Taken by Moonlight (25 page)

A winding
staircase was in the middle of the foyer, and standing at the top was his mate.
He did a quick sweep of her body to confirm she was uninjured. Her mouth hung
open in shock and she seemed to be grasping for words.

He came to
a halt directly before the staircase, and grinned.

Vivienne
cleared her throat, twice. She was staring directly at Conall, yet her brain
refused to process that he was in her house. He was dressed differently from
when last she’d last seen him, in gray sweat pants and a tight, white T-shirt.
So much for her telling him to leave her alone.

How did he
even know where she lived?

And then
she saw Max. He, too, stopped by the staircase, and gave her an almost
reassuring smile. Vivienne frowned. Max, the man who’d turned blue, was trying
to reassure her? She briefly remembered her mother mentioning something…that
the two of them were on their way to her, but…Why were they here?

I told
you already, Vivienne. You are my mate and—

Stop
saying that!
All
this talk of mates and werewolves and witches and vampires. Couldn’t they just
give it a rest for a few minutes?

“Vivienne,
won’t you come downstairs?” Evelyn asked gently, and then sensing Vivienne’s
reluctance, smiled and added, “Whenever you’re ready. We’ll be in the living
room.” The smile faded as she looked to Max and Conall. “Follow me.”

They
entered a spacious living room equipped with a massive fireplace and comfortable-looking
sofas and couches. Evelyn sat down on one of the couches. Conall watched her
intently, wondering why she seemed so calm, so relaxed, given the situation. He
had no doubt this woman knew of his connection to Vivienne. Max sat next,
leaning forward slightly in his seat as if anticipating an intense
conversation.

“Are you
afraid of an old lady in an old house?” Evelyn asked, lifting her brow
slightly.

A reluctant
smile tugged at the corners of Conall’s lips. She was not old. In fact, she was
more likely than not younger than he. Vivienne’s mother was goading him.

As soon as
he sat down, she delved into the topics.

“You mated
my daughter.” It wasn’t a question, so he didn’t give an answer. “Without my
permission and I’m sure without the blessing of your Elders.”

Conall
dipped his head and acknowledged the wrong. “Forgive me for not following
protocol but I thought Vivienne was human.”

“Even if
you’d known she wasn’t, you wouldn’t have asked permission,” Evelyn stated.

“No.” He
was not going to lie. The only thing that would have stopped him from making
Vivienne his own would have been death. Nothing short of a sharp, pointed
object through his heart, or the removal of his head, would have done the
trick.

Evelyn
nodded once. Was that respect he saw in her eyes?

“What will
you do if your Elders refuse you their blessings?”

“She is my
mate. They will give their blessings,” Conall replied with a conviction he
didn’t quite feel. He was the alpha, and he’d remained alpha over the past
years through brute strength and keen intellect, but the Elders were the oldest
wolves in the pack. While they’d hardly disagreed with him in the past years,
they’d never experienced a situation like this before.

“You’ve
marked her, but she is not yet your mate. Not in the true sense of the word.”

Conall
barely suppressed the growl threatening to rise from him. He reminded the beast
that Evelyn was not challenging his right to Vivienne. She was just being
protective, as mothers usually were. “Vivienne is my mate in all senses of the
word—”

“You don’t
intend to complete the ceremony?” Evelyn’s voice was sharp, and full of
reproach.

It wasn’t
uncommon for a witch to know this much about the werewolf community but
instinct told him that Evelyn was more familiar with it than normal. “There
will be a ceremony, but I will keep my human form.” He referred to the mating
ceremony, in which the entire pack would gather to witness the joining of their
alphas.

“So that
you won’t hurt her?” Evelyn asked, her brows lifting slightly as she leaned
forward.

Conall
nodded. He’d lost control in his human form the first time he’d lain with
Vivienne. With his animal loose, he didn’t even want to think of what the beast
might do to her. She might be a witch, but compared to his beast, she was still
fragile. And there was that matter of her mortality.

Evelyn
laughed lightly. With a frown, he glanced at Max, who was staring at the woman
in confusion.

The
laughter stopped almost as quickly as it had begun and Evelyn straightened
herself. Her golden eyes locked onto Conall’s as she said, “Listen to me,
Conall Athelwulf of the Cedar Creek Wolf Pack. Your mate is much stronger than
you think.”

It didn’t
surprise him she knew of his status or his pack. What did interest him was what
she’d said about Vivienne.

“What do
you mean?”

Evelyn’s
head swiveled and she glared at Max, who’d been previously silent. A haughty
eyebrow lifted. “I would have thought that Maximilian Cronin would have told
you that already. Perhaps you would like to shed some light on the situation,
Maximilian?”

Conall
immediately recognized the name, though his confusion must have shown on his
face, for Evelyn clarified, “Maximilian Cronin the son, not the father.”

Max winced
when he heard that name, sensing the tension from different sources in the
room. “I am not my father. I mean Vivienne no harm.”

“Why should
I believe you? You’ve been to this house numerous times in the past years as my
daughter’s
human
friend, Max Carter,” Evelyn retorted and even though
her voice never lifted, the anger behind it was palpable. “How can I be sure
you haven’t given your father the address? How can I be sure your Grand Wizard
isn’t planning an attack on my family as we speak?”

“Everything
I’ve done was out of protection for Vivienne. I swear it.” He turned to look
from Evelyn to Conall, whose eyes had narrowed and were following his every
move. The eyes of a predator. “I didn’t know she was a witch when I first met
her. By the time I found out, she was my friend and I’ve done everything since
to keep her safe.” Max paused and decided to use another strategy. Logic. “If I
wasn’t protecting her, I would have turned her over to the covenant when I
learned her identity. I didn’t. If I wasn’t protecting her, I wouldn’t have
fought against my own people to keep her safe.”

Conall
shifted slightly, and Max noticed he had relaxed. Evelyn’s eyes were still
frost-like as she looked at him.

“You still
seem human,” she murmured after seconds of silence had passed. “But I know
you’re not. What are you?”

Max
explained as he’d explained to Drew and to Conall. Evelyn’s brows rose as if
she didn’t believe him but then she nodded, as if pieces of the puzzle had
suddenly come together in her head.

“If this is
another trap concocted by your father to capture my daughters, I will find you,
and I promise you, it will not be pleasant.” Though Evelyn’s voice was low, it
seemed almost cordial. She pushed herself forward and placed her hands against
her jean-clad knees, looking between Max and Conall. “I’ve been a poor hostess.
By the way, Conall, my name is Evelyn Bordeaux. You can call me Evelyn, not
Mrs. Bordeaux. It makes me sound old.” Conall blinked at the woman sitting
before him. She continued on. “Would you like something to drink? Tea? Water?
Coffee? I’ll bring tea. It’s a bit chilly in here.”

Vivienne
could hear their voices, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She’d
been sitting on the top stair since her mother, Conall, and Max entered the
living room together. Although curious to know what they were discussing, she
was also intent on keeping her sanity, and she was sure her brain was on
overload at the moment.

She was
just about to head back to her room to attempt to sleep away most of the day,
when someone suddenly plopped down beside her. Vivienne jumped before she
recognized Drew.

Her
friend’s eyes were puffy, her face full from sleep.

“I had the
weirdest dream,” Drew began, her voice scratchy. She cleared her throat and
stared down the staircase. “I dreamed our apartment was robbed by witches who
were after Max, who then attacked us at Max’s other apartment and oh, yes, the
guy from the club that you kissed—he was in my dream too—he was some wolf
creature….” Her voice trailed off as she looked around, her brows lifting in
confusion. “In my dream your mother appeared and brought us back to her house.”
She ran her hand over her braids and then pressed it against her eyes. “It
was
a dream, right?”

When
Vivienne didn’t immediately answer, Drew’s eyes widened to the point of falling
from her head and she pushed herself to her feet. Vivienne stood immediately,
afraid her friend was about to do something rash, but Drew simply stared down
at her T-shirt in horror.

“I was
wearing this exact shirt in my dream.” She paused and looked at Vivienne’s
clothing, the white blouse and the black slacks. “And you—you were wearing that
as well.” Her gaze lifted to Vivienne’s. “Please tell me I’m still dreaming.”

Vivienne
shook her head slowly. She was beginning to wish she were.

“And Max is
really a combination of witch, warlock, and human?” Drew asked inquisitively.

“Is that
what he is?” Vivienne wondered, shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t know. I just
know that he changed into something blue.”

“So the guy
from the club—”

“Conall,”
Vivienne automatically corrected.

“—what’s he
supposed to be?”

“A
werewolf.”

Drew’s eyes
grew wide and she didn’t blink for long seconds before she finally burst out,
“Say what?”

“Werewolf:
creature created by Luna or Artemis, whichever name you like.”

Drew stared
at her as if she’d grown another head, and Vivienne sighed. “Yeah, at least you
didn’t sleep with him,” she murmured under her breath. Of course, Drew heard
it.

“You slept
with him?” Drew asked in a voice that could only be called a loud whisper.

Vivienne
looked around immediately, expecting her mother or her father to emerge from
one of the rooms and give her the evil eye.

Where was
her father, anyway?

When she
looked back at Drew, her friend was staring at her with raised eyebrows and
huge eyes. Leave it to Drew to forget all else because Vivienne finally gave up
her goodies.

“What?”
Vivienne asked, looking down to the entryway that led to the living room. She
hoped that her mother had closed the door.

“Well, how
was it?” When Vivienne looked at her as if she was crazy, Drew cut her eyes at
her and sucked her teeth. “I mean, I saw him Vivienne. The man—erm, thing—looks
like something out of on a fitness magazine.”

Conall was
a beautiful man, perfect in face, form, and persona. Well, he could work on his
personality. He was a bit bossy, and arrogant, and damn it, she found that
attractive, too. Her body temperature spiked even as a scowl touched her lips.

“It was
bad?” Drew sounded doubtful.

“No, I
mean, it was…you know—” She broke off and made a circular motion with her hands
as her face flushed. Granted she was an ex-virgin, but that condition had only
existed for a day!

“It was
that good?”

Vivienne
didn’t have to look at Drew to know that her friend was smirking. She nodded
quickly.

“Ah, Drew,
you’re awake.”

Evelyn’s
voice had them both jumping like schoolgirls caught talking about boys. Ironic
that they were, despite the schoolgirl thing. She stood at the bottom of the
staircase balancing a tray with a tea pot and some cups between her hands. “Come
to the living room, both of you.”

She didn’t
wait for their responses. She just kept walking.

“What’s in
the living room?” Drew asked.

“A witch, a
werewolf, and whatever Max is,” Vivienne replied, pushing herself to her feet.
She was already walking down the staircase when Drew asked, “Who’s the witch?”

Maximilian
Cronin had long ago lost his patience.

He’d lost
more men in two days than he’d lost in years. As the five measly trackers who’d
returned told him of the creature, the werewolf, and the witch who’d defended
the girl, he’d wanted to unleash his power and kill them all. Weak. Pathetic!
Power crackled beneath his fingertips just thinking about them. Was it so
difficult a task to find two girls and bring them back to the covenant? Was he asking
too much of the trained trackers assigned the task? The only reason they were
still alive and with their families was because killing them would expend his
energy and weaken him. Centuries of casting longevity spells were beginning to
affect his other powers.