Chosen By The Moon - First In The Red Wolf Series.

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 3

My eyes flew open when the sun’s rays began to trickle through my bedroom curtains.

Saturday.

A new day.

I got out of bed and got dressed in blue jeans, a white tee, and sneakers. I went downstairs and found my dad sleeping on a couch with his laptop open, containing some unfinished work.

Yep, the business world is a cruel place. Being the P.A. of the owner of B&B’s enterprises, my dad had his work cut out for him. Sometimes, I feel sorry for him. I mean, he works himself to death every night for the good of the company.

He needs a vacation, I thought.

“Dad,” I whispered, tapping his shoulder.” Dad, wake up. You’re gonna be late for work.”

He muttered something incoherent and sucked his teeth. “But we were supposed to hang out today. Just you and I.”

I chuckled. “Dad, there’s plenty of time to do that. I promise. But, now, you have to go to work.”

“Fine.” He rolled off the couch and trudged to his room. “Hey, can you fix me a coffee?” he called from the bathroom. “Black.”

“’ Kay.” As I busied myself with the coffee machine, I heard my dad blaring out lyrics of the SpongeBob SquarePants lyrics. I giggled and shook my head at his antics.

Dad…

I sighed. I missed this; waking up to my dad’s silly behaviour. Waking up to a new day—cloudy day. I looked out the window worriedly.

I hope it doesn’t rain today.

Speaking of a new day, I forgot to call my mom! I grabbed my phone from the kitchen island and dialled my mom. When it rang for a few seconds, I chewed my lip nervously. What would she say? She would probably be disappointed in me, I sighed.

“Chloe!” her voice echoed through the speakers.

“Hi, mom. Good morning.”

“It's about time, honey. I almost began to think that you forgot about me. How is Seattle? Did you have a nice flight? I hope you will take your school seriously over there.”

I smiled. Mom, always the considerate one. She usually had an aura that made a person feel loved and belonging to a home. She makes a person feel sweet and cuddly on the inside. “Seattle is nice so far. But the cloudy days could use a bit of me getting used to. My flight was pretty okay and I will take school seriously too.”

I turned off the coffee machine and began adding milk and cream to mine while balancing my phone between my left shoulder and ear. “Also, I will probably be going out today. I need some air.”

“Really? Does your father approve of this?” She sounded concerned.

“Yeah, he was cool with it. Said I could get used to the neighbourhood.”

“Okay, but be careful, alright? The last thing I want is for you to get into trouble.”

“Mom, I am the most responsible person you know. I have never gotten myself into trouble,” I said and grabbed my grandfather’s dagger that I had snuck from home. A very reliable weapon; my grandfather trained me to learn fighting skills and martial arts from an early age.

“Right,” I could imagine her rolling her eyes over the phone. “Just be careful, okay?”

“Okay, mom.”

“You know I love you, honey, always remember that. Okay?”

“Okay, mom.”

“Oh, I wanted to ask you something. Did you pack your grandfather’s box of weapons by any chance? I can’t seem to find it.”

“Um…” I stared guiltily at the dagger in my hand. “Can I say no?”

“Chloe Mariana Liens!” I winced at my full name. “You know that you’re not supposed to touch that. What if you get hurt?”

“But, mom, how am I supposed to train if I can’t use them? Grandpa left them behind for a reason. He would have approved of this.”

“I just don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I won’t mom, trust me.” Just then, my dad walked out of his room dressed in a business suit, white shirt, black tie and shiny black shoes. He walked over to the kitchen and grabbed his coffee.

“Who are you talking to?” he mouthed.

“Mom,” I mouthed back. “Want to talk to her?” When he nodded, I returned to my conversation with her. “Mom, dad wants to talk to you.”

“Oh, I forgot. I put the clothes in the washing machine. I should probably check on them. Talk to you later, okay? Bye, honey.” Without waiting for a reply, she ended the call.

“Mom? Hello?” Sighing, I muttered, “But you don’t know how to use a washing machine.” I turned to my dad apologetically. “I’m sorry dad. I tried. “

“It’s not your fault, kid. I guess I went too far this time. Even for her…” he broke off and left me alone in the kitchen.

Her what?

“I gotta go, kiddo. Movie night?”

I smiled and raised my mug to him. “Movie night,” I agreed.

With one final wink, he closed the front door and sped off in a black Peugeot.

❀❀❀

I took a cab and arrived at Joe’s for lunch. As I buried myself deep in the wordings of Clark Bishop’s newest novel, I listened to a classical by Beethoven and indulged myself in a plate of mac and cheese.

I was so engrossed with my book that I almost didn’t hear the fanatic squealing of girls at the entrance to the diner.

Curious, I lifted my head and noticed three gods walk into the restaurant like models on a runway.

From the right, the apparent youngest with an air of superiority and mischief was a guy of about 13 years with deep brown hair, golden skin and a cocky smirk. He was dressed in a white shirt with a pair of blue jeans to match and some combat boots.

The second in the middle looked a little older, about 14 or 15 years and a calmer presence. His blank face intrigued me, and I began to wish I knew more than what he showed on the surface. With an indifferent look, he wore casual brown shorts, black cargo pants and white sneakers.

My attention was drawn to the last guy—or rather, man. He had a well defined and chiselled face like that of Jacob in Twilight. His mop of brown hair blew slightly in the wind and beneath that was a pair of deep chocolate brown eyes that reminded me of hot chocolate on a cold day—warm and inviting. His pink sensual lips adorned his beautiful features.

The white shirt he wore radiated his muscles—that weren’t too bulky or too lean—and the tattoo that had started on his upper arm disappeared beneath the shirt tempting me to rip it off his body.

To worship his body.

His black jeans fitted snugly around his waist and thighs and his aura radiated power, authority and intimidation, yet somehow, it drew me to him.

I shamelessly stared at him from top to bottom, totally forgetting all about my book. A ting of annoyance coated my features when I realized that every other girl was gaping at him. My man.

Widening my eyes at my sudden burst of jealousy, I began to withdraw my eyes from him when his eyes met mine. The air seemed to shift and every person seemed to fade into oblivion.

Two hearts heated as one.

He stared.

I stared.

Feeling my temperature increase by a thousand degrees, I hung onto what was left of my self-control. Come on, Chloe. You are supposed to be brave. Don’t let your guard down, I mentally chided myself. What would grandpa think, huh? You are fierce, and you are a warrior!

Shaking my head, I committed his features to memory for the last second and bolted for the back exit.