Moon Bound (The Reluctant Werewolf Chronicles Book 3)
Page 14
Levi wiggled and managed to shake Raff loose. Raff fell sideways. Levi rose to his feet. Thinking quickly, Raff kicked him in the shin and then the knee. Levi lost his balance. Raff tackled him to the ground again, this time smacking his head and right arm against the ground. It was soft dirt and grass, but the force with which Raff slammed him down had to hurt.
Levi got his arm out from under him, and it was bent and strangely shaped. After a few seconds of struggle, Levi stopped fighting, going limp. He took ragged breaths and glared out at anyone who dared look him in the face. His cheek was pressed against the damp sod.
“I won,” Raff said. It wasn’t a question. “Your arm is broken. I have your knife. You can’t beat me now.” He paused to let that sink in, and the truth of it seemed to settle over the Portland wolves, who grew eerily silent. “I’d rather not kill you and deprive your pack of your leadership. Concede and I’ll let you live.”
Levi flailed, a death spasm, but it was over.
There was a long pause. Miles whispered something about Levi preferring death to failure. Sasha shrugged in response.
Finally, through gritted teeth, Levi said, “Fine. You win.”
Raff raised his fists in victory and slowly slid off Levi. Levi’s pack mates rushed to his side.
“Don’t touch me,” he snarled at Rayna, who was trying to help him up.
She recoiled. He managed to get himself up, and his pack kept close despite his bad attitude.
Raff came toward us, and I didn’t know if I should bow or whatever, since he was now officially officially our Alpha. But before I could voice my questions about proper post-wolf challenge etiquette, Raff was right in front of us.
And then just in front of me. And then he grabbed me and pulled me close. His lips met mine and a surprised noise died in my throat as he kissed me. He tasted like copper and iron and grass and mouthwash. His arms held me tight and I kissed him back, losing myself in it.
When he finally pulled away, gasping, he said, “Thank you.”
“For what?” I asked, still contemplating the kiss and wondering when I could kiss him again, while telling myself that I absolutely should not kiss him again, and knowing I was totally going to anyway.
“For being you,” he said. “And having my back.”
He leaned it for another quick kiss and his lips were burning hot. I kissed him back, reveling in the heat of his mouth and weight of his hands on my hips and back.
Finally, he extracted himself and cleared his throat. One arm still around me, he turned to the Northern Washington Pack.
“Anyone else want to challenge me?” he asked jokingly.
A cacophony of laughter rose up and rippled through our pack, a high joyous sound of relief. Levi and his pack slunk away, their cars pulling out of the nearby drive one by one.
Sasha opened the barn and invited us all inside for champagne.
Raff and I headed inside together. He didn’t let go of me. And I didn’t let go of him, either.
We spent the evening drinking champagne and telling stories, and Zara left and came back with a mile-high stack of pizzas. Raff and I stole kisses, not talking about this sudden shift in our relationship. We’d have that talk later and work out exactly what we were. Right then, I was elated to be with him, and the rest of the pack.
My pack.
And for the first time ever, I was kind of excited for the upcoming full moon.
Epilogue
Six months later
The air was frigid for May. A storm had moved in, and the sky was slate gray with no break in the clouds overhead. The full moon wouldn’t even be visible tonight, but that didn’t matter. Its pull on us werewolves was strong regardless of whether we could see it.
At least the rain had stopped.
I checked the clock. The clouds made it darker outside than it normally would be at this hour, but sunset was fast approaching. The lemonade I drank earlier sloshed around in my stomach.
Zara and Miles sat on the porch out back with a young woman named Uli, another member of the pack I didn’t know well but who smiled at me when I’d arrived at the Orchard house earlier.
Raff came inside, where I was standing and watching the others through the window, debating on whether to join them. I still had the option to change into a wolf alone in a room here where I could be contained, and I was seriously considering it.
Raff’s blond hair had freshly dyed streaks of blue and was tousled from the wind. He wore black athletic shorts and no shirt, and smelled of sunscreen and hot dogs.
The pack had hosted a cook-out this afternoon at the Orchard for anyone who wanted to attend, in order to fuel up for the shift tonight. Raff and Zara had grilled up burgers and hot dogs and skewers of vegetables. Everyone who came brought sides, and we had a veritable feast.
Anyone who wanted to stay after and run free as a wolf on Orchard land was welcome to do so. Most of the pack had left to go do their usual full moon routine, but a handful had hung back. With Raff’s encouragement, I’d stayed, too. But now that my skin tingled with the impending shift, I was doubting that decision.
“You’re going to be fine,” Raff said, his arms winding around me to pull me close against his warm chest. His lips met mine. I closed my eyes and melted into his kiss. When we parted, he offered me a goofy smile. “You’re so beautiful.”
I felt heat rise in my cheeks.
“So are you,” I said, and then I felt my muscles twitch.
Not quite time yet, but it was getting close. I really hated that the clouds were making it impossible to see the progression of the sun sinking on the horizon.
“This is going to be great,” he whispered in my ear.
“I’m not sure I’m ready,” I hedged. “What if I hurt someone?”
Raff’s smile didn’t even flicker. “You won’t.”
His expression was infectious, and his confidence was a balm to my fears. I smiled, too.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because it’s time. Besides, the Orchard’s new fences are sturdy.”
One of Raff’s acts as Alpha was help the pack install new, higher fencing around the Orchard property, which the pack had inherited from Jean. The house now served as a meeting house and residence for any werewolves who needed a place to go. Lots of new werewolves found themselves without a place to live, particularly if they formerly resided with roommates or other people who couldn’t know the truth about what they were. Plus, it could be difficult to hold down a job when you needed the full moon off every month.
“You’ll still be contained,” Raff continued. “It’s just a larger space.”
I chewed my lip. “I don’t know. Maybe I should go hide in the garage until morning.”
“No way. This is going to be amazing.” Raff ran his hand over my shoulder and down my arm and met my eyes with such intensity in his gaze that I wanted to get lost in it. “I promise.”
“Okay,” I said.
I wasn’t totally convinced, but if Raff thought I was ready to transform in the open and run wild—albeit in the Orchard’s confined spaces—then I trusted him.
He took my hand and led me outside. The others had gone out to the field, leaving their clothes behind. I hesitated about taking off my own clothes. I wasn’t exactly shy, and Raff had seen me naked more than once, but it was a little awkward stripping down to nothing in front of a group of people. I would not be a good candidate for a nudist colony. But it was necessary, as the transformation would shred anything I was wearing.
Raff had no problem and pulled off his shorts, waggling his eyebrows at me as he did. I laughed.
As the sky darkened and the moon’s pull began to tug at my veins in earnest, I quickly undressed. The threat of ruined clothes won out over modesty any day.
Someone in the field howled. Miles, I thought. The sound sang in my blood and the urge to answer the call burned in my throat. I yanked off my socks and joined my pack in the field just as the shift began.
White-hot pain exploded in my muscles. I gritted my teeth against the pain, not that it did any good. My whole body burned with the fire of sinew and bone snapping and reshaping itself. I collapsed as my body writhed and morphed into a beast. Like always, it was searing-hot agony, and I blacked out. But in the past few months, I’d learned to come back.
After a time—I assumed only a few moments, but for all I knew, an hour had passed—I blinked. My body was sore. The dark of nighttime blanketed the world and the moon behind the clouds called to me. I got to my feet. My paws, really. I padded forward gingerly at first, unsure. I sniffed the air, sorting through the variety of scents: grass, mud, little creatures burrowing nearby, the smell of other wolves.
My wolf heart pounded, strong and powerful like my new body. Warm fur protected me against the slight chill.
Despite the dark, I could see, but my vision was watery and strange.
The moment I heard a howl from a wolf, one of my pack, all hesitation evaporated. I ran toward the sound. I saw Raff, a beautiful gray wolf with gorgeous blue eyes, so much like his own human eyes that it would be impossible to mistake him for anyone else. I joined him. He stood apart from the pack, watching as wolves chased each other through the apple trees. I nudged him and barked.
The clouds parted overhead, and the moon, big and bright, lit up the Orchard. I howled. The others joined in.
Then I gave short bark at Raff before darting off into the trees.
Raff gave chase.
It was a beautiful night.
*
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About the Author
Tori Centanni is a nerd girl and recovering goth who lives in the rainy Pacific Northwest. When she’s not writing or reading through her never-ending book pile, she spends her time watching competition reality shows and wrangling cats.
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Also by Tori Centanni
The Henri Dunn Series
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The Immortality Cure (Book 1)
Bloodless (Book 2)
Sanguinity (Book 3)
The Reluctant Werewolf Chronicles
Moon Cursed (Book 1)
Wicked Moon (Book 2)