Free 03 Long Night Moon - Seasons of the Moon by S.M. Reine Page B

when she wandered around town and hadn’t given it much thought.
    Nobody was home. The fresh snow was undisturbed. Rylie peeked in the front windows, hands cupped around her face.
    What did she think the living room of a couple murderous werewolves should look like? It seemed way too normal. They had a nice TV. Their furniture was leather, and there was a menorah on the table by the window. But she didn’t see any meat hooks, bloody handprints, or the other kinds of icky things she expected murderers to have.
    “Took you long enough.”
    Rylie whirled, clutching her knapsack to her chest. Levi stood behind her with a knitted hat pulled down to his eyebrows. The wolf’s thoughts cascaded underneath hers in a torrential river of inarticulate desires: violence and hunger and the need to defend her territory.
    “It’s you,” she growled.
    “And Tate.”
    It was only then that she noticed the black BMW on the street. The wolf immediately silenced.
    She straightened her back. “We have to talk, you and me, whether you like it or not. We’ve got to take care of this now.”
    “Take care of what?” Tate asked, bounding up the path.
    Rylie plastered a smile on her face. “Hi.”
    “I forgot to tell you I invited Rylie to pizza,” Levi said. “Come on, guys.”
    His back was turned to her while he unlocked the door. Rylie considered attacking, but Tate was right there , cupping his hands around a joint as he lit up. The time wasn’t right. She had to wait.
    They went inside, and Rylie was surrounded by the stench of other wolves. She had to brace herself on the back of the couch before she fell over.
    Levi slouched into the kitchen as Tate flopped on the sofa. He took a long drag, holding it in for a few seconds before blowing out a thick cloud. “I didn’t know you and Levi are friends,” he said in a gravelly voice.
    She was still smiling like an idiot. “We’re not—I mean—I’m just getting to know him.”
    “Cool. I thought you hated him.” Tate took another puff. “That’s cool.”
    Wasn’t everything cool with Tate? She wondered if he would be so relaxed if he knew what his new friend did on the full moon.
    Levi came out of the kitchen, turned on the TV, and lifted Tate’s legs so he could sit underneath them on the sofa. They looked… cozy. And they both ignored her completely as they shared the joint.
    Taking deep, measured breaths (which made her a little light-headed from the smoke), Rylie forced herself to sit on the edge of a chair and keep smiling.
    “So what are you guys up to?” she asked.
    “Chilling for now,” Levi said. “But we’re going to pick up our tuxes for the ball later.”
    She blinked. “You’re both going?” Bloodthirsty werewolves in formalwear fit her expectations as much as a nice middle class werewolf den. “Who are you two taking?”
    Tate laughed and offered her the joint like usual, even though she always refused. “I’m taking Levi.”
    She had to process that for a good long minute before the meaning sunk in. “You’re… taking… Levi?”
    “That’s what I said.”
    “You mean on a date,” she said.
    Tate was dating Levi.
    Her best friend was dating a werewolf .
    Everything Rylie thought she knew about Tate and Levi was destroyed. Her assumptions were completely wasted—like “blown away in a nuclear holocaust” wasted. She stood and paced in a circle even though she knew it made her look like a spazz.
    “Dude,” Tate said. “Chill.”
    “I’m chill. I’m really chill. I couldn’t be chillier if I jumped in a freezer.” She spun on Levi. “I’m hungry. Do you have anything to eat?”
    He took a hint and went back into the kitchen. Rylie crouched by Tate.
    “You cannot date him,” she whispered urgently. When he moved to take another drag of his joint, she seized his wrist. His eyes widened at the strength of her grip. “Seriously, Tate, listen to me. You cannot date Levi Riese .”
    He sneered. “I thought you’d be cool with it.