Riley's Redemption (A Moon's Glow Novel) (19 page)

I squeezed my lips
together and raised my brows. What could I say to that? “Okay…well, I’ll see
you guys later. I want to go and see how Sadie’s dance went with Adrian.

Sadie was sitting alone
again. Marisa was dancing with Nathan and Sadie was watching them with a dreamy
look on her face. “
So?
” I asked when I took the empty chair next to her.

“So, what?”

I tilted my head and
narrowed my eyes.

She laughed. “Couldn’t
you see?” She sat up straight and turned in her chair. “It was awkward as hell.”

“It did look that way,
between the steamy looks you both were hiding.”

“
Oh, come on.
”

I leaned in close to
her. “You can’t tell me that being close to him wasn’t affecting you.”

She pursed her lips and
sunk in her chair. “Fine, there is an attraction, but it’s only our wolf side
coming through. He won’t even look me in the eyes.”

I grinned. “Oh, he
will. Just be patient.”

She shrugged. “Yeah,
but I’m not even sure I want that.”

Instead of answering I
grabbed her hand and pulled her up. There was a good song playing and I was
done with my friend’s drama. It was time to let loose and enjoy my reception.

Full Moon

Over the next week I
talked to my parents more than I ever had. My mother called a couple times just
to see how I was doing and to ask me to lunch and when we went, it wasn’t
terrible. My father called and asked if Nate would like to go golfing with him
and his friends. To my surprise, Nate accepted and said that he had a good
time. I didn’t entirely believe him, but it was great that he was trying.

Nathan took Marisa out
to a movie where he introduced her to some friends, so when she started school
in the fall she would know some people.

Adrian joined the crew
to finish the addition at the shelter and Sadie had taken over nights for Evie.
This gave Evie a chance to run the Career Managing program. Since Sadie was
spending the nights at the shelter and the cottage would be empty during the
days, we asked her if she would like to prolong her stay. I admit, my reason
for that was to give Adrian a chance to forgive her so she could move in with
him and Marisa eventually.

Four days before the
full moon I brought home Chinese food. I had had a long day at the shelter and
Nate was supposed to be working late. So I was surprised to see his car in the
driveway when I pulled up.

“When did that happen?”
Nate asked into the phone, when I let myself into the cottage. I hung up my
purse and set the take-out bags on the coffee table; the smell of grease and
sweet and sour sauce filled the tiny cottage.

Nate looked up at me
from where he sat on the couch and mouthed the word ‘hi’.

“Did you call the
authorities? I hope you didn’t handle it yourself.” There was a pause and then
his face paled. “Of course, I know that. I’m sorry Henry.”

The blood in my veins
went cold as I spun around to face him. He was talking to a vampire.

“No, I
understand…That’s what we both want.” He paused again as the vampire spoke. For
some reason I couldn’t hear his words, which was odd considering my heightened
hearing. “Actually, Henry, that’s why I’m calling, I know your kind value their
privacy, but I was wondering if you knew a man named Sebastian.” Again, there
was silence. “Well, I’m looking for a werewolf named Isaiah King and I have
reason to believe that this Sebastian can help me find him.”

Nate rubbed his hand
against the arm of the couch. “I’m not sure. I found his name in Charlotte’s
coat when we killed her….Yes, I think so.”

More words were said
that I couldn’t hear. “Great, thank you. I appreciate that.” He ended the call
and laid the phone onto the coffee table in front of him.

“That was the vampire?”
I whispered the words. I was too afraid to say them any louder.

He eyed me
apprehensively. “Yes.”

“Is that wise?” I
gulped the fear that was bubbling up inside me. The idea of those creatures
being real really freaked me out. I knew that werewolves were myths from horror
stories and not supposed to exist either, but vampires sounded so much worse.
They drank blood and killed people. Werewolves didn’t have to kill to live. We
could survive on normal food; but vampires couldn’t. The idea of drinking blood
made my stomach roll. Unfortunately, my wolf wasn’t quite as disgusted.

He stood up, stepping
toward me. “We have nothing to fear from Henry.”

Doubts crept into my
mind. I wanted to support him in anything he did, but I wasn’t sure about this.
I was deep in thought, chewing on my lip when I felt his finger touch my chin.
He lifted it up so we could make eye contact. “What’s wrong?” he asked me
softly.

I pulled away from him
and wandered over to the window, gazing out to the lake that surrounded us, the
sun’s reflection shimmered on the water. “I know that you want to find this
man. But I’m not sure it’s a good idea to get involved with vampires.”

“Don’t worry, Henry is
a good man.”

The sun dipped in the
sky turning it and the clouds pink. I spun away from the view to face him.
“Good Man? It sounded like he was scolding you.”

Nate lowered his head.
“He was. I was worried he had hurt a man that had come to the shelter wanting
to take his wife back.” He stuffed his hand in the pocket of his dress pants.
He had yet to change out of his work clothes. “Since he is the only vampire I know,
I can’t say what they are all like, but Henry is very old. He was a royal in
the seventeen hundreds. So when someone questions him, he doesn’t like it. But
I think that is the royal thing more than what he is.”

That made me feel a
little better, but I was still anxious. I was afraid that he would eventually
regret his actions. We were just now living a happy drama free life and I
wanted to keep it that way. I couldn’t help but feel that something bad was
going to happen if he pursued this. Although, it was probably more about our
past experiences, more than a premonition.

“What did he say? Did
he know Sebastian?”

“No, but he said that
he would ask around and let me know.”

When I only stared at
him hesitantly he closed the gap between us, cupping my face in his hands.
“Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. I just need to find out what this
means.”

I really didn’t feel
any better, but I couldn’t help but melt into his touch. He said everything
would be fine, so I just had to trust him. For now I would ignore the feeling
of dread that lingered inside me and enjoy my time with my new husband.

“Are we doing this or
what?” Lauren asked as she and Joe walked toward us on the night of the full
moon. They were living in the guesthouse at the back of the property, now that
Lauren had finished the school year and Joe had taken a leave at the store.
Will was not happy about their living arrangements but Lauren didn’t give him
much of a choice. Once she found out that Joe’s old house was taken, she
unpacked their belongings and refused to leave.

Nate, Sadie and I were
on the porch waiting for the rest of our pack to begin our run. Sadie was home
for the night. I had asked Evie to take her place, saying that she was sick. We
were just waiting on Adrian.

It was still dusk. The
moon was out, but it was just a dull white circle in the charcoal colored sky.
“Where’s Adrian?” Joe asked, taking a seat on the porch step at my feet. His
shoes thumped onto the wooden steps.

“He’s dropping Marisa
off at the main house.”

“When did he leave?”
Lauren asked. “I didn’t see him when we passed the house.”

“An hour ago,” I
answered, leaning back, my hands resting on the wooden planks behind me, a thin
layer of dirt stuck to my palms.

Lauren and Joe
exchanged confused glances.

I smiled at their
reaction. The main house was a five-minute walk from here. They must be
wondering why Adrian would take an hour just to drop his sister off.

“He’s a little
reluctant to leave her with your brother.” Sadie explained, her expression told
me that she agreed with her mate. “He’s worried about teenage hormones.”

Laurens eyes widened. “
Aw
,
I get it. And
Eww
, that’s my brother.”

I laughed at my friend,
who sat on the step next to her boyfriend. “Has he said anything about her?”

Lauren raised a brow.
“Am I in high school?”

I shot her a knowing
glance. She wasn’t fooling me. If there was something going on, she’d know or
have at least asked him.

She grinned and leaned
forward. “I think he likes her, but he’s not talking.” Her smile faded. “He’s
still a little leery of me.”

Her words that started
out light, turned heavy. I knew this must be hard on her. When we were first
turned into werewolves, she didn’t tell her father and wouldn’t have if he
didn’t find out. She worried that it would change how her parents felt about
her, but thankfully it didn’t. They both were upset that it happened, but never
thought ill of her for what she had become.

But Will and Caroline
had known that werewolves existed, so it was easier for them to take. Nathan
was in the dark about everything. It would be odd if he didn’t have misgivings
about the fact that six werewolves lived on his property. Who wouldn’t be?

“Why are you guys just
standing around? It’s a full moon isn’t it?” Adrian called out as he appeared
around the corner of the house.

“Is everything all
right with Mari?” I asked, getting to my feet and brushing the dirt from my
hands.

His face paled. “Yeah,
I’m not happy that she’s getting so close to your brother though,” he said
nodding in Lauren’s direction.

Nate stood up and held
his hand out for me. “He’s a good kid, Adrian. I promise she’s in good hands.”
I laced my fingers through Nate’s as I stood next to him, the rest of the group
followed suit. “So what do we want for supper?” Nate asked as we all headed
toward the trees.

Sadie turned to face
him, her brows furrowed. “What do you mean, aren’t we going hunting. With this
many people we could probably bring down a buck?”

Nate grinned, Adrian
snorted and even Joe made a sound that was a cross between a snort and a laugh.

Sadie glanced around
our group her lips turned up, questions evident in her eyes. “What did I say
that was funny?”

Lauren stepped up to me
and slung an arm around my shoulder. “Megan isn’t exactly what you’d call a
hunter.”

Again there were
chuckles in our group. I shot Nate a look and his grin vanished.

Confusion shone in
Sadie eyes. “What do you mean? She’s a wolf?”

“Meg’s more of a
vegetarian wolf,” Adrian explained with a laugh.

“I’ve seen her eat
meat.”

I decided that it was
time to speak up.
Did they know I was here?
“I don’t like to kill
animals.”

“But if you don’t, you
could hurt someone.”

Again laughter followed
her words. I scowled at them all, just a little annoyed with being the joke of
the pack.
So, I didn’t like to hunt.
I was a wolf sometimes, but my mind
was always human.

Nate reached out and
patted Sadie’s shoulder with his free hand. “Don’t worry about Megan. She can’t
even kill a bunny; she could never harm a human.”

Sadie opened her mouth
to protest, but Nate lifted his hand to stop her. “I took her hunting a couple
of months ago, because like you I was concerned she would go for humans if she
didn’t hunt animals.” He paused and gazed at me, his eyes full of love and
admiration. “I pushed her into it and she only agreed because I forced her. I
thought her instincts had kicked in, she took a deer down. But when she saw the
blood on its neck she panicked and ran away. And if the blood of an animal
freaked her out, I doubt she could handle human blood.”

My friends laughed
again, but Sadie gaped at me. The only way I could interpret her expression
was… envy.

The sun sunk lower in
the sky and my skin began to tingle.

“Enough talk. Let’s
go!” Adrian called. He was ahead of the group and already peeling his clothes
off.

“If you guys want to
hunt after we run for a while, I’ll head in and order the pizza.” I suggested,
ignoring Adrian’s words.

Adrian gave me a
mocking smile. No doubt remembering when we used to run together and the first
time he noticed my lack of interest in killing animals. He thought it was funny
then as well. “I’m always up for pizza.”

“It will be a perfect
meal after our hunt,” Joe agreed.

“I can go with you if
you want.” Nate suggested softly, squeezing my hand.

I shook my head as we
approached the edge of the trees and reached up to touch his cheek. The stubble
on his skin tickled my fingers. “No, I’ll be fine. You go and have fun with
your friends.”

He chuckled, a soft
rumbling sound deep in his chest. “I love you.”

Instead of answering I
kissed him gently on the lips. “Are you ready?” I asked when I drew back.

He nodded, took my hand
and pulled me into the cover of a group of cedar bushes. I could see that Joe
had done the same with Lauren. That left Sadie and Adrian. I’d have to ask them
what happened later. They couldn’t fight the pull of the wolf forever,
especially in the heat of the change. I might hate the pain of turning into an
animal, but it didn’t change the fact that there was an excitement that the
moon’s glow brought on and Adrian wouldn’t be able to push her away in the
throes of the change. She was his mate and as a wolf he wouldn’t care that she
kept him from his sister. As a wolf, all he would see and feel is the
connection between them.

Now that we would all
be running together, it should make for an interesting night.

“I can’t change in
front of you,” I gasped, as Nate yanked off his blue V neck.

He froze, the arm of
his shirt still hanging off his hand. “Why not?” His brow rose and the corner
of his lips curled. “We’re married. I’ve seen you before without your clothes.”

My cheeks heated. “I’m
not talking about that. I don’t want you to see me changing into a wolf.”

He scoffed. “Meg, it’s
nothing to be ashamed of. I’ll be doing the same thing.”

“And I don’t want to
see your bones bend and shift any more than I want you to see mine.”

He sighed. “Alright,
I’ll go behind this tree.” He winked at me before disappearing behind the cedar
bush.

I couldn’t help the
grin that spread across my face as he tossed the shirt on the ground. The glow
from the moon shone on his muscular tanned back.