Page 27 of Blood Moon Heat

I didn’t even know their names, but I felt a kinship with them instantly and blurted it all out. About the bedroom that was a replica of the one I’d had in my parents’ home, about the pink dresses and the midnight visits and tricking me into feeding from him by using my own instincts against me, then thinking he could win me over with a meal out of my room. When I was finished, none of them seemed remotely shocked.

A female with fiery red hair and a dusting of freckles took my hand. “I know this whole thing is…weird and confusing. I know they’re”—she tilted her head toward our bonded males—“weird and confusing, but they’re not like other males, and even if we hadn’t been locked in our houses for years and shut off from the world, this would still be just as hard.” She smiled kindly. “I’m Lucinda, by the way. That’s Effie, Delphine, and Ana.”

Ana smiled as well. “They’re warriors and incredibly old and have very little in the way of emotion, if any. I’m not giving them a pass for the way they’re behaving, but as terrifying as they seem, or had seemed to us, I get the feeling we’re just as terrifying to them.”

“Once you mate, they don’t seem so terrifying anymore,” Lucinda said, her cheeks pink.

“You’re mated?”

She nodded. “Last night.”

“How was it?” Effie asked, eyes wide.

She chewed her lip, then grinned. “Really, really good. Amazing, actually. I don’t know…things feel different between us now. I know it’s scary, and I know you want to strangle them…or bash them over the head with something, but I promise it gets better.”

A laugh burst from me. “I would have stabbed Nero if I’d had the chance.”

Ana nodded. “They’re so intense, and the arrogance is unmatched.” Her expression changed. “Ana,” she said in a low voice, while she narrowed her eyes and lifted her chin, in imitation of her bonded’s voice, “if you don’t stop flouncing around in front of me in those fucking shorts, I’ll fucking burn them.” Her voice was mocking and deep, then she pulled a face, one that I assumed was supposed to be intimidating and arrogant.

We all burst out laughing.

The males turned our way, their eyes narrowed in the same way Ana’s had just done, and everyone laughed again, harder.

The music changed, and Delphine grabbed on to my and Effie’s hands. “Should we dance?”

Lucinda nodded. “I think we should. Who knows when we’ll get this chance again?”

We laughed, giddy as we ran out to the dance floor. None of us knew what we were doing. The only dancing we’d done was in the privacy of our rooms, and some of us probably not even then, but that didn’t matter. For the first time in five years, I felt free.

Maybe it was only an illusion, and it would all end when the night did.

But I planned to make the most of every minute.

Nine

Mina

My feet hurt, but I couldn’t stop smiling.

Lucinda grabbed my hand, and I watched as she made eye contact with Rainer, then blushed and smiled.

“You’re lucky. Rainer must be a kind male.”

She snorted. “He was anything but kind when I first went home with him. He was surly and snappy and distant.” Then she shook her head and her face softened. “But he was pushing me away because he was afraid he’d hurt me.”

“Really?” I glanced up at Nero, and my heart thumped when I found his gaze locked on me. I quickly turned back to Lucinda.

“There’s more to these males than they choose to show us and, I guess, more than even they know. I had to force Rainer’s hand. I was scared, but I refuse to live an eternity miserable. My parents love each other deeply. I’ve seen what that looks like, and I wanted it, so I made it happen.”

“How?”

She bit her lip and blushed a deeper pink. “Their drive to mate us is extremely strong and painful.” I knew that part, about the pain, though Nero hid it well. “So, I used my, uh…body to…to tempt him.”

“You did?” Heat flushed through me.

She nodded and giggled. “I pretended I didn’t know I was doing it. He fought hard, trying to hold on to his control, but they were no match for me.”

“They?”

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