Free Werewolf Moon (The Pack Trilogy Book 1) by Chanel Smith

L’heureuse lune , The Auspicious Moon, the new home of Pack Lupeinescu,” he said with a certain amount of ceremony not lost on any wolf present.
    As was her due, Petra descended first and walked to his side. “Alpha female is honored to join our Trans-Alpha.” So saying, she knelt by Raya’s side and pushed her head under his hand. Raya lifted her straight up by a light tug on her hair. “Trans-Alpha welcomes Alpha Female.”
    Itchiko followed suit. “Beta Itchiko would join his brother.”
    Raya pulled him to his feet. “Pack Lupeinescu accepts,” he said in his normal voice. Then he added in a stage whisper, “and if you kneel to me again you’ll be minus one gonad.”
    The rest of the pack coughed, attempting to cover snorts of laughter. Then one by one they followed suit: one head after another pushing into Raya’s large hand.
    Petra sighed and walked to the cabin, opened the door and peered in. “I’d say Pack Lupeinescu has some ass busting in our near future.”
    “I’d say they don’t,” Raya promptly countered. He gave a short whistle. “Come on out, boys.”
    From behind a nearby thick stand of trees, a crowd of men walked out. Amazed, Petra figured there had to be nearly thirty of them! How on earth had Raya arranged all this from that ship as they crossed the Atlantic?
    Raya caught her eye and winked. She grinned back. However he’d done it, these men meant that Pack Lupeinescu would have a new abode much faster than she’d thought possible. Something tickled her memory. Now what was it? Oh yes. That cabin’s interior. In the brief peek she’d taken, she’d seen something fascinating.
    She turned and made for the small building, hoping she’d seen what she thought she had. As she opened the door, there it was: a large square table that nearly filled the entire cabin from one wall to the other.
    What sat on that table was the prize, she thought as she walked in and looked down. Was that what she thought it was? Having not ever seen a true architectural rendering of a house, she was unsure.
    “It has everything you wanted and then some,” Raya said from the doorway.
    “You going to translate all this for me?”
    “Sure. It’s easier than you think.”
    Somehow Petra doubted that, but she’d keep an open mind.
     
     
    Chapter Seven
    A Manger
     
    Nu dau bani, dar mijloacele pentru a-l face.
    Give not money, but the means to make it.
    —A Romani saying
     
    The pack intended on taking their time to really explore New Orleans while their manse was being built. Their very first night in the beautiful town, they decided to splurge on the supremely elegant but expensive Hotel De Ville. Raya, Petra and the two bitches sat at a large round table in the expansive dining room waiting for Itchiko and his wife. The waiter had come twice with menus, and Raya was getting steadily more nervous about Itchiko’s continued absence. The Japanese were never late.
    Raya couldn’t even say “almost never late”: the other was, literally, never late so this came as a most unwelcome shock. Another ten minutes crept by, and Raya had had enough. He stood.
    “I’ll be back shortly,” he announced as he turned on one heel and strode away.
    Petra watched him go. “Worried about Itchiko,” she said briefly.
    “Rightfully so,” Charissa said and the rest of the pack froze. Charissa almost never spoke up and if she did, there was a problem. Charissa was an exquisitely colored wolf from her red-tinged dark coat to her pale blue eyes. Some said those eyes were the mark of a psy-Were, as psychic werewolves were known. Her partner, Erigny, was her perfect complement with a grey coat and eyes a peculiar golden-green. They were a formidable couple, and Petra meant to take advantage of Charissa’s abilities right at that moment.
    “Charissa, where is Itchiko?” Petra asked straight out. Sometimes the smaller wolf would instantly respond.
    “Walking up behind you,” Charissa responded and everyone laughed,