#7 The Twins of Satin Moon

Chapter 6: Hunter

“I feel nothing towards you, Mr. Greyback.” Her words sliced through me like a knife straight to my heart. I watched her car until I couldn’t see it anymore.

“Well, that went well.” Miles struts over to me from his hiding spot nearby.

“Shut up.” I growled at him.

After the party last night, I followed Matt and Nick home so I knew where my mate lived. Miles hadn’t done such a great job in his investigation of Maizey. Shocking.

I sat outside her house the entire night in my wolf form, looking out for my mate and making sure that she was safe. I nearly blew it, actually I did blow it, when she fell off the chair in her kitchen. I couldn’t stop Watcher from running up to check on her. To our surprise, she didn’t run or scream. She only seemed interested. If it weren’t for Miles calling me back, I probably would have sat there forever.

“What are you going to do now?” Miles asked as I sulked down the sidewalk.

“First off, she’s never without a guard. I need the best, Miles, and the most subtle.” I instructed my Beta who was in charge of training our pack’s warriors.

“You got it, boss, I’ll assemble a Luna guard.” He nodded sternly, taking his assignment seriously, “We should rope Toby in, he is the Gamma, no one will take her protection more seriously.” He added.

“You’re right, go ahead. I’m going to stay with her today.” I spoke absentmindedly.

“What’s the plan for wooing the Luna?” Miles asked, “Maybe start with getting her to just not hate you.”

“I hate you.” I grumbled at Miles.

“No you don’t.” Miles laughed, dodging my punch and running off. I fished out my phone and called for someone to bring me a car.

“Oh dear brother.” A voice tsked from the blacked out mustang pulling up beside me. I rolled my eyes and kept walking as Melody, my 20-year old sister, crept beside me.

“Go away, Mel.” I sighed.

“You ordered a car!” She yelled out.

“Yeah, a car, not a nosey sister.” I countered. I heard her put the car in park and sensed when she ran up behind me. I tensed up just as she jumped onto my back,

“You’re in a pickle, let me help.” She whined in my ear.

“You are a nuisance.” I dumped her off my back and laughed at her face, “But, I could use the help.” I added, offering her a hand up.

“You suck.” She glared at me but accepted my hand. I jumped in my car and Melody sat in the passenger seat.

“Miles filled me in.” She said as we sped off in the same direction as Maizey.

“Of course he did. You know, I wanted to ask for your advice first but he shut me down.” I pointed out.

“Oh, sure.” Mel rolled her eyes, not believing me. So typical of Miles to take the credit for an idea that wasn’t his.

“Are you here to help or to be a problem?” I sighed.

“I have to ask you the hard question first and you can’t kill me.” She gave me her famous side eye.

“I’ve had ample opportunities and excuses to kill you, Mel, and I haven’t done it yet.” I said.

“Okay, that’s true, but this might be the most sensitive topic yet. Are you sure you want her?” She spoke hesitantly, as she should. I growled at her, tightening my grip on the steering wheel,

“What?” Watcher and I spoke in unison.

“She’s human and you’re an Alpha of a very large, successful pack. Are you sure you want to take a human Luna?” She was on very dangerous ground.

“Are you f*****g kidding me?” I wasn’t going to dignify her question with an answer. She started grinning at me,

“I just had to make sure that you were serious about her. I wasn’t going to waste my time on something that was just a game to you.” She laughed at my face and I struggled to relax.

“You realize that Watcher was ten seconds away from ripping your head off, right?” I took deep breaths.

“Yeah, Silver wanted me to shut up the entire time.” Mel shrugged as her eyes flashed, her wolf seeming to tell me that none of this was her idea.

“You should listen to Silver.” I mumbled.

“Anyway, it’s lucky that you’re already friends with her brother who also knows you’re a werewolf.” She said.

I wasn’t surprised by the coincidence. I always had faith in the Moon Goddess to bring me my mate, the most perfect woman who was made just for me. She would do whatever it took to bring my mate and I together, and I trusted that.

When I look back at the last few years of my life, it all starts to make sense. The pull I felt to go to school in Chicago, a city on the other side of the country that I never had an urge to visit before. The timing of the random rogue attack and the fact that Matt was the only one who saw me. Me leaving Chicago the very same year Matt drops out and moves his family to California. And, finally, Maizey was offered a job at my company without me even knowing about it.

“Not lucky, just fate.” I shrugged.

Mel rolled her eyes at me, she wasn’t as big of a believer as I was. That was reserved for our youngest sister, Winter. She was the scholar in the family; interested in all areas of life, but most of all, folklore and werewolf history. She had been researching the Moon Goddess and the origins of the species for most of her young life. She wasn’t even old enough to have a wolf or a mate yet, but she was determined to be prepared when that time came.

“Is it fate that’s making her hate you?” Mel scoffed. Did Miles have to tell her everything?

“I just have to go old school and impress her at human speed.” I said it was the easiest thing in the world. Mel snorted,

“Yeah, that’s all.” I wasn’t exactly known for my patience.

“I’ll do whatever I have to do for her.” I said.

“Why not just kidnap her and lock her up in the packhouse until she has Stockholm syndrome. Problem solved.” The issue here was that Mel was completely serious.

“You need to find a mate, Melody.” I stared at her with actual concern in my eyes.

“He’s probably dead already.” She propped her feet up on my dashboard and shrugged.

“Get your nasty feet off of my car.” I shoved her feet away and she pouted at me.

“Ooh, is that her!” She squealed, staring out the window. A petite little redhead was walking into a small coffee shop.

“How did you know?” I was distracted by my mate’s presence, but I was still curious as to how Mel picked her out of the crowd.

“I don’t know, I was just drawn to her. She really is the Luna, I guess.” Mel seemed confused herself.

I whipped my car into a street parking spot right in front of the cafe. I practically threw myself out of the car but Mel blocked my path on the sidewalk.

“What are you doing? This is not human speed, this is creeper status.” She warned me.

“Mel.” I actually whined at my little sister. I knew I was perfectly capable of moving her out of my way, but I also knew that she was correct.

“She doesn’t know me, just let me handle this one.” She offered and I nodded, leaning back against the car.

Mel grinned and fluffed out her short dark hair like she was trying to impress someone. She casually strolled into the coffee shop. I moved around to the side of the shop so I could see inside. Watcher assisted with his werewolf hearing.

Maizey was already at the counter placing her order which I memorized for future use. Mel walked up behind her and slapped her card on the counter,

“Let me get it, I insist. Pay it forward and all.” Mel flashed a killer smile at my mate who seemed startled by her actions.

“O…okay.” Oh Goddess her voice was sexy even when she was nervous.

“I’ll take a latte, two shots of vanilla and milk.” Mel ordered herself something and paid for both drinks. I had to admit, that was a pretty good move.

“Thank you.” Maizey recovered and smiled at my sister. I wished that she was smiling at me.

“It’s no problem. Are you new here? I’m here every morning and I didn’t recognize you.” Mel shrugged, sounding casual. She would be so busted if Maizey decided to make this place a regular stop in her morning routine.

“Oh, yeah, I just moved in down the street.” Maizey didn't seem bothered with Mel’s interest.

“You passed like six Dunkin’s to get here.” Mel laughed and so did Maizey, I clung to the sound.

“I prefer a small shop.” She replied.

“Me too! I’m Mel, by the way.” Melody offered Maizey her hand.

“Maizey.” She shook it.

“You can tell me if I’m being too pushy, I’m known for that,” Mel laughed, “But, can I get your number? You seem nice and like you could use a friend.” Smooth Mel, very smooth.

Maizey seemed to be processing this as their order was called. She paused before taking the coffee cup from the barista. Instead, she picked up a napkin and pulled a pen from her small purse.

“I don’t usually give complete strangers my phone number, but something about you…..” Maizey’s voice trailed off as she handed Mel the napkin.

“Sweet! I’ll text you later so you have my number, too. I’m having a party this weekend, you should totally come! I’ll text you the details.” I guess now I was throwing another party.

“Oh…uhm.” Maizey was clearly uncomfortable, but Mel didn’t care. She threw her arms around Maizey in a hug before grabbing her latte and skipping out of the shop.

“Who’s your favorite sister?” She dangled the napkin in my face as we walked back to the car.

“I’ll admit, that was pretty smooth. But, I don’t think she’ll come to a party.” I said as Mel punched the number into her phone.

“Worth a try.” She shrugged.

“Plus, I don’t want her to know that you’re my sister, yet. She’ll sniff out our plan in a heartbeat.” I added.

“That’s true, so don’t come.” Mel said.

“What?” I looked at her sideways as I started the car.

“Don’t come to the party. I’ll just say that I live on the reservation, which I do. She doesn't need to know my last name.” Mel suggested.

“What’s the point if I don’t come?” I said, unable to mask my disappointment.

“The point is to get her comfortable with our people and more relaxed. Then she’ll trust me enough to listen to my advice and opinions on you.” Mel said like I was an i***t for not figuring out her plan sooner.

“Fine.” I snapped. My mood immediately lifted as I watched Maizey leave the coffee shop and get into her car. I watched her drive back towards the house.

“You’re such a stalker.” Mel laughed.

“You take the car home, I’m going to hide out at her house.” I ignored her and blindly got out of the car.

I walked back to her house on foot and slipped behind the trees in her yard. I shifted into Watcher and laid down in the dirt, hoping for a glimpse of my mate through the house windows.

Instead I locked eyes with Matt and realized that I wasn’t hidden enough. His face turned white and his eyes widened. I slipped behind a tree but I was too slow, Matt was already storming across the yard. The dude had balls, I’ll give him that. Watcher huffed in annoyance and I shifted again, throwing on my pants just as Matt started yelling at me.

“Are you crazy? Why are you here?”

“To make sure that Maizey is okay.” I leaned against a tree casually.

“What if she sees you?” Matt was yelling but trying to keep his voice low, he was failing.

“She saw me last night and didn’t seem to mind.” I confessed and Matt’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head,

“What? She saw you as a wolf?” Matt gasped.

“Yeah, it was an accident.” I shrugged.

“You suck at hiding.” He pointed out.

“Yeah, apparently. I can’t stay away from her, Matt, it’s taking all I have to be this far from her.” I sighed, turning the tone of the conversation to a more serious one.

“Just…be more careful. If she thinks this place is infested with wolves she might want to move. We’re trying to make her feel at home here, something she hasn’t had in a while.” Matt really cared about his sister and it made my heart pound with jealousy. I wanted to be able to openly care for Maizey that way, too.

“I will, I’m sorry. I should also tell you that we saw each other this morning.” I ran my hand through my hair in frustration.

“What? When?” Matt was back to looking like he wanted to kill me.

“She went to get a coffee and I acted like I was checking on you guys. She basically hates me, so that’s awesome.” I mumbled. Matt sighed,

“She doesn’t hate you.”

“No, worse, she feels nothing for me.” I felt my face hardened as I became angry.

“I already told you why. You’re not going to just change her mind overnight. It’s going to take more time.” Matt looked like he actually felt bad for me.

“Maybe you could put in a good word for me.” I asked hopefully.

“I can try but I don’t want her to think we’re ganging up on her. I mean, why would I care if she likes you or not? We have to try to act a little normal here, Hunter.” Matt said and I knew that he was right.

“Fine. You better go back, she’s looking for you.” I grumbled as I heard my mate’s voice searching the house.

“You can hear that?” Matt chuckled, looking back at the house.

“Yeah.” I was sulking. Matt shook his head at me,

“Hang in there, man.” He clapped me on the shoulder before running back to the house. I shifted again and sat further back in the woods this time.