Blood Moon (Moons of the Wolf Series Book 1) (13 page)

CHAPTER 16

A few days passed and Charlotte avoided her pack members.  She wanted to distance herself from the rude comments that Riley and other members would make about Zachary and his “condition”.  Samantha feared that Charlotte was disclosing pack-only information to the vampire, but she wasn’t sure how to confront her about it.

***

One night after Samantha had finished her shift at Da Vince’s, the Italian Restaurant the Riley’s father owned, she was walking out to her car when she saw Zachary getting out of a new car with an incredibly attractive young woman.  Samantha watched as he led her into the restaurant, holding the door open for her and then slinking his arm around her tiny waste.  Samantha pursed her lips and got into her car, dialing Charlotte’s number.

“Hello?”  A disgruntled Charlotte answered.

“Can we talk?  I just saw Zach…”  Samantha was quiet, afraid of hurting the already fragile relationship between the two of them.

“With a young and attractive woman?  I know.  He told me that the brood mistress demanded that he take her daughter out in order to further his loyalty to them,” Charlotte responded bitterly.

“And you’re okay with this?”  Samantha question, befuddled.

“No.  Not particularly.  But the more that I can trust him the more that he can help us.  It’s not any of your business, anyway.  Jaden was looking for you earlier, why don’t you go bother him?”  Then they was a click as Charlotte hung up on her.

Samantha frowned and glanced back towards Da Vince’s as she dialed Jaden’s number.

He didn’t answer until the third ring, “Hello?”

“Charlotte said that you were looking for me,” Samantha started, “What’s up?”

“Oh, hey Sam.  Yeah, dad wanted to have you over for dinner tonight.  He wants to get to know you and Riley better.  Something about formally meeting his daughter’s future husband.”

“Oh…”  Samantha mumbled as she clenched her teeth.  Riley was still parading around as though they were getting married, as if everything between them was okay.  Of course he would think that, however, Samantha had yet to tell him otherwise.

A long and awkward silence descended upon them, and Samantha checked to make sure that she hadn’t lost the call.

“Well, Riley said that he was busy tonight when I had spoken to him about it, but you’re still more than welcome to come.  Liv can’t make it either.”  Jaden finally said.

“I…I don’t know J…”  Samantha was hesitant and she picked invisible lint off of her skirt.

“Please?”  Jaden practically begged, “Consider it an early birthday present.”

“Your birthday is in July,” Samantha retorted, unimpressed by the blatant desperation in her half-brother’s voice.

“You are a life saver.  Best littler sister in the world.”  Jaden replied excitedly.

“I’m the only sister you have, you don’t quite have the luxury of having a comparison.  For all you know I could be a shitty sister.”

Jaden laughed, “I’ll see you shortly.”

“Bye, J,” Samantha responded as she hung up.  She quietly drove to Jaden’s house and she pulled into the driveway.  She shook her head at Jaden, who was sitting on the lawn with his shirt unbuttoned.  Samantha stepped out of the car and walked up to him, an eyebrow raised.

“Oh, a button down shirt.  It must be a special occasion,” She laughed.

“Dad demanded that I dress nicely…”  Jaden grumbled and he rolled his eyes.  He stood and gave Samantha a loose hug, “Thanks for coming…I know we don’t talk about our family situation a lot, but I’m glad you’re here.”

“What are sisters for?”

Jaden laughed, “Honestly, I don’t know.”

They went into the kitchen where Samuel had set up a buffet style meal.  Samantha looked up at Jaden who shrugged.

“Was he expecting a small army?”  Samantha whispered.

“Most likely…”  Was Jaden’s response.

“There you are!”  Samuel’s voice came from behind them.  They turned to face him, “It’s great to see you Samantha…”  Samuel continued as he gave her an awkward hug.  He turned to Jaden and looked him over, “Button up your shirt.”

“Dad…it’s only us here…”  Jaden whined in protest.

“Jaden Michael…”  Samuel scolded.

“Fine…”  Jaden began buttoning up his shirt, grumbling under his breath.

“So, Samantha, I hope that you like Mexican food,” Samuel said playfully, turning back to her, “I made everything myself.”

Samantha smiled sheepishly, “Cool…” Her response was awkward and she shifted.

“Where is your boyfriend tonight?  You do have a boyfriend, right Samantha?”  Samuel pressed.

Samantha shifted uncomfortably looking down at her shoes, “He had work.”  She lied.

“Let’s eat, guys,” Jaden interrupted the uncomfortable exchange.

Quietly Samantha and Jaden made themselves plates and sat down at the table.  They ate in silence, both of them staring down at their plates.  Samantha was uncomfortable to say the least, and she shifted in her seat and glanced at Jaden, who barely looked up at her.  Finally, Samuel broke the awkward silence by clearing his throat.  Both of his children looked up at him, but did not say a word.

“So, Samantha.  Tell me, what do you think of the current situation with Charlotte and her boyfriend?”  Samuel asked, looking towards her.

“Jaden’s told you about that?”  Samantha replied, giving Jaden a sideways glance.

“No,” Samuel responded, “I have my own way of checking up on things.”

“The situation is complicated.  Personally I think that if he is truly on our side that he has the potential to be a great asset.”  Samantha looked away from her father and pushed her rice around on her plate.

“What makes you say ‘if’?”  Samuel asked curiously.

“The pack barely knows anything about him.  We never have.  Plus, he’s a vampire.  Kedar is very adamant that there is no such thing as a good vampire.  He says it’s not a fairytale and that vampires that try to retain their humanity end up dying.  Besides, the only kind of good vampire is a dead one.”

“Kedar?”  Samuel tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brow, “Isaac Taylor’s grandson?”

Samantha shrugged, still not looking up from her plate, “I don’t know his grandfather’s name since he barely talks about his family, but I guess so.  Kedar isn’t a very common name, so there can’t be too many around here.”

Samuel simply nodded.

“Wait…How do you know Kedar?”  Samantha looked up, scrunching her face up in confusion.

“I knew his grandfather back when I was an alpha.  We were friendly.  It’s very…  Interesting that he said those things to you.”  Samuel took a sip of wine, which he hadn’t touch all dinner.

Samantha put her fork down, “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing.  It’s just interesting.”

Samantha frowned deeply.  Somehow she thought that there was a story behind what Samuel had said.  However, she wasn’t about to ask him.  She highly doubted that he would tell her anyway.  She didn’t say a word and she, her brother and father finished the rest of their meal in silence.  Afterwards, Samantha helped Jaden and Samuel clean up the kitchen.  It was almost unbearably quiet as they cleaned the dishes and Samantha could feel a certain level of tension in the air.  She didn’t dare speak, so she continued to dry the plates as Jaden handed them to her.  When that task was complete Jaden and Samantha went out onto the front porch and sat on the steps together.

“So, what was Liv up to tonight?”  Samantha asked softly, leaning her arms on her knees and leaning forward slightly.

“Her and Meghan were moving her grandmother into their house,” Jaden responded as he kicked a rock off of the step below him.

Samantha nodded and then hesitated for a moment, “Did Riley tell you where he was going to be tonight when you talked to him?”  She almost didn’t want to know, but another part of her wasn’t sure why it was bothering her so much.

“He said something about getting on the basketball team.”  Jaden shrugged.

Samantha looked at Jaden, shocked at first, and then she raised her eyebrow, skeptical, “We don’t exactly have time for extracurricular activities right now…”

Jaden nodded in agreement, “Trust me, Sam, I know…”

Samantha shook her head and sighed loudly.  She ran her fingers through her hair and looked away from Jaden.  He placed his hand on her shoulder, unsure if she was upset.  She was, and she was sure that her body language was portraying that.  She didn’t want to come right out and say that she didn’t believe Riley’s excuse, but the truth was that she didn’t.  Colin would have made it very clear that joining the basketball team should have been at the bottom of the list of Riley’s priorities and would have demanded that he put it off until next season.  She rubbed her temple and closed her eyes.

The front door opened behind them and both Jaden and Samantha turned to look at Samuel who was standing in the doorway.

“Could you both come inside for a moment?”  He requested, smiling softly.

Samantha glanced towards Jaden, who wore an aggravated expression.  Despite his apparent displeasure he stood and went inside.  Samantha followed in suit and they both turned to face their father as he closed the door behind him.  He led his two children into his office and went into one of the drawers in his desk.

“I would like to give you both something,” He began as he shifted through the drawer.  He finally pulled out two red satin bags, which were very small; probably only big enough for a few quarters to fit inside, “I know both of your birthdays are a long ways away, but since Christmas is coming up you can consider these early Christmas presents.”  He handed one bag to Jaden and one to Samantha.  She turned to Jaden and watched him open his bag before opening hers.

Jaden’s face was weary as he pulled the miniature bag open.  Inside was a white gold ring with a wolf’s head adorning it; an alpha’s ring.  The weariness turned to aggravation in an instant and Jaden quickly put the ring back inside of the bag and shoved it into his pocket.  Samantha had a feeling that when she left Jaden and Samuel were going to exchange some strong words.  Samantha slowly opened her bag, expecting to see a very similar ring.  She was correct.  She pulled an identical-but-smaller ring out of her bag.  She frowned slightly, confused.

She looked up at Samuel, “You do know that Jaden and I aren’t alphas, nor will we ever be.  Why give us alpha rings?”  Her voice was tense as she posed the question.

“Regardless of whether or not either of you will be alphas you are still my children.  Once upon a time I was an alpha, it’s something that runs in your blood, and only a few are born to lead.  The rings are merely to symbolize that and to show your ties to me, rather than to indicate your rank within the pack.  The gems aren’t the color of any pack within the Head’s territory, so it shouldn’t be an issue.”  Samuel pointed to the topaz gems on Samantha’s ring, “They’re your birthstones.”  Samantha pursed her lips, her birthstone was
not
topaz, it was peridot, but she wasn’t going to say anything.  She wasn’t very surprised that Samuel didn’t know when her birthday was.  Samantha dropped her ring back into her bag and she closed it.

“Well.  Thank you, Samuel.  But, I should really go.”  She said, smiling awkwardly up at him.

“It was great to see you Samantha, please come by again soon.”  Samuel responded, putting one arm around her in a loose hug.

Samantha nodded, “Likewise, and I’ll try…”  Jaden took her by the arm lightly and he led her out to the front of the house, down the walk and to her car.  He gave her a careful hug, bid her goodnight and went back inside.  She got into her car, dropping the satin bag carelessly into her cup holder.  She pulled her phone out of her purse and hit speed dial number 2; calling Kedar.

He answered almost immediately, “What’s up, Sam?”

“Hey, are you doing anything tonight?”  Samantha asked as she fastened her seatbelt.

“No, I just put a pizza in the oven and was going to watch a movie or two.”  Kedar responded, “Why?”

“Would you like some company?  I’m sure you won’t be able to eat that whole pizza…”  Samantha laughed lightly and she twirled her hair around her finger.  She knew that he wouldn’t say no to her.

“Hmm.  Share my pizza, or eat it all myself… I guess I could share.  I’ll see you soon then?”

“Yes, sir!”

After fifteen minutes Samantha was pulling up to Kedar’s house.  She parked her car behind his and when she turned to get out Kedar was already standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe.  She smiled to herself and walked up to him.  He stepped aside to let her in and closed the door behind them.  She slipped off her shoes and took off her lace over-shirt, revealing her white spaghetti-strapped tank-top.  She wrapped her arms around him, giving him a tight hug.  He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up as she giggled lightly.  He put her down and they walked into the kitchen together.

“Just in time, the pizza is almost ready,” Kedar said as he stuck his head in his fridge.  He took two sodas out and handed one to her, “What was the special occasion?”  He asked as he indicated her not-so-casual outfit.

She looked down at herself, “Oh, I went and had a light dinner with Jaden right after work.  I never changed.”