Under A Latent Moon (A Werewolf Tale)

Chapter 29

"You told me you had this handled."

Selene pinched the bridge of her nose, pacing the small confines of her tent. The phone felt hot against her ear. "I did. We've hit some...unexpected roadblocks."

"If I'd known you'd be so incompetent--"

"It won't happen again." She wouldn't let it happen again. Not when Dominic's life was in the balance. Every day she visited him he struggled more and more with staying in his human form. How long until he wasn't her baby anymore?

"It seems you are incapable of doing this by yourself."

She ignored the additional gripe about her failures. "When is the best time to...visit?" She asked, "I need to find a time when she's alone. Without witnesses."

"This endeavor is ridiculous. The girl doesn't know anything. There's nothing there. I've told you before, she won't have your answers."

"Harley Pierce might not know anything," Selene said, "but she is her father's daughter...and his greatest achievement. We will find a use for her. As a test subject, if nothing else."

A sigh over the line. "I'll have some work ahead of me."

"I don't have much time left," Selene said.

"Some of us are careful and meticulous with our operations. You will wait. Or you will get nothing."

Selene's fist tightened. Dominic didn't have time for her source to set something up. "Need I remind you of the wolf in my pocket? Don't test me."

"It is not my fault you have a desperation to ruin everything." A pause, then, "give me two days."

Two days. "If this doesn't work," Selene threatened through tight teeth. "I will start with the young wolf in our captivity."

"Two days. Then Harley will be yours."

~

Harley

Harley ripped a page in two.

She sat on her bed, piles of crumpled sketch paper around her, and tapped her chin with her pencil. Why wasn't this working? It was not hard to copy a picture into a drawing. Especially something so easy as a lily.

Serves her right for trying something different. She should stick to reading her books instead of drawing.

A knock sounded at the door. She was frowning down at the page on her lap and messing intently with the shading. "Come in," she called without looking up.

"What exploded in here?"

She snorted. It kinda did look like something--

Her head snapped up. "Will?"

Will leaned against the doorway, his arms crossed. He smiled. "Hey."

Seeing him there made the butterflies in her stomach come alive. He was here. Safe.

He took a step forward and she decided she couldn't resist. She scrambled off the bed and flew at him.

Will caught her easily around the waist. She hugged him tightly, pressing her face into his collarbone. "What are you doing here?"