Moonstruck

Chapter Ten

*Liana*

At school the day after my study session, I took a seat on the usual bench I liked to sit at and opened my sketchbook during my first break. I had been working on this particular sketch for several days and wanted to finish it. I was so absorbed in my work that I didn't hear someone approach me.

"Hi!"

I looked up to see a pretty, younger female student beaming at me. "Uh, hi."

"I'm Isobel Hunter. Zev's sister."

"Oh," I said, now noticing she shared the same color blue eyes, although instead of black hair like her brother, hers was a dark blonde. "I'm Liana Lachey. It's nice to meet you."

"You too. So, how do you like school here?"  Isobel asked.

"Oh, it's fine." I shrugged. "School's school, right?" I grinned.

"Yeah," Isobel plopped down beside me and grinned back. "I'm just a sophomore, although I know a lot of the upper years."

"It probably helps to have an older sibling, you get to know more people," I smiled.

"Yeah, though a lot of us grew up together," Isobel said, her gaze landing on the sketch I was working on. Her eyes widened. "Oh wow, that looks like my...I mean, that's a wolf!" She said excitedly.

I flushed a little. I wasn't used to showing my work to people. "Yeah, I saw him in the woods the other day. I couldn't get him out of my mind so I sketched him." I admitted.

"Oh really?" Isobel slowly grinned, a twinkle in her eye. "Interesting. Very interesting." Her face sobered. "You have to be careful of the woods. It can be, um, dangerous in there. Especially if you go deep inside."

"Yeah, I've been told off already," I huffed. Geez, this was the third person to warn me of the woods. Was there something more than just animals in there? Something more than just wolves?

"You were? By who?" Isobel asked curiously.

"By my friend Hanna and your bossy brother." I said wryly. 

Isobel burst into laughter. "I'm not surprised at all. And bossy is right. But Liana, Zev is just naturally protective of those he cares about. He can come across as overbearing but it's just because he wants you to be safe." She rolled her eyes. "Or at least that's what I get told by him since he's so protective of me. But I know it's true."

My heart quickened. "You think he really cares about me?" I asked, wincing internally at how eager I sounded.

Isobel nodded. "Oh, trust me, Liana. He likes you. A lot. I can tell."

There was a knowing look in Isobel's eyes that slightly confused me but hey, if his own sister thought Zev cared about me then it must be true. Right?

"Uh oh," Isobel said, but she didn't sound worried. Instead she looked gleeful as her brother stalked over to us.

"Isobel," Zev stood in front of her, a frown on his handsome face. "What are you doing?"

"Me?" Isobel looked at him innocently. "Just talking to my new friend, Liana."

"Isobel," Zev said with a slight growl. "Don't bother her."

"She's not," I said, giving Zev a disapproving look. "Your sister is a sweetheart."

"Really?" Zev scoffed, which caused the younger sister to narrow her eyes at him.

"Yes, really," I insisted. It was obvious Zev agreed by the way his eyes warmed slightly and I bit back a smile. It must be nice to have siblings.