Page 115 of Conner's Luna

I'm a fairy. I'm a wingless fairy. I'm a half-Irish-half-Puerto-Rican wingless fairy with a honkytonk badonkadonk. I can't fly because my butt's too plump.

No, that makes no sense. My Irish side? Sure, fairies, but dad said we're callingAbuela. The only magical creatures in her island lore make vampires look like Tinkerbell.

"Dad, I don't like this," I whisper to him.

He gently enfolds me in his arms, careful to not jostle my shoulder or head. "It'll be alright, peanut. I promise."

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Conner

“Why are you making me leave? She's in the fucking hospital," I snarl at my father as he strolls through the corridors to the parking lot.

"We are on RedMoon territory. I just negotiated the release of your mating expectations so that you could pursue a genius human girl who, as it ends up, has a father with a very mysterious background."

Dad turns and stares at me as we reach his truck. "Conner. You need to slow down. I can smell the mating venom. It's practically leaking from your pores."

"That's not possible. It's all in my mouth. Besides, the rules are different, right? Bailey is human, not a wolf. She barely feels the mating bond."

"Your excuses make me want to punch my own son in the dick." Dad nods to the truck with a jerk of his head. We climb in and shut the doors. "Listen, Con," he says quietly, "first of all I already told you not to rush that girl. Secondly, these murders have been taking up all of our attention, so we haven't had a chance to investigate Bailey thoroughly."

"That's shit, Dad. She's just a super-smart girl. Leave her alone. Leave us alone," I growl.

"Third," Dad smacks the back of my head, "I just told you she has something going on in her background. We can't pin it down, but you better be certain you don't piss off the wrong people, yeah?"

"I'm not giving up on her, Dad," I growl. My wolf paces, flashing fang toward his own father-wolf. The pretty honey-scented female is more important. She is most important and he is ultra-p.o.ed that we didn't Mark her earlier.

Dad laughs a low, cruel laugh. "I never asked you to give up on her. I just declared her ClearHowl a fucking hour ago, you dick."

"Just like my Dad," I quipped back automatically, trying to hide my glee.

Dad snorts. "We need to figure out who she is, first. Then, we make our move."

"I Mark her," I say with embarrassing eagerness. My wolf wags his tail.

Dad smacks my head again, a little harder. "I just said no Marking. Pay attention. She lives on RedMoon land. In one of their rentals. We do some reconnaissance, then convince her old man it's dangerous to be there and they should move to ClearHowl," Dad spells it out triumphantly.

I side-eye him skeptically. "They're real sharp, Dad."

"It's the best we can do. Besides, I have fucking information. It's the Ace of Clusterfucks, but what the hell?"

I wait while he gathers his thoughts. Finally, he clears his throat. Pulling the truck over, he steps out. I follow, dread pooling in my stomach.

"Clothes," he demands.

I strip, noting that he doesn't. My wolf sniffs the air, anticipation making the fur on his back rise. In just a few seconds I'm fully nude. Dad's gaze goes up and down my body. Satisfaction gleams. "You've put on muscle, thank fuck."

"Yeah, it's Bailey," I explain what he already knows in a grunt. I need him to explain why he's prepping me for a shift. Dad didn't strip me down to look at the faded bruises on my stomach.

Dad turns me toward the woods, both hands on my shoulders. In my ear, he says quietly, "I'm letting Hank Washington take your female home because she's safer there with us watching. An hour before Bailey was taken to the RedMoon hospital, a she-wolf's body disappeared from the morgue in the hospital's basement. We found out about it after Bailey was admitted."

My body slams into the dirt on all four paws.

We take in a deep breath. There is nothing but trees and small forest creatures. Our paws pound into the earth. Our female was threatened today. Hurt by other wolves and then threatened by an unseen, much more sinister group. To top it all off, her father forced us away from her.

We run fast enough to escape the feeling of helpless rage when we think of our honeygirl on a hospital cot while a group of murderous cadaver thieves roamed free just two stories below her. We race until our lungs burn and our muscles feel as if they are on fire. Our father-wolf told us to earn our female.

My body schisms from my wolf. For a month after Lydia rejected us this happened every time we tried to shift. It was too painful to even think about, but now it's simpler and not as devastating.

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