Captured Moon-6 (9 page)

She woke with a band around her middle. It took a minute to shake

off the sleep and register where she was and what it was. She wondered how she was going to get up without waking him. Careful not to nudge him, she looked over shoulder into Lawe’s watchful gaze. So much for sneaking out of the room.

Refusing to get drawn into a situation she couldn’t control so early in the morning, she looked away and saw the wolf at the bottom of the bed. As soon as she met his eyes, he changed forms, shifting from a big black wolf into Rule. She released the breath she’d been holding. She’d grown up with werewolves, but the wonder of seeing them transform never faded.

She felt lust rising, filling the air between the three of them and wasn’t sure what she wanted, if anything, to do about it. She’d run from her apartment the night before—she was woman enough to admit that—without having a clear idea of why. Who was she afraid to trust?

Them? Or herself? She hadn’t found the answers she needed during the intervening time.

“You’ve been a bad girl, Abigail,” Rule whispered in her ear.

No one called her Abigail anymore. She’d managed to the ditch the

old‐fashioned name during grade school. She liked his using it, though, and what did it say about her that the implied threat in his tone turned her on? He released his hold on her enough that she could roll over onto her back and stare up into his face. She couldn’t read anything in his expression.

Rule crawled up the bed to lay at her other side. She stared at the

ceiling. Tried not to watch, not to be so aware of both of them while she sorted out her confused thoughts. Rule lifted a hand and traced her 57

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collarbone. She couldn’t stop a flinch at the touch, at the familiarity and fire that jolted through her.

“So tense,” he said softly. “If this little vacation of yours isn’t relaxing, we might as well take you home now, sweetheart.”

She jerked her head to the side to meet his gaze. Vacation. As if she’d said she needed a few days away, and they’d agreed. Except the part where they insisted on joining her and she’d left without mentioning the plan. Still, it was better than being called on running out on them or lectured on the dangers of entering another pack’s territory without permission. She’d fully expected to get both those lectures.

Lawe ran his fingertips up the inside of her arm, and she shivered.

He grinned at his twin.

“I have just the thing.”

Before she could speculate or protest, he was out of the bed and lifting her into his arms. She was curious when he left the room, and alarmed when he opened the back door. It might have appeared so, but the cabin was not isolated. She didn’t want to flash anyone who happened by.

Half the deck was open, and he turned left into an enclosed area.

She smiled when she saw the hot tub. He and Rule uncovered it and turned on the jets. Soon, it was bubbling and warm, and she stepped over the edge to sit on a center seat. She leaned her head back to rest against the padded rim and closed her eyes with a deep sigh. Perfect.

She heard them enter, too, but neither sat next to her. She cracked

one eye open and saw them lounging back on seats in front of her. Rule’s grin was lazy and sexy. Lawe was not betrayed by any expression on his face, but his eyes were hot and intense. His default expression. It seemed she wasn’t in too much trouble. Smiling, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes again. Silence stretched for several minutes.

“Anytime you’re ready to explain, honey. Don’t hold back.” Lawe.

He had a right to an explanation of course. She had left him in her shower.

“I needed space to think, and you weren’t giving it to me,” she answered without moving or opening her eyes.

One of them grabbed her ankle and pulled her forward under the

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water. She came up sputtering and glared at them.

“What the hell was that for?”

“That non answer,” Rule said. “If your problem is with us, then it

doesn’t make much sense to run away where you can’t ask us questions.

Does it?”

She pressed her lips together. She didn’t want to touch that.

“And if your problem is more with yourself, running away from us

is shooting yourself in the foot. No one wants to help you through that more than we do.”

Shit. She repressed a sigh. She might as well get it over with. “I always thought I wanted what my mother had. And I did. I do.”

“But?” Lawe asking questions now.

There was no diplomatic way to answer that. She shrugged. What

the hell? “My father didn’t try to run her life. Didn’t try to control her. He loved her,” she ended softly on a sigh. Damn, she missed them.

Rule’s grip on her ankle loosened, and she pulled free moving back

to the bench she’d been sitting on. Reluctantly, she looked up and met first his gaze then Lawe’s. Rule was thoughtful. Lawe was pissed. She winced at the tirade she knew was coming from him, but she could in no way anticipate what or when it would happen. That temper she knew, though.

He’d never had a problem holding back when he was angry or irritated with her.

“Let me get this straight,” he said, the words forced out between clenched teeth. “You ran because you don’t think we love you? Is that it, Abby?”

She ground her molars and glared. She’d rebuilt herself, rebuilt her self‐esteem, started on the path to knowing herself again. She wasn’t the same girl, and he was not Alex. No. He could hurt her much more than her ex‐husband ever dreamed of.

And suddenly, she did want this to work. He wasn’t Alex. he wouldn’t hurt her if there were any way to avoid it. She took a deep breath and tried to work out how to explain it.

“Have you ever watched the couples in the pack? I mean, really watched them?”

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Neither answered just waited for her to explain.

She shrugged. Tried to sound more blasé than she’d ever feel.

“It’s clear that some of them are together only because of the bond.

They don’t like each other. They sure as hell don’t love each other. And then there are the werewolves who’ve…given that nature too much free rein. The ones who don’t try to temper the dominance, the need to control.

That’s more standard practice than exception to the rule, too.”

Still neither spoke.

“I don’t want that.” She sighed before softly continuing. “I had some freedom unmated. I could go where I wanted and say what I wanted. They’ll expect me to be docile, dependent. I tried that. I didn’t like it.”

“It isn’t what our parents have, either, Abby. You have to concede

there isn’t a docile bone in Mom’s body,” Lawe finally said. Softly, all edge of menace underlying his voice gone now.

She nodded agreement. Smiled a little. She couldn’t see their mother putting up with total control, but even she knew when to stop pushing, and she was very careful not to assert herself too much at pack gatherings.

“Your mother gets away with a lot more than any other females in

the pack. Comes with being mated to the Enforcer, I’d imagine.”

Even the single females connected to the pack, grown daughters mostly, were careful not to overstep the limits Gage placed on them. Was that Abby’s problem? She hadn’t discovered any boundaries yet? There were limits to every relationship, and this one was outside her powers of observation. The situation was only further complicated by the pack’s customs. That’s why she’d come here.

Some of those limits she had no control over. Their current Alpha

had very clear ideas on a woman’s place. Ideas that were shared by most of the males in the pack. But in her personal relationships, she refused to be treated like an object, like a possession.

Rule got out of the hot tub and disappeared inside the house. He returned a few seconds later with three glasses and a bottle of orange juice. He set them on the edge and climbed back into the water, poured 60

Captured Moon by Loribelle Hunt

glasses and passed them around. He took a long drink from his glass.

“So what have you learned about how this works? That’s why you

came here right?”

She sipped the juice. “They love her,” she said softly. “It’s almost overwhelming to watch. I’ve never seen a were relationship so intense.”

“Really?” Lawe asked with a sexy, crooked grin. “I think you aren’t

looking closely enough, honey.”

She couldn’t respond to that. Her heart, something that felt like hope, had lodged itself in her throat. He held the glass up and rolled it side to side so it caught and reflected the sun.

“Do you know when I realized I loved you? And
not
as a little sister, Abby.”

Was he serious? She shook her head. There was no way she could

speak.

“The first time you came home from college. Married to that damned cat.”

“Me too,” Rule said. She broke Lawe’s gaze and switched her attention to Rule. “I don’t think the bond could exist for us without love, Abby. Maybe it could have in the beginning, but we’ve known you too long for that not to develop.”

“Helps when they actually say it though, doesn’t it, Abby?”

Delilah stepped into view and grinned at the twins before quickly

turning her back to look at Abby. She winked. “Cain and Abel would have a fit if I looked, but can I just say, you go, girl? Very nice.”

Abby couldn’t help but laugh as the twins blanched, and Cain and

Abel stepped into view. She made sure she was under water up to her chin. No point in riling up Rule or Lawe, but the other twins were careful not to look in her direction. She laughed. The situation was bordering ridiculous.

“Think you could go get us some towels?” Rule asked sarcastically.

“Then we could probably feed everyone breakfast.”

Abel disappeared into the house and returned with three fluffy towels. Then the three newcomers went into the house to wait. Abby stepped out and grabbed one, wrapping it around herself before hurrying 61

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off to look for clothes. No one was standing in the living room when she entered the door and went down the hall. They must have decided to wait in the kitchen. She picked up her bag and went into the bathroom.

Her hair was a limp, wet mess from the dunking she’d had, and she

spent a few minutes drying and detangling it. When that was done and she was dressed, she exited to find the room empty. The twins had left their wet towels on the armchairs. Sighing, she picked them and carried them to the bathroom, hanging them over the shower rod before she finally left for the kitchen. When she walked in, Delilah was alone, humming and standing in front of the stove. She stirred a bowl of eggs with a whisk, and the air smelled of sizzling bacon.

“Did they all abandon us?” Abby joked.

Delilah turned with a smile, one hand over her substantial belly.

“Not for long, I’m sure.”

With her words, Rule, Lawe, and Cain came in the back door. Cain

glared at Delilah, but Abby could tell there was no ill feeling behind it.

“Sit, woman. Now.”

“Can I finish breakfast first?” she asked with a grumpiness Abby thought wasn’t all fake. She bit her bottom lip to hide a smile and stepped up to the stove.

“You sit down,” she said softly. “We’ll finish.”

Rule walked over, pausing just a moment to nuzzle her neck and sending sparks through her body. He found a platter in a cabinet and lifted out slices of bacon while she poured the beaten eggs into a waiting skillet. Lawe carried plates to the table, and Cain got silverware. By the time the table was set, the eggs were finished. Scrambled, light, and fluffy.

She scooped them onto another platter, and Rule took it from her hands to put in the middle of the table.

They ate in silence, each carrying their plate to the sink to rinse it clean as they finished. She and Delilah were last. Abby was loading the stack of plates in the dishwasher when she noticed the other woman grow pale. Cain also noticed and stood up.

“Delilah?”

“It’s nothing.” She smiled wanly. “They’re just livelier than usual 62

Captured Moon by Loribelle Hunt

this morning.”

She returned to her chair, and he knelt in front of her, pressing a kiss against her belly then turning his ear as if listening to it. Abby felt as if she was witnessing a very private moment, but couldn’t force herself to look away. Finally, he grinned up at Delilah.

“They’re ready to come out and play.”

“Five weeks too soon. They’ll have to wait.”

He laughed. “Boys are impatient. What can I say?”

She gave him an odd look. “I keep telling y’all. Girls. Twin girls.”

He stood and smiled indulgently. “And we keep telling you. First

born on our line are always twin boys. Not girls, twins or otherwise.”

Delilah shrugged. “You’ll see.” Then she narrowed her eyes. “We’ll

ask for an ultrasound at the doctor’s today. I think y’all may need to prepare yourselves in advance for this.”

He stood slowly, scowling and paling a little. “Why are you so certain?”