Hunted (War of the Covens 1)

“A Lunarmorte?” Irini asked, surprised.

He nodded.

Irini was somewhat closemouthed about the pack and their way of life, but this she had mentioned to Caia. Lunarmorte was an ancient ritual among their specific lykan pack, dating back to their Portuguese origins. If there was a break in the hereditary line of the pack, or a rebel rising within, it fell to a Lunarmorte to determine the Pack Leader. It was fought during a full moon and only happened once in a blue one.

“As you can imagine, in the end only one challenged Lucien. Lucien killed him within seconds.”

“Who?”

“Dermot.”

Irini look unsurprised by this. “You sound admiring of Lucien. Am I to assume he has done well as Pack Leader these last five years?”

Dimitri stood, towering over them. “It was Lucien’s idea to keep you here protected. There are still some Midnight followers of the Hunter on the loose, and we had no way of knowing if they still held plans for Caia.” He nodded toward her, using her name for the first time, and drawing her back into the reality of what he was saying. “Instead, he wanted to wait until we had built a safe new life.”

“And I’m guessing you have if you’re here.”

“Yes. Lucien has managed to integrate us into a good town. All the families have jobs. Lucien’s got this furniture business going …” He drifted off at the sour look that passed over Irini’s face.

“We’ve been left here for eleven years, Dimitri.”

“I know.”

Irini shook her head in anger. “No! You don’t know. I have been left here with Caia while my brother gallivanted around goddess knows where—not allowed to come home for my father’s funeral, not allowed to even speak one word to my mother!”

“Irini—”

“And now my brother just expects me to come home, like nothing happened? Like he didn’t abandon us? Goddess—”

“Irini!” he growled.

Caia slid back in her seat. She had lived with Irini’s tantrums for eleven years. Not entirely sure how to deal with the behavior, she had merely listened as Irini hissed and snarled about her predicament. Apparently, Dimitri didn’t have the patience for it.

Irini slammed her mouth shut and shrunk closer to Caia.

“You would not even be able to return if it wasn’t for Lucien. As soon as he learned of Albus’s death, he hunted the Hunter and he won. He did not send for you immediately because he wanted to make sure you had somewhere safe to come home to. And now you do.”

“And if we don’t want to?” she whispered, although Caia was sure she didn’t really mean it.

“You must,” he said, throwing Irini a meaningful look that Caia didn’t quite understand.

Irini reached for her hand and nodded.

“Do we leave now?” Caia asked.

Dimitri looked at her, seeming startled. It was the first time she’d spoken. “Yes,” he eventually acknowledged. “While you pack, I’ll summon Marion so she can finally drop the protection spell.”

2

The Unknown

They traveled by plane. Caia sat by Dimitri, leaving Irini alone with her thoughts.

“You’re apprehensive.” Dimitri smiled kindly down at her. She brushed her hair behind her ears so she could look up at him. Being so close to him, she could smell his own individual brand of beautiful damp earth that identified him as a lykan. It brought unprepared-for memories. She had been so long without the pack that if it hadn’t been for her weekly runs in her true form with Irini, she would have felt almost entirely human—a socially deficient human, but one nonetheless.

Looking into Dimitri’s eyes, she saw blurry images of a life long gone, a life where she had felt a part of something. But it no longer existed, and now they just expected her to what … be one of them again? The pack didn’t know her anymore, and she didn’t know them.

“Of course,” she muttered in reply to his question. “I’m the returning orphan who stole away a member of their pack.”

He laughed. “Irini? She’ll get over it.”

“Really? Because that’s what lykans do? They get over it?”

“Well.” His eyes twinkled with humor. “True, we’re a temperamental bunch, but Irini has never blamed you for what happened. No one does.”

Right.

“Good to know.” She stared straight ahead with her jaw set. Out of the corner of her eye, she felt him nod in understanding. It was irritating—she wanted to hide where he couldn’t see through her false bravado.

“As for having no immediate family, that will change. It’s only right you go back to staying with Irini and her mother Ella … and Lucien, of course.”

“What about Uncle Magnus?” She tried to sound indifferent. Magnus was an Elder like Dimitri and Ella, and the lykan she remembered the most.

“He’s there … waiting for you too.”

They’re all waiting for me. She tried to tamp down the butterflies in her stomach and failed.

“You’ve been living a civilized life with Irini in a big town for much longer than the pack has. I’m sure you fit in at school much better than any of the pack kids.”