The Moon Rises (30 page)

Instead Gigi let Finn leave because he knew what
he wanted and what he was willing to fight for. While Finn wanted her, it
wasn’t enough to make him stay. Heading back inside, Gigi found Declan waiting
in the hallway.

“You didn’t talk him into coming back?” he asked.

“No.”

“I shouldn’t have come.”

Gigi stared up at Declan who looked big and
menacing in the dark hallway.

“Can’t you make the people threatening me stop?
You’re an Alpha.”

Declan shifted his stance and sighed deeply.
“It’s complicated and I’d rather Finn be the one to explain. Let me just say if
I had the power to make the person back down, I would make it happen because my
brother really cares about you.”

Gigi thought of Finn’s face when he realized they
would never be together. He needed her as much as she needed him, but their
needs didn’t change the situation.

“I’m sorry, Gigi.”

“I know and I think you should come back and play
poker if you want. Finn likes being around you and he likes being around me. He
just needs to learn to be around us at the same time.”

Declan grinned. “You’re good for him.”

Gigi felt tired now which meant her sadness was
setting off the trigger in her head.

“I better go home and rest before my shift
tonight.”

“Are you okay? Do you need someone to drive you?”

“It’s fine. I walked here.”

“Gigi,” Declan said, coming towards her. “I know
that flying thing died, but Tobin said its master is still out there.  You
can’t be walking the streets at night.”

“It didn’t want me. I think its master only wants
humans and it could tell I wasn’t human.”

“Really?” Declan said as he walked with her down
the stairs. “I can’t tell, so how could it?”

“It was basically an animal and animals act
differently around me so maybe that’s how it could tell.”

Declan nodded and Gigi knew he was going to drive
her home whether she wanted the ride or not. Arriving at her apartment, which
was less than two minutes away, Gigi realized they had left without telling
Ella or Michael. Declan said he thought to tell them, but chose not to because
Ella was being annoying by tormenting Michael and Michael was being annoying by
being Michael. Gigi might prefer Finn, but when Declan gave her a devilish
smile, she realized the Alpha definitely had his qualities.

Anton had only seen Gigi in passing for days and
he missed her. She was kind and fragile and he shoved her away without an
explanation. Entering his office to find Gigi with Melanie and the guys, Anton
noticed how they immediately stopped talking. He also noticed she looked scared
to see him. Everyone stared at Anton like he was the mean teacher who
interrupted a group of kids goofing off. Before he could speak, Anton spotted a
cardboard box on the desk and heard squeaky meows erupting from inside.

“Cats?” he asked, hoping they would stop staring
like he was the Grinch.

“Gigi got herself some pets,” Melanie said with a
scowl directed at Anton. “She wanted to show her friends. Is that a problem?”

Anton frowned at Melanie who used her baby bump
as a way to avoid work and mouth off when she didn’t get her way. The males
lacked baby bumps so they remained silent. Gigi just stared at the floor like a
scolded child.

“Can I see?” he asked, moving closer and peering
into the box.

The box wasn’t filled with a couple kittens, but
what looked like a litter. He counted eight striped cats of varying colors
inside the box. They only glanced up at him before shrinking in fear, sensing a
predator in their midst. When Gigi peeked at them though, they shook off their
terror and meowed in unison.

“What are you going to do with all of them?”
Anton asked in his friendliest tone while enjoying her scent.

“What do you mean?”

“He wants to know if you’re going to eat them?”
Melanie said and Gigi’s eyes grew wide and frightened.

Anton growled at Melanie who flinched then
immediately rubbed her belly.

“I only mean do you plan to give them away to
other people?”

“No, she’s going to keep them,” Melanie answered.

Anton wished his assistant would shut up, but he wasn’t
going to express this desire out loud.

“I want them,” Gigi muttered, looking scolded
again.

“Eight cats is a lot of cats.”

Everyone was again looking at him like he was the
bad guy for pointing out the obvious.

“Do you have everything you’ll need for them?”
Anton asked.

Gigi shook her head as her eyes remained focused
on the ground.

“I’ll take her shopping,” Melanie said.

Anton wished he could take Gigi shopping. He sometimes
imagined them doing things together, everyday couple-type things, and it always
filled him with a longing for a life he couldn’t have. Even now when he knew Gigi
didn’t want him to take her shopping for cat products, Anton ached to
volunteer.

“You can leave the kittens here while you shop,”
Anton suggested as he walked to his office to sulk.

“Thank you,” Gigi said quietly and he took solace
in her upbeat tone.

Anton soon heard Gigi and Melanie leave the
office. Not long afterward, the male Weres headed out for a recon mission near
Roger’s territory. If a war came, Anton wanted to hit Roger and Declan hard
enough to minimize his own causalities. It was all wishful thinking though
since he sensed Declan’s first strike would be devastating enough for the war
to get bloody fast.

Thinking about the impending war was a nice distraction
for Anton. Yet he could still smell Gigi and the distraction didn’t last. The
kittens were whining in the main office and Anton wondered why Gigi needed so
many? Was she planning to become a cat lady? As unlikely as this scenario
seemed, she had eight frigging cats now.

Anton walked into the front office and looked
down at the kittens as they searched for Gigi. They flinched when they found
him instead. Scooping up an orange and white kitten, Anton ignored the animal’s
fear - and its scratching and biting. He ran his finger along its head, just
behind its ears until it settled down. The little guy was soon purring as it
dozed against his chest.

Most Weres didn’t have pets. Animals knew to fear
predators and Weres were at the top of the food chain. Whether in wolf or human
form, most could take down a bear which made them scary as hell to ordinary
little animals like cats and dogs.

As a kid though, Anton had desperately wanted a
dog, but he never asked for one.  His mother and uncles didn’t believe in attachments,
so even a goldfish would be asking for too much.

Gigi suddenly appeared at the door of the office
and entered without Melanie. Even though she looked startled to see Anton holding
one of the cats, he didn’t put it back in the box. He was making a habit of
acting stupid whenever she was around. Besides the kitten was sound asleep.

“Get everything?”

“I think so,” Gigi said, stepping closer.

“Where’s Melanie?”

“She was tired, so she went home.”

Anton sighed quietly. “Of course she did.”

“Are you still mad at me?”

“I was never mad at you. I was mad at me.”

“Why were you mad at yourself?”

“Because I let myself get distracted by things I
can’t have. That day with you, I was careless and lost control. I behaved
badly. I’m sorry.”

“People say it’s not me, but I think it is.”

“Trust me, Gigi, it’s not.”

“But you act like Declan acts and Finn acts, but
then you say it’s not me. The lady on TV told this other lady that if things
keep happening over and over to her, she needs to look at the common
denominator. With the males in the Circle, I’m the common denominator.”

“True. You are very beautiful and males want you.
Whatever happens afterward isn’t your fault.”

“But…”

“Trust me. I know why Finn can’t date you and why
Declan won’t date you and why I shouldn’t date you. It’s not about you. We have
our own crap which keeps us from doing what we want.”

Gigi nodded, but didn’t look convinced. “You
think I’m stupid to want so many cats.”

“Not stupid. I just don’t think you understand
the amount of work involved. Cleaning the kitty litter alone will take up most
of your spare time.”

Gigi stared at him with those dark eyes. “I get
lonely.”

“I know.”

Anton did know. Her loneliness was written all
over her face most of the time. Anton knew that expression from when he was a
kid and would see it in the mirror. Eventually he trained himself to hide his
feelings, but he doubted Gigi ever could.

“Have you thought of names for your cats?”

Smiling, Gigi shook her head. “Do cats even
respond to their names?”

“I don’t know, but it would probably help to give
them names for when you take them to the vet and get shots and stuff.”

Gigi’s smile faded and he saw how clearly
clueless she was to all the work ahead of her.

“Melanie has a baby name book in her desk. You
could use that to pick names, if you want?” Anton suggested.

“But those are people names.”

“True.”

Gigi inched closer and he knew she wanted to check
on her kittens. He also sensed she didn’t want to stand too close to him. She finally
reached the box and glanced down at them. The whining and scratching stopped
the moment they saw her. The seven kittens meowed in unison and Gigi smiled.

“I don’t have any family,” she said, still
looking at the kittens. “Eight is too many cats and the lady who was giving
them away said I didn’t have to take them all, but I can’t give up any of
them.”

“I understand.”

Gigi glanced at him. “Do you have a family?”

“No.”

“Do you get lonely?”

“Everyone gets lonely,” Anton said. “Maybe one
day your memories will return and you’ll find your family?”

“Mira looked into my mind and said my family is
probably dead. She said someone put up the walls to protect me from remembering
how they died.”

Anton frowned, unhappy with the idea of Mira
messing with Gigi’s mind. He might have an alliance with her, but only because
he knew the witches were devious and he was desperate.

“Be careful with Mira. She pretends like she
cares for you like a mother would. If she thinks she can use you to benefit her
clan, she will.”

“Use me how?”

Anton didn’t answer immediately, but instead
looked at the kitten asleep on his chest. It was fragile like Gigi, trusting
predators if they showed it tenderness. Anton could kill the kitten in his
hands without exerting the tiniest bit of effort. The witches were the same way.
Lulling Gigi into feeling safe, until they tore her apart looking for her
hidden magic.

“Witches harvest those with power. Do you know
what harvest means?”

When Gigi nodded, he could by her expression that
she truly understood.

“Just be careful. Everyone wants a piece of you
now. Surviving those injuries and healing so completely is beyond the power of
those in the Circle. For those answers, they’ll be willing to destroy you.”

Gigi said nothing, running her fingers over the
sleeping kitten Anton was holding.

“Do you want to keep him?” she asked.

Anton sensed lying to Gigi was a mistake. As if
she would see right through him.

“Weres don’t have pets.”

“But you’re an Alpha. Can’t you make whatever
rules you want?”

Anton watched her pet the cat again. He took her
hand and kissed the palm of it. If he could make up his own rules, he would
never let Gigi go.

“It doesn’t work that way. I could have a pet and
no one would bitch about it, but having attachments makes me look weak.”

“Like having a mate?”

Anton ran his lips over the palm of her hand
again then released it.

“Yes. Years ago, an Alpha had a mate and three
sons. He was a strong Alpha and controlled much of the Circle. Maybe it was arrogance,
but he messed with the witches, giving one clan too much power over the others.
One of the clans left out of power used the Alpha’s son to destroy his family.
Where the witches couldn’t use magic to hurt the Alpha because he was too
powerful and his pack too dominant, they used his family. It’s why no Alpha has
a mate anymore.”

“But you have an alliance with the witches. Why
would they hurt your family?”

“Maybe not them. Maybe someone else. It’s not
worth putting a wife and children in danger. When a Were fights to be Alpha, he
knows what he’s giving up.”