Moon Kissed (Mirror Lake Wolves - Book One)

CHAPTER ONE

The flickering letters in the sign hung above Eddie's bar pulsed with my heartbeat. Somehow, the strobing neon lights had become one of the things I could always count on never changing. There was another thing I could count on when it came to Eddie's too-Dad being shit-faced somewhere inside.

It was a given on any day that ended in the letter Y.

I leaned back in my seat and willed my heart to stop hammering against my rib cage. As much as I didn't want to step inside, I knew I had to. There was no one else. Everyone was sick of my father's antics, and to be honest, I couldn't blame them. While I was sick of his shit too, I was still his daughter. We were family. It was the only reason I was here. The only reason I ever came.

I shouldn't be here, though.

I wasn't of legal age to drink. I was barely eighteen, but no one in Eddie's would care. All they wanted was the town drunk to leave the bar so they could resume their night of fun without listening to him blabber about the past.

There was another reason I shouldn't be here besides not being of legal drinking age-Alec. I should be enjoying my night with him. We were supposed to see a movie and spend time together. Yet here I was, picking up my dad from the bar for the third night this week. When would Eddie learn to cut Dad off? Why did he always let him get so shit-faced?

The door to the bar swung open, garnering my attention and revealing a lone figure in the threshold. The guy's face was shrouded in shadows, but it didn't matter. I didn't need to see it to know who he was.

I'd recognize Eli Vargas anywhere.

Something about him called to me in a way I didn't understand. A way that made me uneasy. I'd tried over the years to place distance between us, but it never seemed to matter. One way or another, we were always pulled into the same space despite how hard I tried to stay away from him.

Eli sauntered toward my car. A shiver, one that was hard to pinpoint why it occurred, slipped along my spine as I watched him draw nearer. It was always that way with Eli. My body betrayed me when he was around. Something about him spoke to a darker place inside me, a feral place. A primal place entirely free of inhibitions and responsibilities. I constantly pushed away those feelings so I could feel a sense of normalcy.

As Eli grew closer, the lamppost a few feet from where I'd parked illuminated him. My insides vibrated to life as I drank him in. Dressed in low-hung jeans and a gray tank top that showcased his beautiful muscles glistening in the moonlight, Eli was mouthwatering. Even so, my brain itched for me to place distance between us. Maybe it was because of the way my body reacted when I was in his presence-electrically charged and utterly out of my control. He'd always represented trouble to me. Any guy who looked good enough to elicit such a feeling from me by simply being in his presence couldn't be anything besides trouble. He was the type of guy who left a string of broken hearts behind once he got what he wanted.

At least, that's how I viewed him. Maybe I was wrong, but I wasn't about to risk it. Not with him. Not with the way I always seemed to feel while in his presence.

Eli leaned against my car door and folded his arms across his chest. My window was down, and I waited for him to say something. His voice slipping through the night would cause a reaction inside me no voice ever should. My fingers gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. He remained mute, but his eyes were fixed on me. I could feel them. The heat of them. The pull they harbored.

It had my adrenaline spiking and stole the breath from my lips.

A loud crash came from somewhere inside the bar, causing me to flinch. It snapped me out of my head and forced me back to reality. I hoped Dad hadn't broken something again. If so, I wasn't sure how we would pay for it this time.