Free Moon Crossed (Werewolf Hunter Series): Season 1 (Episodes 1-6) (Crescent Hunter) by Bella Roccaforte Page B

look.
    “So what if I
was.” He comes back and sits at the table.
    “You know you
shouldn't be messing with a human, it's just wrong.” I lean
back in the chair, folding my arms across my chest.
    He looks at me,
astounded, then puts his hand to his ear as though he were answering
a phone. “Oh yeah, she's here.” He hands me the
nonexistent phone. “It's for you. It's the kettle.”
    “Ha ha.”
Crap, I've been busted.
    “I can smell him
all over you.” His tone doesn't match his expression. He's
clearly not pleased with me.
    “What are you
talking about?” Surely he can't have a problem with Cole and me
being friends.
    “Please, Claire,
don't insult my intelligence or my sense of smell.” He leans
toward me. “You shouldn't be messing with Cole.”
    “You're making
assumptions. Cole and I are just friends.” It really is all it
is.
    “Yeah, okay.”
He purses his lips. “He's dangerous and you shouldn't be
spending this much time with him. His scent is all over you. A dead
giveaway that you're messing around.”
    “We aren't
messing around. As a matter of fact, we haven't even so much as
touched.” My tone is overly defensive, but it's true.
    “Really?”
He tilts his head, arching his eyebrows. “Come on, Claire.”
    “No, really!”
He has to believe me.
    “Then why do you
reek of him?” He awaits an answer. “I can even smell him
on you after your shower.”
    “Pants.” I
make the realization. “I carried his pants back.”
    “That's it?
Pants?” He's dubious. “You really expect me to believe
that you smell so strongly of him because you carried his pants?”
    “Yes. First,
because it's true. Second, because we really are just friends.”
I shake my head that he doesn't trust me. “Hey, don't you dare
turn the focus on me. Since your little witch hunt has reached a dead
end, let's get back to you.”
    “I met her at a
party. She's super sweet, I helped her when she got sick and passed
out on me,” he explains, but there's more to it than that.
    “Locke, please, I
can see that little spark of elation in your eyes. You like her,”
I tease.
    “I do, but I know
and follow the rules.” He gets up and pushes his chair in,
searing me with his eyes. “Unlike some people I know.”
    “Are you judging
me?”
    “Yes, I am.”
He walks out the kitchen door, stops, turns around, and comes to give
me a hug. “And I'm glad you're a rule breaker, otherwise we'd
be lost without you.”
    “Yes, you would.”
What I don't say is how lost I'd be without them.
    “But seriously,
please be careful with Cole. He's a great guy as long as you're not a
girl.” He warns, “Honestly, I don't like the way he looks
at you.”
    “How does he look
at me?”
    “The same way you
look at him, and it scares the crap out of me.” He pulls away
from me, holding my hands. “I love you both and know it would
be disastrous.” He blows out a breath. “He doesn't know
how to be sincere and you are so naive...” He trails off, not
wanting to finish his thought.
    “I am not naive,”
I protest.
    “Claire, you
still think he just wants to be friends.” His tone is
patronizing.
    “Doesn't he?”
I pull my lips into a thin line. “He's been nothing but a
gentleman. He hasn't expressed anything other than just wanting to
talk and spend time with me, no different from you guys.”
    “But he is
different from us, and that's how he sets up the kill.” He
blows out a breath. “Don't be flattered by him, don't be taken
in. He's only interested in one thing, just remember that.”
    This argument can go on
for days; nothing Locke says to me about Cole is going to sink in
because I just can't believe it to be true. Cole has no interest in
me for many different reasons, the least of which being that I'm a
hunter and I'm not his type. “I will, and I'm telling you: we
are just friends.”
    “Okay.” He
turns back toward the door. “I'm going to get some sleep. I'll
see you tonight?”
    “Not tonight, I
have