Page 43 of The Red Moon

“Howl,” he says, his voice strained as he slides himself in fully. “I want to hear your first.”

My arms fall uselessly at my sides, his blood soaking into the comforter in thick red splotches. I want to tell him I can’t. That I don’t know how, but the only sounds bumping out of my throat with every thrust of his cock are stifled whimpers. I could scream, sure. I could scream until my voice cracks from how this man is my undoing. But howl? I’m not sure I can.

“Howl for me!” he demands again, this time slamming his body into mine, the force lifting my entire back from the mattress.

The sound starts at my chest, vibrating through the bones dedicated to protect it. When it reaches my throat, the noise turns feral, unlike anything I’ve ever produced. Short, strangled breaths pass through my lips. And as my climax reaches its peak, I lose myself to the taste of his blood. To this man filling me mercilessly. Violent cries shake not only the stone walls of the room but what feels like the entire west wing.

Then, the cries distort into something else.

I howl.

I howl loud enough for every wolf in this castle to hear it.

TWENTY-EIGHT

NATALIE

Clément Duval uses a table to stand as we approach in the packed dining hall for breakfast. The rest of his council does the same. Well, almost all of them do.

“Natalia—” He pauses and purses his mouth to the side in question. Then, his thick eyebrows rise and he corrects himself with “Nat,” extending his palm to me. When I return the gesture, he bows and places a peck on my hand, promptly dropping to his seat once more and waiting for us to do the same.

Nik pulls out the chair next to him and I sit, inspecting the rows of dishes lining the table. I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came time to eat breakfast. But I certainly didn’t think a werewolf menu would resemble the food laid out in front of me now. There’s no raw meat. No human-shaped limbs garnished with fresh herbs. Instead, assortments of breads and pastries fill each tray, complemented by vibrant jams and jellies to the sides. I can’t say I’m not grateful. With how my stomach has been feeling the past two nights, I don’t know if I would’ve been able to handle a table of carnivores.

“How were your accommodations?” Clément asks, eyes the same shade as the drink in his hand.

“Gr—great,” I stammer, feeling the suffocating weight of his entire council inspecting me like some pet Nik travels with. “You have a beautiful home.”

Jade rolls her eyes and takes a large pull from her glass. “With what everyone heard last night, you must have enjoyed yourself.”

“Jade,” Clément says in a husky tone and waves her off. “Forgive her. Not much of a morning person.”

I nod, chewing on my lower lip, but say nothing else.

Downing the rest of her glass and placing it to the table, Jade stands abruptly and grates the stone floors with the feet of her chair. “J’ai perdu l’appétit,” she spits and doesn’t wait for her father or the council to leave their seats. She exits the hall without another word, only giving me a sideways glance before she departs.

Although I can’t make out everything she said, there was one word that stuck out. L’appétit. Appetite, if I had to guess, and I don’t exactly need a course in French to understand what she meant. I sink lower in my chair until Nik’s hand settles on my thigh, thumb tracing small, scalding circles.

“Daughters,” Clément says with a scoff. “Onto business, I suppose.” He clears his throat and straightens his posture. “How many wolves does your father have, Nikolai?”

Nik runs his fingers along his beard methodically. “I don’t have an exact number. In my absence, my father has been recruiting. Whether these new additions to the pack are volunteers or were simply taken, I’m not sure. Our long-standing deal with the Russian government says we can’t hunt citizens. It doesn’t say anything about turning them.”

“A dozen less than before because of me,” Alexey says proudly through a mouthful and elbows Dimitri. He gives a loud oof when Dimitri elbows him back in the ribs.

Clément hunches forward, round face drawing serious. “If what you’re saying is true, I’m not sure my numbers will be enough to stop them without the full moon. Not with two wolves who change at will.”

From what I heard during our conversation in the council chamber, Clément’s pack is only half of what it used to be years ago. Some battle in an eastern province with massive casualties. He wouldn’t say what pack they were fighting. On second thought, he didn’t mention what they were even fighting.

Nik nods. “Attacking now would be pointless. Especially when every Vostik wolf around the world will be called back to the den. He will reinforce the compound, making it impossible to survive a gunfight with his soldiers on alert. Our best chance at pulling this off is going to be during the blood moon before their hunt begins. A hungry wolf makes mistakes, and his pack is starving.”

I think back to my time in the cage. How Viktor was seconds away from killing me but stopped and feasted on that poor woman instead. It wasn’t him calling the shots then. No, it seemed like he was arguing with the wolf in his head and unfortunately for that woman, the wolf won.

Clément smirks. “I warned your father his hunger for humans would get him in trouble.”

“You don’t eat humans?” I blurt out the question before I can stop myself, earning curious and disgusted glances from his council.

The large alpha chuckles, his cheeks dancing. “No, Nat. We gave up that tradition a long time ago. Nikolai’s father thought it made us weak. Less deserving of the transformation his grandfather gifted my family.”

A pack that doesn’t hunt humans? I didn’t even know that was possible. I thought they needed to feed on humans to survive. Then again, I’ve never seen Nik eat anything I myself wouldn’t. So, maybe they found a way to live without sacrificing their humanity in the process, too.