Luna Grey (3 page)

Eric stared in
awe as she worked, disbelieving how easily she brought the page to
life with a small pack of wolves. They were leaping in the air as
they played with each other, and Luna took her time filling in all
the details from the trees to the delicate eyes and fur of the
wolves.

“It’s
beautiful,” Eric stated as Luna sat back, finally satisfied with
the piece.

“I always found
wolves easy and natural to draw,” she murmured as her eyes rose to
meet his. He stared at her with a newfound fondness, and she
blushed.

“What color is
your fur?” he asked out of the blue.

“Grey and
white, yours?” she smiled as she put the pencils away. She’d color
it in later.

“Red-brown.”

“Nice,” Luna
nodded as she closed her art book. “Shouldn’t your family be
getting home soon?”

“Yeah,
probably,” Eric frowned, realising how long he’d been down there.
It must be late afternoon now.

As if on cue,
the faint jingle of his ringtone sounded off and he apologised to
Luna as he dashed upstairs to answer it.

It was Craig,
informing him that their father would be staying in town for two
nights and wouldn’t be returning home. Brent would stay with him,
and Craig had no intentions of coming home until his father did.
Eric didn’t bother to question him, although he was curious as to
what his brother was up to.

With stern
words to take care of their captive and to not say anything to
their father, Craig hung up and left Eric to growl in frustration.
With his father not returning, he couldn’t play out his plan of
getting the key. He’d have to wait, as would Luna.

He sighed and
looked at the clock, deciding now would be a good time to cook up
something for them to eat.

Luna lay on her
bed as she listened to the muffled voice upstairs and then the soft
steps as Eric moved around upstairs.

He’d brought
her a toothbrush and toothpaste at one point at her request, and
she was glad to have scrubbed the fuzziness off her teeth. A shower
was a luxury she couldn’t have though, which Eric apologised
for.

Some time
passed before Eric reappeared, grinning as he carried two plates
down the stairs. He placed one on the workbench before gliding over
to slide hers through.

“Satay chicken
and rice for the lovely lady, would you like a drink too? We have
coke, water, milk, orange juice?” Eric offered as Luna thanked him
and scrambled off the bed.

“Orange juice
would be amazing,” she smiled as she dug into the hot food. She
savoured the rich taste as Eric darted back upstairs, and she
sighed fondly after him.

He was such a
sweet young man; he didn’t deserve what his family was making him
do. But he was doing everything to make her time comfortable and
well.

Eric reappeared
with two glasses and plopped himself down at the workbench after
passing her drink through.

They ate in a
comfortable silence, and Eric informed her of his family’s absence
once he’d finished.

Luna groaned,
knowing it wasn’t his fault. But she’d been preparing herself for
the plan they’d discussed, hoping to run free again.

“I was thinking
though, I can bring the TV down from the spare room and use the
blow up camping mattress and we can watch a movie?” Eric smiled
tenderly at her.

“That’d be
nice. Having company has really been lovely today, it’s been quite
lonely,” Luna sighed before sipping her juice. Since Eric had taken
over her care, she’d finally been having decent meals, which she
was forever thankful for.

“I’m so sorry
this has happened to you,” Eric closed his eyes as he leant back on
his stool to stretch his back.

“Don’t be, it’s
not your fault,” Luna reassured him.

“I’m going to
get you your freedom though, I promise,” Eric stated
matter-of-factly.

Luna looked
down with a small smile. Eric was a kind young man, unlike anyone
she’d met before. And he had taken such good care of her when he
didn’t have to. He’d gone against his father’s wishes by speaking
to her, but she was glad. She relished the company and
conversations; it had been some time since she’d had a decent chat
with anyone.

“Here, pass me
your dishes,” Eric slipped down off his stool and strode over.

Luna slid the
plates from breakfast and now through the slot, and handed her
glass through the bars. His hand touched hers and lingered there
briefly, his eyes lighting up as she blushed.

“Thank you,
again,” Luna murmured as she stepped closer to the bars. She felt
her insides squirm as he drew in a sharp breath. She vaguely
wondered if it was her scent, knowing she needed a shower
desperately, but the way he looked at her told her otherwise.

“Let me give my
thanks,” she whispered as she used her other hand to slowly reach
through the bars and grasp the front of his shirt. He didn’t fight
her as she gently pulled him up against the bars, and he relaxed as
she brushed her lips over his through the gap between the bars.

He took control
of the kiss, seeking entrance into her mouth. She obliged and
squeaked as a hand moved through the bars to hold her waist.

She ignored the
cool metal between them as she melted into the kiss. His tongue
explored her mouth and playfully danced with hers.

Eric loved the
feel of her waist and her taste, and he could feel the familiar
throb between his legs.

He cut the
connection off and Luna gave him a longing look as he sighed.

“That was a
nice thanks,” his voice was raspy as his eyes trailed down her.

She smiled
knowingly and twirled away from him to her bed.

“I’m glad you
liked it, now, how about this movie?”

Eric rolled
over on the blow up mattress and yawned as he eyed the sleeping
form on the bed through the bars.

He’d set up the
blow up mattress before the cell and placed the TV on the
workbench. They’d watched a comedy and he had adored hearing the
beautiful woman laugh. He wanted to free her so desperately, to
save her from what lay in store. He knew she wanted to know badly
what she was in for, but he couldn’t tell her, it hurt him too
much. She’d hate him and his family, unable to forgive him for
allowing it.

She made a soft
sound as she rolled over and snuggled into her thick blanket.

He smiled at
her serene face as she dreamt. She was truly a beauty, with a
remarkable and kind soul. She didn’t deserve this. He wanted to
help reunite her with her brother and follow her passion to be
artist.

He sighed at
the sight, imagining waking up beside her. He would never tire of
her company and laughter. He’d do anything to hear that joyous
sound and to bring a smile to her lips.

He sat up at a
dull ringing sound. It took him a moment to realise it was his
phone and he threw off the blankets and rushed upstairs.

He found the
vibrating phone on the table and snatched it up.

“Eric, it’s
your father,” was the greeting.

“Hey, what’s
up?” he sighed and ran a tired hand over his face. He’d stayed up
late chatting with Luna.

“How’s the
girl?” he ignored the question and Eric rolled his eyes.
Typical.

“She’s fine,
I’m about to take her breakfast actually,” he lied. Well, he would
make her some breakfast after the call.

“Good, now, I
want you to restock the wood pile today okay? Get Craig to help you
and get him to scout the area. I want to take Trevor and the boys
out for a hunt when they arrive, so tell Craig to keep a nose out
for anything to hunt,” his father stated.

“Okay, got it,”
Eric rolled his eyes. Great, he’d have to do Craig’s job too.

“Good, now
Brent and I have another meeting today and lunch with some clients.
I’ll see you in a few days.”

Eric sighed as
the phone went dead and he locked it. His father was a businessman
all right.

Eric dialled
Craig and left him a message, saying he was covering for him since
their father wanted him to do some scouting. He informed him that
he’d call him after he had done some scouting and Craig could relay
the information to his father.

Eric hung up
and frowned, curious as to what his brother was up to. Probably out
drinking and making new friends and partying or something. He may
be a doctor, but he was still a bad boy outside of his day job.

He got to work
on making some pancakes, cursing as he struggled to get the
Internet on his phone to look up a recipe.

Luna’s eyes
fluttered open and she sighed as she looked towards the mattress
outside her cell. Eric was gone though and she pouted. She had
quite enjoyed his company, and the kiss they shared still lingered
on her lips. She had felt the lust from him, and it had sparked a
response inside her too.

Luna moaned as
the scent of pancakes wafted down the stairs, informing her of
Eric’s return.

She grinned as
he slid the pancakes drizzled with syrup to her. She dove right in
and sighed in delight as the sugary goodness melted in her
mouth.

“These are
amazing,” she stated through a mouthful of food.

Eric chuckled
and nodded through his own mouthful, quite startled at how his
cooking had turned out. They were indeed delicious.

They spoke
about what they would do for the day as they ate, and Eric informed
her of his jobs he had to do.

“So who’s
Trevor and the ‘boys’?” she asked as she dragged a piece of pancake
through the syrup to soak it up.

“Trevor is my
Uncle, and the boys are his two son’s and his nephew from my Aunt,
so my cousin,” Eric explained.

Luna chewed
slowly, as if contemplating what to say next and Eric felt his
heart drop.

“Why are they
coming?” she murmured, knowing it would have something to do with
her.

She’d gone over
so many scenarios in her head as to what they wanted with her, but
ever since Eric had showed her some decency and kindness, she’d
tried to avoid thinking about it.

Eric frowned
and his face dropped.

“Please, I
deserve to know Eric, I haven’t asked you but it’s killing me. Why
am I here? What does your family want with me?” she pleaded
desperately.

“I know, you
deserve to know,” he mumbled as he averted his eyes. “I want you to
know I want nothing to do with it, but it’s an old family
‘tradition’,” he spat the last word as he bared his teeth in
anger.

He sighed as
his gut twisted, and he let his shoulders droop. He had wanted to
spare her the pain, but she deserved to know why she was here.

He explained to
her the tradition of their family, his body tensing in anger as he
went over it.

The ‘tradition’
in his family was that each year, a single pureblood werewolf woman
would be bought from the black market and used for a special
‘hunt’. His father and his uncle would bring all their sons over
eighteen, and inject them with a special serum. This serum forced
the shift upon them and they would be unable to shift back for 72
hours. The woman would also be injected and then released onto
their property.

She’d be given
a 3-hour head start before the ‘hunt’ began, where the two families
would try to hunt her down and mate with her.

Whichever
family member caught her would have rights on her, and only his own
family members could then mate with her as well. They’d mate with
her as many times as possible until the serum’s effects ran out,
then she’d be taken by whichever family had ‘caught’ her and be
sent off to live with a select pureblood bodyguard and team, who
would ensure the birth of the pureblood child she now carried. Once
born, the woman would be freed and the child would live with a
surrogate family and learn the ways of the purebloods.

Despite being
married, his father still partook in this tradition, while his
mother turned the other cheek. He loathed how she could look the
other way as his father ‘cheated’ on her. But she was married by a
pre-arranged marriage and was fulfilling her duty in mothering a
new generation of purebloods and honouring her family by passing on
their bloodline.

Luna’s eyes
widened as he spoke, and his insides twisted and churned at the
look of pain and fear on her face. He had wanted to protect her
from this knowledge, but she had asked.

“Were you going
to do it as well?” she murmured, the distress and disgust evident
in her eyes.

“No,” he
growled, ashamed that she even had to ask. He told her how he
wouldn’t have taken part in the hunt. He’d pretend to, for his
father’s sake, but the first chance he’d get he’d break away from
the pack. He couldn’t bear the thought of the yelps and shrieks as
his family had their way with an unknown woman.

“So you’d just
turn your back on your family’s ways?” she whispered, her eyes
softening, but the fear and anger still remained.

“Yes, I never
understood it anyway. I would never hurt someone,” he hissed as he
looked away. He couldn’t bare the thought of his family hurting
her. “I won’t let it happen to you, I promise.”

Luna looked at
him, her face lined with worry and uncertainty.

“The other
women before me, what happens once they’re pregnant?” she queried,
her brow furrowed.

“They get sent
off to a bodyguard and team run by the family. They’ll make sure
the child is born healthy and well, and then reimburse the woman
for her ‘labour’ before throwing her back out on the street. The
child is sent off to a surrogate family to learn our ways. If
female, they’ll be raised to serve their pre-arranged husband and
carry on the bloodline, if male, they’ll be raised to understand
this tradition and have a marriage arranged for them when they turn
twenty-one,” he spat, disgusted and furious at his family.

“Reimbursed?”
Luna mumbled as she looked down.