Blessing of Luna (Wolfgods Book 1) by Blaise Ramsay (best books under 200 pages .TXT) 📗

openly with you, Damien.” Jill’s heart fluttered like a bird behind her ribs as though she were starting to care for someone for the first time in centuries.

Damien stood up, turning around to lean against the wood. The frogs began to sing as the sun sank beneath the horizon. The air was cool, signaling the arrival of autumn to Montana.

They stood quietly for a while, just enjoying each other’s company.

Curious Damien asked. “Jill, I’ve never heard you talk about where you live. Do you have an apartment in town?”

Jill’s jaw clenched, her hands gripping the wood so strongly, she nearly forgot to keep her lycan strength in control to avoid splintering it.

“I’m sorry, should I not have asked?”

“No, no. It’s just,” Jill didn’t want to lie to him. She never really lived anywhere. Sometimes she would stay at the gym in her room, other times she spent the night in the woods as a wolf. “I stay with a friend most of the time. I have a room at his gym since I fight there a lot.”

“You fight? What gym?”

“Solstice. The owner, Gabriel, is a friend of mine. Since I have good standing there, he lets me keep a room upstairs,” Jill pushed her shoulders forward, flirting. “You’re welcome to come visit sometime if you like. I like to watch movies and read after working out.”

“Sure. I’d love to come by. My old man and I have driven by it a couple of times but I’ve never been. I tend to do my running in the morning before school.” Damien replied, meeting her attempt at flirting with one of his own.

“Sounds good to me. I do most of my running at night.” Jill giggled at her inside joke. “It’s getting late though. We should probably be getting back. I happen to know college is in full session for you soon. If I can ask, what exams were you studying for over the summer?”

“Prelims and placement tests. A few of the courses allow us to see if we can test out of them. I grabbed as many as I could to lower the course load. Took some summer courses too. What can I say, I don’t like a ton of downtime.”

“I can understand that. I don’t like too much down time either.” Jill replied, hopping down from her spot she had taken on the wood rails during their talk.

They walked back down to where Damien parked his truck. He pulled open the passenger’s side door to let Jill get inside, closing it for her before making his way to the other side.

“Where to?”

“The gym. I sent Gabriel a text to let him know I was coming.”

Damien didn’t understand why but he felt a hint of jealousy at the mention of Gabriel’s name. “The friend you mentioned?”

“Yes. Don’t worry, he’s just a friend.” Jill chuckled, finding the subtle hint of jealousy in Damien’s voice cute.

Damien dropped his head to the steering wheel. “God, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“It’s fine. Thanks for the lift.” Another chuckle.

Without a word, once again feeling embarrassed, Damien started the truck. He backed up on the main road to head to the gym.

****

The last week of summer seemed to speed by as Damien spent the rest of his time catching up. Although he and Jill started texting each other more often, Damien chose to spend the time with his father and prepare for the upcoming school year.

Damien spent the night in his room doing his last-minute checks to make sure he had everything he would need for his classes including his laptop. He couldn't help but feel elated at the fact he was able to go back to school to finish his degree, grateful that his grades for the prelims and placement tests had been high enough to get him out of taking a few of the courses.

Once he was sure he was finished he turned on some soft music that had rain mixed into it and fell back on the bed, watching the fan blades while they spun casting shadows on the ceiling.

His mind went to Jill. He hadn’t seen her since their talk at the bridge but he couldn’t help but think about her. She was so beautiful, strong and independent. There was something about her

drawing him towards her though he wasn’t sure what it was.

The piercing sound of a wolf howling in the distance made Damien get up from his bed, walk over to the window and open the shutters. The moon was full with a burnt orange tint giving the night an almost supernatural air.

The fall moon. Damien thought, remembering reading somewhere it had another name. The hunter’s moon.

****

The next morning, Damien didn’t remember falling asleep. He’d been watching the moon and listening to the wolf howling until late into the night. The sound was comforting to him.

He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger to get the sleep out of them, his focus falling on his phone. That’s right! It’s the first day of classes.

“Morning.” Damien said, practically running into the kitchen, excited about getting to start college.

“Wow, you're chipper. Have a nice dream or something?” Charlie chuckled, taking a drink of his coffee.

“Got some good sleep this time around. No idea what the change was, maybe it was the music. Did you see the first fall moon last night?” Damien asked, curious.

“Sure did. Beauty, wasn’t it? Night critters were happy to see her round and fat up there.” Charlie chortled.

Damien stared curiously at the words his dad used to describe the moon. “You hear the wolves?”

“What? No, but there were plenty of bats and frogs singing.”

“Oh. That’s odd. Gotta be heading out for an early class, dad. If you beat me home it's because I started my internship up at the