Chapter 1: Full Moon
“You should probably get dressed if you don’t want to be late.”
Erik took a sip of his black coffee, sitting across from me on the balcony, basking in the morning sun. It was a beautiful day, still a little chilly, but warm enough to wear my spring clothes again. Erik had made me a magnificent birthday breakfast consisting of waffles, fruit salad, mimosas—and coffee, of course.
“Yeah, I know. But I don’t want to,” I chuckled and drank the rest of my mimosa. I needed to get ready to go celebrate with my parents. I just really hoped they hadn’t arranged a big party for me where they’d invited all their coworkers again. I had asked them to let it be just the three of us this year.
I sighed and went inside to pick out an outfit. I opted for a white silk blouse with balloon sleeves and a tight, black, high waisted skirt to go with it.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Erik asked when I was in the hallway, putting on a pair of high-heeled boots. I giggled as I got up to kiss him goodbye.
He pulled me into his arms as my lips found his. His scent was as irresistible to me as ever and I almost lost myself in the moment.
I reluctantly pulled away when his hand started to trace up under my skirt—I was in a hurry after all.
“You’re the one who said I should get going!” I reminded him, playfully pushing him off me.
“Fair enough,” he sighed, still smiling. “Just don’t stay too long or I’m going to have to come get you,”
“Don’t worry, I won’t!” I chuckled and kissed his cheek before I dashed.
***
The day slipped by easily; lunch with my parents—just my parents this year, like I had specifically requested—and I had actually enjoyed myself. I even had to hurry a little to make it to dinner with my friends in time.
I had booked a table at a popular restaurant overlooking the water.
They were all already there, Ellie, Rebecka, Erik, Aurora, and two new faces.
The tall, blond, and muscular man introduced himself as Rebecka’s boyfriend Ellias, and the skinny woman with the black sidecut was Maya. She was back from France.
“Ellie has told me so much about you. It’s good to finally meet you,” I said politely as she introduced herself.
She honestly looked a little scary; she was pierced, tattooed, and dressed all in black.
“Yeah, when Ellie told me they had adopted a kitten, I didn’t think it would be a rich kid,” Maya chuckled. I smiled politely at her, trying not to take offence.
“Speaking of, where is Alex?” I asked. I figured he would be here and probably bring Angèlique. Although he’d changed last time I saw him. He looked taller and stronger but he’d been lucky.
Aurora had admitted she’d spiked his drink with a new enhancement potion she’d created and wanted to test. It made us all a little weary about drinking with her, hoping she wasn’t going to pull something like that again.
“I think there is a full moon tonight,” Maya said, looking up at the sky.
Ellie shoved her, and it suddenly made sense to me. “Alex is the werewolf?” I gasped.
“Oh, she didn’t know, I’m so sorry,” Maya said lazily to Ellie who rolled her eyes in response.
“Yeah, well, that’s why he hates his ex so much, now you know,” Ellie chuckled awkwardly.
“So it was Alex you defended and got sent to France for?” I asked Maya, somewhat impressed at her loyalty.
She nodded, “But you probably heard, I shot another umbra. He could have died. He almost did, actually,” she said with a shrug.
“I missed you,” Aurora smiled mischievously at Maya which made her chuckle.
We had a really pleasant time at the restaurant, gossiping and laughing while we ate and drank. But as the hours grew later we eventually moved on to go drink and dance at Wonderland.
***
It was almost morning when we stumbled out of the club, laughing and swaying on our feet. The silence outside was ominous after the vibrating music in the club. I didn’t think much of it as I rummaged through my bag, trying to find my cigarettes. But then I felt it—a shift in the energy. A deep growl cut through the air and we all whirled, looking for its source.
There it was—a werewolf, charging toward us at full speed. Ellias shifted instantly, clothes ripping as he turned into a huge wolf. He got in between us and growled loudly at the deformed, humanoid wolf.
It immediately cowered, tail tucked between its legs as it turned around and darted back into the shadows. It was my first time seeing a werewolf, and it surprised me how ugly they were—small, scrawny, not fully wolves like the lycans.
I looked at my company. Ellie was holding a small handgun, and Maya held a knife in a combat posture. And then there was a shifted Ellias, whose clothes were now a mess on the ground. The others were still inside.
“What the actual fuck just happened?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“Well it is a full moon, this is not completely unusual,” Ellie said.
“The two of you were totally ready for this,” I pointed out as we went back inside. It felt a little odd walking through the fancy hotel lobby with a giant wolf on our heels.
We’d been lucky to have him with us though, or we would have had to fight the werewolf. They respected lycans’ authority over them.
“Give it a year or two and you’ll probably be ready for anything too. Especially when you go out to drink here, Kitten,” Ellie replied.
“I’m not allowed to keep my own stash yet,” I mumbled as we got inside the elevator.
“What?” Maya asked, surprised. “No, that can’t be. You should talk to Louisa about that,” she said. She probably wanted to build on that, but it wasn’t the time or place.
The supernaturals at the club didn’t view us as dedicated demon hunters and we wanted to keep it that way.
***
We had gone home after the incident. I could tell Erik felt bad about not having been outside with me. He was stroking his thumb on the back of my hand all the way home, he only did that when something was weighing on him. “I was accompanied by two umbra with weapons drawn and a lycan,” I muttered while we were in the elevator, on our way up to my apartment.
“You didn’t have any weapons on you. You weren’t ready to fight,” Erik pointed out, letting out a deep breath.
“Well, I’m hoping to change that in case it happens again,” I admitted, not taking offence. He was right.
“Me too,” he said with such confidence I couldn’t help but giggle as I unlocked the door.
“You think I’m joking?” he chuckled while we walked into my apartment. I smiled daringly up at him, inches away from him.
He kicked the door, closing it behind us and kissed me. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there when shit went down,” he murmured against my cheek. He lifted me onto the side table, hiking up my skirt and stepping between my legs.
“You better make it up to me now. It’s my birthday after all,” I whispered, dragging him back into a hungry kiss.
We continued to make out while we got as much clothes off as we could.
I moaned into Eriks’ mouth as he dragged my panties down. I was already wet—I had been waiting for this since I had left the previous morning.
I gasped as he grabbed my legs, dragged me towards him and entered me. His touch was pure magic, as always. I loved the way he moved in me, his hands caressing my body. I screamed his name as I climaxed.
Erik waited for me to stop trembling before picking me up and carrying me to the bedroom. We quickly took the rest of our clothes off before we continued our tumble between the sheets.
***
When I woke up the next day, I felt something warm on my stomach. I reached my hand towards it and felt fur in my hand. I opened my eyes and sat up surprised.
The black cat with white paws looked just as surprised as me but didn’t run away. “Erik! Did you get me a cat?” I called out loud as I didn’t see him in the room.
He showed up within a minute. “Do you like him? His name is Nox,” Erik smiled, mischievously.
“Like him? I love him. He’s adorable, ” I said and petted the cat, which was now purring contentedly in my lap.
“He’s a protective familiar, I wouldn’t bring him to your headquarters if I were you,” Erik informed me.
“Aren’t familiars demons?” I asked, confused. “I don’t feel any demonic energy from him.”
“They don’t give off any energy when they are in their animal disguise,” he explained.
“Is that so? Aren’t you an adorable little demon?” I said with a baby voice as I scratched Nox under his chin. He just kept purring like a normal cat.
“Thank you, Erik. I’ll treasure him,” I said. Then I suddenly remembered it was a weekday.
“I’m late for work again, aren’t I?” I sighed. The sun was up high. I had forgotten to put my alarm on.
“Yes, I made coffee if you want some before you leave.” Erik chuckled. He knew I was late and he still hadn’t woken me up… “I figured you could use the sleep,” he winked at me, noticing my annoyance.
“I might as well have that coffee then,” I smiled as I let out a deep breath while getting out of bed. He wasn’t wrong, it was morning when we’d fallen asleep.
I grabbed my phone before following him. My heart sank as my screen lit up. I had five missed calls and eleven messages. It was definitely not a good day to sleep in.
