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Authors: Stephane Julian

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BOOK: GraceinMoonlight
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“My mate would tell you I’m not, usually. But then she puts
up with me day in and day out.”

Kaisie nodded, but that ache in his chest had returned. The
one he’d had earlier today. The one he didn’t understand. And probably didn’t
want to know what caused it.

Since Aule continued to stare at him, Kaisie forced a smile,
which his friend probably knew was fake. He didn’t care. “Make my excuses, will
ya? I think I’m gonna head out.”

After a brief pause, Aule nodded. “Sure. Hey, stop for
dinner. Mary’ll make you ravioli. She knows you love it. Bring Kaine and John.”

Grabbing his coat from the pile on the kitchen table, he
left after telling Aule he’d call to set a date. Maybe he actually would this
time.

Then again, he’d become so fucking antisocial lately, he
probably wouldn’t.

Stepping out of the house, he took a moment to just breathe
in the cold air. February in Pennsylvania usually meant snow on the ground but
the last snowfall had been in early December so the ground was frozen but not
covered.

He thought about changing into his pelt and going for a run,
maybe heading over to the Howling Wolf bar to listen to the Lady of the Silver
Light, the Etruscan Moon Goddess Lusna, sing some blues.

He decided against it when he realized she’d probably want
to talk to him and he had no desire to talk to anyone. Not even the
lucani
’s
patron goddess.

He really was an antisocial son of a bitch.

Except, there was one person he would have no problem
talking to right now.

And his feet had automatically pointed him in her direction.

He tried to ignore the impulse, tried to tell himself he was
only walking back through the den, when his house was in the completely
opposite direction, because he needed the exercise.

Shit. The least he could do was not lie to himself. He’d
done enough of that through the years.

Soundlessly, he made his way through the wooded areas
between the houses on the outskirts of the small
lucani
village and the
more densely populated area closer to the community area.

The little house that was his target rested dead center in
the village.

It only had five rooms and one floor but apparently she
liked it. At least, she hadn’t complained when Kyle had told her she’d be
moving out of the holding facility where she’d been kept for months.

Kyle had figured she’d be safer surrounded on all sides than
stuck on the outskirts of the village where he’d have to assign guards at all
hours.

Besides, she wasn’t going anywhere without her son. She’d
made that perfectly clear.

No one had any reason to doubt her word not to leave the
safety of that house after dark without an escort.

Kaisie figured she was tucked up tight inside. Probably not
sleeping. Grace didn’t look as if she got near enough sleep lately. Couldn’t
blame her for that.

If his child had been abducted by the
Mal
, he’d be
going crazy with worry.

Grace seemed to be holding it together fairly well,
actually.

Which was part of the reason he goaded her. When they
verbally sparred, she didn’t look as terrified.

Why that bothered him… Hell, he didn’t have a fucking clue.

He reached the house in minutes then found himself leaning
against an old pine at the back, where a large window looked straight through
the tiny kitchen into the front room.

He knew she wasn’t sleeping because he saw her, huddled on
the couch, a mug in her hands as she stared at the TV, though he was pretty
sure she wasn’t watching the program.

He didn’t take Grace for a fan of late-night infomercials
about men’s hair loss but he didn’t really know Grace that well.

And right there was another problem.

He wanted to get to know her. He wanted to know about the
shadows in her eyes and how she’d gotten that scar on her back. The one that
looked like a burn.

He wanted to know what she liked to eat and what side of the
bed she slept on. He wanted her to tell him who he could kill for putting that
pain in her eyes and he wanted her to tell him she was never going back to the
Mal
.

Idiot.

Hell, he’d never wanted to kill for a woman before. He was a
tracker. He wasn’t
sicari
, an assassin.

But…he would kill for her.

He took a deep breath, barely scenting the two
lucani
out on patrol. Another
lucani
might not have been able to detect them.
His powers of smell were just that much better.

Which meant he could smell her tears. With her face turned
away from him, toward the TV, he couldn’t see her crying but he knew she was.

Gods damn. Just… He sighed. Nortia, the Etruscan Goddess of
Fate, must really have it in for him. What the hell had he done to piss her
off?

He should go home. He needed to sleep. He hadn’t had nearly
enough to make up for the hours he’d missed when he was looking for her boy.
And yeah, he was exhausted.

Besides, she wouldn’t want him here. He’d frighten her if he
knocked on the door this late at night.

But like every house in this village, there was a swinging
door on the back entrance, just the right size for a large wolf to enter.

Even though the temperature hovered below freezing, he
stripped down to his skin then folded his clothes and left them on the bench by
the back door before he shifted.

Standing with his feet on the frozen ground, he called his
wolf with little effort. The pain lasted only a few brief seconds. It ripped
through him with the force of a bullet, tearing at his muscles and reshaping
his bones before he stood on four paws and gave a full-body shake, just to make
sure everything was where it was supposed to be.

It always was but he still checked every time. Force of
habit.

Walking up to the back door, he found the latch to unlock
the gate, easily manipulated by a wolf’s paw, then slipped through into the
kitchen.

As the panel swung shut with the barest hint of sound, he
heard Grace gasp as she turned. Her gaze locked onto him immediately and he saw
her scramble off the couch, nearly dropping the mug in her hand before she
steadied it with her other.

He thought about shifting back, showing her who he was but
when her eyes narrowed and her teeth bit into her bottom lip, he realized she
knew it was him.

Then she confirmed it. “It’s a little late for visiting,
isn’t it, Kaisie?”

Now there was the tone he wanted to hear in her voice, even
if it was overlaid with the wet sound of the tears she’d been crying. That
haughty, high-society drawl she used on him all the time. Nobody else, just
him.

That tone did things to him…

He shook his head and walked around the couch, knowing she
watched his every move. He didn’t smell fear on her. If he had, he would have
shifted back into his skin and gotten his clothes.

But he wanted to stay in his pelt. He wanted…

Jumping up onto the couch, he lay on his stomach, paws out
in front of him, staring up at Grace.

She watched his every move with narrowed eyes but her teeth
worried her lip until he thought she might break the skin.

With a huff, she pushed that gorgeous red hair over her
shoulder and sat back down on the opposite end of the couch, a sectional with a
chaise. She stretched her legs along the chaise but she didn’t look at all
comfortable.

“I don’t know what you’re doing here but I don’t want to
fight with you. Not now.”

He didn’t want to fight either. And he didn’t want the
entire width of a cushion to separate them.

Careful not to rip the fabric with his nails, he shimmied
over onto that center cushion and pushed his snout against her leg.

She wore flannel pants that smelled like her. So damn soft
against his nose. On top, a huge, old sweatshirt covered her from neck to
thighs, faded and washed so many times, it felt like a baby’s blanket. That
smelled like her too.

Hot, sweet woman.

He squashed the growl building in his throat. She probably
wouldn’t understand that it wasn’t an angry sound.

Nudging her leg again, he heard her huff. “You’re pushy no
matter what form you’re in, aren’t you? Do you want the entire couch?”

He shook his head then licked her nearest hand, clenched
into a fist on her knee, and felt her shiver.

Her fingers straightened and flexed and she lifted her hand.

That was the opening he’d wanted. He laid his head where her
hand had been, twisting his body onto his side and stretching out along the
cushions.

For a full ten seconds, her hand hovered in the air over his
body. He almost thought she was going to push him away.

Then her hand descended and her fingers settled onto his
fur, gently, as if she were afraid she’d hurt him.

Or maybe she was afraid he’d snap at her.

He lay as still as possible, not wanting to spook her and
after a few minutes, she started to run her hand along his fur.

No one but his daughter had ever petted him before. The sensation
was strange. Nice but strange. Especially considering the feelings this woman
riled in him.

Instead of the usual tension, his muscles relaxed and he
huffed out a breath, which made her pause for a few seconds before she
continued. They sat there in silence, the low drone from the television the
only sound and the soft flicker of the screen the only light.

If he hadn’t been so acutely aware of where he was and with
whom, he might have fallen asleep. As it was, he had no problem staying awake
so he could enjoy the sensation of her hand stroking through his thick fur.

Tinia’s teat, if he’d known how fucking good this felt…

No, probably best not to go there. Because if he did, he
might have to consider why he allowed her, of all people, to get this close.

After several minutes, he heard her sigh. “I keep wondering
what he’s doing. Does he think I’ve abandoned him? What lies has Ettore been
telling him? Does someone read him a story before bed? Do they tuck him in? Is
he feeling better or is he still sick?”

Kaisie heard the agony in her voice, the fear. It hit him in
another part of his body, dead center in his chest.

“I don’t know even know why Ettore took him. What’s changed?
Alex wasn’t born
Mal
, not like—” She stopped to draw in a breath. “He
didn’t want him when he was born. Why would he change his mind now?”

Since Kaisie had no answers for her, he remained quiet,
sensing she just needed to vent. She continued to pet him with a light touch
even though her tone had hardened.

“I’m not a violent person. I’ve made horrible mistakes. The
men I hired when I first started to look for the right donor for Alex’s serum
were animals. But I was desperate. I didn’t know they’d murdered my test
subjects. I should have. I make no excuses. But my son was dying. I’d already
lost my daughter and I couldn’t lose Alex.”

At the mention of her daughter, he turned his head to look
at her.

Tears welled in her eyes, which he could barely see because
she refused to look down at him. He heard a soul-deep pain in her voice that called
to the man. Again, he felt the urge to shift and take her into his arms.

He wondered if she’d let him.

Probably not.

Probably safer to stay in his pelt.

Shit. When had he become such a fucking pussy?

Then again, discretion really was the better part of valor
occasionally.

And sometimes the feel of a woman’s hand on your pelt was
enough to make you stupid.

Chapter Two

 

For hours, Grace had been battling nausea, dizziness, muscle
pain and a monstrous headache that she couldn’t afford to turn into a migraine.

She didn’t have to guess at the cause but she couldn’t force
herself to stop obsessing and get some sleep.

She needed to be sharp tomorrow, needed to prove herself
worthy of her son. To be useful when the
lucani
went to rescue Alex.

But she couldn’t sleep because she’d worked herself into a
state of complete panic.

Until that damn wolf had walked through the doggie door.

Then she’d actually felt her muscles begin to relax. All
because she knew exactly who this wolf was.

Now with her hand stroking his pelt and his head on her lap,
she felt her nausea ease and the dizziness disappear.

Because of him.

He couldn’t take away the fear, though. That remained a cold
lump in her stomach, a raw ache in her chest.

But having Kaisie lying on the couch next to her made
everything else settle.

And that should’ve been a scary thought.

Too bad everything else in her life was even more
terrifying.

“We have to succeed tomorrow,” she said, knowing he
understood her. “And if we don’t, at least Alex has to know we tried. I can’t
let him believe I abandoned him to that monster.”

Kaisie’s wolf whined and shook his head.

Amazingly, she knew exactly what he couldn’t say.

“Yes, he could think that. He’s only a boy. Whose mother has
done awful things. Horrible…”

She’d done them to save her son, yes, but the blood of two
young Etruscans was on her hands. The men she’d hired to kidnap her test
subjects had been less than honorable.

“I know I should’ve known when I hired them. But Alex was
dying. And I was naïve enough to think those men would simply release those
young people. I didn’t know they were going to kill them. I should have. I know
I should have.”

It was why she’d expected the
lucani
to simply kill
her and be done with it.

She’d begged the
lucani
king, Colerus Luporeale, to promise
her Alex would be well cared for, should anything happen to her.

He’d agreed without hesitation.

Which was why she was fully prepared to die tomorrow to
ensure that Alex got out with the
lucani
. They wouldn’t care if she
didn’t— Well, that wasn’t completely true.

BOOK: GraceinMoonlight
3.47Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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