Hunter Moon: A Grazi Kelly Novel #2 (3 page)

“Does he now? Have you memorized the Canon?
Do you know the code of the Hounds? Child, do you even know where
you come from? Who you are?”

“Are you going to take over my education?
Tell me what it is to be a Werewolf and what my place is in all of
this,
grandpa
?” My eyes narrowed. He laughed at me. Loudly.
Jerk.

“Alas, my granddaughter, there is much I have
to oversee. And we have gotten off the subject.”

“Which is?”

“Which is Witches to be exact.” He stared at
me and I cocked my head in deference to him. He nodded.
Approval. Cool
. Then he began again.

“We haven’t seen this kind of activity from
the Witches in almost fifty years. The extreme weather, the
killings, they are preparing something big. Of that you can be
sure.”

“What do you mean the weather?”

“Why, Witches will doom crops, summon storms,
droughts, floods, fires, ice. Wreak all kinds of havoc with the
weather. You can put the blame on them for your unbearably hot
summer and the sudden freezing temperatures. They thrive on discord
and chaos. I’ll admit we were surprised that they chose to
congregate here, in the U.S. It must be you who draws them
here.”

“Me? How?”

“You are an important player, Grazi. I’m not
a hundred percent sure what your part is, but I mean to find out.
Now, you stopped the Wendigo demon from ravaging this land, but who
is to say it will end there? More will undoubtedly come. You must
prepare. Your uncle will remain in charge of your learning.” He
began moving the papers on his desk into a neat pile.

“But no more Church basements. He will live
here with the Madden pup and I will leave two of my personal guard
with you. Sascha and Dimitri Volkov. You are to do what Sean says
in my stead, understand?”

I was distracted by the thought of Ronan as a
puppy.
Aww
. But I quickly gained control of my thoughts. I
was relieved that Uncle Sean would be staying.

I nodded my head. I didn’t fear Rolf the way
the others did, but I could see the hardness inside of him.
Maybe that’s what happens when you murder your son.
Anger
seeped into my veins and I had to bite my tongue to keep from
growling. He was looking at his charts and didn’t seem to
notice.

“There are a lot of questions in you. Ask
some now.”
Okay then, I guess he did notice.

“Fine. I want to know about my father.”

“No.”

“What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“I’ll not speak of Patrick. Ask something
else. You’ll not have this chance again for some months so bite
back your anger, girl.”

“Fine. If this is all real, we’re Werewolves,
there are bad Witches in the world, and so on, what else is there?
How do I tell what else is real? How do I know what to believe? All
my life I’ve been raised to follow the Catholic Church, but
Werewolves and Witches were never a part of my education. They were
never even in the realm of possibility. Am I wrong to still have
faith? To believe in God?”

“Hmm. You surprise me, child. You show
maturity and intelligence with these questions I had not expected
in a modern day teenager. The only way I know to answer you is
this. Faith is a necessary part of existence. It’s what makes us
human. Faith, hope, belief.”

“But then why do so many people believe so
many different things if
our
God is the real one?”

“I know you have been taught that, but the
world is such a big place, Grazi. It is filled with so many
different people. And we are all God’s children, aren’t we?”

“So what like, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews,
Buddhists, Christians, Atheists are all God’s children? But they
all think
they
are the right ones. Who is?”

“I’m a soldier, Grazi, and that is a question
for priests.”

“A soldier? I thought you were the
General.”

“General, eh? I like that. At any rate, I’ve
always thought of it like this, all religions are God’s religions.
He made us all and that means the ideologies that humankind has
developed to explain the universe were also His design. I have
never blamed or faulted others our difference in religions. To me
it has always comes down to faith and expression of that
faith.”

“So, you’re not just a General. You’re a
philosopher too.”

“Hmm, perhaps, granddaughter, but that’s just
the Irish in me.”

“But the Hounds are Catholic, right?”

“It is true, we do
work
for the
Catholic Church. That was where the original pact with the Hounds
was inked and signed with the blood of your forefathers. That is
who the Hounds answer to. But if all churches closed their doors
tomorrow, what then? Would we quit or give up?”

“I don’t know. Would we?”

“Never. Because God is everywhere. He is
everything, He is called by many names, and no one Church or
doctrine could possibly claim ownership over Him. At least not to
me anyway.”

“I would’ve expected something else from you.
Something more like, only the Roman Catholic Church is right, type
stuff. Very modern of you, Grandpa.”

“Modern? Who, me? Nah, it isn’t modern at
all. Tolerance, forgiveness and acceptance was Jesus’ way. And that
was over 2,000 years ago.”

“Before your time, huh?”

“Yes, smarty pants, way before my time. Heed
me now,
garinion
, never under any circumstances should you
think yourself a failure if doubt creeps in. Tis natural.”

“But what should I do when I, you know, have
doubts?”

“First, look to your pack. That is what they
are for, to support one another. Second, have faith, Grazi. As
mortal beings it is quite possibly the most important aspect of who
we are. And faith is not defined by religious sect. It is defined
by our very souls.”

Packs, faith, souls, religion...pretty
heavy stuff considering I hadn’t slept yet.
I stared at the
patterns the sun made as it shined through the lace curtains on the
carpeted floor. I could see the dust motes in the air. I breathed
deeply, inhaling the lemon furniture polish as it grew stronger
under the sun’s warming rays.

The entire night had passed already. How
could I not have noticed? We must have run for hours, but to my
Wolf it could have been minutes. My stomach grumbled. I was
starving.
I’m such a freak. How could I be thinking of food
now?

“Go on now, have breakfast with your pack.
And remember, Grazi, I’ll be watching you.” He turned in his chair,
dismissing me as it were. I nodded and left the room. That was the
last conversation we would have before he left the country. I
thought we would have talked again, but he was gone within
minutes.

I remained unaware of his departure as I
entered the spacious kitchen. A long champagne colored marble
counter was filled with antique looking chafing dishes piled high
with food. My stomach grumbled again, louder.

Ronan was sitting there. He looked freshly
showered with two huge plates in front of him. One was full of eggs
another with a mix of pancakes, sausage, and crispy bacon.

He had a scruffy shadow of a beard and his
hair hung down in careless waves. It was a shiny and thick, dark
red with streaks of strawberry blonde. My mouth salivated. I hoped
to God it was for the food.

I followed his lead, filling my plate with
perfectly scrambled eggs, a chocolate chip pumpkin pancake, and a
scoop of homemade strawberry yogurt that I topped off with pecan
granola. Next I poured a mug of steaming hot chocolate from a
silver pot. The dark rich chocolate permeated my senses, I added a
dollop of freshly whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon to the
top.
Yum.

Ronan smiled in between mouthfuls of eggs
then drank greedily from a tall glass of iced water. I sat next to
him and our elbows grazed each other. A jolt went through me which
I ignored. He looked up and wiped his mouth on a napkin.

I met his eyes for a moment. Then I took a
sip from my mug without spilling anything. That was a miracle in
and of itself.

There was so much emotion in his eyes I had
to look down. I wasn’t quite ready to admit to myself what was in
them. I couldn’t bring myself to meet them again either.

I looked at my mug instead. The picture made
me choke a little on the warm liquid. On it was a fluffy grey
kitten with its mouth wide open. Above that it said “What do you
mean we’re getting a dog?”
Funny.
I wouldn’t have expected
it amongst all of the formal china and silverware we were
using.

When I looked up Ronan was looking over my
shoulder. He was so close I could see that stray freckle of his. He
was reading the caption on the mug. He smiled and I almost dropped
it.
I must be really tired.
Sure it had nothing to do with
the guy sitting next to me.
Uh huh. Right.

We were all alone in the kitchen. Just Ronan
and me. The two of us.
Cozy
. He righted himself in his seat
and poured more water from a glass pitcher into his cup.

“So, how’d it go? You know, with
him
.”
He cleared his pile of eggs and moved on to the pancakes and
sausage. His were banana.
Mmm.

“Fine, I guess. He’s leaving Uncle Sean in
charge of my training.”

“That’s good then. I like Sean, I mean, Fr.
Gallagher.”

“Yeah, me too. I was wondering, um, why are
you staying though?”

“Want to get rid of me then, do you?” He said
and took another bite of his pancakes.

“No, I didn’t mean that.” My cheeks were hot.
Great.

“Just fooling you. Anyways, I guess I’m still
learning too.”

“It’s not because of that contract you
mentioned once upon a time?” He looked hunted for a moment then
cocked his head to the side and grinned.

“Nah. That was nothing. I’ve just grown used
to your American food. Don’t think I can go home just yet.”

I nodded my head and continued to eat in
silence. I had no idea what else to say to him.
I am such a
dork.

The two giants Rolf would be leaving behind
came in smelling of soap and shaving cream. They filled their
plates with enough food to feed a small country then took seats
next to us.

“Hi, I’m Grazi.”

“Dimitri, this is Sascha.” The one with the
dark blonde hair spoke as the brown haired one shoveled food into
his mouth and grunted a greeting. They looked like professional
wrestlers.

Like the MMA guys Nonna watches on
television. At least six foot five inches tall and over two hundred
and fifty pounds of muscle each. Sitting next to them Ronan looked
slender though he was comparable in height. I think he might have
gotten taller after our run.
Weird
. We reloaded our plates a
second time and finished eating in silence.

“Look Ronan, something is strange that’s all
I’m saying.”

“Well, what do you expect? The man is Alpha
of Greyback Pack and Commander of the Hounds of God. Only the most
vast and powerful reaching Werewolf organization in the world! You
want him to just hang around all day discussing the weather?” Ronan
said as he walked me back over to my yard.

The sun was melting some of the frost, but I
knew it would freeze again the minute a cloud passed over. The
change in the weather was dramatic. Winter in Northern New Jersey
could be brutal. Our little suburb was no exception, but to be
honest I wasn’t ready for it yet. I mean one minute I’m wearing
shorts and tank tops the next I’m digging in the attic for my
winter clothes.
Smh
.

“Yeah well, the weather was actually one of
our topics. I just don’t see how I can be so important if he left
already. And why didn’t he just tell me what is going on?”

“I don’t know. But maybe we’re not supposed
to question, maybe we are just supposed to
do
. I’ll see you
at Church tomorrow.” His hand lingered on my shoulder a moment then
he left.

I went inside. The familiar smells of my
house greeted me. Herbs, cleaning supplies, fresh flowers, and the
beginnings of chicken soup.
Mmm
.

The long night was catching up with me. I
felt a little bit tired, but in a good way. Like after I had a
really good run. Now that my stomach was full I could probably nap
for a little while. I passed by Nonna in the living room on my way
to the stairs. She was asleep on the couch, her rosary in her hand.
I wished I was still small enough to crawl in next to her and
cuddle, but those days were seriously over. I had to be a good foot
taller than her already and I was still growing.

I covered her with a soft pink chenille throw
and turned down the volume on the television set. She loved the
Hallmark Channel, especially on the weekends. Today was a marathon
of
Murder, She Wrote
. I used to watch those with her when I
was little.
So I like a good, clean mystery, sue me.

On my way up to my room I passed by
Julianna’s and Rebecca’s door. It was wide open, which was unusual.
I could smell the heavy flower perfume my cousin soaked herself in
and had to stop myself from gagging. My eyes got teary as I took
another step.

Yuck.
I really hate flowery perfume.
Why call something
Kissed by a Sunflower
and then have it
smell
nothing
like a sunflower? Some pop band was blaring
from Julianna’s iPod, but I could still make out her voice.

“Well, I wouldn’t compare us to you and
Tyler! No way, Liz, you guys were in another category, but I will
say this, the boy can certainly kiss…Yes, his body is as hard as it
looks. I know, right! Jeez, Lizette I’m not about to tell you. Ha,
you bet, we would’ve stayed out all night too…No way, did she
really take that stuff? I guess I’m willing to try it next time,
but only with him…”

I quickly went to my room. The Harvest dance
had been Friday night and Ronan had been Julianna’s date. He must
have gone back to the dance after the fight with the Wendigo. After
I
went home.