Page 18 of Blood Moon
“I can’t believe we’re at square one with all of this again,” I said. “Enzo being the bad guy and us trying to run from him.”
“Don’t think for a second we’re running from him. We’re baiting a mother fucker into our trap,” Logan said. “He hasn’t realized that this shit just put him on our radar to find him, and once we get the fucking bond back,” he eyed Zane’s still hostile expression, “then we call the shots on making him our ally or feeding him to the true enemy that we know we’re up against—fucking Satan.”
“Alright,” I said with some determination. “When are you guys leaving?”
“As soon as Cole books the flights.” Braden looked at Cole.
“I’m using our jet. I need to contact the hangar, and they should have it ready in a few hours. Let’s get our shit together and get ready to handle this.” He looked at me, “If all goes well, we’ll be back in a week.”
“Your job is to seduce a wolf and bring him back onto the team,” Zac smirked. “Don’t enjoy him too much, though,” he whispered in my ear. “I’m afraid you’re still too human to reap the benefits of remembering that vampires fuck better than wolves.”
I looked at Zac in horror. What a way to entice Zane to get his head refocused on joining in with all of us again. I swear this stupid separation shift that happened between the shifters and vampires would be the death of us—not Enzo’s shit—if we didn’t reform this bond and everyone started getting along instead of acting like jealous assholes every time someone opened their damn mouths.
11
Awkward was the best way to describe the last few days I’d spent with Zane—spent, in silence, after the vampires left. He and I were strangers in this massive house together, strangers who shared a beautiful daughter together.
“Do you miss her?” I decided to finally ask, sitting in silence at the large dining table.
Zane swallowed a bite of the lamb he’d cooked. The shifter cooked just as well as Cole—if not better—but I’d never tell that to Cole.
“Miss Aria?” he frowned.
“No, your ex-girlfriend,” I sighed as I rolled my eyes. “Of course, Aria, who else would I be talking about?”
There was a hint of anger in my voice, I knew I needed to chill, but God, this guy was impossible to deal with lately.
“I do,” he answered curtly.
Silence again.
“Zane, you can’t hold their deaths over your head like this. It’s not healthy for you.”
“Can’t I?” He shoved his plate to the side. “As a leader, it’s my responsibility to make sound decisions on behalf of my pack. I failed them, and all of you, in thinking that sending them off was the right decision.”
“So, you’re just going to go on in this frame of mind, then?”
“I’ll handle it and move on. It’s been a week, Elle. Shifters don’t naturally cope with untimely deaths of their own well and justget over it.”
“I’m not asking you to get over it, Zane.” I slumped back in my chair and folded my arms. “I’m asking you not to carry the blame for them dying.”
“Whatever you say.”
So much for that idea. This guy was far from bonded with all of us at this point. In fact, if I were to guess, he most likely blamed me and the vamps for their deaths.
I wasn’t giving up.
I followed him outside, needing to dive into the cool waters of the pool more than anything. I dove in and swam laps like I was going for Olympic tryouts. I aggressively used my burning arms to pull me through the water, needing this release from all the stress of being around a pissed-off, unapproachable shifter.
I was at the realization now that unless we formed another crazy ritual blond bond, Zane was just another asshole shifter who was stuck hanging around us.
I spent the evening channel surfing on the internet television browser we had installed on the smart tv in the living room. Nothing was on, and it was going to be a long night in this big, empty house, lying on the couch. Zane was intently focused on reading a magazine about God knows what and hadn’t said a word to me since I tried to break the ice between both of us.
Dirty Dancing.I smiled at the show that my mom loved…our one mutual bonding point. Beyond that, it was blackout-drunk time, and mom was gone.
I smiled at the remembrance that outside of reading, this was one of the only films that helped me escape the bullshit life that the universe had handed me. I had no idea why the movie helped me survive my crappy reality of a life, but it did. Maybe it was the music that pulled me in. I had no idea, but it helped.
“Have you ever watched this show before?” Zane asked with a touch of humor in his voice.
