Page 52 of The Wolf Moon

“I like to play with you then,” He continued, unfazed. I smiled, despite trying not to.

“I meant before me.”

“There was nothing before you,” Roman shrugged simply.

“There were centuries before me. You’re such a sad excuse for a wolf, Roman,” I sighed, leaning forward to rest my forehead against his. Roman only chuckled at my insult, running his hands over my back delicately. I inhaled deeply, breathing in that indescribable scent of his that made the beast inside me shiver in delight. “You smell…”

I paused to keep myself from saying something embarrassing.

“Amazing? Wonderful? The best excuse for a wolf you’ve ever met?” Roman teased me, leaning forward to steal a kiss. I pulled away sharply, holding my hand over his mouth before looking at him determinedly.

“Like a dog,” I lied. I squeaked in surprise when he twisted, flipping me onto my back below him on the bed. But when he hovered above me, I didn’t try to struggle or find an escape. I’d long stop trying to escape him by now.

Roman lowered his face over mine delicately, trailing his lips over my right cheek just below my eye and I closed my eyes in response. My heart was racing in my chest and my skin was hot with enjoyment.

“You smell like the trees,” Roman said slowly, trailing his lips over my jaw line carefully. “You smell like the Earth and the rivers; the day and the night.” He lowered his lips over my collarbone where Lillian’s claws had left a nasty scar and my eyes fluttered open in response. “You smell like prey and predator… human and wolf…” He lifted his face back over mine, watching me hungrily. “… tempting and dangerous.”

I pulled him to me, lifting my chin to capture his lips with mine. Before he lost himself completely, Roman pulled away, laughing when I reached to kiss him further before pushing me down firmly.

“I have something for you,” He explained when I frowned at him. Roman pushed himself up and stood to grab something from a drawer nearby. I sat up, pulling my knees to my chest and peering at him curiously.

“What is it?” I asked, trying to peek around his form, but he kept it hidden. Then he turned and sat close to me once more. I expected a typical gift a man would give a woman, maybe jewelry or flowers. Instead, he held out a sheathed weapon, the hilt a strong metal with intricate designs of wolves among it.

I was enthralled. I reached out for it with great interest and he quickly pulled it from my reach, a determination in his features. I pulled my hand back to my chest and looked at him like a lost puppy.

“Is it not mine?” I asked.

“It’s silver,” He responded, his voice suddenly intensely serious. He lifted it so that I could see it again, pulling the blade extremely carefully from the sheath until I could see the metal; a sharp and brilliant silver blade. “It’s lethal to wolves. A wound by silver is like a wound to a human. We don’t heal from it like wolves. You will have to be careful not to harm yourself with it.”

Roman suddenly ran the flat part of the blade across his forearm, not even wincing when the metal hissed angrily against his flesh in response as it burned him. I could feel the heat of the wound in my own arm, furious and sharp like fire. The beast inside me seemed to explode with it, desperate to end the source of the pain.

“Stop!” I cried out, reaching to stop him, but he held me back from touching the metal myself. He healed almost instantly; the pain nothing but a memory of an ache on my own skin. Not even silver affected him like it did other lycans.

“Sorry, Milena,” He said sweetly, placing the blade back into the sheath carefully. “I forgot that would hurt you as well.” Then he lifted the weapon for me to take. I did so quickly, if only to prevent him from trying it on himself further. Once it was in my grip, I looked at it curiously.

“I want you to keep it with you and don’t be afraid to protect yourself with it against any wolf that tries to harm you, understand?” Roman was watching me with a frown until I finally turned to smile at him.

“I understand,” I answered. He trusted me with a secret weapon not allowed to any other wolf or human, if only to help protect me. It warmed me just knowing that. It also frightened me to know I held such a dangerous weapon in my grasp and I hoped I’d never have to use it.

~…~

The water was cool over my legs and up to my waist. My bare feet flexed over the soft dirt underneath me. Diana stood in front of me, her hands held with mine pressed against them before us. We stood in the dark of the night under the waning moon, just her and I. It wasn’t cold, despite the water. The air was warm from the previous summer day. I was in a tight sleeveless shirt. Before we got here, Diana was in something more loosely fit, though as she stood before me she had taken off her baggier shirt to reveal the tank top underneath.

She was beginning to show, only slightly; a tiny bump over her stomach that could be mistaken for a food baby. No one had seemed to notice that she was sticking to a baggier wardrobe to hide it. She had been training herself to match her heartbeat with the child’s with a determination only a woman desperate to protect her unborn could do. Even now, before me, I couldn’t hear the child’s heartbeat beyond hers. It was impressive, really.

I had no idea what type of things she’d done to prevent Beta Caleb from finding out, but I could tell already there was a strain between them and Caleb didn’t know why. I wanted to tell him, but I knew it was up to Diana to do so. She was afraid he would tell his Alpha. And even though she wouldn’t speak it, she was afraid what Roman would do. After all, there was still not a single other wolf with child in this or any other pack.

I hadn’t participated in any prayers for fertility yet, so that may have been my fault. With the new tasks Roman had given me, along with the training I did with Logan, plus spending my nights in Roman’s bed… it was hard to find a moment to get away. On this night, I’d only gotten away long after Roman had fallen asleep and even this was stressful enough. I had expected him to catch me at any moment.

“We must be respectful to the cycle of the moon,” Diana said to me finally, her voice quiet as she glanced to the sky. “And in our respect, we must still be grateful to the Trinity. So when we want to pray to the Maiden, we do so during the waxing moon. When we wish blessings from our Mother, we do so during full or new moons. Tonight, any prayers we give will be in honor of the Crone, our Goddess of the waning moon.”

“Is that why we’re in the water?” I asked her curiously.

“You know of the Crone’s Eye?” She responded, twisting her fingers through mine before looking over our hands to me.

“I’ve been told,” I answered truthfully. “The water acts as a bridge between our world and the Goddesses. It’s where oracles go to seek answers from the Crone.”

“And tonight is in the honor of the Crone, under her moon, so yes; this is why we’re in the water,” Diana confirmed easily, flattening her hand over mine again. “How much do you know about Hecate?”

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