Luna Junction 1 Feasts with Wolves (W) (8 page)

The sky was clear as the night began
to fall. Claire and Matthew cuddled on a creaky patio swing as the
twins tended the smoking pits. I shivered beneath the bulky coat
and carefully put the plate of cookies down on the gargantuan
wooden table which already hosted towering plates of meat in
variously cooked conditions.

When Cade’s arms circled me, I gave a
little sigh and settled back. Already I had grown used to the
contours of his strong chest. He smelled of smoke and masculine
exertion. I let him turn me around and pull the coat around us so.
My hands traveled down his body and stroked the outline of his
swollen manhood. His breathing quickened, even more so when I
licked the base of his neck. “Cade,” I whispered. “I need
you.”

His large hand, hidden by the coat,
reached under my sweater, beneath my tight bra and stroked my full
breast. “They’re almost here, sweetheart. Later. As many times as
you can stand it.”

I looked at him meaningfully. “I can
stand an awful lot, sir.”

He plunged a hand between my legs. “We
will have to test your resolve, little girl.”

My hand tightened around his arousal.
“Do it.”

The look in his eyes was ferocious. I
half thought he would strip me and take me right there on the cold
ground but he pulled away. He looked at the sky and breathed
deeply. I rested my head against his arm.

“
Which way is
east?”

Cade pointed to a quadrant of sky
which already held a handful of glittering stars. The faint glow of
the rising full moon was beginning to be visible on the tree-lined
horizon. He swallowed thickly and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“They’re here,” he said.

Claire and the Landon boys stood
beside us as a moment later the first headlights became visible on
the winding country road. The line of vehicles seemed endless. A
few honked as they approached. Cade’s arm crept firmly around my
shoulders. Matthew turned and gave his father a meaningful glance
which Cade responded to with a small nod.

The first pickup truck had scarcely
rolled to a stop when a large florid man spilled out of the
driver’s seat. “Landon!” he boomed, huffing in our direction, “I’d
better get dibs.”

“
Naturally, Carmine.
They’re your animals.”

His stomach already hung over his
pants like a sloppy Santa Claus. I didn’t know how much more food
he could stuff in there before he busted open. He stopped suddenly,
his nose in the air. His glittery eyes centered on me in a
heartbeat. “Who are you?”

“
Tatum.”

A quick glance at Cade and then at me
and then at Cade’s arm draped around my shoulders brought a wide
smile to his face. “Well then, isn’t this something!”

“
Tatum, this is Carmine
Bellini. The Bellini family are close friends and
allies.”

Carmine Bellini sauntered over to me.
Though his appearance was rather comically unexpected I could tell
his eyes missed nothing. They certainly made a conscious sweeping
of my body before he laughed, shaking his head. “This won’t go over
big in certain circles.”

Cade tensed. “Fuck ‘em.”

“
Mmmm.” Bellini nodded.
“All right, I’m with you, buddy.” He gave Cade a warm slap on the
shoulder and wandered off to find the food.

Meanwhile an abundance of buxom
dark-haired women had disembarked from their parked vehicles.
“Bellini’s daughters,” Cade whispered to me.

Claire stepped forward and greeted the
women enthusiastically. A sleek middle aged woman stood a few feet
apart. She stared at me curiously as shrieks and cackles arose from
her daughters, who were knotted around Claire.

I quickly lost count of the sheer
numbers of Luna Junction folks which began arriving for the Yule
feast. I was introduced to the Hoffmans, the family of Cade’s
former wife. They were all very light-haired and very lovely, even
the men, though it seemed most of them might be a bit vacant in the
cerebral department. Dieter was the elderly head of the family and
he yelled his greeting to me as if he assumed I were half
deaf.

The Ivanovs were another matter. Lithe
and red-haired, they simmered with a wild sensual energy. Kate
Ivanov was the only female family head. Her bright green eyes were
amused as she came a little too close for comfort and clucked me
under the chin. “Be careful, girl,” she winked and then passed into
the growing throng of revelers, trailed by her coterie of
fire-haired followers.

When a throng of dark-haired
square-jawed guests jauntily showed up, I didn’t need an
introduction to place them. Cade’s rakish features reflected in
many of their faces. They were Landons. “Cousins,” Zane nudged me,
explaining. They seemed unsurprised to meet me and were polite,
though distant, keeping their thoughts to themselves as they
quickly passed into the thick of the gathering.

The Casteel family would be the last
to arrive. Claire kept glancing nervously towards the maze of
parked vehicles which littered the Landon property. Matthew stood
at her side and whispered in her ear. Cade never once left my side
as he calmly greeted the never ending procession of guests. Most
were surprised, though gracious, upon meeting me. The news of
Matthew and Claire was met with wide enthusiasm and may have helped
blunt the shock of a human mating with the head of the Landon
family. A fair number of children ran about, giggling, as they
watched me with interest.

I pointed to the boisterous children.
“Will they, you know, shift tonight?”

Cade shook his head. “A werewolf
cannot shift until adolescence. The children will tire in a few
hours and they will be put to sleep comfortably in the
barn.”

“
And then what?”

Cade pulled me closer. “And then the
moon will have fully risen in the sky. The wolves will commence the
wild hunt in the woods, just as I told you.”

I looked up at him. “You
too?”

His mouth was set in a grim line. “Not
tonight.”

At first I did not know why but every
Luna Junction werewolf paused simultaneously and stared at the
outlying woods. Several of the larger men began to growl as their
inner wolf instincts gave warning. Parents gathered their children
protectively in their arms. I was puzzled. I looked and saw nothing
but darkness.

Zane darted up to us, white-faced.
“Dad,” he said.

Cade pushed me toward Zane. “Stay with
the boys, Tatum.”

Once again I was behind the curve.
“What the hell?” I muttered. An aura of fear had descended over the
celebration. What could be so alarming as to silence a crowd of
werewolves?

Claire was there suddenly, clutching
my arm. “Hunters.”

Cade was taking long strides beyond
the party setup and into the snow-covered clearing which preceded
the woods. Carmine Bellini, Kate Ivanov and Dieter Hoffman followed
right behind him. Given the fearful manner of the Luna Junction
populace I expected a fifty foot demon to step from the shadows but
the darkly cloaked figured of two men had finally advanced to the
point that they were visible to my less keen human eyes.

Cade and his companions stopped. “Hey
there, Ed.”

One of the men removed his dark hood.
He appeared to be nothing more than a balding middle aged guy who
sort of reminded me of my dad. “Landon.”

Bellini had less patience, crossing
his arms over his wide girth and snarling. “Get the hell out of
here, D’arcangelo.”

The man raised his hands in mock
innocence. “What’s with the defensive attitude? We’re only
patrolling the woods tonight.”

Dieter Hoffman pushed past the others.
He seemed to grow several inches as he reddened with rage.
“Careless hateful fools. You’re sort is only satisfied when
spilling blood.” Dieter began to growl, low and deep. Kate Ivanov
put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

D’arcangelo sighed. “Are we really
going to rehash that unpleasantness? It’s been so long without any
trouble.”

“
That unpleasantness cost
me a mate,” Cade reminded him quietly.

The other man removed his hood. He was
taller, more imposing. He pointed directly at me. “What do you mean
to do with the girl?”

Cade’s eyes narrowed. “The girl is
mine.”

For the first time I noticed the
hunters carried curious cylindrical packs over their shoulders. The
points of shiny silver-pointed arrows peeked over the rim and
glinted in the moonlight.

“
You didn’t answer my
question.”

“
I did indeed, Jaeger, so
why don’t you gather up your little friend and go celebrate the
season as you wish.”

The one called D’arcangelo began to
sputter, “The Council-“

“
Has no business here. And
neither do you.”

Jaeger crossed his arms, meeting
Cade’s glare. “Bites have been reported on the east
coast.”

“
Does this look like the
east coast?”

Jaeger frowned. “Council urged that
reminders be issued to all packs that such...transgressions will
not be borne.”

Cade’s voice rose angrily. “We don’t
bite and there sure as hell aren’t any of the bitten running around
in our midst. And you fucking well know it.”

Jaeger swore and shook his head.
“Dammit, Landon. There’s no reason for hostility at this point.
Things are what they are. You know I sent my own daughter away to
shield her from this chaos.”

“
That was your choice.
There’s no threat to your daughter here. If the truce is broken it
will not be our doing.”

Jaeger bent his head. “So be it. We’ll
leave in peace tonight.” Suddenly he glanced around. “And where
might your sheriff be?”

“
Late,” said Cade
simply.

Jager grinned thinly before replacing
his hood. “Just remember folks, we’re watching. Always
watching.”

As the pair retreated back into the
woods a voice from the Luna Junction crowd yelled “Fuckers!” and a
smattering of laughter followed. The four family heads remained
where they were until the hunters were long gone.

Chapter 9

“
Well,” a deep male voice
purred in my ear, “that was intense. Glad I skipped it.”

“
Jesus!” I jumped several
feet. The bronzed godlike man who had silently sidled beside me
wore a battered metal star on his chest and seemed somehow
familiar.

Claire scowled. “Don’t be a dick,
Michael.”

“
Sis,” he laughed. “You
never call. I didn’t know you were in town.”

“
Bullshit.”

Michael smiled. “Yeah, there’s a lot
of that going around.”

Matthew stepped in front of Claire. I
had never seen his face so cold. “Can we expect no interference
from you, Casteel?”

Casteel.
“So you’re Claire’s douchebag brother.” Oh dear, I
really needed to start managing my personal filter more
successfully.

But Michael Casteel roared with
laughter and I remembered where I’d seen him before. He’d been one
of the Chippendale clones who stood on a street corner and nodded
to Matthew as we passed through the center of town. He stopped
laughing abruptly and pressed forward, toward Matthew. His voice
was low and ominous. “You should have asked my
permission.”

“
You wouldn’t have given
it.”

Michael considered. “Probably not. But
I am the head of the family and sheriff to boot.”

Cade was suddenly right behind me.
“You’re only sheriff because we made you such.”

Michael’s eyes narrowed. “Step back,
half breed.” He turned to his sister. “Really, Claire? This is what
you had in mind all along? A pretty little domesticated Landon
life?”

One of the Ivanov girls snickered in
the background. Kate Ivanov slapped her hard.

Claire stood her ground.
“Yes.”

Michael shrugged. “Well, I assume it’s
too late now is it not?”

Claire blushed and looked at the
ground. Matthew drew his arm around her thin shoulders. “It is,” he
confirmed.

“
Well, all right then. Next
item of business.” He turned to me expectantly.

After everything that had happened in
the past two days I was in no mood to cater to the whims of a
prejudiced werewolf. “Yeah, I get it. You have a thing against
humans. Well dude, I’m not going to put myself out trying to change
your mind so why don’t you just sit down, enjoy a hunk of meat with
some beer and try to stop tormenting people?”

“
People,” he laughed to
himself. “People.”

I rolled my eyes. “You know what I
meant.”

He looked me up and down. “I do.
What’s your name, little one?”

“
Tatum Murphy.”

I could hear the smile in Cade’s
voice. “Tatum Landon.”

I nodded, trying to look tall. “Yup,
and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”

Michael Casteel stared at me frostily
for moment, then stalked toward the food. The crowd parted before
him as if he were Moses.