Hyena Moon, page 9
"I will face Samara before summer's end." Kess suppressed a shiver of fear as she said this. She still had no idea how she was going to do that, even with Mebis' offer of help.
"And if you lose?" Anum's voice was clear in the quiet room. All eyes looked to her and she saw doubt in several faces.
"It would mean all our deaths," Nyla said, speaking into the quiet like a seeress speaking prophecy. Low murmurs greeted her words.
"Which is why I will not lose." Kess' words rang out, drowning out the whispers and putting a halt to the beginnings of fearful conversations. Her gaze swept the assembled werecats. "I understand the gravity of the situation here and I will do my level best to resolve it." She tried to look strong and confident, something she most definitely did not feel at the moment. "Now, can we get back to my proposal?"
She looked over at Bomani as the room dissolved into debate. He nodded at her, his usually stoic face holding an expression of faint approval. Kess nodded back, then returned to the business of managing the meeting.
Chapter Fifteen
Rafe was watching television in the living room when he heard unfamiliar sounds coming from the front of the house. He'd settled into a routine over the past weeks: swim, run with Finn, gorge himself on food, watch television, read books, swim some more, sleep. Lather, rinse, repeat. Kess and Cormac and Finn came and went pretty quietly, and the few wereleopards that came to visit didn't call attention to themselves. Sometimes it felt like he was living with ghosts.
It meant that he hadn't been able to find out much of anything about Kess' future plans, including any of her ideas of how she might be able to tell if new weres were in the vicinity. It was frustrating him daily, but he couldn't exactly lurk around anymore than he did already.
He lowered the volume of the television to get a better listen. There was Cormac's low murmur, and the sound of something banging into the walls or floor. But loudest of all was a girlish voice, higher in pitch. He heard Kess' voice too, but couldn't make out her words.
Rafe levered himself up off the couch and walked to the doorway. He was curious, not least because this was something new, something to break up the monotony. And it didn't hurt that the voice sounded like it belonged to a girl his age. He poked his head out and caught a glimpse of a slight whip of a girl disappearing around a corner in a cloud of honey-blonde hair. She looked to be about his age, maybe a little younger.
Then her scent hit him. He'd gotten used to smelling people since his change hit; it had been annoying and distracting at first, and sometimes just plain gross, but he'd learned to ignore people's scents as a matter of course. Kess, Cormac, and Finn's scents had taken some getting used to, as familiar as he was with werehyenas, but now they were like background noise in his nose.
This one was different. There was the girlish scent of baby powder, a clean smell, undercut by a resinous honey scent. She smelled kind of like a meadow. It was different than anything he'd smelled before, so clean and so...pretty. There wasn't another word for it that fit so well.
He found himself following along behind the small group, led by his nose. He tried to look cool about it--no need for anyone to think he was stalking the new arrival, which he wasn't doing. Rafe just wanted a better look at the person to whom this scent was attached. Once I've gotten a good look, I'll go back to watching TV. I just want to get a look. It was just new, that was all. The allure of the scent would fade once he got used to it.
They had stopped in front of a closed bedroom door on his side of the house. Kess and Cormac and Finn stayed in bedrooms on one end, and he was all by himself on the other side. Kess had mentioned that this was Sek's wing, but what that was supposed to mean was as beyond him as reading Egyptian hieroglyphics. He knew Sek had been the clan leader before Kess, and that he was her brother, but that was about it. There was only that one weird conversation on the dock, but Rafe still wasn't sure what she'd been talking about. Even his mother with all her spies hadn't known what had gone on between the siblings. All he knew was that Kess didn't often come over to this side of the house.
He tried to make it look like he was just going into his bedroom. He didn't want to look weird or anything. It was bad enough that he felt kind of like a stalker. He watched the three of them carefully, trying to figure out the interpersonal dynamics. Cormac looked tired. The girl with him looked tired as well and a little worse for wear, with worry lines in her forehead and around her mouth. Kess kept herself at a remove from the two, seeming to not what to get in the way.
Kess caught sight of him and he thought he saw her brows draw down but then her face cleared. She waved him over while Cormac opened the door.
"Hey Rafe. We're going to have another guest for the next few days." Kess stopped the girl from entering the room after Cormac. The werewolf had already entered the bedroom, a duffle bag slung over his shoulder.
Rafe walked over, head ducked down. He could see the girl was small-boned, almost delicate, standing maybe a little over five feet tall. He raised his head when he got closer to take a good look at her face. She turned towards him and he was surprised. She was unremarkable. With a scent like that, he had expected someone as gorgeous as a hyena. She wasn't ugly, but she wasn't particularly striking; not like Kess, who possessed a strange, compelling beauty, and certainly not like his mother and sister with their model looks. Her features were delicate, almost elfin. Her eyes were brown.
Then she smiled at him, and he amended his first opinion. Her smile was beyond lovely, suffusing her face and erasing all signs of tiredness. It hit him in the chest and places farther south. "Hi, I'm Lenore."
"Nice to meet you." He gestured vaguely towards his bedroom. "I'm just down the hall, if you...um...need anything?" God, why did he say that? It made him sound even toolier than usual.
Lenore flashed him an even bigger smile and he forgot about how stupid he felt. He thought he might put on clown shoes and smash a pie in his face for the chance at that smile again. "Thanks!"
Cormac's voice came from the room. "Lenore, come on inside, please. We need to call Mom and Dad."
The worry on her face returned. Rafe wondered what was going on, but knew better than to ask. "Okay." She looked at Kess for a second then her eyes skipped to him again. "Maybe I'll see you later." She disappeared into her bedroom.
Rafe stood there, stunned. "She's his sister?"
Kess nodded, gaze distracted. "Yep."
Rafe lowered his head to hide the flush that he could feel creeping up the pale skin of his face. He highly doubted that Cormac would like him spending time with his sister. Still, tempting Cormac's wrath might be worth it for another one of those brilliant smiles. "Is she a werewolf too?"
"No." Kess leaned against the wall, arms crossed in front of her chest. "She never changed."
Maybe that was it; maybe that was why her scent was so different. She must have some of the were genes in her, but not that special something that made them transform. Maybe that affected the way she smelled. Or maybe it had nothing to do with that at all. Perhaps she was just special in her own right.
His eyes flicked to the doorway of Lenore's room. "Oh."
Kess looked at him as if she were weighing something. He stared back, wondering what was going on in her head. Then she straightened, as if making an important decision, and said, "I think we were all going to order pizza tonight and get a movie if you want to join us."
Rafe reddened further, damning his pale complexion. He found he wanted to join them. He'd made a point to keep a certain amount of distance between him and everyone else, despite Kess' attempts to include him. The only thing he'd regularly done with any of them was go running with Finn. He told himself it was because Kess was still his enemy and because Cormac was still suspicious of him, but as the weeks wore on, he thought his distance was a safety measure of a different sort.
But now he found he was willing to risk closer contact.
Kess waited as she always did for his answer.
"'kay."
He saw her look of surprise. He knew she'd been expecting his usual refusal. It took her a moment to formulate her reply. "I'll tell you when the pies get here."
Her name was called from the bedroom. She left him to join Cormac and his sister. Rafe had no interest in television anymore, so he headed to his own room, his head filled with the smell of honey and wildflowers and the image of an intoxicating smile.
Chapter Sixteen
Lenore went into the bathroom and splashed water on her face, trying to erase the tear tracks and flushed cheeks. She managed to hold in the tears until Cormac had left her alone, but once he had, she threw herself on the bed and muffled her sobs with a pillow.
The phone call to her parents had not gone well. Not that she had really expected it to.
Everything seemed so out of control. Now that she was down here, she couldn't remember her reasoning for running away and not telling her parents. It wasn't like she could claim ignorance of how they'd react. She knew her father well enough to know that he would not be lenient with her on this. And that was if he got hold of her before her mother did.
She looked at herself in the mirror. There were dark circles under her eyes, but that probably came from catching cat naps on the train and trying to sleep in the car from Jacksonville. And she was pale, but again, that probably came from worry. Lenore frowned. It wasn't fair. Miami was supposed to be the solution to her problems, not the cause of so many more. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the mirror.
She felt tears come again at the thought of going home. If home was boring before, it would be even worse now. Lenore knew she'd be grounded for the rest of the summer, probably not even allowed to leave the immediate family compound. Seeing Wyatt or Keri would be out of the question. She probably wouldn't even be able to talk to them either. She'd be stuck in the Lodge with no one but her father and mother for company, and that was when the pack wasn't running. On nights they did, she'd be alone.
Lenore ran the tap again and splashed more water on her face. She pulled it together, not wanting to spend more tears on a situation that she helped cause. She was probably only going to get a couple of days in Miami; she might as well make the most of them.
She patted her face dry and put on a fresh shirt and a new pair of shorts. It was time to explore the house. Lenore had gotten a brief look at it as they drove up. It was a sprawling white villa, as different from the Lodge as it was possible to get. Lush tropical plants and trees filled the front yard and the center island of the circular drive.
Cormac hadn't given her a tour of the place, more intent on getting her situated and then dealing with their parents. Kess had mentioned pizza, but otherwise had let Cormac take the lead. Even Finn had given her a wide berth. She was beginning to think she'd contracted leprosy and no one had told her.
She stepped out of her room, closing the door behind her and tried to orient herself. She figured the best thing to do was go back the way she'd come in and start exploring from there. Lenore headed up the hallway, towards the main body of the house, hoping she might run into that other houseguest.
Lenore saw no one. She was a little disappointed; she knew the house was big, but not to run into anyone? She wandered around, poking her head into various rooms. She found the kitchen, some kind of library, a dining room, a formal living room--the kind that nobody used because it was even too nice for company, and a another hallway that led to a different part of the house. She ignored that in favor of a room where the television was on.
It was a den, outfitted with dark leather couches and recliners, built-in bookshelves, floor to ceiling windows on half of one wall and an enormous flat screen TV. Lenore stood in the doorway, letting her eyes adjust to the relative dimness--curtains were drawn over the windows, cutting off a good bit of the light that illuminated the rest of the house.
Lenore watched as a dark head turned around to look at whoever was in the doorway. She didn't think she'd made any noise that gave away her presence, but she must have; either that or he sensed her somehow. When his face was turned to her, she saw that it was the young man Kess had stopped to introduce her to earlier. Rafe.
"Can I come in?" She waited in the doorway, watching him. He was beyond cute, more into gorgeous territory, but he seemed really uncomfortable. She wondered if he knew about why she was here and how much trouble she was in back home. She wouldn't blame him if he didn't want to get involved in possible family dramatics.
He looked around, almost as if he doubted she was speaking to him. Then he seemed to realize she was waiting for his answer and nodded his head so his hair flopped further in his face. "Sure."
Lenore came slowly into the room, feeling like if she moved too fast she might spook him. She didn't know why he was here or how he was related to Kess, but she could find out all of that later. Right now it was enough that he was close to her age and speaking to her. It didn't hurt that he was all kinds of hot. "What are you watching?"
He shrugged as she came around to sit on the sofa. "Nothing much. I've been flipping channels."
She took a seat at the other end of the couch and noticed that he had a book in his hand, his finger holding his place. He must have had the television on for light or noise, but was actually reading. She'd probably disturbed him. She angled over to get a better look at the title, but still couldn't read it. Rafe sat awkwardly, in a sort of stiff posture, like he didn't know what to do now that she was here. Great.
She cast about for something to say that wouldn't sound lame or weird. Nothing was coming to her, which made her feel self conscious. Lenore didn't understand it; she was never at a loss for something to say. Her mother said that it was getting her to be quiet that was the problem. But now she felt dim and slow, with no idea what to say that would make Rafe relax.
Lenore was spared further silence by Kess' voice announcing, "Pizza!"
Rafe turned towards the sound and Lenore was able to get a better look at him. She'd been distracted in the hall when she'd met him, so she only registered cute boy without giving him much thought. She remembered he was taller than she was, lean and lithely muscled. Now she got a better look. He had black hair that hid sharp features. She could see the glitter of his eyes and realized that they weren't brown, like hers, but a more golden color, like a deep amber. She found herself staring at them, trying to see all the variations in the brown-gold.
Kess came in holding a stack of pizzas. Finn followed with plates and napkins and cups. Cormac brought up the rear holding several different liter bottles of soda. Lenore saw him stop suddenly when he noticed she was sitting on the couch with Rafe. "What are you doing out of your room?" Her brother's voice came out sharper than usual.
Lenore frowned. She hadn't been doing anything wrong and it stung that he would talk to her like that in front of people. He hadn't told her she couldn't leave her room, so she hadn't broken any rules. She wanted to say something obnoxious to shut her brother up, but didn't think that was such a great idea with the situation being what it was. She needed Cormac on her side. "I was trying to figure out my way around and ran across Rafe. We were watching a little television." She tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice.
Cormac still didn't look pleased, but didn't press the issue. Lenore saw Rafe looking back and forth between the two of them. He looked worried for some reason. Lenore smiled at him, trying to put him at ease. Then she got up to help with the drinks.
She took a cup and hissed at Cormac, "I didn't realize I was under house arrest."
He poured some soda into the proffered cup, still scowling. "I just thought you were going to stay in your room until the pizza came."
Lenore rolled her eyes. "What's the big deal? I walked around the house, that's all." She didn't get why he was being so uptight about it. To the group, she asked, "What does everyone want to drink?"
She and Cormac began to pour and hand out the cups to Finn and Kess. As she finished pouring her own drink, she realized that Rafe hadn't shouted out his drink like the others. "Rafe? What do you want to drink?"
He looked between her and Cormac again, a guarded expression on his face. Lenore turned to Cormac, watching him, but he was trying to grab a few slices of the meat pizza before Finn took most of it. She wondered what her brother had done or said that made Rafe so skittish around him. He didn't seem that way around Kess or Finn.
His eyes finally came to rest on her. "Um...whatever you're having is fine."
Lenore hid a smile behind her hair, pouring out another cup for him. She passed it over, then went and got a plate of pizza. She moved to sit back on the sofa, this time next to Rafe, but Cormac got there first and plopped himself where she'd been planning to sit. She sat down next to her brother and tried not to look bothered. If Cormac wanted to be an annoying pain, then she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd gotten to her.
Conversation sprang up between the older three. Lenore just listened, stealing surreptitious glances at Rafe. He stayed silent, wolfing down slices of pizza as if he were starving. When he got up to get more, Lenore went as well. He was placing a few more slices on his plate when she spoke softly, pitched low so as not to disturb the other conversation.
"Are you from Miami or just visiting like me?"
He startled, eyes widening. She saw the muscle in his jaw jump, and thought she might have asked an uncomfortable question. It was a simple question; she had no idea what could be offensive in that. Then he seemed to relax a bit, so she chalked it up to her startling him.
"Visiting." His voice was neutral.
"Do you like Miami?"
A one-shoulder shrug. "I guess."
Lenore gritted her teeth. He certainly wasn't making this easy, was he? "How long are you here for?"
Rafe's features clouded, but before Lenore could contemplate that, Cormac's phone rang. He picked it up and from his voice she knew he was talking to their parents. He left the room. Lenore watched him until he disappeared around the corner. She suddenly didn't feel like eating anymore. She saw Kess watching her with concern.
