Blood Moon (Howl #2) (23 page)

Luke glanced over at her knowingly.
W
e all have our family secrets.

What’s yours?
Samara asked, sort of surprised that Luke was admitting that his family also wasn’t perfect.

If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret anymore.
At that, Luke gave her a small kiss on the lips and turned to the rest of the pack. “I gotta go, guys. I’ll see you al
l soon.”

As goodbyes echoed throughout the room, Samara found herself wondering what was wrong with Luke’s family – and,
not only that, but
why she hadn’t met them yet.

*
 

When Samara and Kyle got back to her house, all of the lights had been turned off. She checked in
on
her parents; they were both snugg
led up in bed, snoring softly.

Samara grabbed a sleeping bag from the coat closet and brought it to her room for Kyle to use.
“You can sleep on the floor.”

Kyl
e wrinkled his nose. “Why me?”

“You’re the
guy . . . m
an up,” Samara said, laughing.

“Fine,” Kyle said through gritted teeth. “Next time, we’re flipping a coin to
see who gets the bed, though.”

Once Kyle was settled in his sleeping bag, Samara leaned over the side of the bed
to look at him
. “What was it like growing up knowing that you wo
uld be a werewolf eventually?”

Kyle shrugged. “I don’t know . . . it was normal to me. It was hard not being allowed to
tell anyone about it, though.”

“
Like me?” Samara asked softly.

Kyle nodded. “My mom always made it very clear that I was never to tell you and Seth, of all people. It was kind of hard since w
e grew up being best friends.”

“How old were you when your mom told you?” Samara asked.
“I think I was ten or eleven,” Kyle replied, counting the years on his fingers. “Yeah, I was eleven . . . I foun
d out in 2006
.”

Samara sighed. “It must have been nice knowing it was going to happen. I know I keep dwelling on this, but I can’t help it. On the off-chance that my parents do know, I’m going to feel so betrayed.” She paused. “I don’t know how your mom or Grandpa Joe
kept this a secret so easily.”

Kyle shrugged, sleepily. “You gotta do whatever you have to do to
protect your family, I guess.”

“
Do you remember Grandpa Joe?” 

“Yeah, don’t you?” Kyle asked, looking up at her.

“We didn’t get to see him as much as your family did, I don’t think. I do remember a few things, though,” Samara said. When she closed her eyes, Samara could see her grandpa’s smiling face – his dark hair, his wrinkled cheeks, and the leathery, tan skin that Samara had always credited for the olive glow that her own skin took on during the months of summer. Samara could remember her grandfather trying to teach her how to play chess; he would explain what each of the opponents meant, and he told her that she had to choose her moves wisely if she didn’t want to lose the game. “I think there were times when he was subtly try
ing
to
hint things about my future.”

“
What do you mean?” Kyle asked.

“I mean, one time, when he taught me how to play chess, he was trying to give me advice about how to win the game. At the time, I was just a kid, so I thought he was really talking about chess . . . but now I wonder if he was talking about life.”  Samara paused. “It’s almost like he was trying to give me sort of advice . . . like he was trying to warn me about what I
had to do when the time came.”

“Hmm, maybe,” Kyle said, his eyes drooping. He yawned and said, “I wouldn’t put it past him.” Seconds lat
er, Kyle began snoring loudly.

Samara rolled onto her side and turned off
the lamp. She stared at the
moon in the sky and said to Luke through mind-speak:
Wha
t’s going on with your family?

There was a long pause. Finally, Luke answered her.
Nothing . . . don’t worry about it, Sam.

Samara laughed sarcastically aloud.
Why shouldn’t I worry? You haven’t introduced me to your mom and stepdad yet. Why? You’ve met my parents already.

She heard Luke sigh in his head.
Look, my stepdad drinks a lot, okay? And my mom doesn’t care. She just allows it to happen.

I thought you said you liked your stepdad,
Samara pointed out.

I do like him,
Luke replied.
He’s been really accepting of me. I mean, he was even okay with us moving here, just because we knew I had to be an Ima. I like him, but he has his problems.

Will I ever meet your parents?
Samara asked.

Luke hesitated.
Eventually you’ll have to. I mean, I know we’re werewolves, but I’m sure that we’ll go through with human relationship stuff, like getting married and having kids that my parents will want to be grandparents to.

Samara smiled at the idea. As she tried to fall asleep, though, she couldn’t seem to ignore the feeling that had entered her mind: Was Luke trying to hide her from his parents? Samara quickly shook the thought away, assuming that she was just being ridiculous.

*

Samara slid her bedroom window open and climbed out. She hoped that Kyle wouldn’t wake up while she was gone, but hopefully, he would try to make some sort of mental exchange with her if he
got
worried
about her
so that she cou
ld let him know she was fine.

Changing to her wolf form, Samara ran through the woods. She followed her nose to Chris and Steve, who were perched on a few boulders beside Starlight Lake. As Samara approached, Steve climbed off the rock, his gray fur
ry ears standing up alertly.

What’s going on?
Steve asked.
You’re supposed t
o be in the house with Kyle.

Everything’s fine
, Samara replied, sitting down in front of him.
I need to know how to fight
.

What do you mean?
Chris asked, joining Steve and Samara by the shore of the lake.
We’ve all given you lessons already. You did
a good job with all of us.

Samara shook her head.
That’s not what I mean. I mean I need to learn how to fight . . . really fight. Not just a lesson. So I need to
fight one or both of you.

Steve stared back at her with a knowing look in his golden wolf eyes. He got up and ran away, som
ewhere into the woods.

Samara glanced at Chris. He opened his mouth and flashed her a wide dog tooth smile.
This should be fun
.

Before Samara could object or ask what Chris was talking about, she felt a paw scrape against her back from behind. Whirling around, Samara clapped her furry white paw against Steve’s neck. He had caught her off guard, even though she probably should have known this was what he had been planning. This w
asn’t off to a good start.

Steve growled at her, baring his white teeth which shone in the night sky. Samara tried to remember that this wasn’t a real dog fight, that Steve was only acting ferocious because she had
asked him to.

Samara tried to remember the things that her pack members had told her to do. She held her head and shoulders high, trying to exude her confidence. Once she had given herself more of a broad shoulders appearance, Steve backed down a little. She wondered if it was because he was actu
ally afraid of her.

Sinking her teeth into his ankle, Steve yelped.
Hey, that shit hurt!

Sorry
, Samara replied, stepping away from him.
Maybe this was a bad idea. I don’t want to hurt y
ou.

You want my honest opinion?
Steve asked, curling his tail under him and sitting down on the sandy ground.
You’re gonna do just fine. I can already tell that you’re more powerful
than other wolves.

Really? How?
Samara asked in disbelief. She didn’t feel any more powerful than any of the other wolves in her pack. In fact, she’d even started to doubt that she would be able to hold her own when it came time to fight Jason – or a
nyone, for that matter.

Your growl is scary as hell
, Steve replied, shaking his head, just like he did in real life.
If I didn’t know you, I woul
dn’t want to cross your path.

Samara felt her own dark wolf lips twist into a smile. It made her feel good to know that someone believed she would be able to fight. It also felt good to know that Steve was beginning to open up to her a little more. If only she could get Chris to open up soon now that he didn’t completely hate her anymore. Samara knew that, in time, she would form long-lasting friendships with all of the guys on her pack, but the soo
ner it happened, the better.

At that moment, there was a loud rustling sound in the bushes. Samara froze, feeling her tail instinctively stiffen and her ears pin back. She could smell a foreign scent – one that smelled like strawberries and honeysuckle. Unsure how she was even able to determine what the scents were, Samara realized that her sense of
scent must be developing.

Samara had never noticed the strawberry-honeysuckle scent in the woods before now, though. She was positive that she had never met whoeve
r was lurking in the forest.

As Samara tiptoed on all fours over to the bushes, Chris stood in front of her.
It’s okay,
Samara. It’s someone I know.

Someone from another pack
? Samara asked.

It doesn’t matter. Don’
t worry. It’s just Rain.

Rain? Who’s that?

I’ll explain later
, Chris replied.
I asked her to hang out with me here tonight so that I’d have something to do whi
le I guarded the woods.

Samara started to object, but how could she? It made her feel guilty that Chris even had to man these woods, let alone not let him hang out with someone while he was doing it. As long as he wasn’t hanging out with a Vyka or a Shome
cossee, Samara didn’t care.

She watched as Rain, a reddish-colored wolf, stepped out from behind the bushes, and scampered off in the other direction, with Chris following close behind. Samara got the feeling that this was someone who Chris was romantically involved with. At school, she had always noticed that girls themselves at him, but it seemed like Rain was the one who wore the pants in
this relationship.

Once Samara could no longer see Chris and Rain in the woods, she turned to Steve.
What’s
the deal with them?

They’re wannabe soul mates
, Steve replied. When Samara just stared at him in question, he continued.
They’ve known each other for years, and they’ve always wanted to be together. But they’re
not on the same pack.

Samara understood what that meant. They couldn’t be mates if they weren’t on the same pack. That’s why Samara couldn’t be mated with Declan unl
ess she chose to become a Vyka.

What pack is Rain on?

She’s not on one yet
, Steve replied.

What do you mean?
Samara asked.
I thought a pup was automatically given a pack. How can sh
e just not have one?

It’s a long story
, Steve said.

We have all night
, Samara insisted.

She was supposed to be a Seku
, Steve began. The Seku were one of the area’s smaller packs, and from what Samara understood, they were merging with the Shomecossee pack to create a larger pack.
But her grandfather was a Seku, and he was a traitor. The Seku don’t want her. No one wants her because of
what her grandfather did.

What did he do?
Sam
ara asked.

Steve paused.
He killed your grandmother, even after they had called a truce with the Vyka at that time. Once that happened, the Vyka an
d the Seku became rivals.

Samara gulped, only partly aware of the low growl that escaped her throat. She’d had a feeling that her grandmother had been murdered by a werewolf, but this was the confirmation that she needed to know it was true. Samara wanted to be angry, but how could she be? She didn’t know her grandmother or Rain’s grandfather.
It d
oesn’t seem fair.

I know
, Steve agreed.
It was
a really brutal murder.

Samara shook her head, feeling her white fur shake.
That’s not what I meant. I meant that it’s not fair for the other packs to hold what happened in the past against Rain. She’s not the one who killed my grandmother.