Chapter 26

Chapter 26

He tracked her all the way through the woods, the roads, the forests beyond. Luther knew it was stupid to let his wolf run the show like this, but he didn’t know how to find her.

At least he’d waited a single day before giving in. He was certain that the human portion of him could ask others if they’d seen her, and he’d be able to track her down.

He couldn’t.

Not a single person had seen her leave, nor did anyone seem all that interested in giving him information. One man even claimed that a single man hunting a woman down on a road was certainly not going to end well. So even if he had seen Luna, he wouldn’t tell Luther a thing.

If he had been in the right state of mind, he’d probably have agreed with the gentleman. After all, men had hunted women down for nefarious reasons throughout history. But that all ended with him coming to a single conclusion.

He couldn’t find Luna on his own. Mortal men were not suited to this job of finding a thief who had disappeared right under his nose.

His wolf had awoken then, ready for the battle and the hunt. It desired nothing more than to rush through the fields and the woods. To tilt its nose to the sky and find her scent. That beloved, wonderful scent of herbs and spices and all things delicious. If he would only give the wolf a chance, then it would find her.

Night fell over a field a half day’s ride away from his manor. It wasn’t all that private, but Luther was out of options. He let the wolf take over their journey. And as he looked up into the sky, certain that he’d still retain some control, he realized it was the first night of a full moon.

The wolf had tricked him. It had known that this was the first night when it could be wild and free again, and Luther had been so concerned with finding Luna that he’d let time slip away from him.

The beast howled in triumph as Luther fell away from his body and then all rational thought disappeared. He wasn’t Luther. Not anymore.

His wolf sighed, and the sound was low. Guttural. It wasn’t the sound of man at all, and Luther knew how terrifying it appeared. He’d seen it in the mirror and in the reflection of the lake. He’d seen a thousand times what this beast looked like and he knew that no matter who walked into that clearing, they would flee in fear.

He was a monster.

“We are not a monster,” the wolf growled. “You need to stop thinking that.”

“We are nothing holy or well,” he replied, although it felt like he was trapped inside a cage within his own body. He wasn’t even sure if the creature could hear him. “Our father was right. A demon like this should never be released out into the world for others to see. We are nothing more than a plague on our own town.”

“Everyone has an animal and a man inside them. You are merely more obvious than others. But what do you think drives men to adventure? Why do you think so many men are driven to war or fighting for the woman they love? That is the animal, Luther. You have to accept that part of yourself whether you had a wolf inside you or a crow.”

He supposed that sounded far more logical than anything his father had ever told him. Denying who and what he was only made his soul hurt. The battle with himself had continued on for so many years now, and he was tired of fighting who he was.

What he was.

“Can you really find her?” he asked.

“We can find her together, Luther. It won’t just be me running through the forests. It will be us, tracking her down and bringing her home.” The beast curled their hands into fists, the claws digging into his palms. “Where she belongs.”

At least then he would know she was safe. He could hold her in his arms and know that she hadn’t ended up dead. She owed money to some very dangerous people, she’d claimed. He could only imagine that meant they were trying to find her, too.

“Let’s go,” he replied and then suddenly, he wasn’t locked away in his own mind.

Just like that, as though the wolf had been waiting for him to say that all along, he had control over his body again. Sort of. It was like he shared the controls of his own form, although it was still that of the beast. He could see through the wolf’s eyes. Smell what the wolf smelled. It was... exhilarating.

“This is how you feel all the time?” he asked, lifting the massive claws so he could tilt them in the light.

“It is,” the wolf replied.

And, oh, how the power made him feel like nothing else. He was more than a man now, and he could smell her in the wind. Luther and his wolf chased that lovely scent through the fields. Moonlight guided their path. But he needed little light to see like this. He knew exactly where he was going, even if he had to chase her across a hundred miles.

He paused at the base of a tree where the roots were all tangled together. She’d stopped here for the night, although she hadn’t lingered very long. The remains of a campfire had been snuffed out in a hurry, and considering how weak her scent was, she must have only slept for a few hours before she had awoken again. Because of another person? Or fear?

A low snarl slipped from between his fangs. Then he headed off to follow her footsteps yet again. Luther dropped onto all fours and found that was even faster than running. He could fly across the fields like this. No one would ever catch him.

He tracked her scent all the way to a crumbling castle far from his manor. It took the better part of two days, but when the moon sank below the horizon, he’d have to return to his human form. And the longer he was in that wolf-like form, the less he wanted to be himself. Luther didn’t want to think about how weak he was. How easily his skin cut and how easily he tired as a man.

The last night of the full moon brought him to the courtyard of the castle where he stood alone, chest heaving, glaring up at the lights that were lit within. They would give her to him. Her scent was so strong here, he couldn’t imagine that she was anywhere else. This was the place. This was the only time he’d get to find her.

The high peaks of the castle rose like daggers pointing at the moon. Slashes of windows were all that remained, some of them entirely without glass. He could smell the faint hint of the sea and wondered if this building had been built on a cliff’s edge. It had been a fortress in its time. But now it was nothing more than the lingering relic of an ancient history.

Tilting his head back, he opened his muzzle and let out a howl of rage and sadness. He wanted his mate. He wanted her to stand in front of him so he could finally hold her again. And then bite her. How dare she leave him for this long without letting him know where she had gone? The woman played with fire and he wouldn’t stand for it.

No one came out of the castle. She had to be in there. His lungs were full of her unique scent and... and...

The front door blasted open. The shadowy figure of a man stood within, his shoulders broad and his form tall.

Luther bared his teeth in anger. Did this one think to keep her away from him? If anyone tried to send Luther away, then he would let the wolf free to enjoy whatever lingered in that home. No one would stand between him and Luna. No one.

But as the man descended into the courtyard, even Luther’s angry wolf hesitated. This wasn’t a man. He smelled like metallic blood and dust, like the ashes of a body long gone.

Vampire.

This was the one Luna had told him about. The creature from the darkness and the shadows that had married her sister, or at least, in every way other than in the Church’s eyes. He remembered that she’d liked the man, although her stories of him always made him seem a little too overbearing. Now he understood why she felt that way. He clearly intended to send Luther on his way without ever knowing what happened to Luna.

“You will give her to me,” Luther snarled. His hands opened and closed as the wolf whispered dark deeds in his ears. Both he and his monster wanted to see what a vampire would do if a werewolf attacked him.

Would this creature try to fight him? He looked like nothing more than a mortal man, but Luther remembered stories about their kind. They were inhumanly strong, and their teeth were sharper than the most well made blade. It would be a battle that would make the history books, and he was so thoroughly tempted to fight this monster. Fight him and win, because Luther would. He had no doubt about that.

Although, the wolf wasn’t quite as confident as he was. His wolf even swallowed hard as the vampire took another aggressive step toward them.

“I will give you nothing from this house,” the vampire replied. His tones even and his emotions held in check. “You look for a ghost, werewolf. The lingering vial of her essence will be long gone by the time you convince me to let you into this house.”

Vial? Rage burbled through his body and he took an aggressive step forward. “Do you mean to suggest that you’ve drained her?”

“Why would I do that? No, I didn’t drain her.” The vampire looked at his long nails, flaring his fingers for a moment before adding, “Although she gave me the slightest amount of her blood so you would come here first and give her time to get even farther from you.”

How dare they? Luther growled long and low, then paced in front of the vampire. “You don’t want me here, monster, and neither have I any interest in darkening your doorstep for long.”

“I told her to leave the moment I realized she’d caught your attention,” the vampire said. He stepped into the moonlight and for the briefest of moments, it appeared that his face had creased with pity. “My wife convinced me that she should stay the night and give her a chance to get away from you. Only after I informed her of the dangers your kind always brings with them. Murder. Mayhem. Madness. All the ‘m’ words that mean you are not fit to linger here.”

“I would never hurt her.”

“No, you wouldn’t. But you would bring about a mob or destruction either way. Wolves don’t know how to control themselves. You see something you want and you take it. Because that makes sense to you, even though you regret it later.” The vampire held up his hand for silence as Luther started snarling again. “You will not convince me otherwise on this. She went to London to deal with the men she owes money to.”

He hadn’t expected the vampire to tell him where she was. Luther drew himself up taller, trying to be as intimidating as possible. “Why would you tell me that if you think I will only bring death and destruction to your house?”

“Because I remember what it felt like to be completely mad over a woman you shouldn’t want. And I recognized the look on Luna’s face when she arrived knowing that she’d left a piece of herself behind.”

Martin. Luther remembered now. The vampire’s name was Martin.

And Luna had told him that there was so much more to his story than she knew. She’d seen how madly her sister had fallen for him, and how quickly. They were like two sides of a coin that hadn’t realized how desperately they needed each other. Together, they’d become much happier than they were without each other. Such a romance was something she’d only heard about in story books.

Until now, he hoped. Knowing that she’d been distraught when she left gave him hope that he would find her again and that their story would continue.

“I know she stole from me,” he said, his voice a low rasp. “I know what she took and I know that she had no choice.”

“She was certain you would never forgive her for what she did.”

He shook his head. “Jewelry can be replaced, I suppose. They were my mother’s. But if she needed them, then I would have given them to her. I just want her to come home.”

“Home?” Martin repeated, tilting his head to the side. “And where do you consider her home to be?”

Not here.

Not in London, where she’d been used and abused by so many.

And not really in the manor either, because that wasn’t the right answer. Those haunted halls were nothing to her, although someday he hoped they would come to be hers.

Instead, Luther tapped a clawed hand to his chest. “Here. Here is home.”

The vampire reluctantly smiled, then nodded to the right. “London. You’re looking for the Spirit Quay Gang. The leader’s name is Crowley.”

“Thank you,” Luther muttered, and then sprinted off into the darkness. Unfortunately, he’d have to deal with this gang as a man. And that frightened him.