Hunter's Blood Special Edition (Cursed by Blood Saga) (13 page)

Lily pushed herself up on her elbow.
“Then postponing the decision on my acceptance to the pack can’t be good. There
is only a couple of weeks until the Wolf Moon. If Parr spin doctors the whole
time, won’t that make things worse for us?”

Sean lifted one shoulder and let it
fall. “It might, then again it might not. That’s why it’s crucial for you to be
front and center at every holiday event. We need for people to see you, to get
to know you. This way when Edward tries to label you a mere human, it won’t
resonate with the Compound. By then you’ll just be Lily, a real person with a
real face and a real heart.”

Lily exhaled, concern etching her
eyes.

“What? Too much too soon?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No, I’m okay with
being on display, but I think I need to go shopping. Everything I own makes me
look like a hell’s angel biker babe.”

Sean burst out laughing and pulled her
on top of him long ways. “You can buy anything you want,” he said, sliding his
hands down the curve of her waist, his fingers brushing the side of her
breasts. “Except pajamas.”

He crushed his mouth to hers, and she
answered his need with her own. Neither was going to get much rest tonight.

***

Lily walked into the breakfast room,
squinting from the sun glinting in through the large portrait windows facing
the expansive back property.

“And how are you feeling this
morning?” Rissa asked, looking up from putting two silver dollar pancakes on
Stephanie’s plate.

“Better, I guess,” Lily answered,
pouring a cup of coffee from the silver carafe on the sideboard. She stood
between the table and the spread of food long enough to feed an army. “I still
can’t get used to this communal living. Don’t you ever just want to be alone?”

“We do pretty much everything
together. You’ll get used to it, I’m sure.”

“All I can say is I’m glad you don’t all
sleep together.”

Rissa snickered. “I’ll bet.”

Lily looked up, the creamer in her
hand half way to her cup. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Rissa shook her head, a huge grin on
her face. “Nothing, really. It’s just you smell…happy.”

“Lily frowned pouring the cream into
her coffee cup. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to what you people can and
can’t smell. By happy, I’m assuming you mean as in X-rated, right?”

Rissa just laughed

“Mommy, what’s X-rated?” Stephanie
asked, looking up from making swirls in her syrup.

Rissa’s head whipped around toward her
daughter. “It... it means a…a grown up thing,” she stammered over herself.

“Oh,” the little girl said, glancing
over at Lily. She sniffed, and then glanced back at her mother, a curious
expression on her face. “Mommy, you smell happy like that too, sometimes.
Whenever Mitch has a sleepover.”

Lily choked, spewing coffee
everywhere.

“Who’s having a sleepover?” Mitch
asked, walking through the breakfast room door.

Rissa got up to help Lily mop up the
table and wipe down her shirt. “Nothing, Mitch. Just forget it.”

“Mommy and Lily smell the same when
they’re happy,” Stephanie stated through a mouthful of pancakes.

Mitch looked at both women, his
nostrils flaring slightly. His eyes widened. “Oh, for the love of Pete!” He
cleared his throat and grabbed a mug from the shelf.

“I think I’m going to go upstairs and
take another shower.” Lily muttered, not making eye contact with either of them
as she threw the wet napkins in the trash.

”Don’t leave on account of me,” Mitch
teased, grabbing an English muffin from the tray. “Shower’s not going to help
much anyway. It’s a Were thing,” he added with a shrug.”

Cheeks flaming, Rissa’s head jerked in
his direction, her expression mortified. Lily didn’t comment. Sean made it
clear people needed to like her, so it was best she didn’t say a word.

She leaned against the sideboard and
plucked one of the sausage links from the tray next to her. Finger sized, she
bit it in half, chewing while she watched Rissa compose herself enough to pour more
syrup on her daughter’s plate.

“Are you coming to the Christmas
Ball?” Rissa asked, noticeably changing the subject.

Lily shrugged. “I suppose. Sean said
there were a bunch of holiday do’s over the next month.”

Mitch laughed. “That’s putting it
mildly.”

“Are you two planning to go? I mean,
are you up to it?” she replied, indicating Rissa’s burgeoning belly with the
second half of her sausage link.

“Ha! Not if Mitch has anything to say
about it. That man would have me in bed with my feet propped up being spoon fed
if he could manage it,” she said with a huffy laugh, her eyes warm as she
touched the big wolf’s shoulder. “But yeah, thanks to you, I’m good. The baby
is growing, and I’m healthy, and were both glad I’m back to being a full time
mommy, aren’t we Stephie?”

The little girl looked at Lily over
the rim of her double handled cup. Her blue eyes crinkled as she nodded,
flashing a quick smile at Lily.

Surprised Lily glanced at both Rissa
and Mitch.

“We’ve been telling her about you,
about how you’re helping everyone here get better, and how you helped me and
the baby, especially.” Embarrassed, Rissa picked up a napkin and busied herself
with wiping one of Stephanie’s sticky hands.

Stephanie nodded, putting her cup down
next to her plate. “Are you coming to our house for Christmas?”

Lily looked at the adults again, not
knowing what to say.

“Of course she is sweetie. Uncle Sean
wouldn’t have it any other way.” Rissa answered for her. “That is if you’re not
going home for the holidays,” she added.

Lily shook her head. She had a hard
enough time facing Beverly and Carl Hess after Terry’s funeral and on the days
that followed. She’d already missed Thanksgiving, as Terry didn’t want to go
home in her ethereal state, not trusting herself to be around her parents.

It was distressing enough that Terry
felt their grief; she didn’t want to see it firsthand. At the time, Lily was
relieved, even grateful, especially since she was caught up in vigilante mode.

Beverly was already on the brink of a
nervous breakdown. Having to watch Lily walk around like a character from the
movie
Death Wish,
and overhear her talk to her dead daughter’s ghost
would have certainly pushed her over the edge. Terry’s parents knew Lily well
enough to realize she needed to be away, that she needed to grieve alone.
They’d understand.

“No. I don’t have any plans for
Christmas, and New York is just too sad a place for me right now.”

“I know, honey, and I’m sorry for
that. Sean told us about Terry. You shouldn’t be alone. Why don’t you come for
Christmas? We all have something to grieve, but we also all have something to
hope for, to be merry about.”

Lily smiled, but it was tinged with a
sad, empty feeling. “You’re right, and I’d love to come. I guess I just need a
little help in getting to the merry.”

“Mommy, I’m done. Can I go outside
now?” Stephanie asked, pulling on Rissa’s sleeve.

Rissa turned toward her daughter.
“Sure.” She nodded. “But only for a little while, and only if nanny goes with
you.”

“Yay!” The little girl slid out of her
chair and hugged her mother and then bounced out the breakfast room.

“Bundle up!” Rissa shouted after her,
and then bent to clear her plate. “If only I had her energy,” she chuckled.

“I’m heading out too,” Mitch said,
putting his cup down next to the large, silver coffee carafe and giving Rissa’s
cheek a peck. “I’m running drills with the new recruits, so I’ll keep an eye on
Stephie.” He grabbed his jacket from the end of the sideboard. “And don’t worry
about finding the merry, Lily. Sean’s great at directions.”

Lily grinned after him as he walked
out of the breakfast room. Who would believe that just weeks ago he wanted to
rip her throat out.

“So, new recruits and holiday
parties…exactly how busy is it going to get around here over the next month?”
Lily asked, topping off her coffee.

Rissa straightened, grimacing a bit,
one hand going to the small of her back. “The festivities start right after
Christmas with the Yule Hunt. It’s pretty exciting, and it’s the first hunt for
many of the adolescent Weres. Sort of a rite of passage. After that, the
Hunters host a massive game dinner where the men actually cook whatever they’ve
caught.”

Lily’s brows hiked up. “Game? As in
deer?”

Rissa nodded, carrying Stephanie’s
dishes to the sideboard. “Deer, elk, bear…”

“Bear?”

A large grin spread across Rissa’s
face. “Don’t look so shocked. Bear is actually pretty good, and before you ask,
the answer is no, we don’t eat it raw! You’d be surprised at how gourmet the
recipes can get. After that, it’s New Year’s and there are too many parties to
count. We give it a few days to let everyone recover before starting the next
round of events, but the biggest one next to the Yule Hunt is our Ancestor’s
Dinner, which is followed by the Wolf Ball at the end of the month. We try to
have the ball coincide with the Wolf’s Moon, but sometimes the calendar doesn’t
cooperate.”

Lily slid into a chair, her fingers
tapping the edge of her cup. Sean wasn’t kidding when he said there was a need
for her to be front and center. From what Rissa described, over the next month
Lily would literally meet and greet almost everyone in the Compound.

She glanced up from her cup. “Sean
told me a bit about the history behind the Wolf Moon. Sounds like a remarkably rich
and poetic story.”

“It’s a long standing tradition, and
it truly helps solidify our heritage, especially with the kids,” Rissa replied,
pouring a cup of decaf. She slid into one of the chairs across from Lily.
“Although, there are some blowhards who like to use the event as a soapbox for
their own agendas. You know, like celebrities sometimes do at the Oscars.”

Lily didn’t comment, but Rissa’s face
told her exactly who she meant. Edward Parr. She wondered if the man’s
posturing was just part of his everyday persona, or if Mitch shared what was
going on, with Rissa.

“The Oscars, wow. That’s some
comparison. I guess it’s safe to assume you plan on going, then, huh?”

Rissa chuckled. “I’m going, whether
Mitch likes it or not. Now all I have to do is find a dress large enough to
hide this bump,” she said tugging on her maternity top. “I wouldn’t miss the
Wolf Ball for the world.”

Lily put her cup down and leaned her
elbows on the table, her hand clasped. “So, since you’re feeling better and you
said you needed a dress, are you up for a little retail therapy? All I’ve got in
my repertoire is either leather or denim, and that’s not going to cut it. What
do you think about a little shopping?”

Rissa beamed. “How soon do you want to
leave?”

***

The weeks flew by in the blink of an
eye. Christmas and New Year’s had come and gone, and though they were cheerful
for the most part, a somber note lingered at the core of holiday events. Too
many people had lost loved ones to the virus over the past months to ignore.

Decorations that had graced the great
hall had been taken down, along with the twenty foot Christmas tree that had
held the spot in front of the vaulted windows where a full orchestra now warmed
up. It was time for the Wolf Moon Ball.

Streamers in bright, jewel tones
replaced the holiday décor; the colors signifying each Were assemblage
represented at the Compound. Standards had been hung from the beamed rafters
earlier that day, each one depicting a different group’s crest, and the great
hall looked regal.

Two hundred people milled around just
as they had two months earlier at the Blood Rites ritual. Only this time,
everyone knew more than just Lily’s face and name. They knew her.

The ball was set on such a grand
scale, that dozens of round tables had been arranged along the room’s perimeter
to accommodate the crowd. Each table was decorated in red and gold, the primary
colors of the Alpha Council of the Brethren. The gesture was a nod to Sean and
his leadership, but also to Lily. On the whole, things looked encouraging, but
then again the night was young.

The room seemed to sparkle. From the
blood red tablecloths to the long, tapered candles and crystal vases filled
with sprays of holly and winter flowers. Gold trimmed dinnerware gleamed in the
candlelight, as did the crystal champagne and wine glasses set at each place
setting.

 “The room is just beautiful!” Lily
exclaimed as she and Sean walked in hand in hand through the arched entry, her
eyes scanning the expanse and the stunning decorations.

“No. You’re beautiful,” Sean replied,
his eyes glowing with pride and unspoken desire as they swept Lily’s petite
frame.

Lily squeezed his hand, and then went
up on her tip toes to touch her lips to his. “I’m glad you think so.”

Mitch and Rissa were toward the center
of the dance floor. He chatted away with one of the hunters while Rissa scolded
Stephie for turning cartwheels in her party dress.