#7 The Twins of Satin Moon

Chapter 9: Hunter

It was finally the day of Melody’s party and she was being obnoxious about it. I was well aware that this party was for my benefit, but she was going way over the top. It was being held at a lake on pack territory, right on the edge of the tree line. The pack was very used to hosting humans at our reservation parties, so they were prepared to keep our identities a well guarded secret.

This party was different though, for the first time I was terrified of someone crashing. Miles had picked ten wolves for the Luna guard and five of them were on patrol for the party to make sure that she was safe. Three wolves were always at Maizey’s house while another two were positioned to be her guard if and when she goes somewhere.

Maybe I was overdoing it, but I didn’t care. I was the only one who was capable of properly protecting her, so if I couldn’t be there, I was going to be damn sure that there were enough capable warriors there to do it.

“Those bodyguards of yours better not be party poopers.” Mel pouted.

“They won’t be. They are only instructed to act if Maizey is in danger.” I said.

“Actual danger or like one drink away from being drunk, dancing with a stranger danger?” She leveled her glare on me.

“You said there wasn’t going to be alcohol at this party, Melody.” I ignored her question.

“Oops.” She shrugged innocently before walking away.

“Melody!” I yelled after her.

A few hours later I was creeping in the shadows of the trees as night fell and the party guest began to arrive. This party was neither dry nor small like Mel had told Maizey. There were already at least 50 people there, three kegs, and nine coolers just for alcohol. I wasn’t impressed but I also knew better than to try and break up a Mel-hosted party.

To our benefit, werewolves rarely get drunk off of human alcohol and when they did, it was only for a short time. The humans who were in attendance would be carefully looked after. We had a large house on the lake where drunken humans crashed all the time after our parties.

I smelt my mate before I saw her. Sweet flowers filled my senses and I closed my eyes, breathing in deeply. When my eyes opened, she was strutting from the makeshift parking lot looking drop dead gorgeous. She was wearing a strapless tight fitting red dress that stopped above her knees. It was sleek, satin, and sexy. Her curls were pulled up in an elegant bun, leaving her neck and shoulders bare. I licked my lips and resisted the urge to throw myself out of the shadows.

“I thought you said this was a small party without beer, Mel?” She smirked as my sister ran up to greet her, “Basically a camp out, you said.”

“Okay, I lied, but clearly you knew that already or you wouldn’t be dressed like this.” Mel held Maizey at arms length to admire her.

“Yeah, yeah.” Maizey waved her hands dismissively.

“Come on, let’s go meet some people.” Mel grabbed Maizey’s hand and pulled her into the crowds.

Everyone was accommodating and welcoming to Maizey, even without knowing she was my mate. Something about her was luring them towards her, but they didn’t know what. She was their Luna, as fated to the pack as I was fated to her, but they just thought she was a sweet, unsuspecting human. To be fair, she was that, too.

“I think you already met Miles and Ana, right?” Mel said as they stood in front of my Beta.

“Oh, yeah, at work.” Maizey nodded sheepishly. Ana was glaring at her and I nearly growled.

“I didn’t know you two were friends.” Ana said to Mel.

I had sworn Miles to secrecy. I knew it wasn’t fair to make him lie to his mate, but I needed Maizey’s identity to stay a secret for now so that the pack didn’t try to overwhelm her. Ana was a lousy secret keeper.

“We met the other day.” Mel said, narrowing her eyes at Ana. She wasn’t a fan, either.

“Good to see you again, Maizey!” Miles grinned and I slapped my forward. They hadn’t been introduced yet. Luckily, Maizey didn’t seem to catch on.

“Uhm, you, too.” She was biting her bottom lip and, I swear, it was the sexiest thing ever.

“This is my friend, Toby.” Miles grabbed a hold of my Gamma, Toby, and yanked him from the crowd.

“Toby, this is Maizey.” At least he introduced them properly.

“Nice to meet you, Maizey!” Toby did, in fact, already know about my Luna since it was his sworn oath to protect her.

“Yeah, you, too.” Maizey said again. Two girls squealed and latched onto Toby’s arms. He was unmated and uncommitted, a complete and total manwhore.

“Ladies, this is Maizey.” Both of them snarled at my mate and I gripped the tree trunk to keep control.

“Ladies, ladies, no need for that. She’s taken.” Toby soothed them and Maizey’s eyes widened. Toby just winked at her and turned his dates away.

“Don’t worry about Toby, he’s a manwhore.” Mel laughed.

“I am not taken.” Maizey snapped defensively.

“No, but my brother has claimed you.” Mel shrugged and I shot daggers at her. What was she doing?

“Excuse me?” Maizey replied snarkily.

“He’s made it clear that everyone’s supposed to respect you and not be their usual dickish self. Almost every guy here is incapable of not being a d**k so that means you’re untouchable.” Mel’s explanation was weak.

“That makes no sense.” Maizey saw right through her.

“Men make no sense.” Mel shrugged again.

“Come on, Mel, let’s get you another drink.” Miles laughed nervously, clearly trying to play off her rambling as being drunk.

“Whatever.” Mel rolled her eyes at Miles and left without him.

“Do you want something to drink, Maizey?” Miles asked, earning a glare from Ana.

“She can help herself.” Ana snapped.

“She’s new here, Ana, I’m just hosting.” Miles sighed at her.

“Melody is the host.” Ana replied.

“It’s fine, just point me in the right direction.” Maizey clearly wanted to run for the hills. Miles pointed towards the drink table and she maneuvered her way through the crowds.

I followed her, keeping her in my line of sight, especially now that she was unescorted. I knew Mel wouldn’t last long as her chaperone, considering she downed alcohol fast enough and in large enough quantities to actually start to feel buzzed. She was a useless wingman at parties.

Maizey looked at the options and picked up some sort of colorful drink. A lowly omega was watching her and I was watching him. He saw her struggling with the bottle cap and made his way over to help.

I could only growl at his advances, feeling frustrated and helpless to do anything for my mate. I hated this, I hated all of this. I should’ve been the one helping her open the bottle, making small talk with her, and escorting her to the makeshift dance floor. No one else should ever have their hands on my mate again. She was mine!

Watcher and I were both quickly losing control.