13. Stay away from him
Lucy
As Matt bit me, I couldn’t help but be scared. It didn’t hurt much more than when Tony bit me, but the man staring at me was scary. Whoever he was, his eyes had a soft, creepy red glow. When Matt pulled away, he smiled down at the mark on my neck. I didn’t meet his gaze. He ran his fingers along the mark, and I tried not to wince at how much it hurt.
Tony and Matt turned me to the crowd, and the man officiating the ceremony said a few words before we were supposed to get on with the reception. Everyone clapped and cheered for us, but I couldn’t pay attention to any of that. The man’s eyes were still on me. I could feel them.
“Come on,” Matt said, pulling me from the altar. “I’m starving.”
I followed, still keeping my eyes on the ground, but I still felt the eyes on me.
Matt got us to our seats. Tony joined us. There was a toast, and then everyone started eating. Still, the man’s gaze hadn’t left me. I could still feel it. I looked up cautiously, and instead of the creepy man, I saw David looking at me. His eyes were asking me something, but I couldn’t answer. He looked troubled and so alone at his table by himself.
“Stop looking over there,” Matt said.
“But…” I dropped my gaze to my plate.
I wish I could go sit with him and ask him how things have been all this time. I looked down at my plate and pushed my mashed potatoes.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” Tony asked. “You’ll need it before we have to introduce you around.”
I tried to eat, but my stomach wasn’t cooperating. I ate a few bites before Tony pulled me to my feet, and we started walking around the party, meeting people. I wasn’t paying attention. Tony didn’t seem to expect me to talk at all. The alphas barely glanced at me. Matt did a lot of talking, but they barely glanced at him either.
“Could I…?”
“No,” Tony said, pulling me closer.
Everyone we talked to seemed to only be focusing on Tony. We got through at least three more tables before we headed toward the table where the creepy man was. He was sitting alone too, but he didn’t look lonely. He looked like he wanted it to be that way.
I did everything I could not to look at him.
“This is Alpha Peter of the Black Moon Pack,” Tony said.
I stepped back and tried to hide behind Matt and Tony, unwilling to meet his eyes.
“Hi.”
“What a pretty little thing,” he said.
Tony went stiff. “I would suggest you keep your eyes off her.”
He made a non-committal noise. I glanced up just as he smiled coldly and stood. He walked away from the table without a word. The further he got away, the better I felt, but Matt and Tony were still tense on either side of me.
Matt
I glared after Peter. “Stay away from him, Lucy.”
“Matt please don’t start a fight,” she said, not even looking up from the ground.
“Let’s talk about this somewhere private,” Tony said, pulling her along.
I followed them out of the banquet hall into the room we had been in earlier. Lucy sat down quietly, not saying a word, though I couldn’t help but stare at the mark on her neck. I couldn’t wait to get this stupid party over and get her upstairs.
“Who was that man?” Lucy asked, her voice was soft.
“The Black Moon Pack is… troublesome,” Tony said. “Their influence is widespread in a bunch of different ways, and almost none of them are good.”
He sighed, and I crossed my arms. “This isn’t something she should have to worry about.”
“It’s okay,” she said.
“She’s our luna,” Tony said. “She’s going to have to worry about it and be aware.”
“She shouldn’t have to.”
“Please don’t fight,” Lucy said, lowering her head. “Who is he?”
“His name is Peter.” Tony said. “And he’s already clearly pushing the boundaries… As if David wasn’t bad enough.”
He growled and started to pace. Lucy clasped her hands together, and I sat beside her, holding her hand.
“Why was he looking at me like that?” Lucy asked.
“It’s okay. You know we’d never let anything happen to you,” I said, but she didn’t look up or say anything. “Peter gets under Tony’s skin for a lot of reasons.”
“What does that mean?”
“Peter’s arrogant and presumptuous. Worse than that, he’s out of control. All those old jerks are so busy listening to what he’s saying to pay attention to what he’s doing and the danger his actions will bring on us.” He clenched his jaw. “Rumors say that they infect ordinary people with the werewolf virus for sport.”
Matt sighed. “Are we really going to talk about this today?”
“She needs to know what kind of people she’ll be dealing with. He doesn’t have a luna, but he’s garnered enough respect among the older alphas for a reason.” Tony sneered. “Their desire to have werewolves stand at the top of the supernatural world is going to cause us trouble.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “And it would help if someone would at least pretend to have some responsibility other than me.”
I rolled my eyes. “You pretend to have enough responsibility for the both of us. Thanks.”
“… what’s the werewolf virus?” We both looked at her. She didn’t looked at either of us. “Is it… contagious? Is it dangerous?”
“It’s what makes us werewolves. Infecting regular humans makes people go insane within half a day,” Tony said. “His actions have been causing dissatisfaction among the other supernatural species for years.”
“… why am I alive then?”
I laughed. “You’re half werewolf, not infected, Lucy. It’s different.”
“No one has been turned like that in years,” Tony said with a huff. “Not since the Moon Goddess died.”
She frowned. “You said… other species. Like what?”
Tony smiled. “Angels, witches, dragon shifters, and plenty others.”
I scoffed and opened the door. “This is our mating reception! We shouldn’t be talking about politics!”
I grabbed Lucy’s arm. “We’re done with this.”
I pulled her out of the room, and soon a member of the pack grinned and looked at us.
“We thought you two might have gotten started with your own festivities a bit early!”
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