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THE DREAD MOON
By
Tracey H. Kitts
© copyright by Tracey H. Kitts, March 2008
Cover Art by Alex DeShanks, March 2008
ISBN 1-978-60394-170-9
New Concepts Publishing
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com
This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.
Chapter One
The smell of coffee woke me early, and I wasn’t entirely happy about it. But, the longer I breathed in the tantalizing aroma, the more I wanted a cup. Thunder rumbled outside, and due to the storm, it was still dark. I could have slept really well for at least a few more hours. However, good coffee like good men should never be wasted. Good coffee isn’t always easy to find, but a good man is even harder to come by. Then again, I had an unfair advantage. All I had to do was go into the kitchen to find both.
It had been a week since the announcement that werewolves were indeed real, and they could be your next door neighbor. For the most part, I had to say people were handling the news well. Maybe they were just in shock.
As for me, all was well except perhaps my dreams. I kept dreaming about a man, a particular man. I have dreamed of him off and on since I was sixteen. I guess you could say he is quite literally the man of my dreams, and he had showed up twice in the past two days. First, I dreamed he was lying beside me in bed with his arms wrapped tightly around me. I felt safe until I realized what was going on. I woke up startled, almost expecting to find a strange man in my bed. I was relieved to find Alfred instead.
The next day I fell asleep on the sofa downstairs. This time, I dreamed I was falling, only it felt more like floating. He was telling me to fall, to let myself fall. “It is alright. I will catch you.” I felt myself floating down to him and he caught me. I never doubted that he would. Never once did I feel any fear, nor did I ever expect to hit the ground. All I can tell you after nearly a lifetime of dreams is that he is tall, dark, and ravishing. But lately, I could almost see his face.
I flopped onto my back with a sigh. I’d fallen asleep in Alfred’s downstairs bedroom the night before. The sheets were cool in the places where I hadn’t touched, and I stretched until my toes reached the cool bits of cover near the edge of the bed.
“Lilith,” I heard Alfred’s voice call from the kitchen.
He had left the door open, and his voice echoed down the hall. I threw my arm over my eyes. He’d left the bed curtains open too. Alfred called me again and I growled. It was bad enough the sun was in my face, but why did we have to get up so damn early?
“What?” I asked.
But by the time I finally spoke Alfred was standing in the door with a sarcastic smile on his face.
“Get up,” he ordered.
“Why?”
He walked over grabbed the covers near the foot of the bed and snatched. I curled up into a ball as I rolled onto my side and groaned, “For the love of God!”
He scooped me up before I could object further and lifted me off the bed.
“I thought there was a storm outside?” I said, looking over his shoulder.
“There is,” he said with a smile. “You just managed to catch a lucky patch of sunlight between the clouds.”
I rested my head dejectedly against his shoulder while Alfred carried me to the kitchen.
“Why won’t you let me sleep?” I sighed pitifully.
“Because we’ve got a lot to do today,” he said as he kissed the top of my head.
As we entered the kitchen the smell of fresh coffee so close at hand seemed to stir me. I had completely forgotten we had a ball to attend shortly. The Hunter’s Ball was an annual event on planet Terra, and one of the rare occasions I found reason enough to visit my home planet.
“Oh, I forgot that was today,” I mumbled as Alfred lowered me to the floor.
I sat at the table and rubbed my eyes in a desperate attempt to keep them open. The clock on the microwave said it was seven o’clock. From the look of things, Alfred had been up for a while. He was still lounging around in a pair of deep blue silk pajamas, but breakfast was nearly done.
It had been five months since we’d decided to stop hiding our feelings for each other. I had to say, they had been the best five months of my life. It was so wonderful to love and have that love returned. It wasn’t like I’d never been in love before, we both knew this wasn’t my first time. But every time I looked at Alfred it felt that way. His embrace stole away some of the bitter disappointments I had suffered. Alfred had always seemed to have such command of the situation, no matter what the situation was. If he had any doubts about us, they didn’t show. I trusted him with my life, in so many ways.
I realized Alfred had been talking and I’d been lost in a daydream, watching him walk around the room. His dark hair was tousled from sleep, and the bronze of his skin seemed somehow diminished next to the blue. But no amount of dark color could ever make Alfred look truly pale. He was a welcome sight to my still sleep filled eyes, and all I could think to do was smile at him.
“Are you with me this time?” He smiled and placed a mug of my favorite coffee underneath my nose.
“Mmhm.”
He went over with me exactly when we needed to get down to the transporter in his lab in order to make the party on time. Next, he reviewed the guest list. There were going to be people there Alfred thought would benefit from seeing me. Since the role of The Hunters had now begun to undergo some serious changes, there were talks of forming a new task force. This group would be known as H.A.V.O.C. (Hunter Assault Team for Violators of Werewolf Code.) A decision would be made soon as to who would head this group in different areas of the worlds. For our area, I was shaping up to be the most likely candidate. I didn’t exactly relish the thought of having more responsibility, or of being in what was sure to be a public spotlight. But I couldn’t let my father down, and he was rallying strongly for me to have the position. The Wizard Council would be at the Hunter’s Ball, and I needed to make a good impression.
“So, what are you wearing?” Alfred asked.
“Well, this event is formal, so that calls for formal attire.” I smiled.
I had deliberately not let Alfred see the dress I was planning to wear. I was shopping with my best friend Kat when we found it. The moment I saw the dress I knew it would be perfect. Kathryn Roberts and I had been the best of friends since I’d rescued a former boyfriend of hers from a werewolf attack nearly five years ago. In the years I had known her, Kat had never lied to me about anything and she swore I looked good in this dress. I valued her opinion.
Alfred looked at me with a questioning smirk and I added, “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
Kat called a few hours later while I was getting ready.
“I’m nervous,” I confided.
“About what? You’ve been to these things before, right?”
“Yes … but I’ve never been under such pressure to let myself be seen. I’ve always sort of blended into the background, and I’ll be honest, Kat, I liked the background,” I whined.
“Yeah, but they need to see that you’re a reasonably competent individual, now don’t they?” she said sensibly.
“All they have to do is look at my track record to know I get the job done.”
“They also need someone who will look good on camera,” she went on like I hadn’t spoken, “cause, let’s face it, you will be in the public eye once this Havoc thing is announced.”
“You’re right,” I sighed, “I might as well try to make myself look like a worthy poster child.”
“So, do you think he’ll be there?”
“Who?”
“The man from your dreams, of course! You’ve got to admit he’s been showing up more and more lately.”
I honestly had never thought to associate the appearance of the tall, dark stranger in my dreams with the ball, and I told her so.
“But, it’s a possibility, isn’t it? You’re dreams have a creepy way of coming true, Lil. I can’t help but think that you’ll meet him soon.” She paused. “But what will you do then? I mean, you’ve got no idea who this man is, or if he’s ….”
“If he’s what?”
“I dunno, evil or something.”
“Well, you’re a tremendous comfort,” I grunted, pulling my shoes from underneath the bed with some difficulty.
“Sorry, it’s just been driving me crazy. I want to know who he is!”
“You and me both. So,” I began hesitantly, “how are you doing?”
Kathryn had dumped her semi-serious boyfriend fairly recently. The reason I knew Charles Xander had been semi-serious is because they’d split at the end of October, and it was now January and Kat was not dating someone new. It had turned out Charles was a werewolf with close ties to Bade Garren. Bade was a challenger to the leader of the local werewolf pack, and had sent Charles to get close to Kat in order to spy on me. We’d got this information out of him at Kat’s Halloween party along with the help of the king of the local wolf pack, Marco Barak. It was Marco who had proposed the werewolf code to the council, and Marco who also haunted my dreams. I had thought that once Alfred returned from his trip to Terra last August I would be able to put Marco out of my mind, but that was only half true. It was easier to ignore him, but I was never able to completely shut him out.
“I’m ok,” Kat answered after a short pause. “You know, I didn’t dump him because he was a werewolf, right?”
“I figured.”
“I dumped him because he was a liar.”
“Trust me, I can relate.”
Kathryn, who knew my track record for picking up losers, only laughed.
A short while after our conversation, I was staring in the mirror at my reflection. The dress Kat and I had decided on was black. I had always thought I looked good in black, and I was hoping everyone else would agree. The dress was sleeveless, and fit close against my throat, with a clasp behind the neck. I had wanted to avoid drawing attention to my breasts. I felt it was an inappropriate occasion to show cleavage. Given that I needed to make a competent impression, I didn’t want to flash my assets. The back was open below the clasp. Though it did not reveal too much, the dip in back was low enough that wearing a bra was out of the question. The shimmering fabric draped over my slender waist and the curve of my hips, falling in silken splendor to my ankles. There was a split on the left side which came to mid thigh. High enough to be sexy, but low enough to not look slutty. My shoes were black leather with a three inch heel. Across the top were straps which tied just above my ankles.
When I was fairly certain that I was presentable, I went downstairs to meet Alfred. I saw him at the foot of the stairs and my heart stopped. He was standing there, checking his watch and looking impatient. He looked up and saw me, and his mouth opened slightly as if he was going to say something, but no words came. He looked wonderful. Alfred wore a black tuxedo, complete with one of those neat little bowties. Where other men might have looked like a penguin, he managed to look like he’d stepped out of a really sexy spy novel and into my home.
As I reached the last few steps, I stretched my hand up playfully and closed Alfred’s mouth.
“Thank you,” I said as I smiled up at him.
His kiss was soft and unexpected against my lips. Every time Alfred touched me I wanted him, and this time was no exception.
“Aren’t we running behind?” I whispered.
“Yes.” He smiled, and kissed me again.
I pulled back reluctantly. “Then we should get going.”
He looked disappointed, “Are you upset with me?”
“No,” I smiled, “But we don’t have time to finish what you were about to start.”
My heels clicked on the hard wood of the last few steps and I found that even with a three inch heel, I only came to the middle of Alfred’s chest. Dr. Alfred Moody is six foot five, and normally, my five foot four frame came to just slightly below the middle of his chest. I loved how small and fragile I felt in comparison to him. I enjoyed Alfred’s strength. Looking up into his handsome face, I found it hard to believe he was my father’s age. Of course with the Terran life span being what it is, he didn’t look fifty one. Alfred could easily have passed for thirty something, making his assumed age seem appropriate for any prying eyes in the small town where I lived.
We descended the dark narrow passageway which led down to Alfred’s lab in silence. I think we both were dreading the ball for different reasons. I was nervous about people watching my every move. But I believe Alfred was more worried about his old partner, Jacob Mercury, my father and commander of The Hunters. Neither one of us had exactly told him about “us” but I didn’t feel it was necessary. My dad had always been clever, and I’m sure he’d worked it all out by now. Alfred however, did not like to have loose ends about anything, and felt we should say something … he just had no idea how that topic of conversation should be approached.
I stood back while Alfred pressed the tile that would transport us across the street from the headquarters of The Hunters. The building itself had many transporters; however they had been shut down for the event for security reasons. I traveled by transporter about once a year, because that was all I could stand. I had never grown accustomed to the awful sort of freeze dried feeling it gave me. The circle of small white tiles began to emit a soft glow, and I stepped into them with Alfred. I was careful not to touch him. Wouldn’t want my particles mixing with someone else.
Instantly, I had the sensation of strong cold hands reaching deep inside of me and it felt like my body was being frozen from the inside out. Just when the feeling became so cold it hurt, nearly to the point of terrible pain, it was over. I swayed slightly, and Alfred’s strong hand on my shoulder steadied me.
“Shit, I hate these things,” I said, rubbing my bare arms to fight off the nonexistent cold.
“Yeah, you never quite get used to that feeling,” Alfred agreed, though he seemed to be having no difficulty. I think he was just being sympathetic.
Planet Terra is not what most people would expect in an alien planet. Although there were many advanced technologies available, there were no massive robots walking the streets, or spacecraft zooming through the air. Of course, one reason for that was the airspace over The Hunter’s headquarters was restricted. As we stepped out onto the street, I got a good look at my favorite thing about my home planet, its moons.
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