Page 4 of Blood Moon
“What the hell is going on?” I asked as Logan nodded to Zane and led Aria from the room.
“It’s been a nice year without any bullshit—well, only nice since we moved and got the hell off everyone’s radar,” Zane started. “We primarily made the move because we noticed that Aria was not only shifting into her wolf ten years early, but the scent of her blood is no longer like yours. She seems to be taking your powers, the ones you gained from the merge.”
“It’s being confirmed now,” Cole said. “We weren’t saying anything because we wanted to see if it would progress farther. We needed to see if Aria would continue to change and if it had an effect on you as well. It’s why we bought this place. We wanted a hideout, but we also needed to watch you and Aria too. It was too important not to keep an eye on.”
“Well, while you bastards were cleverly planning and watching shit, did you happen to notice that you and Zane are going back to your alpha states? Did you see that this stupid vampire versus shifter bullshit is firing up between all of us again?”
I heard both Zane and Cole sigh. Zane came around the coffee table and sat at my left, bringing his strong arm around me. “I’ve noticed my moods going back to where they were before the merge, yes.” He kissed my temple as I stared down at my fidgeting hands. “However, I swear to God, Elle, we’re not going to let this split us up. We’ll find answers.”
“From who?” I looked at Cole while Zane ran his hand along my arm. “Who the hell knows anything about the fact that the damn devil is building some army to come after us all again? Who knows about the freakish events we all went through? The demons I carried in my stomach that we thought were babies? All that shit that gives me whiplash when I think about it.”
Zane pulled me into his bare chest, “We will find someone. We all know our situation is not normal, but we also know we’re committed to you and only you. You come first. We can figure the rest of the shit out later. So, Cole, what do you think our next move should be?” he turned his attention to the sexy vampire who wouldn’t let his eyes leave mine.
“We call Val,” he said resolutely. “She’s a seer, and I’m surprised she hasn’t already seen this shit happening.”
“What shit? The fact that we’re all falling apart?”
“That andyou, Elle. You and Aria are swiftly changing, just as we are. The fact that it hit you hard overnight and you woke up like this tells me we need answers and fucking fast.”
“Then get her down here. I don’t know why you all even waited this long.”
“Val’s been working out schools for Aria. She’s come up empty with everything. She was our last resort because she mentioned that if shit started to get different between all of us, it could result in Aria being the source of the issue.”
“She’s not taking her anywhere,” I demanded.
“We know,” Zane rubbed my thigh. “We’ve got this baby. We just need some more answers and need to rule out Aria being the source of what’s going on. She’s getting stronger with her powers, and we don’t know if she’s gaining them prematurely because she’s siphoning them from you and us.”
“Val knows more,” Cole said. “Zac already said he’d call her if shit went weird. We can’t be taken by surprise with anything, Ellie.” He brushed his fingers over my lips, “Never again. If we’re going to persuade Enzo to fight the damn devil himself with us, we all have to be at the top of our game.”
“I get it,” I said in defeat. “Call Val. She’s not a complete bitch who will try to steal our daughter.”
Zane chuckled. “No one is stealing Aria, Elle, they’d have to go through four vamps and three shifters who would die to keep her safe.”
“I get that.” I leaned back and melted against Zane’s chest.
“It’s going to be okay,” Cole said. “We just need answers, and Val seems to be the most knowledgeable about all this shit because she’s a seer, so she’s our first contact. I don’t want any damn witches, warlocks, or shamans in on anything. You are tempting enough for those assholes. I can’t even imagine what Aria would be to them.”
3
After playing in the pool with Aria, I was starting to think she was part mermaid, given the genes my baby girl carried in her. She also had come back from death, was already shifting, and I could swear this girl could hold her breath far too long underwater. She was an extraordinary supernatural, though, and I smiled at her splashing around in the pool, playing with Logan, Zane, and Braden.
“I don’t want to sleep,” she said through a loud and whiney yawn.
“Aria,” I sat up from my lounge chair, where I had been drying off in the sun, “listen to daddy. You need your nap, or you’ll be going to bed without eating one of Uncle Cole’s yummy desserts tonight.”
“Ah, mommy.” She slapped at the water.
“Aria!” I snapped, not appreciating the little wolf temper she’d developed. “Get out, or I’m coming in after you. You need to watch your tone, little one.”
She eyed me like I was Lucifer himself and laid her head against her dad’s shoulder, pointedly turning in the other direction from where I was.
“Don’t let her get away with that, Zane,” I said.
He was a badass, strong mother-effer of an alpha, but he was putty in her hands when she started in on this stuff. She was getting good at manipulating everyone. I guess I was the only one holding onto the parent genes in this place filled with badasses, but it was proving to be a well-known fact that a mom’s temper made these brawny, tough guys look like a bunch of wusses.
“Come on, Aria.” Zane kissed her head, “We don’t want to make mommy mad.”
Oh, fuck you, Zane!
