Blood on the Moon - serialised EXCLUSIVE for Steemit! - 7

Blood On The Moon Cover

Amazon link

My third novel was finished and published in time for Halloween and I had a launch at Waterstone's at Sheffield.

The full book cover, done by the wonderful, talented, brilliant Paul Mudie

Other Images from Pixabay or Google (Free Usage)

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Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

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“I don’t think so.” Paul said “But it won’t matter either way in a short while.”

“Enough!” The interrogator said sharply.

“Paul, you have a choice to make, if you accept, she will be your charge for now. But remember this; it was your decision to bring her here. I’ll ask permission for you to be able to take her as your dependant or give her over to the Order for us to decide who will take her on. Do not let her out of your sight until the decision has been formalised. She will be in danger if you do. I shall make no announcement until you have given me your answer personally and so she could still fall as legitimate prey. You need to go and see the Boss now.”

Paul nodded and Jessica wondered what the hell she had let herself in for. For that matter, so did Paul

Chapter 2

As she drove her car into her driveway and got out, Red sensed another Wolf close by and she became wary.

She locked her car using the electronic system and she smiled when she heard a small cry of pain as the visitor’s ears were hurt by the locking system. Her ears hurt too but it was worth it to flush out the Wolf that was hiding in the bushes.

“Now that I know where you are, you may as well show yourself,” she said.

She was surprised when a small figure emerged from the edge of her property, she had thought that she sensed an older Wolf than he was but she shrugged off the notion and waited for him to show himself properly.

He stood at a respectful distance from her and bowed forwards in a greeting that was respectful and old-worldly. She thought that his parents must be rigorous in teaching him manners.

“I apologise for hiding, madam but I have good reason for secrecy,” he said

Satisfied that he was no threat, Red opened the front door and allowed him to step inside in front of her. “Please wait here, I have a dog and he is wary of strangers.”

Red let her dog outside onto the enclosed back yard and then returned to her guest.

She led him into her kitchen and switched on the kettle. Red busied herself making a drink and a snack for them both. She didn’t ask if he was hungry, he was a teenager and they were always hungry and so she assumed that he would eat.

“What do you need from me?” she said as she placed a toasted sandwich in front of him. She offered two different types of canned drink but he said that he preferred tea if she wouldn’t mind. She was surprised but didn’t mind at all.

Then as she sat across from him, he began to speak. “Sentinel, I am in desperate need of this audience with you.”

And even as he spoke, Red thought that his manner and bearing were not that of a normal teen, they were very formal, reminiscent of an age long gone, like his manners of before. She put down her snack and watched him carefully.

“You seem very young to be addressing me in so formal a manner,” she looked closer still at the boy. “Do I know your parents? You seem very familiar to me.”

“Yes, you did know my parents, but you also know me very well.”

“No, I don’t think so. What’s your family name?”

The boy’s voice cracked when he answered, it sounded very much as though he was trying to suppress a sob. “My family name is Colwick.” He paused and waited for her to speak.

“And your father is Ryan? I thought that you looked familiar. I know him very well. How can I help you?” She smiled at the boy then so that he would know that he was in a place where she would help if she could.

“I do not think that you can help me now, Sentinel. Also, my father’s name was not Ryan but Ruben. I am Ryan Colwick.”

Red looked closer at the boy in a mixture of curiosity and slowly-dawning horror. “You are Ryan? What’s happened to you? I knew you centuries ago.”

“To my utter shame, my friend, I became vain. As much as I had – as much as we have as Wolf – I wanted more. I wanted my youth and when I was offered a means of becoming young again, I took it. I took it without thought or fear of consequence. I was vain and stupid and I trusted an old acquaintance who I once had thought of as a friend. He was no one’s friend but his own.”