Moon Tortured (Sky Brooks Series Book 1) (35 page)

“I guess I should apologize for the other day,” he stated coolly.

“Why? Are you sorry?” I asked. There wasn’t anything about his disposition that expressed remorse. I was no fool; he was using this opportunity to own up to his actions. He was proud of himself and was here for the sole purpose of gloating. He wanted me to know that he was the panther that wanted me dead in the woods.

He didn’t answer; instead, he focused on that little corner of my eye that seemed to draw everyone’s attention. Daily I checked for it—it was gone, but the results of its existence remained my sin and burden to bear. I was different, an anomaly, something that most people didn’t want to exist and those who did only wanted me for a short time, until I served the gem’s purpose.

“Terait, strange magical abilities, a sergence that clearly shows that you are not one of us. What have you done to Sebastian that he protects you when your life should have been taken?” His gaze chilled me. It was a rhetorical question, but there was intrigue coloring his words. “You are just an abomination of oddities, and yet we continue to let you live when, by all accounts, we shouldn’t.”

How surprising, a were-animal wants me dead. This was becoming so repetitive that I barely felt threatened anymore.
I was tired of being threatened, tired of people wanting me dead without any qualms about voicing it.

Gavin was a transfer from the East Coast, Brooklyn to be exact. Steven said that being the strongest pack in the country had it advantages but one disadvantage was that other packs dumped their “problem children” with them as a last resort. I wondered why he was transferred. Was he transferred because he was too much for his pack to handle? Was it common practice for him to take on the role as judge, jury and executioner? As he glared at me, he’d completed two of the three roles and was waiting out the final. “
You
are vermin, something that should be exterminated. I should be the face of your death.”

I stepped closer to him.

A person can only hear how terrible they are, how wrong their existence is, how much others want them dead so often before you just want to scream, fight and yell. You want to tell them, show them and make them see that you should be here, and you damn well planned on staying. “But you won’t be. You may feel it in every bone in your body, sense the desire so deep that it hurts. But it will continue to be a hunger that you can’t satisfy. Go ahead and wish I was dead, hope for it with everything you have; but as long as Sebastian says I am protected, you won’t do a damn thing about it.”

The mention of Sebastian was enough to make him straighten and control his ensuing wrath. It was my only trump card or rather my wild call. That’s what he was—a wild card. A trump card overrode all. A wild card was fleeting, changing at the dealer’s discretion. Sebastian had chosen to protect my life, and anyone who disobeyed would pay with their life. That is how he felt now. If he ever changed his mind, removed his protection, I was screwed.

With that, I started up the stairs before my fear betrayed me, leaving me exposed in front of a predator who wanted me dead.

“You won’t be protected forever,” he cautioned.

Without turning around I responded, “Perhaps, but until then killing me will be nothing more than just your arousal fantasy.”

Ethan returned soon after my run-in with Gavin, but he had been in the office with Steven, Sebastian, Gavin, Josh and Winter. She had returned minutes before Ethan. Her attitude toward me hadn’t changed as she greeted me with an ill-intended glare. They stayed in the office for a long time. Most of the words remained indistinguishable so I eventually gave up listening at the door and retreated to the kitchen, which I was sure would be his next stop.

“Yes, Skylar?” Ethan asked in a rough unapproachable tone as he entered the kitchen. I didn’t speak, waiting until I could see his face to determine my approach. His voice was anything but welcoming and so was the look on his face. The marking of a long day, unease and exasperation turned his face into a mishmash of unpleasantness. He went straight to the fridge and started pulling out food. “Go ahead; I can wait till after you’ve eating,” I said as I sat down at the table.

After he had warmed up leftovers of tenderloins with a side of chicken, he sat at the table. I looked at his plate and shook my head. I didn’t think he’d ever eaten a vegetable, “I know you identify with the wolf, but your human half needs vegetables.”

He looked at me smugly, walked to the refrigerator, broke off a small stalk of broccoli, took a bite and swallowed it, barely chewing it. “Satisfied?”

I shrugged. “It’s your health.”

He attacked his food the same way I’d seen him do to the poor unsuspecting fawn the first night I went on a run with them. Once his plate was empty and the only traces that food ever existed were the bones, he pushed it forward and waited impatiently for me to speak.

“What happened with Quell?”

“We are trying to negotiate with Demetrius.”

“Negotiate? For what?”

“We asked for the gem, and, in return, we would overlook certain indiscretions that we haven’t in the past,” he admitted.

“Indiscretions?” I asked, unable to hide the disgust in my voice. “What type of indiscretions? Did you agree to let them kill a certain number of people while you turned a blind eye? Do they get to kill expectant mothers now or maybe children? Can they now turn children and kill whoever without any recourse? Or will you provide carry-in for them once a month?” I asked, outraged.

The look on his face confirmed that I may not have been exact but I wasn’t far off. Disgust left a dank taste in my mouth.

“Skylar, you need to calm down,” he ordered.

“No, I won’t calm down! What the hell did you do?” I demanded, coming to my feet.

He stood too and approached me. “This isn’t a good situation. It is a necessary evil. It is a much better alternative than them actually gaining possession of you and all boundaries that restrict them lifted. I assure you, they won’t stop until you are theirs,” he stated. He stalked toward me, backing me to the wall. His hands rested on each side of me, blocking me from moving. I couldn’t look at him. Sliding down to the floor, I pulled my knees up to my chest. “I know this is a bad situation,” I admitted. This situation was an absolute mess. The amount of guilt I felt was too much to handle at this moment.

He sighed, but it came out more like a suppressed growl. “The cards are dealt and we have to play with what we have. You can’t wish them away nor will tears wash the situation away,” he stated coolly.

I looked up at him, showing him a face free of tears. He was truly a piece of work, a real douche extraordinaire. “I’m sorry that loss of life is so frivolous to you. We can’t all be as callous as you seem to be,” I snapped.

“If I were as emotional as you are, I could never perform my job. Sitting on the floor, overwrought with emotion is a luxury this pack cannot afford. We have to make very hard decisions, decisions I wish came with a better resolution, but we must weigh them all and go with the one that is easiest to live with.”

I knew this. I was just too angry to allow reason to have a place in my rant.

“Sucks to be you right now, huh?” I finally let out, meeting his gaze. His face was so solemn and withdrawn; I think he felt the same way.

Leaning against the counter, he seemed to have drifted off somewhere. “I would love to go into their home and just wipe the place clean, rid us of all the blood suckers. But that would guarantee a war that would leave far too many casualties,” he admitted, shaking his head. I thought I would sooner ice-skate on the rivers of hell before I would ever feel sorry for Sebastian and Ethan, but at this moment, a wave of compassion was directed solely at them. Go figure.

Like everyone else in the house, I waited for Demetrius’s response. I heard the front door of the house open and her scent traveled throughout the house like a vapor. Standing at the landing at the top of the stairs, I watched Ethan and Sebastian greet Chris with sneers that might as well have been a welcoming hug the way she warmly smiled to greet them. She knew how to make an entrance.

Leaving Quella Perduta standing at the door, she took slow precise steps as the heels of her boots clicked against the hardwood floor. The fitted, white button-down and jeans left little to the imagination. For a person who oozed sex appeal, she made great effort to make sure no one missed it. The in-between remained at the door, uninvited into the home.

She smiled demurely. “He’s harmless,” she stated, directing her attention to Sebastian, “ask your Beta.”

“Maybe so, but a vampire will never be invited into our home. It is our misfortune that you don’t require one,” Sebastian stated abrasively.

She continued to smile, his insult rolling over her like a gentle tide. Steven went to close the door on the in-between, but Chris stopped him, holding the door half open.

“Demetrius received your message,” she stated as she stepped closer to Ethan. “He wasn’t too thrilled about your little visit to their home. I think his exact words were, ‘That damn wolf entered my home and left his stench in the house,’” she stated, amused.

“If I can stand his, he surely can stand mine.”

“That is not the point. You all know better. How dare you! I don’t believe you to be this stupid, so I assume the little doe-eyed wolf with all the gumption was behind this plan. She’s too new to this world and doesn’t know … ”

“ … Chris, I made Demetrius a proposition. What was his decision?”

“And it was quite a proposition, but regretfully he declined. In fact, Quell what were his exact words?” she requested.

Quell took a step forward just short of the threshold as he acknowledged both Sebastian and Ethan. His face was still void of all emotions as he spoke softly and gently. “I apologize, my Master never responded but his declination was implied.”

“He laughed, sweetheart. Your offer never even got a response. It’s over. The fact you all are sneaking into their home and making bargains shows that you know this as well.”

“I assure you it is not over. Attempting to provide a civil resolution to a rather distasteful situation was our intention. If failure is what Demetrius desires, then it is what he will receive,” Sebastian confidently responded.

“Certainly you don’t value the little wolf’s life so much that you will risk the safety of your pack?” she asked incredulous.

He sneered, taking several steps toward Chris. He was quite intimidating, yet he had little effect on her. She smiled at his approach. “Her life has very little to do with this. It is the life of the many that we are concerned about. What would the body count be if the vampires were allowed the freedom that the powers of this world saw fit to deny them?” he challenged.

“When the were-animals’ restrictions were removed, not less than a century ago, so should theirs. At one time, the were-animals were tied to the Moon, Mercury and Saturn like children. Now your kind is no longer a slave to that which calls them; instead, you all are allowed to take animal form at will. This is something that more than a century ago was unthought-of. Back then, when the animal was unleashed, it was a vicious murderous creature unable to control its primal impulses. Were-animals were nothing more than death that traveled on four legs. Now you feel that you are superior to the vampires because you all somehow evolved to a lesser evil. Pshaw! You all are no better than the vampires. Dwelling just below the surface still remains that wild, ferocious animal—no matter how hard you try to assume domestication. Why do you think lone were-animals still exist—because some of your kind still long for the primitive ways—to be the very embodiment of death. They are what you use to be in its purest form—raw, uninhibited, merciless—true predators,” she sniped back.