Riley's Torment, A Moon's Glow Novel #2 (29 page)

When they had
all finished their respective calls, Joe and Nate went to search
the house to make sure there were no more werewolves around. Will
made a call while they were gone to have someone come out and fix
the window. The air was warmer today, but even still, with the
outside air blowing in the enclosed room, the office was chilly.
Feeling useless, I stood up and wandered to the hall closet to
fetch a broom. There was glass all over the floor, and Will could
hurt himself if he stepped on it. So could we, but we’d heal right
away.

“Thanks,”
Lauren said, once I returned to my seat from cleaning the glass and
putting the broom away.

“You’re
welcome. I feel like I should be doing something, other than
sitting here twiddling my thumbs.”

Will ended his
call and turned to me. “You did enough. Thank you, Megan, for
saving my life.” His face was so full of gratitude. I could feel my
cheeks heat up.

Feeling
embarrassed by his appreciation, I waved his words away and simply
smiled. I didn’t know what to say.

“So girls,”
Will whispered, leaning back in his office chair. “Will you please
be honest with me, and tell me what happened on that island. How
did you become werewolves?”

My face surged
with heat. I couldn’t tell him the details. Lauren caught my look
and took pity on me. She explained everything to him. I think she
was tired of lying and felt the need to make it up to him. She
didn’t gloss over anything. She ended the story when we were back
on solid ground.

Will’s eyes
resembled those bug eyed gold fish. His expression was filled with
shock and what looked like gratitude to Joe for helping Lauren
change without the excruciating pain. Once he regained his
composure, he smiled sadly. “I’m so sorry that happened to you
both. It must have been terrifying.”

I pressed my
lips together, speechless. There were no words to express how
horrifying our experience was.

Lauren was as
quiet as I was, no doubt thinking of the wolves attacking us. As
the memories flowed through my mind, I thought of Adrian and tried
to think of the color of the wolves. There was a black one, but I
couldn’t remember if it was aggressive to us. Was Adrian the one in
the window appearing savage and hungry? I pushed that thought away
and replaced it with the training he gave me that helped save
Will’s life.

As we were lost
in our thoughts remembering our time on that island, Will tilted
his head, and his brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you react the way
Lauren did?” he asked me. My stomach dropped down to my black
sneakers. “Did you have trouble changing as well?”

I just gaped at
him, not sure how to answer.

“No, she was
already one, but she didn’t know it.” Nate’s voice cut through the
room, making me jump. My stomach was queasy with apprehension,
nervous about what was about to happen.

“How did she
become a werewolf?” Will asked softly and winced. He really should
be resting his voice, but after learning all he did, it was
understandable to have questions.

“I bit her.”
Those three little words fell out of Nate’s mouth like an anvil.
They were so small, but carried so much weight. They changed me,
him, and by the look on Lauren’s father’s face, Will himself. Rage
and disappointment filled Will’s eyes, emotions I had never seen
directed at his uncle before.

“You what?”
Will gasped as he stood up to face Nate.

Nate’s
expression was one of guilt, but also determination. He hated what
he had done, but he also had to face the consequences. “I bit her
the night before Charlotte kidnapped them. No one noticed because
it takes a day or two for the werewolf DNA to travel through the
body.”

“How could
you!” Now Will’s voice held a desperation that brought a tear to my
eye. He seemed even more upset than I had been, like a child
learning that superhero’s powers were not real. I understood his
reaction. That was how he saw Nate. He could do no wrong in his
eyes. He had looked up to Nate his whole life, and now, Will
realized Nate wasn’t perfect. “I never thought you’d hurt anyone.”
His voice was now a raspy whisper.

Nate’s face had
shown many emotions, but guilt was one he wore like a badge. And he
wore it now, yet again. He took everything on as his fault. It was
a wonder he could stand upright. “It was a mistake. I didn’t mean
to do it.”

“Is that why
Megan moved home?”

Nate nodded,
but stayed silent, his face a mask, hiding his true feelings.

Will closed his
eyes and took a ragged breath. In that moment Will’s image of Nate
shattered. When he opened his eyes, he didn’t look at Nate, but he
gazed at me. “I’m so sorry, Megan.” And with that, he stood up and
left the room, closing the door behind him.

My heart broke
again by the whole situation. Why couldn’t life be black and white?
After what Nate had done to me, I should hate him, but seeing the
despair in his eyes after Will’s reaction, how could I?

“He’s been
through a lot, Nate. He’ll be fine,” Lauren assured him, breaking
through the awkward silence.

Nate nodded and
moved to the window gazing out at the night sky. No one spoke, not
knowing what to say to make him feel better. How do you ease
someone’s guilt when what they had done was so wrong?

“Did your
father call someone to fix the window?” Nate asked Lauren, his
voice strained.

“Yes.”

The last few
hours only added to my already stressful day, and my eyes began to
droop. Relieved to have a reason to leave this emotionally charged
room, I stood up. “I’m going to turn in early. Will I be staying in
your room?” I asked Lauren.

“Yes. I’ll meet
you up there.”

“
Okay,
goodnight.” I directed my words to everyone, but only Lauren and
Joe responded with sad smiles.

Nate stayed
where he was, staring out at the window without acknowledging me at
all.

After
borrowing one of Laurens t-shirts, I climbed into her soft bed. I
was practically asleep when I hit her fluffy pillow. My emotions
were in turmoil, and I welcomed the oblivion of sleep. I vaguely
heard Lauren climb into the bed some time later. It was the good
Nate I dreamed of this time. I yearned for him to kiss me as he
hovered above me in my bedroom at home, but I always woke before
that happened.

Today it was
Will yelling that pulled me into consciousness. “No, Joe, he is not
the man I thought he was.”

Joe must have
been trying to smooth things over between his two friends. I
couldn’t imagine how Will would react if he knew Nate had killed
twice in his long life. He had once asked me to keep it to myself,
knowing how his family saw him, and after last night, I agreed with
that decision. They obviously couldn’t take it.

I glanced
around at my surroundings, not ready to get up. Lauren’s room was
the same as it was when I first became her friend, larger than my
own with colors of red and cream throughout. The smell of her
vanilla scented candles permeated the air. It was a comfortable
space, and any girl would want to spend time in it. I remembered
the first time I had been here. It was a slumber party with her
friends Ally and Lilly. I was nervous at first because they weren’t
girls I normally hung out with, but they made me feel welcome, and
I now called them friends.

I turned onto
my side staring at her shelves attached to the wall. She had every
movie imaginable. Spending the whole day up here watching my
favorites and avoiding my life sounded ideal. Why shouldn’t I? I
had no plans. My workouts were obviously over. I couldn’t trust
Adrian; he had lied to me. I hadn’t had the chance to think that
through with everything that had happened. But now that I did, I
wasn’t convinced that Adrian was trying to hurt me despite his
deceit. There was something odd going on. I couldn’t see Charlotte
telling Adrian to help me and Lauren, and that’s what he had done.
I went over every conversation we had together, and nothing he said
could convince me otherwise. He told me to turn into a wolf often
so I wouldn’t hurt people I love, which was the same advice Nate
had given me. He also showed me how to fight to protect myself from
other werewolves. This did not sound like someone that was working
for Charlotte. Did he know something that we didn’t? Was Charlotte
planning an attack, and he wanted me to be able to protect myself?
I knew in my heart that he was good and that he was indeed trying
to help me. Maybe he would know what James and Charlotte were
planning for Will. Maybe he could help us. The idea of contacting
him entered my mind, but I wasn’t sure if I should follow through.
The fact was that he did lie to me. How could I trust him now, even
though I really wanted to? Ugh! Another situation I couldn’t figure
out. Why was life so hard? There were two men that I had trusted
that had betrayed me—one that I loved deeply and the other that I
considered a friend. I wanted to forgive both of them, but I was
learning that forgiveness wasn’t always that easy.

Thankfully,
Lauren groaned, interrupting my internal struggle. She was awake
and would be able to distract me from my confusing thoughts. I
turned around to find her staring at me.

“Are you
feeling better this morning?” she asked, her voice was rough with
sleep.

“Do you mean,
have I made any decisions? Then no. I’m still struggling to forgive
Nate, even though he kissed me yesterday.”

She sat up and
gaped at me. “He kissed you?”

I nodded. “Yep,
in the hall, after you told him I saved Will. He said he was proud
of me.”

She ran her
hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face. “That was before
my dad’s reaction. I think it really bothered him.” Her eyes were
sad. “I bet he could use the support of his fiancé.” Her point was
obvious. She wanted me to talk to him, knowing he’d be still upset
after last night. I wanted to, but what was I supposed to say,
“Don’t feel bad for turning me into a wild animal? I’m okay with
it?” I couldn’t lie to him, just to make him feel better.

I turned to
face the ceiling. Her intense stare was giving me the creeps. “Who
was it that told me a week ago that they understood why I couldn’t
forgive him yet, and they would stop pushing me?” I didn’t look to
see her response. I continued my perusal of the white ceiling. I
was searching for a flaw, and the only one I could spot was a few
lines that were left from the paint brush.

“Okay, that was
me,” she admitted sheepishly. “But that was before my father’s
reaction. He must really be hurting. My dad and Nate have always
been so close.”

“That was
pretty bad. Did he speak at all after I left?” I asked, finding
another flaw, a faded spot the size of a quarter.

“Not really.
Maybe a few grunts, when Joe tried to talk about James.”

An ache pierced
my heart at the thought of the man I loved in pain. But there was
nothing I could do to help him. “Where did they sleep?”

“In a spare
room, but they took shifts guarding my father. Nate stayed up until
Joe took over for him.”

“I heard Joe
talking to Will about Nate. It didn’t go over well.”

She tapped the
blanket, where her leg should be. “I feel bad for Nate, but my dad
is crushed. Did you see his face?” Her voice took on the feelings
inside her. You could tell she hated that two of the men she loved
most in the world were not getting along.

“Yes. He looked
like he someone told him Superman wasn’t real.”

She pointed at
me. “Exactly. He’s always looked up to Nate. His voice was
different when he spoke of his uncle. He was proud that Nate was a
werewolf and yet the most giving man he knew. You could see it in
his face when they talked. It was like hero worship, and in one
second, that was shattered. I have never seen him so disheartened
before in my life. I hope he can get over it.”

For some
reason, I felt responsible for this riff between the two men. If I
had forgiven Nate right away, maybe Will wouldn’t have reacted the
way he did. “Maybe he’ll forgive him when I do,” I suggested,
voicing my thoughts.

She was quiet.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see her turn on her back,
staring up at the ceiling, just like I was doing. “Do you think
you’ll be able to?”

“I hope so.” My
chest ached again, and in the last few weeks, it was an all too
familiar feeling. “Because, I really miss him.” My voice broke on
the last word, and a single tear fell down my cheek.

She turned her
head slightly. “I know,” was all she said. And for some reason, it
was exactly what I needed.

I cleared my
throat, anxious to change the subject. “I’m thinking about calling
Adrian.”

She leaned up,
resting her head on her elbow. “Are you serious? He lied to
you.”

I turned my
head to face her. “Do you really think he wanted to hurt us? That
he was working with Charlotte? You were there with me. Did he say
or do anything that would make you think that?”

She sighed, her
eyes looking down as she thought it through, her fingers picking at
the blanket. After a few seconds, her eyes shifted up to peer into
mine. “No.” She shook her head. “You’re right. It doesn’t make
sense. All he did was help us.”

“I was thinking
of letting him explain. He wanted to yesterday.” I paused, running
my finger over the embossed rose on her red duvet. “Maybe he could
help us with your dad.”

Her eyes
widened with hope. “You think?”

I shrugged. “I
don’t know. I mean, he lied, so it will be hard to trust him, but
I’d like to give him a chance to explain.”

“How will you
contact him?”

“I have his
cell number. He gave it to me when we started the work outs.”