Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) (36 page)

He laughed. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever
said to me.” He took my hand, drawing me to him. “That sounds good to me,
because I’m sorry, you can’t go anywhere. Like I said before, you’re stuck with
me.”

“And like
I
said before, I’m okay with that.”
We grinned at each other, knowing that nothing could tear us apart.

He leaned in to kiss me with a desperate need, holding
on to me tightly, as if someone was going to rip me out of his arms.

Just as we were about to take things further, the door
swung open and Joe and Lauren stepped in. Lauren had a portable phone in her
hand.

“Sorry for interrupting, but Mona’s on the phone,” she
said, handing me the phone. I had given her this number if she couldn’t reach
me any other way.

Nate let me go, sitting back down on the chair.

“Hello?”

“Hey, girl, there’s mail for you and I just made
brownies. Why don’t you and Nate come for a visit?”

After almost being abducted by a deranged werewolf,
speaking to Mona felt like a different life. And picking up mail and eating
brownies sounded very trivial. But maybe that’s what I needed. “Sure, sounds
good. We’ll be over soon.” I hung up, glancing at everyone in the room. “Who
wants brownies? Mona says I have mail and she just took a batch out of the
oven. Who’s in?”

“Brownies? Count me in,” Joe replied from a small sofa
he was sprawled out on.

“I’ll pass. I’m supposed to call Ally today. She’s
been texting me and said if I don’t call her back, she’ll come here. I don’t
want to risk it,” Lauren explained and I nodded. I really didn’t want to
involve anyone else I cared about.

I let Joe sit in the front seat. I was tired of his whining
about no foot room. I gazed out my window when we drove through town, desperate
for a change of scenery. The lake and woods around the Riley estate was
starting to lose its beauty after a week of isolation.

The streets were busy with students out for the
summer, shopping and loitering around the sidewalks and alleys. I longed to
walk along the streets with Nate, to window shop and maybe stop for ice cream
at Polar’s ice cream shop. I hadn’t been out in civilization in days.

Nate pulled into my driveway and parked next to Mona’s
car. Ben’s black truck was nowhere to be seen; he must have been out getting
supplies. I’d have to come back to see him another day.

I left the werewolves out in the car. I wasn’t sure
what was taking them so long, but, I was suddenly eager to see Mona. As soon as
I stepped in through the kitchen door
I was struck by
the smell
of chocolate, but no Mona. The room was empty. “Mona!” She didn’t answer. She
must be in the bathroom or the other side of the mansion. The pan of brownies
was cooling on the stove and my mail sat in a pile on the table.

“Wow. That smells good. Where are they?” Joe asked,
walking in the door behind Nate.

I nodded over at the pan as I picked up my mail.
“Mona!” I yelled again, flipping through a bunch of junk mail. Joe carried the
pan over to the table and sat down. After he cut a few slices he handed one to
Nate, who sat across from him at the table.

While Nate and Joe argued about who had the biggest
piece, I noticed a blank envelope with my name handwritten in the center. The
postmark showed my aunt Brenda’s name and address in the top right corner. I
loved my aunt. She was my dad’s sister and we both agreed that my father’s
parenting skills were severely lacking. She lived in California and had been
bugging me to visit. As I ripped the envelope a low moan came from the hallway.
The arguing behind me stopped.

Nate jumped up and ran through the door. “Mona!” he
shouted.

I followed him into the hallway and saw her lying on
the hardwood floor. Her head was squished against the wall and she was lying on
her side. Her face was beaten badly and covered in blood. “Oh my God, is she
all right?” I panicked, rushing to her side. “What happened?” She moved her
head slightly, but only moaned again.

“It was Rowan,” Nate said quietly from behind me just
as Joe came into view.

“Yep, he stayed out in the hallway and with the smell
of the brownies we couldn’t smell his stench.”

Nate bent down on the other side of her and felt her
pulse. “She’s alive.” He stood up, pulled his phone out of his pocket and
dialed 911.

After he told them the address he hung up. “They’re on
the way.” He stuffed his phone back into his pocket, just as we heard a loud
smash
from the rear of the house.

Joseph took off in the direction of the noise.

Nate picked Mona up and carried her to the bench in
the kitchen and laid her down. “You stay here and wait for the ambulance. I’m
going to help Joe.” He ran down the hall that led to the back door.

I reached over to pick up the pillow at the end of the
bench and placed it under her head. “Mona, can you hear me?” I asked, touching
her face. She looked so frail, so unlike her. She was a strong woman who could
handle whatever came at her, as opposed to my mother, who would fall apart over
anything.

“Mona, wake up.
Please.
You have to wake up.” I
picked up a towel and ran it under the water to wipe the blood from her face.

Mona coughed and opened her eyes slowly. “Megan, is
that you?”

Oh, thank God, she was okay. “Yes, Mona, I’m here. I
can hear the ambulance. You’re going to be fine.” I wiped the rest of the blood
off of her face, exposing a bruise that was just starting above her right eye.
Her bottom lip was beginning to swell and there was a cut on her left cheek.

“He’s evil. Be careful,” were the only words she said
before she passed out again. I really hoped Rowan would pay for this. Who did
he think he was, toying with people’s lives this way? Hurting Nate just because
he asked him to stop killing. Mona was right, he was evil. Now I understood how
Nate felt all these years and why he refused to form attachments. It wasn’t
fair to Nate or to me, or anyone we knew and loved. He had to be stopped.
He
had to die
.

The paramedics came in through the door and lifted
Mona onto the gurney. “What happened?” a woman asked; she looked about thirty.
She was wearing a uniform with her long blond hair pulled back into a tail. Her
partner was an older man who was short and round.

I didn’t know how to answer without them sticking me
in a padded room, so I played dumb. “I’m not sure. I came home and found her
this way. Is she going to be okay?”

The man examined her, feeling her midsection and
listening to her heart, then lightly touching her arm that was bent in an
unnatural way. “Yes. It looks like a few cracked ribs and severe bruising. But
the broken arm looks like the worst. They’ll check for internal bleeding, but I
think she’s fine.” The woman held the door as the man pushed her outside.

“We’re taking her to the hospital now. Are you
coming?” the woman asked. She stopped in front of the door after her partner
and Mona disappeared around the corner.

“No. I have to wait for someone, but I’ll be by soon.”
She nodded then followed her partner.

I picked up my phone and dialed Nate; it rang and
rang. “Pick up,” I pleaded, aggravated that he wasn’t answering. I sighed as I
hung up, looking down at the floor. I was about to turn around and head out the
kitchen door, when I realized what I just saw.

Through the crack at the bottom of the door were black
military boots. I had seen them when I looked down quickly and hadn’t
acknowledged it until I turned around. I started for the door again, this time
humming a tune as if I hadn’t a care in the world.

As soon as I made it outside I took off running as
fast as I could. I got as far as the back yard when Rowan grabbed my shirt and
pulled me so hard, I fell to the ground.

He sneered down at me, shoving me with his
foot to turn me around. I’d be bruised tomorrow if I wasn’t dead. “Hi, Megan.
Funny running into
you
here.”

“Where are Nate and Joe?” I sat up on the ground,
glaring up at him.

“I imagine they’re on the wild goose chase I sent them
on. I had fun running around your house leaving my scent so they would think I
left out the back rear door.

“You didn’t even hear me sneak into the kitchen after
I made that noise. I can’t believe how easy it was fooling your boyfriend. I
thought it would have been a challenge after all this time, but I guess not—”
He didn’t have time to finish his sentence. A large russet wolf lunged at him,
knocking him down. I sat up and stared at the two of them fight. Rowan shoved
the wolf off, who I believed was Joe and started to run. Joe pulled him down
again, grabbing his shirt by his very large fangs. Rowan turned and grabbed
Joe’s head and held him in a headlock.

“Come on, let’s get you to the car.” Nate took my hand
and started to lead me down the lawn, heading for the driveway.

“Where did you come from?” I asked him as we rushed to
the car.

“We got about a mile away before we realized it was a
trap. Hurry, we have to get the gun.” He put his hand on the car door just as
we heard a horrible sound. It was a cross between a scream and a howl.

We tuned to see Rowan walking away from the wolf, who
was lying on the grass with blood oozing out of him. Rowan threw a bloody knife
onto the ground. “Let’s play,” he snarled, jumping into the air, exploding into
a black wolf. His clothes ripped to shreds all over the lawn. Nate followed
suit and met him in midair.

I leaned against the car, shocked at what I saw in
front of me. The sound was horrible. The two wolves were crazed; growling,
snarling and biting. There was blood everywhere. I knew there was something I
was supposed to get out of the car. But I was paralyzed with fear by the wolves
who were savagely trying to kill each other.

It was difficult to see exactly what was happening.
Their movements were lightning fast. All I could do was gape at them with my
heart in my throat with worry for Nate.

It seemed to go on forever, but suddenly after a sharp
whine one of the wolves lay still on the ground. I stared in horror when I saw
which one.

The black one stood up and turned around to stare at
me. It satisfied me to see that there were bloody gashes all over his body. The
satisfaction disappeared when he smiled, showing his bloodstained teeth. Then
he stood motionless, looking down at the ground for a few seconds before his
body started to shake. The fur began to retract and its paws turned hoof-like,
then into hands. It was so disturbing. I had to turn away when bile started to
rise up in my throat.

I turned back around and saw Rowan smile at me. He was
naked and covered in blood. He started toward me with a leer on his face.

I ran at him, trying to get to the man I loved. “
Nate!
”
I screamed.

Rowan caught me, dragging me to Nate’s car. I
struggled at first, but it didn’t do any good. He barely noticed. “Don’t worry,
they’re both alive, for now. I want him to know I killed
you
before I
kill him.”

He opened the back door of the car and threw me in. My
head smashed against the window. Pain exploded in my head from the impact. I
held my head in my hands while he climbed in and started the engine. Now that
we were moving I lost my chance to open the door and run like I had planned.

He didn’t get very far down the long driveway before a
tan wolf, whom I knew was Nate, dove onto the hood, shattering the windshield.
Rowan lost control and the car spun, throwing Nate to the ground.

After what felt like forever spinning around in a
circle, the car suddenly stopped abruptly, causing it to flip. The noise was
deafeningly loud, metal bending and windows smashing. But when we stopped, it
was eerily quiet.

We landed against a tree, sideways. I was lying
against the passenger door in the backseat after being tossed like a rag doll.
My body ached, my head was screaming.

Glass was everywhere; all over my clothes, in my hair
and my mouth. I spit the glass out and brushed the rest off of my body. Then I
pushed myself up so I could see if Rowan was dead. I was disappointed to see
his hand move. He was lying on the steering wheel. His body was twisted in an
unnatural way. He moaned, pushing himself up. I realized the only way I could
stop him from killing me was to make him think I was already dead.

I lay back down on the floor and held my breath. I
couldn’t stop my heart from beating, but I hoped he was in too much pain to
hear it.

I heard movement. The leather seats squeaked as he
pushed himself forward to look over the seat at me. A few seconds later I heard
the squeak of the door and a loud sound of ripping metal as he pulled the door
off its hinges.

Blood and
Dirt

I didn’t hear anything for a few minutes; no
footsteps, no shuffling. He was quiet. The silence made me nervous, wondering
what he was doing. I was about to look up to see what was happening, until I
heard his voice. “
Nathaniel
, wake up.”