Riley's Torment, A Moon's Glow Novel #2 (21 page)

The trail
led to Nate’s office. There was a note on his desk. It was from
James and it said:
Nice try, Uncle.

Joe groaned as
he read the note over Nate’s shoulder. “What do you bet the trail
leads to a body of water or a car?”

“No doubt,”
Nate agreed, crumpling the paper in his hand. “My nephew is pissing
me off.” With a glance around the office to make sure nothing was
missing or disturbed, they went back out into the hallway.

The scent led
to Will’s office. He was in his chair, wearing a light gray
business suit and white shirt. His glasses rested on the bridge of
his nose as he leaned forward, reading a report. “Are you alright,
Will?” Nate asked his nephew.

Will jumped,
startled by the sudden voice, and appearance of his friends. “Yes,
I’m fine,” he replied, his face and voice filled with
confusion.

Joe smiled at
Will, his face strained. Nate could imagine things between his
nephew and friend would be awkward for a time, now that Joe was
dating his daughter. “I’ll go outside and finish looking, but I
think we’re done here.”

Nate nodded,
agreeing that the trail would lead to nothing. He watched Joe head
through the stairwell, and then turned to focus on Will. “James was
here.”

Will’s eyes
went as round as the large clock on the wall, and he dropped the
report in his hand. “James Riley?”

Nate
nodded.

“He came back?
Where has he been?”

Nate moved to
the chair in front of the desk and sat down. He slumped into the
plush material feeling defeated. “I have something to tell you.”
When Will nodded, resting his elbows onto the wooden desk, Nate
explained what had happened since he found James at the
restaurant.

Will’s eyes
were like ice, his jaw as hard as stone. “When will that witch
leave us alone?” He pounded the desk with his clenched fist,
hitting a pen that rolled away, landing against a stapler.

Nate lowered
his head and stared at his black boots. He focused on the dirt
scuffed on the edges and the small crack in the stitching. “I’m
sorry, Will.” When would his family be safe from this predator,
hell bent on destroying him?

“Stop blaming
yourself. This is her fault. First, she turned you, and now James.
It’s a good thing she didn’t do the same to Lauren and Megan when
she had the chance.” Nate flinched at his words but didn’t have the
heart to set him straight. And it wasn’t his place to tell him
about Lauren.

Will leaned
back in his chair. “Still, she needs to be killed before she hurts
someone else.”

Nate nodded in
total agreement.

Will sat up
abruptly and started to sift through folders, until he found a
newspaper. His face was full of shock and fear.

Nate
swore as Will held up the paper, horrified that it was happening
again.

Joe stepped
into the office. “Yep, the trail ended at a car.” He glanced at
both men “What’s going on?”

Nate pointed to
the headline sprawled at the top of the front page of the
newspaper: Five Hikers Killed By Wild Animals.

Chapter Eigh
teen

Adrian took me
to a gym in the warehouse district and stopped in a lot that was
basically empty. Two lonely cars sat in the back next to a
dumpster. The gym was a small steel sided building with a sign on
the front that held just one word—GYM, an original name that must
have brought in a lot of customers.

“They’re in
between classes right now. They’re usually packed,” Adrian
explained as if he had read my mind.

“You come here
a lot?” I asked, eyeing the place apprehensively.

He nodded as he
turned off the ignition to his Jeep. “Yeah. I like to work out, and
I usually find a gym as soon as I move to a new place.”

We both climbed
out, and I followed him to the entrance. The sun was going down and
was now dusk. Since the snow had picked up, there were little
flecks of white against the dark sky.

The inside of
the building was wide open with workout equipment at one end. The
other side was empty, except the floor was lined with mats. At
first the only smell I noticed was lemons and some kind of wax. But
with my werewolf nose, I could also scent sweat, which I guess was
expected in a gym. It wasn’t overpowering though, and if I didn’t
have the heightened senses, I never would have smelled it.

“Adrian?” We
both turned toward a voice coming from the left far wall. A woman
about my height was restocking a shelf with what looked like
vitamins and supplements. She had brown hair that was braided and
pulled up into two buns on the back of her head. She was wearing
workout clothes that consisted of a tight black tank top and low
riding sweatpants. She stepped away from the shelf toward us. “I
didn’t know you were coming in today.”

“I hadn’t
planned to, but my friend here wants to learn a few moves, so I
thought I’d show her some.” He gestured to me with his thumb.
“Lola, this is Megan.”

I nodded and
said hi, while she simply smiled at me. This close up, I noticed
how defined her muscles were. I had never seen a woman with such
thick arms.

“Tommy and I
were just heading out to get some dinner. Will you be okay on your
own?”

Adrian nodded
as he shifted the duffle bag he brought with him to his other
shoulder. “Of course—we’ll be fine.”

She grinned.
“Great, and if anyone shows up, tell them to come back in an hour,
okay?” She said this over her shoulder as she headed to a door near
the entrance.

“Will do,”
Adrian called to her as she banged on the steel door twice. The
clanging sound rang out in the otherwise quiet room.

Almost
instantly, it opened. A tall, very broad man with a buzz cut came
out wearing sweats and black leather fingerless gloves.

“Ready for
food?” Lola asked him. “Adrian’s going to work out while we’re
gone.”

The man turned
our way; his cool, almost silver eyes assessed us before he gave a
nod and disappeared outside with Lola.

Adrian dropped
his bag on one of the mats and opened it. He stood up holding black
leather boxing gloves. We both shed our coats, throwing them into
the open bag. After he helped me put the gloves on, he lifted a
heavy bag that was lying on the floor in the corner and hung it on
a hook in the center above the mats.

He stood beside
the bag that swung gently from the ceiling. It creaked softly as he
stood in front of me. We both had changed into more comfortable
clothing before we left my house. I chose yoga pants and a white
tank, while he threw on his extra sweats he kept in the trunk of
his car.

“Okay, are you
ready?” he asked, a glint appeared in his dark brown eyes. It was
obvious that he enjoyed being here. “We’ll start with your stance.
Bend your knees, hands up to protect your face, elbows in tight to
protect your rib cage.” As he spoke, he demonstrated until he was
poised for a fight in front of me. I followed suit until I was
standing with my fists up ready to punch. I felt a little silly.
“And don’t forget to breathe.”

Breathe, okay,
I can do that.

“How’s this?” I
asked, feeling self-conscious.

He nodded his
approval with a small smile playing at his lips. “First, we’ll do a
jab. Rotate your shoulder and keep your arm straight out.” He did
the movements as he spoke, punching the bag. It looked like he hit
it pretty hard, but the bag only moved marginally. He stood back
while I gave it a try.

It was fun
actually, and I could feel the power in my swing as my fist
connected to the leather. I did the move a few more times and with
each swing, I could feel my new strength. This, I could get used
to. Now I knew why Adrian liked to do this. If Mona could see me
now, she’d regret ever laughing at me at the idea of me working
out.

Next, he showed
me the cross punch, which I practiced a few times before moving
onto the next ones—the hook punch and uppercut. I worked on all of
them for the first half of our session, while Adrian paced behind
me, occasionally correcting my technique. Finally, we moved onto
kicks. But before we began, he got us each a bottle of water from a
small mini fridge. After our thirsts were quenched, he showed me
some stretches. When he was satisfied that my muscles were loose
enough, he demonstrated a front kick, a shin kick, and then a
spinning back kick.

I watched in
awe at his technique. He was really good at this and obviously
enjoyed it. He was definitely in his element while explaining the
moves. When he was done, he stepped aside while I tried.

The kicks were
harder and used more of my muscles. But I had to admit, they were
more fun. When our hour was up and Lola and Tommy returned, I felt
like a bad-ass, excited for our next session. Adrian confirmed with
the owners that we could use the space at lunch tomorrow. They
usually closed at that time, but since they trusted Adrian, he
could take advantage of the empty gym.

Adrian wanted
to work out every day until he felt I was capable of taking on any
werewolf who threatened me. He knew about my kidnapping and told me
that he had a few run-ins with werewolves who just wanted to cause
trouble. He said he felt better knowing he could protect himself,
and I understood what he meant. Since I met Nate, I had always
relied on him to save me from the sadistic werewolves in his life.
But now, I could take care of myself. I reasoned that I didn’t have
to feel guilty about spending time with Adrian because it had a
distinct purpose. I hadn’t told Nate about my new friend yet, but
knowing how much Nate wanted to protect me, wouldn’t he want
someone to teach me to fight?

When Adrian
dropped me off at home, my excitement was wearing off. Now I was
just tired and thirsty. I had finished the bottle of water he gave
me earlier, but I needed more. I grabbed a couple waters from the
fridge, said a quick hello to Mona, then rushed to my room to fall
on the bed. I needed a nap. Once I was curled under the warm
blankets, instead of drifting off, I thought of calling Nate. I
wanted to tell him about my afternoon but decided against it for
two reasons. One—I wasn’t ready to hear his voice, and two—I didn’t
want to tell him about Adrian. I was afraid he’d think something
was going on between us, and the idea of him being jealous made me
nervous. No, it was better to keep my friendship secret for now.
Besides, I still wasn’t ready to contact him. Every time I thought
of doing so, the image of him biting me surfaced. I even felt his
teeth sink into my skin. I knew my imagination was way worse than
reality. It didn’t hurt when it happened, but the mind was tricky,
and maybe my inability to forgive him was behind the false
reality.

I woke slowly
to the sound of crunching next to me. I could also hear the low
drone of the TV. It sounded like some dating reality show I
wouldn’t be caught dead watching. Why was the TV on? And why on
that show? I breathed in and got my answers. The smell of werewolf
and guava was all I needed. Lauren was a reality show junkie,
something that I never understood. Without turning to face her, I
mumbled, “What are you doing here?” My voice was barely audible,
but of course, she heard me.

The crunching
stopped, replaced with a crumpling sound. “I came here to visit my
best friend. You still are my friend, aren’t you?”

My eyes were
closed, and I still felt groggy as I sighed, suddenly feeling like
we were in grade school. “Yes, you’re my friend.”

She leaned over
me. I could feel her face hovering in front of mine. Her breath
smelled of dill pickle, her favorite flavor of chips.

“Why are you
napping in the afternoon? Did you age fifty years since I saw you
last?”

Unfortunately,
the sleepy fog was lifting from my brain, but I refused to open my
eyes. “I worked out today, and I was tired.” That felt really odd
coming from my lips, I did not exercise. The very idea would
normally make me laugh, but since so many werewolves insisted on
tormenting me, my opinion was changing. I was actually excited for
tomorrow when I could do it again.

I could feel
her fingers on my eyes just before she yanked my eyelids open. I
jerked back not expecting her hazel eyes to be so close. “You
worked out? Did hell freeze over?”

I couldn’t help
the small smile that flickered across my lips as I pulled my head
back forcing her to let go of my eyelids. “It must have.” Her head
was indeed hovering in front of me, her sandy hair falling down
like a veil around both of our faces. Her body was still sprawled
over my side, and she was starting to get heavy.

She sniffed
hard, her nostrils flaring. “Why do you smell like another
werewolf? I saw you with Mandy this morning.”

Oh crap, I
really didn’t want to tell her or any of my werewolf friends, but I
couldn’t lie. She could smell Adrian’s scent on me. Damn it, I
should have had a shower before I lay down. I pushed my arm upward.
“Can you get off of me please?”

Her eyes
narrowed. “Only if you tell me whose scent that is.”

“Fine, just get
off of me. This is getting weird.”

She grinned
before disappearing from my view.

I sat up, and
leaned against my headboard next to her. Lauren had her knees up
with the bag of chips in her lap. She was wearing a long mauve
sweater with black tights. She leaned forward and stuffed another
chip into her mouth. The TV screen was filled with half naked girls
sitting around a pool, all vying for one guy. I didn’t understand
why people watched these shows.

“So who is it?”
she asked again, holding out the bag of dill pickle chips.

I grabbed one
and took a bite. As I chewed, I thought of my answer. And the only
thing I could come up with was the truth. “It was a guy I met at Le
Crème. He came in after Mandy left.”