Blue Moon (8 page)

I prayed I was right and opened my mouth.

“Because in a few hours the full moon would’ve been up
,
and if my uncle was still alive…he would’ve been a wolf in that cell.”

Chapter Ten

Vivianna

Did he just say his uncle would have turned into a wolf?
Alcohol still warmed my abdomen, keeping my filters a little thin, but I wasn’t smashed enough to believe him. Was he teasing me? Did he honestly think I’d buy this? I struggled to fire up some anger, or at least indignation, but I couldn’t find a trace of laughter in his eyes.

But it couldn’t be true. I frowned. “This isn’t funny, Logan.”

He wasn’t joking. “No, it’s not.”

“You’re saying your Uncle Niko was some kind of…werewolf?” I rubbed my forehead, wishing I could clear the buzz from my mind.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” He didn’t even crack a smile.

I took a step back. “Why are you doing this?”

He sighed, but didn’t break eye contact. “Because I love you, and I trust you, and I want you to trust me, too.”

I opened and closed my mouth a few times before I could find my voice again. “So, you’re telling me that werewolves are real.” Suddenly my foggy brain found the big connection. “You’re a…” I couldn’t even finish the insane sentence.

His voice was barely a whisper, “I’m a werewolf, Anna.”

“No.” I couldn’t look at him. My mind whirled. I went to the kitchen for my keys, but if I couldn’t drive earlier, that last glass of champagne cemented it. I needed a ride. “Take me home.”

“Anna, talk to me.”

I wheeled to face him, my voice a little louder than I intended. “There is no such thing as a werewolf, Logan. And it hurts that this is the best lie you can come up with. You really thought I’d buy that? What are you going to do when the full moon comes around in a couple weeks?”

He didn’t hesitate. “I’ll be a big, dark brown wolf with blue eyes.”

“Stop it!” I balled my hands into tight fists at my sides, my nails digging into my palms and clearing a little of the mental fog. “I can’t believe I’m listening to this.”

He came closer, but didn’t touch me. I wished he would put his shirt back on. His torso was distracting, even in my current state of mind.

“Earlier today, I pulled you up that rock face with one arm.”

“Yeah, but look at you.” I gestured up his chest. “You’re like Batman without the suit.”

He almost smiled. “I’ve always eaten more than I should, and I never gain weight.”

“A healthy metabolism doesn’t mean you’re a werewolf.”

He groaned. “I don’t know how to make you believe, but I’m not lying to you. The night before the prom was a full moon. I shifted into a wolf for the first time that night.”

I struggled to remember. It could have been a full moon, but I could fact check it on the internet later. “So you dumped me because you were worried you’d bite me or something?”

“No.” He shook his head. “We should probably sit down.”

Visions of what we almost did on the couch filled my head. I pulled out one of the stools from under the kitchen bar and sat. Logan did the same and met my eyes.

“For just a second, pretend werewolves are real, okay? Let me tell you how we work. First rule, we don’t run around biting people and turning them into werewolves.”

“Were you bitten?”

I shook my head. “No. It runs in the male’s side of the family. The Y chromosome carries the shifter gene. Luke and I were born wolves, just like our dad.”

“Nick is a werewolf, too?”

I nodded. “Yep. And so is my mom.”

“Laura?” I had to admit, even though it was fiction, this was fascinating. “So she was bitten?”

He paused, staring at his hand on the bar. “Yeah, but she wasn’t attacked.” He lifted his eyes, his gaze locked on mine. “She wanted to be like him, like her mate.”

My head was spinning. “Mate?”

He nodded slowly. “Like wolves, we have one mate for life, chosen by destiny or Fate or whatever you believe. When we touch her, skin to skin, the wolf recognizes her as our one true partner for life. The
only
woman we will ever love.”

Those words. Logan said them earlier.
The only woman I’ll ever love.
I gasped and met his eyes. “You think I’m your mate?”

“I
know
you are.”

I pressed the heels of my hands to my temples, struggling to keep my head from exploding. “This is so insane.”

“It doesn’t make it any less true.”

I lowered my hands. “When did this mate thing occur to you?”

“Our wolf doesn’t really awaken inside of us until our first shift…”

I put my hand up, shushing him. Holy shit. I already knew when he discovered it. And if I was right…could all of this be real? My pulse pounded in my ears. “That kiss. The day of the prom. You took me to lunch, and we kissed when you picked me up. Only it was different. It was…”

“Urgent, needy, and…” His voice died off.

“Good-bye.”

A tear escaped from the corner of his eye rolling slowly down his chiseled cheek to his strong jaw. “We were kids. And you had big dreams. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“I’d loved you for half my life by then.” A sob strangled my throat. “How could you do that to me? How could leaving me, breaking my heart, be your choice?”

He stared down at his hands. “I didn’t feel like I had a choice. After Niko died keeping werewolves a secret…I guess I panicked about spilling it. You wanted to be a reporter. I thought I’d be betraying my Pack if I told you. In my head, you’d be better off seeing the world than being tied here with me.”

I struggled to piece all the information together. “That’s why you don’t go on tour with your band.”

“Tough to plan a tour around full moons, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable shifting in an area I wasn’t familiar with.”

I blew out a breath, mulling everything over, struggling between believing and wanting it to be fiction, when another thought pierced through the haze of champagne. “You thought I’d expose you.”

“I was seventeen and freaked out.”

“But we shared
everything
. You shut me out because you thought I’d tell everyone what you were.” Somehow this hurt almost as much as it did when he walked away. “God, did you know me at all? How could you think I would
ever
do something like that to you?”

“I don’t. I wouldn’t be telling you now if I did.” He got off his stool and stood in front of me. Taking my hand in his, he pressed my palm to his bare chest, right over his heart. “I’m not going to try to justify what I did. There has not been a single day that I didn’t regret hurting you, or miss having you in my life.”

Tears brimmed in my eyes. “This can’t be real.”

He lifted my hand and kissed my palm. “If it were the full moon, I could prove it to you.”

I cupped his cheek, memorizing every line of face. Was I seriously willing to buy into werewolves being real? Was I
that
drunk?

“I need to go home.” I dropped my hand to my side.

He hesitated. “You don’t believe me.”

“I don’t know what to think.” I shook my head. “I definitely need some sleep and a clearer head.”

He took a step back, and I almost reached for him. Part of me ached to get naked and lose myself in his arms. Just for a night, to be able to experience that bliss we used to share. That naïve belief in happily ever after.

But I didn’t. He had to be lying.

Logan drove me back to Lake Tahoe in my own car. It wasn’t until he pulled in the driveway that I connected the dots. “How are you going to get home? We left your truck…”

“Rojo’s is only a couple miles away. I can jog over.”

“It’s late.”

He sighed and met my eyes. “I’m a werewolf, Anna. I’ll be fine.”

His words were like being smacked, further sobering me up. I didn’t want it to be true. If werewolves were real, what else was there in the world that I didn’t know about?

“Thanks for bringing me home.”

He gave me my keys and bent to kiss my cheek. “Call me when you’re ready.”

I nodded and went to the door. When I looked back, he was already gone. I pressed my lips together to keep from sighing.

The door opened before I could reach for the knob. Madison stood there in her robe, arms crossed over her chest. She peered around me and then relaxed. “He’s gone?”

“Yeah.” I went inside and collapsed onto a dining room chair.

Madison sat the chair next to me. “So tell me everything.”

I opened my mouth and closed it again. If there was any truth to what Logan shared tonight, I couldn’t tell her. I couldn’t tell anyone this huge, world-changing news. The journalist in me cringed.

“Well?” She raised her eyebrows. “Please tell me you didn’t sleep with him.”

“No.” I shook my head. “But I would have.”

She gasped. “He said no?”

“Not exactly.” I lifted my gaze to her face. “He asked if I was sure, and I said yes…then I blurted out it might help me get him out of my system.”

Her head tilted a little. “And
that
backed him off?”

I nodded. “More like brought him to a screeching halt.”

“Wow.” She sat back in her chair.

“What?”

She shrugged. “I thought he just wanted what he couldn’t have.”

“And when he could have me, he didn’t want me.” I rolled my eyes. “Okay, that’s not true.” I smiled. I couldn’t help it. “He for sure wanted me, in a
big
way.”

Madison grinned. “So it was hot and heavy until you ruined the mood.”

“Pretty much.” I stared at my hands. “He told me some stuff about why he left me hanging for the prom.”

She waited and then groaned. “Oh God. You’re not seriously considering giving him another chance, are you?”

“I don’t know yet.” I met her eyes. “I wish I could make you understand. No other guy has ever made me feel whole like Logan does. And he
gets
me. I…” I couldn’t tell her anymore. I pointed to my room. “I need some sleep so I can think straight.”

Madison nodded. “Good plan.”

I started down the hall.

“Vivi?”

I stopped and glanced over my shoulder. “Yeah?”

“If you decide to spend more time with him, I’ll support you, okay? I don’t trust him, but all I really want is for you to be happy. You’re my best friend.”

I hustled over and hugged her so tight she was lucky I didn’t crack a rib. “I love you. I’m being careful. Promise.”

She stepped back, her lips curved in a warm smile. “Love you, too, Vivi. Get some rest.”

…

Madison was already gone for work when I woke up. Saturdays were busy around the real estate office, and her boss, Taryn Goldstone, was giving Madison more responsibility now that her son moved up from American Youth Soccer Organization to play club soccer. Those road games gave Madison extra chances to prove herself, and she never missed one.

I ate a bowl of cereal, pretending the world was the same place it had been yesterday morning. Before Logan told me he was a… It still felt silly. Werewolf. Really?

But it would explain how back in school he’d always known what was in my lunch sack before I did. He could smell it. And the way he lifted me up onto the rock one-handed, without even a grunt of exertion. What else could he do?

Was I really considering this?

I picked up my phone and texted Luke.

I need a friend. Can I come by?

I washed my bowl. My phone chimed as I dried it.

Sure. I’m at the ranch.

The address followed. I knew he was training show horses now, but I’d never been to his work. Werewolves riding horses. Seriously? I chuckled and headed into my room to change.

Clad in jeans and a tank top, my hair in a ponytail, I reached for the baseball cap I snagged from the Masquerade last October. I had to laugh. The Wolf Pack. University of Nevada Reno had no idea a real Wolf Pack lived in town.

Surreal.

But I wasn’t ready to accept it. Not yet. Not without confirmation of some kind.

I got to Whispering Pines about an hour later. When I climbed out of my car, Luke was riding a horse in the big arena. Another man was in the center of the ring, shouting some adjustments at the horse and rider.

As I got closer, I made out the words, but I’d never been around horses before, so although I recognized it was English, I had no clue what he meant.

“He’s over-bridled now. Loosen up.” The tall guy in the arena called out. “Good. See if you can bump him back a little. Nice. That’s the jog we want. Feel that?”

Luke nodded.

“Circle him around. He’ll want to rise up, but see if you can get him to relax his neck. Keep him steady.” The guy crossed his arms, biceps straining against his thin T-shirt. His faded jeans fit just right, too.

Luke never told me the head trainer was hot.

I didn’t know anything about horses. Morgans—I thought that was the breed he said they specialized in. The horse Luke rode was gorgeous. Deep, fiery auburn, almost wine colored. There was probably a horse color name for it, but that was the best description I could come up with. The horse’s neck was thick and powerful, with a long black mane and a braided up tail.