Under the Blood Moon, Jenny Garcia [readict books txt] 📗

arms around my dad’s back and squeeze him. He lets out a grown from me pushing all the air out of him. “Jeez honey you have got quite a grip.” I laugh and say “Sorry I just missed you.” He turns around and wraps his arms around me head and says, “Miss me? I just saw you this morning. Are you ok?” I look up to him and my eyes begin to well up with tears. I don’t know why I am crying and it’s becoming uncontrollable. I bury my head into his chest and he squeezes me a little lighter. “Niki, Honey what is going on?” I look back up into his eyes and his sadness is overwhelming. I don’t want him to feel bad for me. I am so scared about everything. My entire life has changed in a matter of days and I don’t know how to feel about it. I don’t have anyone other than Travis to talk to about it but sometimes I want to talk to my dad. I don’t know how much I can tell him. He knows a portion of the story but I don’t want to tell him very much more. He tends to worry about me and I don’t want him putting himself in harm’s way for me. I already have Travis doing that and it makes me sick to my stomach thinking about him getting hurt and adding my father to the mix would make me a nervous wreck. I let out a breath and begin to respond but my mother cuts in “James she is fine. It’s withdrawals from stopping the medication. She will be ok in a few days.” He looks down at me and says, “Oh thank god. I was scared that you were going to tell me that you’re pregnant or something” I slap his arm “Jeez Dad!” He laughs and shrugs his shoulders “Sorry honey but things have been pretty crazy around here I don’t know what to think anymore.” He leans down and gives me and kiss on the forehead. For some reason I feel my anxiety melt away. I can finally take a deep breath and relax. “Oh Niki! You smell like the lake go take a shower before dinner.” I giggle as I rub my head all over his shirt “Eww gross stinky girl get out of here! Now I have to change my shirt you brat!” He pushes me out of the kitchen and kicks my butt as I walk down the hall. “Alright I’m going, I’m going.”

 

As I walk down the dark hall I finally realize how tired I am. I don’t really want to do anything other than get in bed. I walk to my room and open my door only to find that my window is open and the wind is blowing my curtains over my bed. I know that I didn’t open my window before I left this morning. Fear strikes me hard and I begin to step back slowly. Someone was in my room and I am terrified to think that they still might be in there. I call out for Travis “Travis! Can you come here please?” As soon as the words leave my lips he is standing next to me, his cologne filling my nose and giving me a jolt of desire. I try to control my emotions and get to the issue at hand. “What is it Niki?” I don’t say a word and point into my window. He grabs my arm gently and pushes me behind. His hands are hot and I can tell that he is starting to change into the Travis I don’t know, the hard, mean wolf inside him. Charles said that werewolves have a hard time controlling their anger when a male rules and I can tell that Travis is trying to hold it back with all his might.

 

Although he cannot morph until the full moon is out, he can still cause a lot of damage with his strength. I hear a low growl come from Travis and I take a few more steps back. He takes a step into my room and breaths deeply through his nose. He stands frozen for a moment and I stay silent. He turns to my closet and walks towards it. The door is in the way so I cannot see what he is doing. But I can hear him rustling around and moving old boxes. I assume that he is trying to find someone hiding in my room. He walks back into my line of slight and he gets down on the floor and looks under the bed. He shoves his arm under the bed and starts to thrash and pull. “TRAVIS! What is it?” He doesn’t respond to me and just keeps fighting with something under the bed. Finally I hear a squeal and the thrashing stops.

 

Travis rests his head on the box spring and lets out a breath. He pulls his arm out from under the bed and a lifeless rat is in his hand. All of that fighting for a damn rat? “Travis why in the hell did you kill that rat? You could have caught it and let it go outside!” He looks at me and throws the lifeless rat out the window. “It’s not a rat Niki.” As soon as the rat touches the forest floor it turns into a small man. Small burst of light start to break through the small man’s body and he disintegrates into ash. The ashes begin to swirl around in a circle dancing in the summer breeze. They begin to rise into the air and disappear from sight. I can’t believe my eyes. I look back at Travis and say “I don’t understand. What the hell was that?” He gets up from the floor and sits on the edge of the bed. He runs his hand through his hair and looks at me “That is an Imperial Scout. He must have climbed through your window, shifted and hid in your room. He would have brought any information that he heard or saw back to Khan. I had to kill him, I don’t like doing it but I had to. I have to keep you safe.” I walk over to him and I can see the pain in his eyes. I feel awful that he has to do it for me. This is not going to be the last person’s life he has to end. “Travis I thought that the race couldn’t morph until the full moon? How was the scout able to change into a rat?”

 

“He is a shifter Niki. Shifters can change into whatever they want whenever they want. That is why they are used as scouts. They only have human strength, but because they can change into whatever they want, they are invaluable to the King as spies.”

 

How can I ask him to keep doing this for me? This feels so wrong. I don’t want him to hurt anymore, but I also don’t want to die. The whole weight of the human race is on my shoulders and its beginning to weigh on me. How do I even know that I am going to be a good Queen? I have to lead a race that I know nothing about. How do I know that anyone is even going to follow me? I have no idea how to rule. Travis grabs my hand and pulls me down to sit next to him. “Niki I can hear your thoughts and you need to stop. I know what needs to happen to be with you and I have come to terms with my duty. I love you. I don’t want to be with anyone else in the world. I would rather die.” I can’t help but cry after hearing him say that he loves me. The hot tears burn my cheeks as they roll down and land on my chest. “Niki, why are you crying?” I can’t look him in the eyes. I don’t want to talk about this. I don’t want to reveal all my fears of love. Derek burned me so badly that I never wanted to love again. Now I have a man that is willing to lay down his life for me just to keep me safe. Its one extreme to another and I don’t know how to handle it. I take my hands out of Travis’s and I feel the shell around my heart harden. I turn to walk out of the room and Travis grabs my wrist. “Niki, please don’t shut me out. I know that something is hurting you. You know I can read your memories if I really wanted to, but I would rather have you to tell me what happened. I know that Derek was someone to you so please tell me what happened.” I rip my hand out of his grip, grab my towel from the door knob and walk towards the bathroom. I don’t look back at him. I don’t want him to see the flood of tears that has drenched my face. How can I love one man but still be affected by another?

 

The hardwood floor is cold on my feet as I make my way into the bathroom and close the door. I turn to the sink placing both hands on either side. Staring at the drain, I take a deep breath and try to calm my mind and erase my memories. I raise my head and look into the mirror. I scream when I see something behind me in my reflection. The two red terrifying eyes from my nightmare are staring back at me in the mirrors reflection. I am frozen with fear. I grip the sides of the sink as hard as I can, trying to command my body to move. There is a banging on the door and I can hear Travis yelling. Footsteps hurry down the hall and my father is at the door banging and yanking on the knob. The red eyes are locked into mine and I cannot look away. Everything in the room becomes dark and it’s just the eyes and me. Silence is the only thing that I can hear now. The sound of banging on the door and screaming has gone. I feel my body being turned without my doing and now I am face to face with the terrifying red eyes. I try to close my eyes to get away but my body is not mine to control any longer. A low, deep, gravelly voice echo’s through the darkness, “Are you the chosen one?” The question leaves my ears ringing but fear prevents me from answering. The voice screams “YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE?” Silence falls again and I let out a squeak “Yes.” The voice begins to let out a sinister laugh and it echo’s louder and louder, “You are the one that is to defeat the great Khan. HAHAHAHA You’re worthless! The night of your awakening I will come for you! I will be the one to end you!” Anger begins to rise from my stomach and I get the courage to speak. I straighten up and scream back “I AM NOT WORTHLESS! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!” The laughter turns to a growl. Whatever this thing is, it doesn’t like that I am standing up for myself. The voice returns “You will know who I am soon enough. Not even your precious guardian can protect you from me. Khan will forever rule and I will make sure of it. Sleep well young Queen.” The darkness is instantly lifted and I am alone in the bathroom. The door bursts open and Travis is standing with my father staring at me. My dad is the first to speak “Niki! What the hell is going on? Are you ok? Who were you talking to?” I don’t know how to respond to any of his questions. My answers