Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Amonth passed too quickly in the manor. Luna would have liked to see her sisters, maybe a little more, but she had too much to do. There was an entire house to learn all over again, brand new responsibilities for making sure that everything in the house was running smoothly, and a wedding to plan.

A wedding.

Her wedding.

She was getting married. Of all people. Luna had never thought she’d even consider the thought. She’d spent her entire life thinking she would spend it alone or with her sisters and then this man walked out of the shadows and opened his arms with the intent on her sneaking into his heart.

Damned fool, he had no idea what he was pledging himself to, and she supposed that made him even happier. Luther helped when he could. He was rather busy himself, because apparently being an earl was more than just signing a couple of papers a day and then doing whatever he wanted. Instead, he was out with his people, fixing roads. Being the best earl she’d ever met, that was for certain.

Every now and then they would sneak away to Farmer Barren’s field to help the old man out. And along the way, she would try her best to ease the suspicions about her husband.

“We’re working on finding the wolves,” she said quite frequently. “We know where their den is and we’re moving them out of the area. There’s better hunting outside of here, anyway. That poor boy.”

No one believed her all that well, but they also weren’t interested in angering the Earl, who had proven to be rather protective over his lovely new wife.

The lies still stung, however. Both she and Luther were afraid of what might happen if they let the wolf out. Though the beast seemed unimpressed with their worries. Luther claimed that the wolf inside him wanted to roam free and now that it had a mate, it promised that no one would ever see it again. Being caught was a rarity for its kind, it claimed. Although Luna wasn’t all that certain it was being honest with them.

A month passed without her even noticing how quickly it had gone. Until it was the night when Luther walked into their room, white as a sheet, and said, “It’s a full moon tonight.”

“Ah.”

So they’d planned. They had prepared everything they needed and walked to the basement. The painting of his father glared down at them, the three rips still down his chest, and Luna put her hands on her hips and glared back. “We need to change this painting.”

“Agreed. I’d like to have a ball here someday and I cannot imagine my father would approve.” Still, he twisted the hem of his shirt between his hands. No maid would ever be able to get the wrinkles out. “It doesn’t want to be chained up again, Luna. You’ll have to be quick.”

“Of course.” She had no intention of being quick at all.

She figured there were a few ways to handle their werewolf problem. The first was what Luther wanted to do. Go back to chaining the beast up because it had already proven that it had a thirst for human blood and couldn’t be trusted. Or, and this was the one she preferred, they could figure out a way for them all to harmoniously live together.

Two weeks ago, she’d discovered Luther talking in his sleep. Even stranger, it wasn’t Luther who was attempting to speak with her.

Luther’s wolf and Luna talked for the better part of an hour. Sure, she knew that the beast wanted to control the situation and would do anything it could to get outside. But she also saw the reason for its argument. It wanted to be free, just like all the other things that found Luna. It wanted to see the world and hoped that someday, maybe, it would not have to argue with Luther so much. All it wanted was for their life to be one of adventure living in the wild.

That had been two weeks ago, and now she talked with the wolf almost every single night. They plotted, they planned, but they also made promises to each other. After all, if the wolf wanted her to be its mate, then it had to follow some rules that she’d put down.

Which led her to this moment when she promised Luther that she would put him in chains so he didn’t hurt anyone else.

Luna put her hand on his cheek and smiled. “This will be the last time I ever lie to you. I promise.”

His eyes widened in shock. “What?”

The wolf clawed its way to the forefront of his mind and Luna stepped back to watch him change into that horrible beast. And it was not a pleasant thing to watch. He shifted his form in the most painful of ways. Bones cracking, flesh splitting and mending all in the blink of an eye. She supposed if it were a slower change, no one would survive it.

Luna knew this was the last thing Luther would want. He’d be so angry with her when this was all said and done, but it was also the best thing she could do for him. He would live through the night, and she would be there with the wolf the entire time to make sure it never touched another human. Together, they would all be able to live their lives without fear of what might happen.

All she had to do was watch as the man she loved more than anything disappear into the monster who she was growing rather fond of as well.

Finally, the change finished. Luther stood before her in all his glory as a wolf and man hybrid. She’d forgotten how terrifying it was. The coarse fur that flattened against his skin. The elongated head with dark eyes that watched her every move.

His clawed hand reached out for her and gently touched the side of her head. “Thank you for giving me another chance.”

“I know you won’t hurt me,” she replied with a chuckle. “You’ve proven yourself to be worthy of that trust time and time again.”

“He doesn’t trust that. He thinks I’ll run through the woods and pick out the first villager I can.” The beast drew back, its chest expanding in a deep, ragged inhalation. “It’s not that I don’t want to do that.”

“I know.” And she did. The beast wanted to tear and rend, that’s what it was made to do. Werewolves loved to fight and battle. At least that was what the creature had told her while they were talking. But she couldn’t let it do that, and the beast knew it. They couldn’t do that to their people, at least.

She’d already made a plan. This had been weeks in the making and she wouldn’t back out now because she was afraid. Luna walked over to the painting of Luther’s father and gave him one last glare, then flipped him the bird for good measure.

Behind the painting was a bag of goodies that she planned on taking with them. The first was a rather impressive crossbow Maeve had lent her. The weapon would serve her well in multiple situations, so she strung that and a bag of arrows over her shoulder. She could only hope she wouldn’t have to use them.

Lastly, she picked up the gun with a single loaded silver bullet. The wolf had been the one to tell her about this. He’d seen Luther’s father hide it in the drawers of the desk when he was a child, and knew exactly what it was for. After all, silver was the only thing that could harm a wolf.

If she’d ever questioned how serious this situation was, she didn’t now that she held this in her hands. The beast would let her kill him if it stepped out of line, and that was the best reassurance she had.

Hopefully, she was still a good shot.

Coming out from behind the painting, she nodded at the werewolf standing in the center of the ballroom. “You look like you belong here.”

It snorted. “Luther is already fighting me. He wants to come back.”

“Once we’re in the woods, you can let him come out a little. He’ll realize that this isn’t as dangerous as he thinks.” She hoped. Damn it, she really hoped this was a good idea.

Together, they slipped out of the window she’d already loosened the night before. The glass popped off without a problem and all she had to do then was walk out into the cool night air. Tilting her head back, she let the moonlight play across her features in a path of cool relief before nodding at the wolf. “Just don’t get too far ahead of me, will you?”

“Try to keep up, little mate.” It laughed, and the sound echoed with darkness.

Luna took off across the gardens, over the fence, and out into the fields beyond. The wolf knew where to go, but damn, it was fast. It fairly flew where she could only sprint. Once it reached the edge of the forest, she had a sick feeling she was going to lose the werewolf and then her plan would blow up in her face. But it waited for her, breathing hard and grinning like only dogs could do.

“You’re fast,” the wolf said with a chuckle.

“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic,” she replied, then bent to brace her hands on her knees. She couldn’t get enough breath in her lungs, and if the entire night would be like this, then she’d not do well. More running like that and she’d be tasting blood.

“You’ll get used to it,” the wolf said, lifting its nose into the air. “The more you run, the better you’ll get.”

She tilted her head to the side, then shrugged. “I suppose you’re right. That’s just life, isn’t it? We’ll all get better the more we do something.”

“Hush.” The wolf tilted his nose up to the air again, inhaling deeply. “We’re on a hunt, Luna. You have to be quiet for anything to come upon us.”

“Hunting requires that we sit here and do nothing for a very long time. I used to go on hunts with my family, you know. It was one of the most boring tasks I’d get assigned to.” And she still hated it to this day. No one seemed to understand that she had to do something with herself. Whether that was making arrows, picking flowers, she didn’t care. But her body had to move.

The wolf flashed her another grin. “You’re not hunting with a human. Remember? Now get your bow and arrow out. I’m curious to see how they work.”

In a flash, the beast ran again. She cursed out a low breath, but swung the bow and arrow up into her arms. Luna sprinted after him through the woods, leaping over fallen logs and wondering what the hell they were looking for, but then she saw it. A stag.

The wolf rushed after it, but he kept looking over his shoulder as though he were waiting for her to do something. And then she remembered, right, he’d wanted to see how the bow and arrow worked. She supposed it wouldn’t be as good as teeth and claws, but if she had good aim, then she’d be able to kill the animal instantly.

She rounded away from the chase, trying to cut the deer off before anything happened with the wolf. Bending on her knee, she put the arrow on the bow and released a long, low breath. It had been a long time since she’d killed something, but her mother’s voice whispered in her ear.

“We do not kill for pleasure, but for necessity. This stag will give us its life so that we might live, and we will honor its life in the best way we can.”

The arrow soared, and the stag fell without a single moment of pain. The wolf ran up after, noting the clean kill as it nudged at the beast with its nose. “I didn’t know an arrow could do that.”

“A good hunter can kill without pain,” she replied, walking up to his side, though still feeling sick to her stomach. “I’ll leave you to this one. Don’t make too much of a mess. Whatever you don’t eat, I want to bring it to the village where they’ll make good use out of it.”

She was getting more used to being around a werewolf, but she didn’t want to see it feed. It was still sad, watching the poor deer die like that.

At least the wolf listened to her. He brought the deer to the village himself, and the only person who saw them was a single child who peered out a window far past his bedtime.

Luna made sure the little boy saw the werewolf leave his offering in the square, and then she pressed her finger to her lips. The boy would tell his father that there was a feast outside waiting for them, and she knew the hunters in the village would use every part of the deer. It wasn’t long now until the sun rose, anyway. The meat would still be good.

Hopefully, the boy would mention the village’s werewolf might not be a killer after all. Perhaps he was here to look after them.

Then they raced back to the forest where the wolf waited for the sun rays to hit his skin and return Luther to his mortal form.

“Thank you,” the wolf said, his body already curling in on itself. “I wanted to prove to him that I could be more than a monster.”

“It’ll take some time for him to realize that there’s nothing wrong with being entirely who he is.” She smiled. “I hope you had a good hunt, though.”

“Tomorrow night, I’ll show you how the wolf hunts.” He flashed her a sharp toothed grin and then his spine cracked back into the man.

Luther fell onto his hands and knees in the dirt, breathing hard and completely nude. His skin was mottled with the change, and she knew better than to push him right now. He needed to think and process what had happened. Even though it was the one thing he’d feared more than anything else.

Finally, he looked up at her with tears streaming down his cheeks. “Did I kill someone?”

“No.”

“What blood is on my hands?”

She knelt in front of him and pointed to the bow and arrow across her back. “A deer. We hunted for the village, the wolf and I. He wanted to prove to you that he didn’t have to kill people to enjoy himself. And that you are allowed to still be wild even if you are afraid.”

Luther blew out a long, shaking breath. But then nodded. “And you’ll be with us?”

“Every step of the way,” she replied. “I hid you some clothing a little way away from here. We’ll return to the manor and no one will be the wiser. I’m sorry I had to trick you, Luther.”

He stood and held out his hand for her to take. “I’m not. The idea of being chained in that basement made me sick. We’ll find a new way together, I suppose. Even if it requires that you give up your nights.”

“Only three nights a month,” she replied with a laugh. “I’d give up a lot more than that to keep you by my side.”