Moonlight Desires

Chapter 7

Becky had heard the phrase fucking like rabbits often enough, but after the last full moon, she had to wonder if there was a werewolf equivalent. Between not having to worry about possibly getting pregnant and having virtually no refractory period, she could see how it end up becoming an addiction. It wasn't anything she had thought about much growing up, since her pack was comprised mostly of family members, but now she wished she had asked some of her cousins more questions. Her father was generally pretty open-minded and understanding, but sex marathons weren't something she really wanted to discuss with him.

She didn't particularly want to discuss it with Seth either, so she tried to avoid him as much as she could. It was easy enough to deflect in text messages, since neither of them wanted to be caught with those kind of details on their phones. When he called, it was a little harder, but she could usually think of an excuse to get off the phone; if all else failed, she would text Charlotte their code phrase for 'call me and get me out of this situation FAST', and then Charlotte would call and Becky could say she had to go. It was backstage when things were difficult. She could only pretend not to hear him or to be busy so often before someone else caught on, and then that person would inevitably think the wrong thing: that Seth and Becky were dating and had just had a fight.

We're not dating. We just had a lot of sex. With Becky's luck, that's probably what she would snap in reply, and it was the refrain going around her head as well. It felt like she was trying to convince herself more and more lately, and she hated it. She had just started texting her cousin Caitlin to ask if she could have a 'family chat' soon—a basic code for werewolf matters—when she felt Seth approaching. I hate this, Becky thought, quickly finishing the text and sending it before he could see. Ever since they'd fucked on the last full moon, she had been annoyingly attuned to his energy; if he was more sensitive to hers in turn, she hadn't given him enough chance to say so. "Hey. Great match tonight. I need to go get ready for—"

"No." Seth didn't touch her, but he stepped definitively in her way, shoulders squared but not tense. "You've been brushing me off for weeks, ever since. . . ." He gave a meaningful pause before continuing. "And now there's another one in less than a week and we haven't even discussed where to go or—"

Becky pressed her phone to her stomach, but it wasn't very comforting. The sex wasn't the problem, or at least not the crux of it; her biggest worry was that she would start to crave it, that the togetherness—even if it was just with one other werewolf—would make her miss her family pack even more. "I don't think you need any more help. You knew a lot of the tricks already before I started helping, so we don't really need to go toge—"

"Becky." Seth's sigh made her quiver, and she fussed with her phone to call attention away from her shuffling feet and dropped gaze. "What's wrong? What did I do wrong? Is your pa—father mad?" He caught himself just before he said pack. "Is he upset that you told me?"

"It's nothing to do with him." She could have easily used her father, her family, or her pack as an easy excuse, but that felt cheap. "I just think you're doing a really good job, so there's no point in me being around when you'd be quite fine on your own." When Becky moved to the side, Seth matched her step for step, giving her little choice but to look up at him. "Seth, I have to go." She silently cursed time zones and the fact that Ireland was so far away; if Caitlin had texted back, she would have an excuse to check her phone and leave.

"Are you upset about what we did?" The crushed, worried look in his eyes was almost too much to bear, but Becky couldn't look away. "Did . . . did I hurt you or do something you didn't want?" There was no one in the vicinity—either of them would have been able to sense if someone was close enough to eavesdrop—but they were both cautious by nature. "If I did, I'm sor—"