Blood Moon (Moons of the Wolf Series Book 1) (3 page)

“She’s been ban from all pack activities until I decide otherwise,” Colin responded, his voice very as-a-matter-of-factly.

Darien glanced back at Carla for a split second and she nodded ever so slightly once again. Darien sighed, “Alright, young one.  We feel as though the punishment your alpha has given you is fair since this is your first offence.  But be warned, little one, if you enter our territory again without giving proper notice or receiving permission, my wife and I will not be so lenient,” He exclaimed.

Samantha nodded, “yes sir, thank you, sir,” she replied, trying her hardest not to smile.

Malcolm stood, “Well then I would like to thank you all for your time.  I am glad we were able to sort this out in such a timely and civil manner.  You’re all dismissed. I don’t want to see any of you again until these rogues have been caught.  Do I make myself clear?”

The group nodded in unison.  Darien began to lead his family towards the door, but Heather stood her ground.

“You’re kidding me, right?” She snapped, “That’s it?  She purposefully disregards a rule and she gets let off with a warning?  Since when have you two been lenient?”

Everyone turned to her, shocked.

“Heather, quiet down.  The decision has been made.  You need to accept that.  Let’s go.”  Darien ordered in a firm voice, reaching out to grab his daughter’s arm.

“Well, I don’t think you’ve noticed, but your decision sucks,” Heather spat as she pulled away from him.  He could see the anger growing in her eyes.

“Darien, control your daughter, this instance,” Malcolm ordered, his voice a low rumble.

“Heather, don’t be foolish.  I understand that you don’t get along with young Miss Carvalho, but the decision has been made.  Don’t let your opinion of someone get in the way of your decision making and good judgment.  That’s today’s lesson.  Let’s go, if I have to say it again, you won’t like what happens.”  Darien firmly grabbed Heather’s arm, but she pulled away from him quickly, phasing in almost an instant before anybody could stop her in pure anger.

It took less than a second, but before Samantha knew what was happening she was laying on her back on the balcony, the bright sunlight burning her eyes.  There was a dull pain in her side where Heather had rammed into her and a searing pain in her back, from the glass shards of the door tearing into her skin.  She watched with blurry vision as Heather went to run at her again, but Riley, in his wolf form, jumped in front of her, his rust color fur the last thing Samantha saw before she lost consciousness.

CHAPTER 4

Alex paced back and forth in Samantha’s hospital room.  The whole pack sat in the waiting area at the end of the corridor, waiting for Alex to tell them when Samantha had awakened.  Alex stopped and stared at Samantha.  She had been unconscious for about three hours, her back torn up severely from being knocked through the glass door.  She also had a concussion and a bruised rib.  Alex rubbed her temples and she continued to pace.

Samantha opened her eyes and groaned.  She tried to sit up, but pain shot through her back.  She looked around the room, realizing that she was in the hospital.  She saw that Alex was pacing on the other side of the room and she tried to sit up again.

“Alex?” She whispered.

Alex spun around and rushed to Samantha’s side, “thank goodness you’re awake…”  She pushed a little red buzzer on the wall and a few moments later a nurse rushed in.

“Is everything alright?”  The nurse asked.

“She’s awake…”  Alex replied softly.

“I’ll go get the doctor then…” The nurse responded quickly, running out of the room.

Alex turned her attention back to Samantha, “are you alright?  How are you feeling?”

“I could be better…”  Samantha replied, her tone almost bitter through the pain.

“Well…you were walking backwards and “fell” into a glass door as far as hospital officials are concerned,” Alex muttered softly.

Samantha nodded slowly, “alright…and what about Heather?  She did help me fall, you know.”

“Well, it’s not official, but I heard that Malcolm is making Darien remove all of Heather’s chances of inheriting alpha-ship.  It will either go to Jessica or one of the boys, since Malcolm doesn’t think someone with Heather’s anger problems can be in charge of an entire pack.  He’s also forcing her to go to anger management with a counselor of his choice, and she has to take etiquette classes with him every Tuesday after school.  But, you know, unofficially.” Alex responded as she lowered her voice to a whisper.

Samantha smiled to herself through the throbbing pain in her head, “Good, she deserves it.”

Melody and Dr. Lévesque, Charlotte’s father, walked into the room together.  Samantha smiled, happy that her aunt and family friend were the doctors tending to her.  Melody sat beside Samantha and took her hand carefully in her.  Samantha smiled softly and closed her eyes, exhausted.

“How are you feeling, honey?” Melody asked in a soft tone.

“I’m just in a bit of pain, I’ll be fine,” was Samantha’s soft response.

“Good, good.  That’s very good.  I’ll have a nurse bring you something for the pain,” Dr. Lévesque stated.

“And we’ll make sure that Dr. Gardener takes real good care of you when we’re off the clock.  Is that alright dear?”  Melody asked, touching Samantha’s head gently.

Samantha nodded slowly, opening her eyes a bit, “yea, that’s alright, auntie.”

“Good, we have to finish our rounds, but we’ll have a nurse bring you something for the pain and take your vitals.  Do you need anything else?”  Dr. Lévesque asked.

“Just some water, please,” Samantha asked softly.

“Of course, I’ll be sure a nurse brings you some water.  Rest up, your aunt and I will be back to check on you.” With that He and Melody left the room.

Samantha moved onto her side to look at Alex, trying to stay comfortable and she closed her eyes once more, “so…anger management, huh?”

Alex nodded and sat down, “there’s probably more than that, but I didn’t want mom and dad to catch me eavesdropping.”

Samantha nodded and took a deep breath, “Where’s Riley…?”

“He went outside to have a cigarette a few minutes before you woke up.  He’s a nervous wreck.  He’s probably blown through a whole pack by now.”

“I wish he would quit already…”

Alex nodded, “me too, Runt.  Me too.”  She almost said more, but Samantha began to snore lightly.  She sighed softly and took her phone out of her pocket.  After the third round of her favorite word game Riley walked into the room, closing the door behind him as quietly as he could manage.

“How is she doing?”  Riley asked in a whisper.

“She woke up for a few minutes while you were gone.  A nurse is supposed to come bring her some more meds for her pain and some water and take her vitals.  But she hasn’t come yet.”  Alex replied, stuffing her phone back into her pocket.

“That’s good…”  Riley breathed a sigh of relief, collapsing in the chair across from Alex.

Samantha took a deep breath and turned her head slightly.  She smiled softly, “hey…”

Riley quickly jumped up and made his way over to her, kneeling beside the hospital bed, “how are you feeling, sweetheart?”  He asked as he gently brushed some strands of hair out of her face.  He gently caressed her cheek as he smiled at her lovingly.

“I’ve been better…but you reek of smoke…” She pulled her face away from his hand a little, “I wish you would quit…” Samantha sighed, exasperated.

Alex quickly ducked out of the room and closed the door behind her.  She was going to give them some privacy as she went to go find the nurse who was supposed to administer Samantha’s medications.

Riley sighed softly, “Everyone keeps saying that…”

“Well, then maybe you should…” Samantha suggested, holding Riley’s hand loosely.

Riley frowned and kissed Samantha’s head, “one day.  But today is definitely not that day.”

Samantha laughed a little, “Fine, but promise me something.  One day you’ll quit.”

“Alright babe.”  Riley replied dejectedly.

“No, promise me.  Don’t just say alright.”  Samantha demanded as she crossed her arms across her chest.

“I promise you, I’ll quit one day.  I love you.”  He finally agreed, reaching out and brushing her hair out of her face

“I love you too,” Samantha responded smiling softly.  Riley smiled back and pressed his lips gently against hers.

CHAPTER 5

A couple of weeks passed and Samantha was beginning to feel much better.  Her back was almost completely healed, and Dr. Lévesque told her that if she refrained from phasing, she would be completely healed by the next full moon, which was in ten days.  She got up in the morning like she normally did, looking at the calendar on her wall.  It was Alex’s and Riley’s nineteenth birthday.  She thought to herself that maybe she should have gotten up earlier to shower and dress her own bandages without running late, but she wasn’t very worried about it.  She had an appointment with Dr. Lévesque so he could look at her back and possibly take the stitches out.  She rushed through her shower, and Melody insisted on helping her dress her wounds.

“Are you coming to the party tonight?”  Melody asked as she bandaged Samantha’s back.

“I’m allowed to be there?”  Samantha retorted her tone carrying a hint of aggravation.

“It’s not a pack function.  And even if it was a pack function I’m sure that Colin would make an exception, seeing as it is Riley’s birthday,” Melody responded.

“Then yes, I will be going.”

“Good, now go eat.  When you’re done, I’ll do your hair and drive you to your appointment.”  Melody instructed as she finished bandaging Samantha’s back.

“Can do,” Samantha responded as she pulled her shirt on over her head.

***

Jaden sighed as he pulled on one of his favorite button-up shirts out of the closet.  It was almost three-thirty and the birthday party was supposed to start in half an hour.  He wasn’t even ready to leave yet, and he felt rushed.  He had gotten into an argument with his father, and it had made Jaden run late.  All he wanted was for his father to attend the party with him.  Jaden pulled his sweater off over his head and tossed it onto his bed.  He pulled his button up on, and fastened the buttons as he racked his brains for any logical reason why his father didn’t want to attend the party.  Or do anything with him for that matter.  He sighed, putting gel in his hair, creating a mess of unkempt looking spikes on his head, and he ran down the stairs to tell his father that he was leaving.

His father, Samuel, was in his office, adjacent from the stairs.  Jaden walked up to the office doors and paused for a second before knocking.  Samuel didn’t respond, so Jaden opened the door a crack and peered inside.  His father sat at his desk, holding an old and tattered picture in his hands.  He had a deep frown on his face and Jaden knew right away what picture it was; it was an old Polaroid of his mother, with the date smudged in the corner.  Jaden sighed.

“Dad, are you sure you don’t want to come to the party?  I know you left the pack and all, but that doesn’t mean you should shut yourself off from it entirely.  Come on dad, I’m sure you’d love to see everyone again.”  Jaden almost pleaded.

Samuel didn’t even look away from the photo, his eyes stayed glued to it, and the frown stayed plastered on his face. “There isn’t anyone I care to see attending that party, Jaden.  We already discussed this.”

“Dad…it’s your day off, why don’t you enjoy it for once instead of staring at that stupid photo all day?”  Jaden snapped as he clenched his fists.  He was getting aggravated with his father’s antisocial behavior.

Samuel calmly set the photograph down on the desk, face down, “I will spend my day off how I please, young man.  I work hard all week to put a roof over your head and food in your stomach.  I play the role of mother and father to you day in and day out.  So I think I deserve to decide what I do on my day off.  If that happens to be sitting in my office remembering times of my youth and staring at photos all day, then so be it.”

Jaden sighed loudly.  He knew he wasn’t going to win this argument.  They had it time and time again and it always ended the same way; Samuel locking himself in his office and refusing to talk to Jaden for the rest of the night.

“Fine dad…  Whatever.  I guess I’ll see you after the party then…Liv is driving so I won’t be taking the car…”  Samuel didn’t respond.  Jaden shook his head slowly and closed his father’s office door.

Samuel rubbed his hand down his face slowly.  He flipped the photo over, staring at it once more.  It was not the photo Jaden had assumed it was.  It was an old Polaroid of course, but the woman in the photo was not Jaden’s light haired, blue eyed mother.  In fact, it was of a tall brunette with long wavy hair and caramel colored eyes.  Samuel frowned and gently touched the photo with his thumb, as though he were caressing the woman’s cheek.  Frowning more, and blinking away tears, he slipped the photo back into the top drawer of his desk, and held his head in his hands.

***

Riley stood in his kitchen staring out the window, waiting for party guests to arrive.  It was five of four and people had yet to show up.  He knew for a fact that at least forty people had RSVP’d and he wondered if Alex had put the wrong time on the invitations.  He wouldn’t have been surprised if she did.  It was Alex after all.  Finally, a large green van pulled up in front of the house and Riley smiled to himself.  It was Olivia’s mother’s van, and she only took it out when she was taking Danica, Olivia’s eighty-nine-year-old grandmother out.  He watched as Jaden and Olivia got out and opened the sliding van door.  Riley realized that they didn’t have a handicap ramp for Danica’s wheelchair and he rushed upstairs to his parent’s bedroom to get his father.  Their bedroom door was closed, which was unusual.  He could faintly hear them arguing inside and he pressed his ear to the door.  Their voices were muffled, but he could make out what they were saying.

“Bridgette, you don’t seem to understand.  He’s getting out of hand.  He’s called me three times in the past hour,” Riley heard his father say.

Who the hell is he talking about?  Riley wondered.

“Then maybe it’s time that you reconsider letting him back into the pack, Colin,” Bridgette retorted, aggravation in her voice.

“That isn’t what he wants, Biddy…he keeps calling about seeing
her
.  This could turn into a serious problem.  For everyone!”  Colin snapped.  Riley was shocked he had
never
heard his father raise his voice to his mother.  He frowned and continued to listen, hoping to dispel his confusion.

“Well, then maybe, just maybe, you made a mistake.  Have you ever thought about that?  He is her birth father.  Maybe we’ve kept them apart for too long.  Perhaps a daughter is what Samuel needs,” Bridgette’s response was tender and hesitant, as if saying the words would cause some harm to her and Colin.

“He doesn’t need another child.  He barely cares for Jaden.  Christ, the boy has been practically on his own since he was sixteen!”  Colin sneered.  Riley could almost see the disgusted look on his face.  Colin did not like Samuel Adler, and he didn’t keep it hidden from anyone in the pack.

“Jaden’s eighteen years old.  He doesn’t need his father’s constant supervision, he hasn’t for a long time.  The boy is simply independent, that’s all…Colin, all I’m trying to say is maybe if we let Samuel see the young one, receive some type of closure, he’ll stop locking himself away for days at a time.  He’s the God damned sheriff.  We need to be concerned that he may not be in the right frame of mind because of decisions that you and I have made.”

“He doesn’t lock himself away because he doesn’t get to see Samantha.  He could give a damn!  He hides away all of the time because Arabella died giving birth to Jaden, and barely a year later Elizabeth broke it off with him because she wanted to stay with Rodrigo and the affair was a mistake.  He’s caught up in what-if’s and could-have-been’s.  Giving him another reminder of the love that he’s lost isn’t going to help him or Samantha.”

Riley caught his breath.  He was certain that he had heard his parents wrong or that they were talking about another Samantha.  They had to have been.  There had to be more than one Samantha in the pack.  The pack had 23 members in total!  He shook his head.  He couldn’t fool himself.  He knew there wasn’t another Samantha, or another Elizabeth for that matter.  He almost sighed loudly, but he stopped himself; his parents were silent and would hear him if he made the faintest noise.

After a moment, Bridgette sighed, “Colin, dear, what are you afraid of?  Nothing will change…Samantha will finally have a father figure in her life.  Is that really so bad?”

“She’s seventeen!  She doesn’t need a father figure in her life.  Even if she did, she has the entire pack, and me!  Besides, do you want to turn the poor girl’s whole world upside down?  Don’t you think she’s been through enough?”  Colin’s voice was softer, he was clearly growing weary of the argument.

“Sometimes the decisions that are right are the decisions that are the hardest to make…”  Bridgette’s voice was equally as soft.

Riley didn’t want to hear anymore.  He was astonished, no
appalled
, by what he just heard.  He had to tell Samantha, but he didn’t know how.  He ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath.  Before he could knock his parent’s door swung open without warning, and Riley looked up at his father sheepishly.

Colin looked down at his, his face stern, “what are you doing up here young man?  You’re supposed to be downstairs waiting for your guests.”

“Mrs. Cook is here with Madam Pandev and I know we don’t have a handicap ramp and I wanted to come upstairs and get your help bringing her inside…”  Riley answered quickly, his words running together, obviously nervous.

Colin frowned and narrowed his eyes, knowing that his son had been eavesdropping by the guilty look on his face, “next time don’t come looking for me.  You’re an able bodied young man, you and Jaden could have gotten her inside on your own.”  Riley didn’t say a word, he just simply followed his father down the stairs.  When they reached the bottom Jaden had already gotten Danica inside and was wheeling her into the kitchen.  Colin glared at Riley, disappointed that he had not stayed downstairs to help.

Meghan, Olivia’s mother, hugged Riley and Colin, giving Riley birthday wishes, then she turned to Alex and did the same.  Olivia followed in suit, and then everyone followed Jaden into the kitchen.  Riley walked behind everyone, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Hey,” He greeted Jaden, who high fived him in response, “what’s up?  Where are the others?”

“Runt’s on her way, she got a flat tire and Charlotte’s parents are picking her and Melody up.  A tow truck already came and took the truck to Taylor’s Auto body Shop.  Melody is going to pick it up later,” Jaden responded as he pulled out a chair and begun to help Danica into it.

Riley realized how rude he was being and went over and helped Jaden.  They lowered Danica into the chair and she kissed Jaden on the cheek, patting the side of his face.

“Such a good young man…”  She cooed.  Then she looked at Riley, “and you too…happy birthday, dearie.”

Riley smiled, “Thank you, Madam Pandev, how are you doing?”  He asked politely.

“I’m well, dear, and don’t make me tell you younglings again, Gram is all you need to call me…Madam Pandev makes me sound old and dried up!”  She responded with a laugh, “I’ve still got some kick left in me.”  Riley smiled, and excused himself from the room, using Samantha’s late arrival as an excuse.  He went and sat in the den, looking out the window, waiting for her.  He didn’t see Charlotte or her parent’s pull into the driveway, lost in his thoughts about what he had overheard as he stared at his hands.  Her voice woke him from his thoughts and he jumped up.

“Riley?”  She called him.

He rushed into the foyer and swung his arms around her.  He lifted her up and spun her around, pressing kisses to her face.  She winced in pain, and he panicked, putting her down quickly.  He had forgotten all about her back, not even thinking that she might still be sore.  He brushed her hair out of her face with careful hands.

“I’m sorry…”  He said softly.

“It’s alright, I’ve got good news anyway!”  Samantha chirped excitedly.

“Really?” Riley responded, turning to Melody and giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“She got her stitches out!”  Melody exclaimed, then she added, “I’m going to put your present in the den…  Where’s your mother?”

“Setting up outside.  The parties in the backyard,” Riley responded.

“Isn’t it a little too cold outside for that?”  Melody asked with a puzzled expression on her face.

“It was mom’s idea, not mine,” Riley replied simply.  Melody nodded in understanding and made her way to the den.  Riley turned his attention back to Samantha, “It’s wonderful that you got your stitches out.”  He pulled her close to him and buried his face in her neck.

“It is wonderful,” She kissed him softly, “And happy birthday…”

Riley kissed Samantha back, “Thank you…”  He saw more people had pulled up in front of the house and he brought Samantha aside, taking her jacket from her and hung it up on the coat rack.  He drew her close for another kiss, letting his lips linger against hers, “Let’s go upstairs I want to talk to you privately…”

“We should really mingle with your guests before we disappear upstairs,” Samantha responded simply.

Riley guided her into the empty hallway adjacent to the foyer.  They kissed again and Riley put his hands on Samantha’s hips gently, “We have the whole party to mingle…”

“And we have all night to talk,” Samantha countered.

Riley sighed, he wasn’t going to argue with her, “You’re right, come on…  Let’s go help my mom set up.”