Hunter Moon: A Grazi Kelly Novel #2 (6 page)

“What a mess you are? Did you know that?
Can’t even block. What was Sean thinking?” She caught me again
behind the knees and I fell down hard.

I was breathing heavy and completely
outmatched. She crouched down and lunged pinning me to the mat. She
jumped up and laughed again.

Again and again. I got up and she beat me
down. My body ached in ways I had never felt. I was pretty sure I
fractured a rib, I knew it would heal but still. The woman could
pack a serious punch.

Focus, Grazi.
I tried to let go of my
anger and closed my eyes. I raised myself off the mat for the
umpteenth time. She laughed again and said something rude. I
concentrated on my listening. It was not easy, but I ignored her
voice and listened to the noise the mat made when she shifted her
body to attack. I slowly straightened, favoring my left leg. She
grinned and threw a punch. I exhaled and stepped to the side.

She missed me. I couldn’t believe it. Cara’s
brows knit in an unbecoming frown. A vein throbbed in her forehead.
She grunted and attacked with a combo punch and kick. I ducked and
got out of the way quick as I could. It wasn’t a graceful move, but
still I remained untouched.

That’s when Cara got angry. That’s also when
I got better. The more frustrated she was, the clumsier her
attacks. I learned to listen, to trust my gut. You see, Werewolves
move fast. My eyesight wouldn’t help much when fighting another
Werewolf, but my hearing. That was another story.

The mat squeaked under the force of her
stance every time she lunged towards me. That’s what gave her away.
After dodging three more attempts to take me down, I made my move.
I grabbed her wrist and with my shoulder, I heaved her over and
threw her down on the mat.

“Okay?” I had her wrist bent backwards in my
hands and my knee on her back. Uncle Sean had his arms crossed and
his eyes narrowed.

Clearly he was not pleased, but surprisingly
I
was not the focus of his displeasure. I threw down her
hand and turned to walk away. I was hot and thirsty. I desperately
wanted some of the cucumber lime water Dimitri made especially for
after sparring and a nice cold shower.

I heard some scrambling behind me. I turned
and as if it was in slow motion I saw Cara. She raised herself as
if to attack me from behind. I was stunned. I couldn’t move. It
never occurred to me she would do something so underhanded. My body
was frozen and I shut my eyes as I waited for the pain that would
come after she hit me. She didn’t get the chance though. Sascha had
her pinned to the floor in an instant.

“No, Cara. The
printzyessa
beat you.
Stay down.” She grunted again as he easily held her down.

“Fine, I’m fine. Let me up, you’re crushing
me.” She shouted.

“You good?” Sascha asked again.

“Yes.” Cara spat the word. I continued to
walk across the room. I kept my back to her. Ronan handed me my
water bottle.

“How did you do that?”

“What? Not get hit?”

“Cara is one of the best martial artists in
our pack. Once you were aware she was attacking, she never hit you.
How?” I just shrugged and tried to not feel the weight of Cara’s
stare from across the room. She was petite and pretty with short
blonde hair and crystal clear blue. She looked so young, maybe
twenties, but again I had to remind myself Werewolves age
differently so I couldn’t really know.

It was hard to recognize her dainty
appearance with the ferocity of her attacks. She must be one hell
of a Werewolf. I just wished I knew why she disliked me so
much.

“Why is she here?” I asked.

“I’m not sure.” Ronan shrugged.

After that Cara left the sparring room and I
watched as Ronan worked out with Dimitri and Sascha. All thoughts
of my cool shower behind me.

I was surprised by him. He was very skilled
and his knowledge of hand to hand combat was infinitely greater
than my own. Ronan held his own against the older, stronger men. He
was graceful and fast.
Really fast
.

Because he was lighter he was able to dodge
most of the blows the two guards rained down on him. Unfortunately
one caught him in the shoulder and he stumbled to one knee. I was
up and ready to help, but Uncle Sean stopped me with a hand on my
arm. He gestured for me to wait. I’m glad I did. Ronan was back on
his feet in an instant and giving as good as he got.

“He’s a good lad. We’ve been training him for
pack soldier since he was a pup. The time for his testing will be
upon him soon.” Uncle Sean leaned against the wall next to me.

“Testing?”

“Werewolves are tested when they come of age.
It is how we prove we are of worth to the pack. It is also how jobs
are assigned. Ronan will have his testing soon. I wanted to tell
you I’m sorry that happened before. With Cara.”

“She doesn’t seem to like me very much. Why
is she here?” I wondered about the testing Uncle Sean spoke of, but
I was more concerned with the lethal blonde who seemed to have
taken an instant dislike to me.

“She’s a master. She holds black belts in
varying degrees in several different martial arts. Rolf picked her
to see if your training is up to par.”

“I wonder what she’ll tell him.” We both
smirked and unfortunately distracted Ronan. He landed on his butt
with a loud thump.

“Oooh, that’ll leave a mark.” Dimitri bopped
him on the head and Ronan stayed down.

I looked over the messages on my cell as I
walked over to my house.
Cell phones. What was the world like
before them?
Must have been an awful place where people had to
speak to one another and write stuff down on paper to remember it.
Smh.

No, but really, most of my school work was
located on SHPS School Pages. It was a website for teachers and
students, and now it even had an app. I could find homework,
projects, chat with students in my classes, and message my teachers
if I needed help. I could even send my homework to teachers
online.

It was pretty cool. Geek that I am I never
missed an assignment and this made completing them and handing them
in even quicker. Unfortunately, for those who claimed to forget
their books, they could now get those online as well. No more
dodging homework or misplacing assignment instructions. Everything
was online.

Poor Ronan.
It wasn’t really his
fault. I mean he was smart, but he tended to only want to go
running, play the piano or spar. I guess it’s a Werewolf thing.
Sitting still just wasn’t for us. I found I could read faster and
my memory was better than it had been. It just made studying easier
for me. Which was good since I now spent so much time working
out.

I missed my jogs with Sebby, but running with
Ronan was much more satisfying. I could push myself and not worry
about showing him up. I think he liked the competition too. Besides
Sebby was playing indoor soccer now.

To a regular teen it was way too cold outside
for running. He wouldn’t get why I’d go jogging when it was so
cold. I tried meeting him at the school gym, but the treadmills
were too slow. Besides I couldn’t sweat at that pace, not like he
did and it was making me self-conscious. I mean he’d be soaked by
the time we were finished. How could I explain why I wasn’t even
breathing heavy? Nope. This was better.

I glanced over my school pages app and noted
a new assignment my lit teacher had given us. Cool.
I am such a
geek.
Angela had been trying to get me to use Twitter and
Facebook, NewsFlash and other sites for weeks. She took my phone
the other day and set up apps for access to everything.

She even hooked up my
Wolf Moon
login,
avatar and game status updates, not to mention, a Urshotz account.
I told her I’d never even use the dumb smartphone, then she showed
me the school pages app and I was a goner.

I headed into Nonna’s cozy little kitchen and
breathed deep.
Mmm
. Homemade
tortellini en brodo
. It
was cold enough for soup. I savored the familiar aroma. She always
made her chicken broth in huge batches which she would label and
freeze for days like this. It always had the perfect balance of
flavors. Parsley, onions, carrots, celery and it was never too
salty. Nonna really was the best cook around. Having my appetite
increase was a pleasure for her and she spent all hours cooking
things for me.

“Maria! Sit down and have some soup,
si
?” She handed me a deep bowl of the steaming soup and a
crust of Italian bread.

“Thanks Nonna, I could use it.”

“Where did you get that?” I looked at Nonna’s
horrified expression and looked down to my arm and saw she was
looking at a huge purple bruise. I must have gotten it while
sparring with Cara.

“It’s nothing, I’m fine.” She closed her
mouth, did a quick sign of the cross, and walked to get me a
napkin. I rubbed my arm where the bruise was and looked down. I
hated worrying her and I really was fine. I didn’t even feel it. By
the time I finished my third bowl of soup the bruise was gone.

“You need your strength, Maria, why don’t you
go rest?”

“That’s a good idea, thanks Nonna. I’ll take
the garbage outside later.”

I walked up the stairs to my room and didn’t
pause when I saw Julianna’s door open.

“There you are!”

Rebecca, my younger cousin, was sitting on
the stairs to my room. One of my rubber ducks was in her grimy
little hands. I looked up and saw my door was open. I was
so
not having that.

“Were you in my room, Becca?”

“Yeah, so what. You can’t do anything to me.
My mom said. She said you’re just a little orphan with no real
family and that this house and everything in it will go to my daddy
someday. So that means this is mine!” She smiled triumphantly. The
way a greedy little child does. One who is unaware of the vileness
that spewed from her mouth.

I had to remember that she was only a kid and
listened too closely to things her mother should never say in front
of her.
It isn’t her fault, Grazi
.

She stood there hands on her non-existent
hips flashing her eyes at me. They were blue just like her
sister’s. I knew she didn’t get what she was doing. But still that
was
my
rubber duck and she didn’t belong in my room.
Ever.

“Rebecca, I’m going to say this only once.
Don’t you
ever
go into my room or touch my things again
without asking permission. If you do, I promise you won’t like
it.”

“Why? You can’t do anything to me!” She threw
my duck to the floor and stomped on it. I gritted my teeth.

Fine. If that’s how she wanted it. I grabbed
her by the shoulders and lifted her off the stairs. She whimpered
when I looked her in the eyes. I don’t know exactly what I did, but
she started crying. All I knew was I was angry and I wanted to
teach her a lesson.

“Your eyes! Mommy! Mommy! Grazi’s eyes are
glowing! She’s gonna get me!” She ran screaming to her mother’s
room. I picked up my caveman duck and continued up the stairs.
My eyes glowed?
Huh
. I’d have to ask Uncle Sean about
that.

I had to breathe deeply three times with my
eyes closed before I could move. The little brat had completely
trashed my room. Rubber ducks were everywhere, my books thrown
about. Some ripped up.

Oh no
,
please no
. I ran to my
bedside drawer and found my mom’s diary untouched.
Thank
goodness.
I walked around and started cleaning my room. I
wondered if I should get a lock. Nah. I doubted it was necessary.
She wouldn’t be coming into my room anytime soon.

At the dinner table Aunt Theresa spooned out
dishes of her tuna noodle casserole to Uncle Vito, Rebecca and
herself. Julianna was out. Nonna and I shared a small, organic,
free range lamb roast with new potatoes. I finished quickly under
hard stares from my aunt.
She so hated me.

“So kiddo, how’s school? No more getting
dizzy at gym?”

“No, Uncle Vito, thank you. I’m fine now.
Sorry about that day.”

“Are you kidding? As long as you’re safe.
Hon, where’s Julie?”

“You can’t expect her to want to be here, can
you? Not after last week. My own daughter attacked right here and
now she can’t eat in her own home.” My aunt was referring to an
incident where I
may
have picked up my cousin by her throat,
but only after she insulted and shoved me.

I noticed Aunt Theresa had waited for Nonna
to leave the room before making those comments.
Coward.
Before Uncle Vito could answer her I rose from the table and
cleaned my place. He looked at me apologetically and I nodded my
head. He had to pick his battles with his wife. Her icy glares
didn’t bug me. I had other things to worry about.

“Maria, you take the garbage to the curb,
si
?”

“Yes, Nonna, I’ll go now. Is the kitchen
garbage ready?” She nodded and I went about emptying the small
kitchen garbage can and replacing the bag. I walked into the chilly
night air from the back door and grabbed the trash can. It was yard
waste night too, one of the last before the winter set in. I
grabbed one of the bags of fallen and cut branches Uncle Vito must
have put together earlier.

I left them on the curb just outside of our
driveway. Aunt Theresa had been complaining that we needed to have
our driveway repaved, but I honestly couldn’t see the big deal. I
mean it’s not like we eat off the driveway floor or anything. So
what if there were cracks in the pavement? I guess it was a grown
up complaint.

As I headed back to get the second yard waste
bag I smelled something weird. I looked around. There was nothing
there. Nothing, but that scent. I inhaled. It was familiar.
Death
.

Sweet, rotten, decay. Like the Wendigo, but
without the skunky smell. An image of Ms. Vorax smiling at me
during library flashed through my mind.