Moon, Bitten

Chapter Twenty-Two

          “You can’t expect me to believe any of this?” Kate asserted on a half-delirious laugh as it bubbled up from a distant part of her throat.

          Silver eyes held her firm, unwavering and penetrating in all their sterling intensity. “Kate – “ the solidness of his tone lacked any suggestion of humor and for a moment her heart skipped an altering beat.

          “You’re serious?” the urge to laugh all but diminished at the severity of his expression, and suddenly the room was dwindling, the air thickening.

          When he had said nothing she began to squirm within his vise, her eyes widening incredulously. “Y-you really think you’re a werewolf?”

          Ronan inhaled a deep breath, his nostrils flaring, and he was struck with the odor of fear as he held her immobile. “I don’t want to frighten you.” He said to reassure her.

          “Frighten me?” she blurted, “How do you expect me to react?” she struggled harder, realizing her efforts were in vain as he maintained an unrelenting grip. “Let go.” She demanded with an implication of rising alarm.

          She seemed surprised when he released her all at once and backed a few tentative steps from him. With that he fisted his hands and tightened his jaw. The look of fear reflected in those green eyes all but unsettled him. She was afraid of him, and that knowing did not set well on his awareness.

          The wild cadence of her heart fell discernibly to his ears and it took every bit of his willpower to not gather her against him and assuage the fears he had implanted there.

          Instead, he said, “I am Alpha of the loup-garou belonging to BlackMountain. My pack and my predecessors before me have long since resided within the sanctity of these mountains, for decades on end.”

          Ronan watched her expression carefully but she gave little away, in fact, she met his stare unflinchingly. She was far braver than she credited herself to be.

          She took a breath and he noticed the pulse at her throat, likely fueled by the emotions concealed behind those green depths as they swept over him skeptically.

          “Let’s just say – “ she started, selecting her words, “ – metaphorically speaking, that you are what you say you are – “ she swallowed as if the next word itself was too difficult, inconceivable, to pronounce or disclose with such ease. “ – werewolf.”

          He felt the weight of her impending question as it hovered between them. “Have you – “ she fell silent, swallowing again, struggling with it. “ – killed people?”

          His gaze was steady, “Humans, no.”

          She paled slightly, realizing his answer wasn’t the least bit comforting. “And d-do you hunt?” he could still smell her fear but more so the curiosity as it outweighed the other. “What do you eat?”

          He suddenly resisted the urge to grin, “I’m more so prone to a slab of T-bone.” His attempt at humor had little effect. She merely continued to peer at him through wide, wary, unbelieving eyes. And then he said, on a more serious note, “But it is not uncommon for my kind to prey on the wildlife.”

          “Are you cursed?”

          He almost chuckled aloud but refrained. He had never really looked at it that way. “I really wouldn’t know. I was born this way.”