you see it. I know y’all felt what happened earlier. Made me slip up, and she noticed the rumble. Spooked her a bit, but nobody else seemed to care. It’s like they’re used to shit like that happening.

  We get our food, two plates each, and make our way to an empty table in the back corner on the right side of the room. Once we’re seated, with Cash across the table and Mav on my left, I look right at Cash.

  What is it? If it’s that bad, you should warn us. Can’t be that bad if Den hasn’t reacted. The fire alarms haven’t gone off.

  Cash isn’t the only one that can make jokes. Mine just have a little truth to them.

  Then he hasn’t seen it. I only saw it when I lifted her hair to put it up for an experiment. I didn’t want it to get burned, but she pulled it right back down after that. Her hair hides a lot more than her face. I think her clothes do, too.

  He hesitates again, but now I can guess why. People only use clothes to hide a couple of things, and I highly doubt she has any tattoos. I brace myself for the inevitable conclusion. I can tell that Mavrin is doing the same.

  Her neck is bruised. Looks someone tried to strangle her, and you know that it had to have happened this morning before she got to school if it’s still visible. Someone fucking hurt my babe, guys!

  What the fuck do you mean she’s bruised?!

  I jump when Den’s voice roars in my head.

  “Oh, shit.”

  Yeah, Cash just fucked all the way up by not narrowing the link to exclude Den. He must’ve been silently listening the entire time.

  I look towards the double doors of the cafeteria to see him standing there with Jahla.

  Mother, she’s a beauty. Even with her standing there so tense besides statuesque Denahi. He hasn’t exploded in a blazing inferno, so that’s good.

  Calm down! She doesn’t know what we’re talking about, and you’re making her nervous since you’re just standing there like that. Get your food and come sit down. We have to tread carefully with this. It’s a delicate matter.

  Thank the Mother for Mavrin. We all watch as he takes a deep, calming breath before leading her to the grub line. She doesn’t pick up a tray, saying something I can’t hear over the noise. He faces her as he barks something at her that makes her shrink a little. Whatever she says pisses him off again, but he doesn’t respond to her. Just picks up an extra tray and starts to fill both. She hesitates before following behind him in line with her head down.

  What the hell is going on now?

  She doesn’t eat lunch! What wolf that you know skips a meal? Says she never comes in here because she doesn’t like crowds. The bruises, skipping meals… Who the hell are her parents? They have shit to answer to.

  I can understand his reaction now, but refrain from giving a response. He needs a second to get himself together.

  He pays for their food, and they turn to head our way. Her head is still bent to look at the floor, and it’s driving me crazy. She should always have her head held high. She just looks so… defeated.

  He sits her on Cash’s right before taking the seat on her other side across from Mav and me. He slides the extra tray in front of her, and just stares at her. Dude needs to chill with the intimidation, but I know he can’t help it. It’s just the way he is.

  She fidgets before her eyes slowly rise to mine.

  I never had a favorite color, but lavender is it from this moment on. Dear Mother, she is gorgeous.

  “Hi, Jahla. I’m Mavrin. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  I shake myself from my staring-and possible drooling-when Mav introduces himself. “I’m Krix. I’m so glad we’ve found you. Have you lived here your whole life?”

  I’m nothing if not direct.

  “H-hey Mavrin. D-did you say Chris?” Damn, I could listen to her talk all day for the rest of my life. Her voice is that beautiful. I wonder if she can sing. That would be the icing on the cake.

  “No, Krix with an x. um, like Trix cereal if that helps. Our names are kind of weird. Blame our parents for trying to make us stand out.” I try to make a joke to put at ease. It works when I’m rewarded with a small smile, and her shoulders lower just a smidge.

  “Do you guys use a mind link? S-sorry for blurting that out. I-t’s just that you know my name, b-but I’ve only told Cashel. Oh, and yes. I-I’ve always lived here.” She seems to get flustered as she continues to stutter. My angel has to relax.

  My angel. I realize that’s how I see her. Cash did a good job when he described her voice earlier.

  “Relax, but yes. We’re linked, and we’d love to have you be a part of it, but we’ll take this at your pace. Den told us that you’re new to all of this, and we don’t want to overwhelm you.”

  Good thing Mavrin has the presence of mind to say that. I was about to badger her with questions, but he’s right. We have to take this slowly.

  “What’s your favorite color?” Cash sets the tone of the conversation as he opens with that. Guess we’re playing get-to-know-you. Making a game out of it seems to make her relax a little as we all eat. Den spends most of it watching her to make sure she eats, nudging her whenever she takes too long to put something else in her mouth.

  We find out that her parents are dead, and she lives alone. She works at the diner in town almost every day and saves every penny she makes. Only buying herself the bare necessities when needed.

  When I asked her why, she tells us that she wants to get away from her pack, and leaves it at that. We don’t push for an answer, having already figured out the reason.

  She’ll be eighteen on December 21st. Winter solstice, so it’s definitely her. We have a couple of weeks until her birthday, but ours just passed on November 30th.

  She has to cook breakfast every morning for the head families that live in the pack house. That one makes Cash frown before he perks up with, “So, you can cook?”

  We all let the fact that she’s forced to serve people who neglect her slide. For now.

  “Yeah, Delores makes it a point to teach me something new at least once a week.”

  “Delores is your boss?” I need to know everyone that has a role in her life.

  “Yeah, she’s the owner of the diner. She works like a regular employee, though. That’s unusual for this town. The shifters who own places of business wouldn’t be caught dead actually doing the work that they could pay someone else to do.”

  “Lazy fucks.” I shoot Cash a look, but she just laughs. It’s such a musical sound.

  I ask for her number so we can stay in contact, but she doesn’t have a phone. I link the boys to let them know I’ll be getting her one right after school. Well, after we take her to work. No way are we letting her walk anymore. She’s never walking anywhere alone ever again. Hell, we’ll buy her a car if we have to, but I think we all want her with us for now.

  “Where do you live?” Some of the gruffness has left Den’s voice as she’s relaxed and eaten, but he’s still blunt. I don’
t say anything about it because I want to know, too.

  She pauses, looking around at us before she answers. I hope her stutter doesn’t come back. It disappeared when her nerves calmed down.

  “A shack. That’s the only way to describe it. Orphans would usually move in with another pack member, or take a room at the pack house, but nobody wants a freak living under their roof. My shack is outside of the western gate in the woods. It’s not that bad because I get solitude from the others. Nobody really goes through that gate anymore, and the kids don’t want to come near my private space. They used to say they’ll catch something from it.”

  The table is silent after her little revelation.

  Until Denahi opens his mouth, that is.

  “You’re moving in with us.”

  “What?” I can understand her shock, but the others are already nodding their heads. We ignored the fact that she was living alone until she told us that her house is actually a shack outside of the gates. In the fucking woods, for Mother’s sake! No way is she staying there another night. Does her pack not care that a rogue could kill her?

  “I can’t believe your pack would make you live there. I know there are bad ones in every bunch, but I didn’t think they could be like that. Maybe I’m biased, but that shit is fucked up.” Of course, we’re all biased, but Cash is right. That’s wrong.

  “I can’t just move in. I thought we were taking this slow. I have to cook breakfast at the pack house in the mornings, and I’ve got to be there super early to have it done before everybody’s up. I don’t even know where you guys live, let alone if your parents will even let me stay.”

  My eyes bug out of my head at the fire in her eyes, and the power in her voice. Who wouldn’t be shocked after seeing how nervous and afraid she was when we first met her? She was practically a church mouse!

  It’s a fucking turn on to know she may have a little alpha in there. She needs it if she’s going to be with us. Anything less will make it hard for us to bond since we’re all alphas. We could overpower her wolf so much that she’ll never be able to fully connect.

  “Angel, our parents are going to be over the moon when we tell them that we’ve found you. They live in up in Montana with the pack. We’re renting a place on the edge of town. Our alpha acts as our guardian when he needs to. We’ll tell him he needs to talk to yours so you won’t have to go back. There’s no need for you to, anyway.”

  I lay it out and nod my head with finality. Her days of serving those wretches are over. We have too much to do. Since her pack has done nothing but hurt and neglect her, there’s nothing holding her to them. She won’t have to go rogue because she can become a part of our pack, or we can form our own once we bond. It’s how it’s supposed to be, anyway.

  “Look, I can tell this is getting to be too much right now. How about we pick this back up when you get off tonight? We said this will go at whatever pace you feel comfortable with, but please understand that we can’t let you stay there now that we know about it. Our wolves are riding us hard to protect you, sweetheart. Where you’re staying isn’t safe. If you’re not comfortable living with us yet, then we’ll have to be camped outside your home in wolf form to make sure nothing happens.”

  “Mav’s right, but we’ll talk about it later. We’re taking you to work and waiting there until you get off.” Den just can’t stop dictating things.

  “Fine.” She doesn’t like it, but let’s the subject drop. Her eyes are glowing, so her wolf must not like being ordered around. Maybe that’s why she keeps her head down so much.

  Feisty little she-wolf, isn’t she?

  “Do you like beaches, or mountains?” Cash changes the subject, and that’s the route of the conversation until the warning bell rings a few minutes later.

  “Do you have advanced history next?”

  “Yeah, how did you know?” I grab both of our trays, and we all make our way to the bins by the doors. On the way, I notice the students watching us as we walk past. They don’t look happy about Jahla being with us, especially the females. I relay this to the guys in the link so they know to keep an eye out for trouble. She-wolves can get vicious when the male they want is seen with another female.

  They always want us.

  “It was a guess. It’s my next class, and I want to snatch up my turn with you.” My comment makes her blush, and I grin when I notice.

  “What’s your last class? I changing my schedule if I don’t have anything with you.” Mavrin is actually pouting, but I don’t pick at him about it. We’re all addicted to spending time with her now.

  “I have AP English last. Is that you?”

  “Yes! See you in last block, sweetheart.” He rushes off, smiling from ear to ear, knowing that he gets to be in a class with her.

  “See you after school, babe,” Cash says, laughing as he turns to go down the hall to the right.

  “Later, pixie.” Den brushes her hand as he follows behind Cash.

  Huh. We all have little names for her, it seems. She doesn’t seem to mind, although she ducks her head a little as we enter the rush of students in the hall. That can be attributed to her aversion to attention, though.

  This bonding thing may not take so long after all.

  “Come on, angel. Let’s get to class.” With that, we turn to go down the hall. I make sure to stick close to her, but I don’t hold her hand like I’m dying to. I can’t wait until we can love on her whenever we want. This attention-avoidance thing is wearing on my nerves.

  Chapter 7

  Jahla

  History has always been one of my favorite classes, but having Krix’s calming scent surrounding me has made it all the more appealing. Damn, these guys smell good.

  I was a little sad when the bell rang because it signaled my solo time with him was over. Nothing to fret about. I get to be with Mavrin now in English. Having a class with each of them has made my day so far.

  Too bad it couldn’t last.

  Krix passes me off the Mavrin in the hall outside of the classroom with a parting smile, and the promise of seeing each other after school. We walk through the door, and the smile that’s been sneaking across face more often since they showed up instantly drops.

  Blythe, Carmen, and Sierra are in this class. How the hell did I forget that?

  I can deal with the lackeys in my other classes. Benson didn’t even pay me much mind last period. Only giving me confused looks when he noticed Krix talking to me. He doesn’t really bother me unless he’s bored, even though his schemes are worse than the others’.

  Blythe is another story. I know she won’t let my sudden popularity with the male gender be ignored. She hates me too much.

  I keep my head down as I make my way to my seat, hoping she’ll leave me alone. Unfortunately, Mavrin’s features draw too much attention. No way he won’t want her instead. She’s too perfect not to want. I feel like I’m going to lose him before he’s ever really mine.

  I brace myself for the rejection that I know is about to come.

  “Hey, I didn’t catch your name earlier.”

  They’ve met? Despite my nerves, jealousy rears its ugly head again. I just don’t like girls talking to them. Hell, I don’t want them near my guys at all. Can you blame me?

  “It’s crazy that we have two classes together,” she says when he doesn’t respond. “It’s like fate is throwing us together. We should help it along, don’t you think? Want to get together later?”

  Mavrin continues to just stare at her with a blank face. I stand beside him in the aisle between the desks, shocked that she could be so bold. Though, if this is how he acted when she first talked to him, she must feel the need to be a little more out there with her apparent interest.

  She sees me standing there, and zeroes in on her new target with a look of disgust.

  “Why are you just standing there, freak? Get away from him before you give him something contagious.” She turns back to Mavrin with a sweet smile. “You really should’ve taken me up on
my offer earlier. I could’ve saved you from having to deal with her. She’s like an infection that- “

  “Don’t finish that sentence and don’t speak to her that way. Don’t speak to her at all. Me either, for that matter. Please, move so we can get to our seats.”

  I glance up at him, surprise to see his beautiful face set in a granite mask. He places his hand on the small of my back as he brushes past her.

  “Excuse me?!” Oh, no. now she’s screeching like a harpy. Yass, bitch. Show your true colors. He just shut your fake ass all the way down. “Do you know who I am?”

  Ugh, not that cliché line. Did she forget that he just started going here today? Obviously, he doesn’t know her. Bet he doesn’t care, either.

  “I don’t care who you are.” Told you! “The way you speak to and about Jahla is disgusting. I don’t want to associate with anyone like you, so refrain from attempting to engage with me in the future.”

  Wow, Mav’s got a way with words. So well spoken.

  We sit in the back-my usual spot, if you haven’t noticed-and face forward to see her still standing in the aisle. If looks could kill, I’d be dead a thousand times over with the anger shooting from her gaze.

  I’m going to be feeling that shit later. Maybe I should take the guys up on their offer. I could use a break from getting my ass beat every day, and might come and find me for it this time instead of waiting for me to come around.

  “Ms. Huntington, please take your seat. We don’t congregate in the alleyways like a common street cat.”

  Mrs. Royston is my favorite teacher for that alone. She never takes anyone’s shit, and she’s one of the few human that the pack can’t touch. Something about teachers being hard to come by, and no one in the pack has an English degree.

  I glance over at Mavrin at the same time that he looks at me, giving me an encouraging smile. It works to settle me down. He has my back.

  “Alright, chickees. We’re starting on Frankenstein to gather clarification on romanticism. Some of you still think it can only be about the love between a man and woman if your last tests are anything to judge. Mister… Ware? There you are, hun. You started right on time so you won’t be too far behind on this subject. I hope you don’t share the same thoughts as your peers, but only time will tell. Now, everyone take a book and pass it back. You’re to read for the rest of class. I want everyone to have the first six chapters read by tomorrow and be ready for a quiz.”