Blood Moon (Howl #2) (19 page)

“I’ll h
ave lemonade,” Samara replied.

“A
diet Coke for me,” Luke said.

Kelli shot them both a small smile before
saying, “I’ll be right back.”

“What do you want my parents t
o know?” Samara asked quietly.

“That I’m your mate.”

Samara’s breath caught in the back of her throat. Hearing Luke call himself her mate got her every time. “I don’t know if I’ll tell them right away,” she replied. “They’re going to have to
find out eventually, though.”

The waitress interrupted them again as she brought back their drinks. “May I take your orders
now or do you need more time?”

“I think we’re ready to order,” Samara said. “I’ll have the chicken parmesan with linguini.”
The waitress stared Samara up and down, as though were trying to figure out how she could eat so much and still be slim, before scribbling the order down on her notepad. “And for you?” she asked Lu
ke.

“I’ll have the veal cutlet parmesan,” Luke replied. Once the waitress took the order and walked away again, Samara wrinkled her nose at Luke.
“I didn’t know you ate veal.”

“I didn’t before this happened.” Luke didn’t have to explain what he meant by ‘this’; he meant before he had become a werewolf
.

Out of the corner of her eye, Samara felt someone’s eyes staring in her direction.
Luke?
Samara said through mind-speak.
Is there someone behind me staring at me?

Luke broke eye contact with her for the first time since they had arrived at the restaurant and glanced over her shoulder. When he looked back, his stare was grim.
It’s Colby’s dad.

Samara felt her body froze in panic. She was half-tempted to turn around and tell him off or at
least give him a death stare.

Don’t do that,
Luke told her.
It will only make things worse. Just pretend that you have no idea he’s there,
let’s eat, and then we’ll go.

Why is always staring at me, though?
Samara asked.
It’s freaking me out.

I know it is,
Luke replied.
I hear you thinking about it pretty often.

Do you think there’s something going on or am I just being paranoid?
Samara asked.

Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll see,” he said aloud.
We can’t keep talking in our heads when he’s probably
already
heard us talking out loud or he’s going to pick up on it.

“Yeah
, I agree,” Samara said aloud.

When their dinner was served, Luke and Samara talked, joked, and laughed. Samara tried her hardest to pretend that Darren Jackson hadn’t been there sitting behind them – and tried to ignore the idea that he might have even
followed them to restaurant.

Once they had finished the chocolate raspberry cheesecake that they shared for dessert, Samara turned around and glanced in the area that Darre
n Jackson had been sitting in.

The chair was empty; he was gone.

Chapter 15

****

On Halloween night, Samara sat on the sofa at Kyle’s house. She was spending the night, which, according to Luke, was probably the best thing for her to do for her own protection. Werewolves were known to act crazy on All Hallows’ Eve, and he was afraid that Jas
on was planning an attack for tonight.

It had been tempting to accept Emma’s invitation to her annual Halloween bash, but Luke had been afraid that Jason might show up at her house – even tho
ugh Emma was still seeing Troy.

So, instead, Samara was watching the other guys from the pack play Xbox 360. Even though her mind was filled with worries about what was going to happen tonight or in the near future with the Vyka or Shomecossee, the guys seemed to be at ease playing video games. They we
re still typical teenage guys.

“Samara?” Colb
y called. “Can you come here?”

Getting up from the couch,
Samara
went into the hallway that led to the front door. Colby was the only one who didn’t want to play video games, so he claimed candy duty. He had even dressed up like a pirate with a black and red striped shirt, black boots, a big pirate’s hat, a patch over his eye, and a
fake parrot on his shoulder.

“What?” Samara asked.

Colby finished handing out candy to the kids on the porch before closing the door. “I smell
someone . . . they’re nearby.”

Samara sniffed. For the first time in human form, she realized that she could also smell the scent of another wolf somewhere nearby. The scent was musky, but
she couldn’t fully identify it.

“Thanks,
I’ll let the other guys know.”

When she got back into the living room, the other guys were all looking up at her. The look in their eyes told Samara that they co
uld also smell the other wolf.

“Who do you guys think it is?” Samara whispered, as though whoe
ver was nearby could hear her.

“I don’t know,” Kyle said slowly, ruffl
ing his copper hair nervously.

“There’s only one way to find out for sure,” Chris said, jumping up from his place on the floor. Slipping out the back sliding door that led to the back porch, Samara watched from the wi
ndow as he phased into a wolf.

Steve got up and followed. “I should probably go with him. It might be nothin
g, but it could be something.”

Once they were both out the back door, Samara turned and looked at Luke. She was beginning to feel the panic taking over her body; it made her throat feel dry, and she fel
t like she was going to vomit.

“Just relax,” Luke told her soothingly. “Like Ste
ve said, it might be nothing.”

“Do you think it
’s nothing?” Samara asked him.

Luke shook his head. “I don’t really know.” He got up and walked over to her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her closer to him. “Don
’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.”

Samara rested her head on his shoulder. She knew that he was being truthful; Luke would try to keep her safe, but would it be enough? If it was someone who had it out for her this bad, there might not be a way to prev
ent what was about to happen.

She quickly shook the thought away. If Samara was going to fight any werewolf, no matter how much they wanted to kill her, she was
going to have to be confident.

The back door slid open, and Steve and Chris came back inside. Their
faces were filled with worry.

“Who is it?” Samara asked. It made her nervous that they had returned so soon. Even though werewolves were fa
st, they had been really fast.

“It’s Ja
son,” Chris said breathlessly.

“Great,” Samara muttered. “Is he in t
he yard?”

Steve shook his head. “No, he’s not after you. Not yet
at least. He killed a child.”

“What?” Samara shrieked.

Chris nodded. “He killed a trick-or-treater. We were both instantly drawn to the scent of blood. Once we got down the street, we saw the kid – a little
girl
– lying on the ground. We also smelled the scent, and sure enough, all of the parents were screaming about the black wolf th
at had just attacked the girl.”

“Are you sure
s
he’s dead?” Samara asked.

“There’s no way a child could survive all of that blood loss,” Chris said, sitting down on the chair,
putting his head in his hands.

Steve sat down on the floor and stared off into space. “I always knew Jason was a douche. I mean, look what he did to Lilly. I didn’t know he was low enough to atta
ck an innocent child, though.”

“That’s it,” Samara said, balling her hands into fists. “We need to conquer Jason. We
need to stop what he’s doing.”

“We can’t do that,” Luke spoke up. When everyone looked at him like he was nuts, he went on. “Not yet. We’re not ready yet. I think you’re going to do fine, Samara, but we need more numbers. Let’s at least wait until Josh becomes an Ima. That
way, we’ll have more numbers.”

“Numbers, right,” Samara said, pacing back and forth. “You’re right. We should wait. And we need to be prepared.” She turned and looked
at the pack. “We need a plan.”

Kyle, who was sitting at the coffee table with his hands folded in front of him, cleared his throat. “I have an idea. It’s going to be difficult, though.”
 

*

“Did you hear about that trick-or-treater who got killed by a wolf last night?” Mrs. McKinley asked Samara the next morning. It was
the weekend
, and her mom had invited Samara, Luke, and Kyle over to
have chocolate chip pancakes.

“Yeah, we saw it on the news last night,” Samara said as she
carefully drizzled
maple syrup o
n her pancakes. “It’s so sad.”

Luke and Kyle just nodded as they stuffed forkfu
ls of pancakes in their mouths.

“It’s very sad. It was only a six year old girl. I feel terrible for her poor parents,” Mrs. McKinley went on. “Apparently, wolves aren’t all that uncommon in our area lately.”
Kyle and Luke both looked down at their plates, ob
viously unsure of what to say.

“They’re not?” Samara managed to as
k, her voice merely a whisper.

“No, in fact, they’re saying that we have more than just gray wolves in our area now,” Mrs. McKinley replied, setting her own plate down on the kitchen table. “There have also been reports of a white wolf and a black wolf, whi
ch are usually seen together.”

“That’s weird,” Samara said aloud. In her mind, she couldn’t help but wonder if the wolves that Mrs. McKinley was talking about were Jason and Seth. Was her brother really spending all that much time with his Alpha lately? Had
he gone over to the dark side?

“Yeah, it’s a big shock to me, too,” Mrs. McKinley said. “I never realized that we had many wolves in this area, but I guess we do. It makes me a little nervous because I have good news.” Samara’s mom looked over at her, her lips twisting into a smile. “I just reserved a puppy from a
breeder! We’re getting a dog.”

“What?” Samara asked, knowing that the shock had to be obvious in her v
oice. “A puppy?”

“Yeah, it’s a Yorkie,” Mrs. McKinley said excitedly. “I
thought I’d let you name her.”

“But . . . why?” Samara asked. “I thought you said you didn’t want any more pets after Buddy died because
you got too attached to them.”

Mrs. McKinley shrugged, dabbing butter on her pile of pancakes. “I thought now would be a good time to get a puppy.” Her forehead wrinkled. “You always wanted another dog. I thought you’d be
excited about this, sweetie.”

“I am excited. I’m just surprised.” Samara suddenly felt bad for the way she had reacted. Her mom was right; she had begged her for another dog for years after Buddy died, but her mom had never given in. Samara knew that the reason her mom was agreeing to it now probably had something to do with Seth moving out, but she wasn’t sure if it
was for her sake or her mom’s.

You don’t want a puppy?
Luke asked, meeting her eyes from across the tabl
e.
I’ve always been a dog guy.

No wonder, considering you are one,
Samara joked, trying to hide her smile.
I love dogs. I’m just afraid that I’m going to eat one.

Eat one? You’re joking, right?
Luke smirked.

No,
Samara replied.
I’m not joking. I always have these strong urges to eat wild animals. I can keep it under control as long as I’m eating enough meat. Don’t you want to eat animals sometimes, too?

No, never,
Luke answered.
I know some werewolves do get that instinct, but as far as I know
, no one on our pack ever has.

Are you saying I’m a freak of nature or something?
Samara asked.

No, I’m just saying I’ve never known anyone who experienced it before. I think Colby knows what it means, though.

Samara began stuffing
the remaining pancake in her mouth. She had to talk to Colby
as soon as possible
.

*

Fifteen minutes later, Samara, Luke, and Kyle headed for Colby’s house. They walked down the street and, as they neared Kyle’s house, Samara fr
oze in the middle of the road.