The Moon Rises (13 page)

Finn grinned. “I’m horrible on dates.”

“How come?”

“I grew up watching guys like Declan and Anton dating
girls and nothing they do works for me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“They’re Alphas and I’m not. They have something
extra.”

“That’s just about fighting.”

“No, it’s more than being tough and fighting
well. It’s an inner strength other Weres can sense. Wolves naturally like being
in packs, but they don’t naturally like being bossed around. They submit when
their leader is worthy of submitting to. Anton and Declan just have a way of
making others feel like they should listen.

“Normally in the Circle, Alphas get killed by
their own people in a power struggle or someone turns on them for the benefit
of another pack. While the three packs fight every few years, no one has made
moves on the three Alphas in that time,” Finn said then sipped his drink. “Well
no one has successfully made a move on them.  A few dead Weres probably tried.”

“I wish they didn’t have to go to war.”

“Me either.”

Gigi thought about Anton. For some reason, she
knew if Declan and Anton fought, it wouldn’t be Declan who died. The thought of
Anton dying made her sad, but she focused on the beautiful male across the
table from her.

“If you’ve only been here a few weeks, you
haven’t experienced a magical surge yet, have you?” Finn asked while eating his
spaghetti.

“No. Sara said it’s some kind of magical clusterfuck
and I should hide in my house when it happens.”

Finn laughed which made Gigi smile, even though
besides the cuss word, she wasn’t sure what was so funny.

“She’s right about not going out during a surge
though,” Finn said when he stopped laughing. “Did she tell you to never invite a
Vamp into your home because during a surge they could return looking to feed?”

“She said even if Dahlia is my friend, she might
hurt me during the surge.”

“Vamps and ghouls go nuts. Weres all shift. The
only good thing is how witches can’t use their power during this time. It’s the
only time when witches are vulnerable and the only time we’re really safe from
them. As a human, you need to stay inside during a surge.”

“Are Weres dangerous during surges?”

“Most of them aren’t. We just shift and can’t
shift back until the surge ends. You probably have a keypad in your apartment
by the door. It’s for Weres when they shift, so they won’t be trapped. If a
surge hits, stay inside and don’t let anyone into your apartment.”

Gigi nodded which made Finn frown.

“Maybe you should leave the Circle? I know you
have a job here, but this place is dangerous for humans.”

“Like Katia.”

Finn nodded, his gaze darker now. “Like Katia.
People disappear everywhere in the world, but here in the Circle, no one really
cares if humans go missing. If they’re killed in the open like by a feral Were,
then it’s news. If they just disappear, everyone goes on as if it never happened.
It’s not a safe place for you to live.”

“I have to live here.”

“Why?”

“I have rules in my head that I have to follow. Living
here and working at The Moon Rises are two of them.”

“Rules by whoever messed with your memories?”

Gigi nodded, finishing her meal. “I want to know
who I really am, but I really want to know who took Katia. I’m worried whoever
took her might take my friends. I wish Michael could find out what happened to
her.”

“If he could, he would. It sounds like too much
time passed from when she disappeared. Her trail has gone cold.”

Gigi sighed sadly, worried about Sara and Justine
and all the human girls at The Moon Rises.

“I’m glad I met you at the grocery store,” Gigi
said, smiling. “I never would have found those English muffins.”

Finn laughed and Gigi was glad they weren’t
talking about dead fathers or waitresses or missing memories.

Deciding to keep things casual, Gigi asked him
lots of questions about his favorite shows, books, movies, and anything else light.
Finn tried to ask her the same questions, but Gigi didn’t have the answers. She
just turned around and asked him more questions about his favorite cars.

By the time they reached her apartment, Gigi knew
what Finn’s favorite everything was, but not what her own favorites were. She
felt guilty for making him listen to her non-answers, but he seemed happy to be
with her. Ella said Gigi’s beauty made males stupid and needy. Without having a
personality to fall back on, Gigi was never happier to be beautiful than when
Finn hinted at another date.

Standing in her hallway, next to her door, Finn
watched her with his soft gray eyes and Gigi smiled because she felt happier
than she ever remembered feeling before. Normally she would remind herself how
her memories were barely a week old, but right then it didn’t matter. She was
happy and her heart thumped harder when he leaned down to touch his lips to
hers.

“You are so beautiful,” Finn said and she
believed him. Gigi would believe anything he said as he stared at her with
those eyes. He could tell her the sky was green and the grass was blue and she
would tell him he was brilliant. Finn sure looked brilliant as he leaned down
to kiss her again.

This kiss was longer and his lips spread softly
over hers. His lips first stroked her then his tongue slid gently against her
mouth.

If someone had asked Gigi that morning if she
wanted someone’s tongue in her mouth, she would have thought they were insane.
Now she just wanted more.

His tongue touched hers like they were dancing and
Gigi moaned. When his lips left hers, she saw something new in his eyes – a
hunger maybe. Watching her, Finn leaned down. This time his lips didn’t find
hers, but her throat. Gigi leaned her head back, wanting to be touched, needing
to be desired.

Little kisses down her neck, feeling so perfect.
Then his tongue tasted her throat and Gigi’s body seized up with terror.

Finn tasted her like a monster tasted its prey. Like
the monster who ate Katia probably tasted her. Gigi’s body clenched then trembled.
Finn pulled his mouth away and watched her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked in barely a whisper.

“I want to go inside,” Gigi muttered, truly
afraid for the first time ever. Remembering how she was honest with Simon and
he decided not to bite her, she hoped Finn would back off too. “I’m tired and I
want to be alone.”

Finn blinked a few times and the corner of his
mouth twitched. “Did I move too fast?  I wasn’t expecting anything.”

Gigi refused to look him in the eyes, knowing
predators were easily spooked. Finn stepped away from her and stood awkwardly.

“I’m sorry, Gigi.”

Nodding, she reached for her door and trembled
while she unlocked it. Gigi forced herself to look back at him to say goodnight.
Her gaze though remained on the ground, away from his face.

Gigi shut the door on Finn who stood in the
hallway looking lost. Locking the door, she backed way from it and felt a
strange urge rising up in her. Her eyes burned and she realized she was crying.
The ghost was suddenly next to her, looking upset in her ghost way.

“I thought he liked me, but he just wanted to eat
me,” Gigi said, sitting on the couch. “I really wanted him to like me.”

The ghost sat next to her, trying to say
something. All her gestures made no sense though. Gigi cried as she thought to
what Simon said about Dahlia being depressed when she learned the truth. Gigi
didn’t like the truth, not when it came to Finn. No, she wanted the pretty
lies.

Ella bounced up the stairs to Gigi’s third floor
apartment.  Down the hall, an older woman and her dog were leaving for a walk.
The woman smiled at Ella who smiled in return. Everyone liked her, Ella
thought. They just couldn’t help themselves.

Opening her door only a crack, Gigi stared out at
Ella warily.

“What’s the pill, sweetcheeks?” Ella asked when
Gigi didn’t open the door for her to enter.

“I don’t think I can talk.”

“How come?”

Gigi said nothing, lowering her gaze.

“Did your date with lover boy suck? In his defense,
I think Finn might be gay.”

Gigi again remained silent, looking submissive as
if afraid to challenge the predator at the door. Ella frowned.

“Did Finn hurt you?” she growled. “I’ll kick his
ass.”

“I should clean my apartment. I’m sorry.”

Gigi closed the door and Ella heard the locks
clicking into place. Furious, the Were marched down the stairs and jumped on
her motorcycle, knowing just where she needed to go to kick someone’s ass.

Normally in the middle of the day, Finn would be
at his auto shop. Once a week though, he forced himself to stop at Declan’s gym
where the older brother would punish the younger one for not being an Alpha.
Ella usually felt sorry for Finn, but she planned to give him something to
really cry about.

Entering the gym, Ella spotted the brothers in the
ring with Finn mainly trying to avoid getting pummeled by his larger and
stronger sibling. Declan was giving him some kind of instructions while handing
Finn his ass. Both brothers acknowledged Ella as she approached. Declan also stopped
punching Finn when the female entered the ring.

“What the hell?” Ella yelled, slugging Finn who
barely dodged getting his nose broken.

“Yeah, Ella, what the hell?” Declan growled, pulling
her away from Finn.

“What did you do to Gigi?”

Finn flinched as if she had hit him in the face
again. Declan frowned at his brother, but continued to play referee.

“What are you talking about, Ella?” Declan said
in his growly voice.

“I went over there to hang with Gigi and she
looked at me like I was some kind of monster. Why would she be afraid of Weres
all of a sudden unless your boy hurt her? What did you do? I swear if you raped
her, I’ll kill you myself. I don’t care who your brother is.”

“Ella.”

Declan growled in a low deep rumble and Ella
couldn’t help backing off. His alphaness forced her into submission. She still glared
at Finn who had his lost little boy expression. She wanted to slap that look
right off his face, but instead bowed to her Alpha’s will.

“Finn, did something happen last night?” Declan
asked in a patient voice even if his face was tight with tension. “You seemed
weird when you got here.”

“She’s so beautiful,” Finn whispered submissively,
feeling as weak as Ella when in the presence of an angry Alpha. “I should have
just kissed her goodnight, but she’s so perfect and I pushed too hard.”

Declan moved just a hint, barely at all. His
anger mixed with a closer proximity seemed to force Finn to pull tighter within
himself. Ella was surprised the younger Were didn’t piss himself.

“Pushed too hard how?” Declan said very quietly
as if using every ounce of self control not to break his brother apart.

Ella already knew Declan had it bad for the pretty
blonde waitress. The look on his face though, as he inched closer to his
brother, proved the Alpha was a Gigi addict. Finn seemed to realize he was in
trouble because his face shifted as if preparing for the impending beating.

“I kissed her neck,” Finn said with his eyes
focused submissively on the ground. “I licked her neck. I pushed too hard and
she got scared. I backed off, but it was too late.”

“Bullshit,” Declan growled louder now.

Ella realized the rest of the gym had fallen
silent as the other Weres grew submissive in the presence of their angry Alpha.

“Did you rape her?”

Finn’s gaze shot up to Declan’s and he frowned
darkly. “Do you really think I would rape anyone let alone Gigi?”

“I don’t know. Like you said, she’s beautiful.”

Ella tried to picture the scenario Finn was painting.
It seemed unlikely for Gigi to have gotten so scared over something so small.
Maybe Finn’s hands were doing something while his tongue licked her and he just
conveniently forgot to share this little tidbit.

Ella then tried to picture things not from her own
perspective or Finn’s, but from Gigi’s. Innocent, dumb, human Gigi who only
knew about Weres based on the ramblings of the human waitresses at the club.
Weres were dogs. Weres were monsters. When Justine said in passing how Katia
was probably eaten by a monster, Gigi’s eyes grew so big that they almost
popped out of her head. Monsters eat humans and Finn licked her.

Ella burst into laughter, startling the whole gym.
Declan, stopped growling something at Finn who looked ready to bawl.

“You licked her,” Ella giggled. Once she realized
Declan still planned to use his little brother as a punching bag, she growled
at her Alpha. “Leave him alone.”

“Geez, Ella, pick a side, will ya?” Declan
barked.