Blood on the Moon - serialised EXCLUSIVE for Steemit! - 58

Blood On The Moon Cover

Amazon link

My third novel was finished and published in time for Halloween 2016 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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Selene didn’t answer, she wasn’t really interested in gossip or myths and legends and the Sentinel Exemplar was one of Lord Grey’s sworn enemies and so she really didn’t want to know anything about her... except that Lord Grey may be interested and maybe she could barter with him for a few more days of leave if she had some information for him.

But before she could feign interest and ask, Riley resumed the conversation again. Selene became a little irritated, he was being very talkative for a change and she wasn’t used to it.

Usually they fucked for hours, slept, ate, sometimes hunted and then went their separate ways. She listened to him talking, but she wasn’t really interested in his job – why the hell would she be?

What she had never realised about Riley was that she wasn’t the only one that thought that way about him. It seemed that everyone thought nothing to Riley wandering around, doing a few odd jobs in the building, serving drinks, keeping the bar running smoothly, listening to every conversation that took place in the building... Selene’s interest picked up.

Riley opened up to her for once and he had something interesting to say.

Apparently, what Selene had taken as idle boasting on Lord Grey’s part of creating a new Prophesised One and in the end, a new contender for Sentinel Exemplar, was absolute truth.

Riley had heard him talking with Falco and Vladimir and they had all become excited about the prospect. Suddenly, Selene was excited about the prospect too.

Then Riley shut up. Selene lay in bed and waited for him to carry on with the information but he remained silent.

“What’s wrong? Why have you stopped talking? I want to know more about the possible Sentinel Exemplar that we have in the making.”

“Yeah, I know you do, but I want to know stuff too. I get bored behind the bar, and the only time I get any action is when a Wolf comes in and wants information from me. I can barter the info and get a little payback for myself.”

“Well I’ve just told you about Jessica’s progress, isn’t that of interest to you?”

“Yes of course it is but she’s not a Wolf, she’s a Hume and no-one’s interested in Hume affairs.”

“She’s not a Hume.”

Riley’s ears pricked up then. “No? What is she?”

“She’s a Throwback and that’s why Lord Grey is interested in her. You know that Entwistle was a Throwback too, don’t you?”

She waited for his reaction and wasn’t disappointed. He sat up in bed and turned to look at her. His expression spoke volumes.

“He was a Throwback before he was attacked and Lord Grey followed his progress through his appeal to the Council for special dispensation and once he was granted permission by the Council, he was no longer legitimate prey. That’s when Lord Grey took him under his wing. He’s been nesting there ever since.”

The sneer in her voice wasn’t missed by Riley and he laughed.

“You’re not the jealous type are you?”

“Jealous? Not a bit. The reason I hold Lickspittle in such low esteem is that he makes me loathe that part of the Wolf in him that grovels and cringes in Lord Grey’s presence, the part that’s arrogant one minute and cowardly the next when he’s confronted. He’s more hyena than wolf and there’s something else, a distinct impression of wrongness about him that I believe Jessica has sensed and cannot explain. Something in her Throwback psyche has recognised something in the residues of his and it has reacted like a scalded cat.”

“You can’t trust a Throwback in these matters though.” Riley said.

“I can when the added ingredient is the Lupine moon which is enhancing everything Wolf on the planet.”

She sat up and the bed sheet slipped from her. Riley’s attention diverted from her face to her breasts. Selene rolled her eyes at his reaction but continued.

“Haven’t you noticed that when the Full Moon is upon us of late, the aggression and passion is enhanced and concentrated?”

She waited for his nod of affirmation.

“Bloodlust is heightened, senses are honed and I am tingling with the anticipation of the Full Moon far longer than usual.”

Riley closed his eyes for a moment and thought about what she was telling him. Selene smiled as she recognised his effort to concentrate.

“I have noticed, but only now that you’ve mentioned it. What does it mean?” he asked.

Selene looked at him in bemusement and swung her legs off his bed and began to get dressed.

“It means that we are bound to the Full Moon’s influence and when the moon has a stronger pull than usual, we also react to it. This is my first true Lupine moon. I have witnessed others before but this one lasts the whole year and it influences the planet in its entirety. Not just the Wolf population, but everything, tides, seas, weather, nature. The planet is in for a hell of a year and we are in for one hell of a ride. It was the same when the Prophesised One was created. That’s why Lord Grey is so excited about this project. He wants to rival the Lycaeon’s Sentinel Exemplar.”

“He what?” Riley said and Selene smiled at the disbelief in his voice.