Page 64 of Blood Moon
“What? No!” I laughed. “I’m asking because I didn’t know werewolves existed until, like, twenty minutes ago.”
“Sure, sure.” Julian smirked, and that little twist in his face burned at my ribs. I adjusted myself. “I’m not old, Mira, if that’s what you were wondering. I’m nineteen. Through adolescence, wolves age like mortals. But as we get older, we have the option to slow the process.”
Mortal.The term made me feel insignificant. But as I stared at Julian, I recalled the largeness of his eyes when he was a wolf, and my chest caved at the memory of the iridescent animal eyes I’d seen from my dorm window. “I have to ask this, but were you … or have you been watching me outside my window?”
There was a brief look of confusion that molded into disgust. “No, I’m not a creep.”
“I had to know.” I took a breath, but it didn’t make me feel better. I’d witnessed those eyes previously, during the first week of school, and before that, the night Rena left. It could only mean that a wolf, or wolves, had been aware of my existence long before I’d been aware of theirs. How could that be, and more importantly, why?
I crumpled in place. The memory spoiled the fairytale. “Julian,” I whispered sharply, my hands shaking as I sat upright, recalling the reported deaths, recalling what had happened the day I fell in the woods. It was another reason I shouldn’t have come. “Are you …” It pained me to say the rest, and he leaned forward on the edge of the rock, his brows crushing together.
“Am Iwhat?” he said, perhaps more eager than I anticipated.
Another breath in. “There have been reports of animal attacks. People have died. Witnesses have said the animal is larger than anything they’d ever seen, and I know it’s not a bear. Was this you, or your family?” I squinted my eyes, almost too afraid to see his reaction.
There was a look of sympathy on his face. “No,” Julian said. “I’m not killing people. The recent attacks aren’t my pack. It’s coming from elsewhere.”
“Is everyone in your family a wolf?”
Julian flicked something off his knee. “For the family I have left, yes. Some of us consider it a curse. But we were created immortal. Nothing in the heavens, or below the earth, can stop what is already permanent.”
“You said the family you haveleft… as if something terrible has happened.”
“Precisely that.” I folded my lips, and he sat up. “Not to be rude, or disrespectful, since I know I’ve had a habit of that …” Julian stopped talking to smile at me, and I rolled my eyes. Because yes, he had a nasty habit of that.
I jumped in. “Oh, you’re saying the reason you’ve been a prickisn’tfrom your lack of awareness?”
Julian held up a finger, wiggled it back and forth. “I’m not done yet,” he stated, and he smiled. “And you’d be surprised at how aware I am.” He adjusted himself. “What I was going to say was … I feel like we’ve been talking about me this entire time, and it seems unfair to you.”
I laughed with my chest, made a face. “Julian,you’rethe wolf,” I said with composure. “It’s just so much more interesting.”
“Andyou’re the girlwho discovered I’m a wolf,” he said, and when he took a breath, I saw how there was a stammer there, something rising inside him. “And I’m trusting you with this secret because no one can know. But, since you know so much about me, I feel like I should get to know you, too.”
I leaned back on my hands again, tilted my chin up. “What does Julian Santos want to know about me?”
He smiled crookedly and continued. “You’re from the area, right?”
I sighed. “Yup. Born and raised.”
Julian nodded introspectively, his lips twisting slightly. “Youneverlived anywhere else?”
“Why is that surprising to you?” I pressed. “Have you ever lived anywhere else?”
“You seemed more worldly, I guess?” He scratched at the fuzz on his face. “I don’t know … I just figured you moved at some point in your life. But no, I haven’t lived anywhere else. I can’t exactly leave this place.”
“Like, ever?” I sat up, unfolded my legs to let them dangle over the edge of the rock.
“I’m not supposed to …” He cleared his throat, looked at the brook. “Do you have any siblings?” He asked, changing the subject, but I wasn’t ready to move past it. Why wasn’t he allowed to leave this area? Another thought came. Could it be because ofher—the woman that seemed to have some sort of control over Julian?
“Wait, why can’t you leave?”
Julian looked at me. “You know, usually when you tell someone to talk about themselves, they can go on and on … but you? It’s hard to stay on topic.”
“Maybe that’s my bad habit.”
“Trust me, being humble isn’t a bad habit.”
“It can be if I’m deflecting …” Like now. Because I wanted to know more about him, and more about this woman that lingered above him like a bad omen. “And also,” I continued, “like, you’re a wolf, dude.”
