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Secrets of the Moon

Page 23

by Kristy Centeno


  I’ll give you a call.

  No! I rushed to text him before he called me. I need to speak to you in person.

  I can’t.

  You can, you have to. I’m already here.

  What? Where are you?

  I’m outside your house, by the woods, right at the beginning of the path.

  No answer. If he didn’t come out, I’d have to go in, and I didn’t want to go inside his home. There was a good chance I wouldn’t make it out of there alive. Then again, I wasn’t much safer out here anyway.

  I’ll be right there, don’t move.

  The warm air suddenly felt cold to me and I started to shiver. I was scared. More than scared, I was petrified. I was beginning to regret this stupid decision of mine. But that was me, Marjorie Emery the risk-taker; make a choice then live to regret it, yep. It was a freaking miracle I was still alive. Tonight, however, I might not live to regret the decision I’d made.

  Slipping my cell back inside my pocket, I waited for Kyran to show up.

  A few minutes later, I spotted Kyran walking my way. The moment my eyes fixed on his tall form I could tell something was wrong with him. He slowly sauntered toward me, keeping his head lowered and his eyes down. He wore a black shirt—or at least it looked black, I couldn’t really tell since it was dark out—and a pair of dark pants. He wore no shoes, and his long hair swayed loosely above his broad shoulders. Those eyes, which I had grown to love, were different too. They were no longer the rich silver color they usually were. They had no luster now. The normally silver irises were now a dark gray color.

  Slowly, Kyran made his way to me until he was about ten to fifteen feet away, and then he stopped. A shadow crossed his eyes for a fraction of a second before it disappeared. I took a step forward so that I would be able to speak without being too loud, but that only made him take several steps back as if he didn’t want me to get close. That alone should have been a warning, but apparently I don’t heed warnings too well.

  “What is it that you want to talk about?” he asked, his voice sounding a little too gruff for my peace of mind.

  How could I start this? Should I openly accuse him? Ah hell, might as well spit it all out!

  “What happened in Iowa, Kyran?” The moment the word Iowa left my mouth, his eyes widened to the size of saucers.

  “What do you mean?” He frowned.

  “You know exactly what I mean. What happened to your neighbor?”

  Never, for as long as I live, will I ever be able to forget the look on his face when I asked that question. He didn’t resemble the normal Kyran I was used to seeing. For a mere fraction of a second, his expression changed so much I could have sworn I was speaking to a completely different person.

  “Leave, Marjorie!” The sound of his angry voice caused my stomach to churn.

  “No! I need to know, Kyran, everything that transpired. I know something happened, at least one man lost his life, and then you all fled.”

  He stared at me. He was genuinely surprised that I had just spit out the information he was hoping I would never find out about. He took several steps forward then stopped.

  “How long were you going to keep it all from me?”

  “You think you know…but you don’t know anything, Marjorie!” he snapped.

  “I came here to find out.”

  He shook his head.

  “What are you?”

  He wasn’t looking at me anymore. Instead his head was lowered into his chest and he was leaning heavily against a tree. A normal human being would have taken that as a sign to get the hell out of there. Not me. I was too angry to step down, and even if it caused my premature death, I was determined to find out the truth. Was he or was he not a werewolf?

  “What exactly…were you hoping to find out?” His breathing was ragged and shallow. Kyran seemed to be in pain. He supported his weight against the tree with one hand while the other hand clutched his abdomen with desperation. I had never seen a human being in such obvious discomfort before. His demeanor was causing my bravado to wither rather rapidly.

  “I want to know—”

  I stopped short when his head suddenly snapped up and he advanced toward me. The incredibly fast way in which he moved, along with his glowing gray eyes, scared the hell out of me. I tried to scream but I couldn’t. The sound wedged itself deep in my throat and wouldn’t come out no matter how much I tried.

  “What do you want to know?” He shoved me none too gently against a big tree behind me and I couldn’t help the yelp of pain and surprise that escaped my lips. “How many people I have killed? How many people I have eaten?” Those words caused me to flinch. “You want to know if I ate that man, or maybe how I got rid of the girl.”

  A sudden flurry of unpleasant images popped into my head. I sure didn’t want to die, or be eaten alive. I realized with a start that he had just confirmed Beatrice’s story. I’d mentioned his neighbor but I never said anything about the missing girl.

  Horrified, I tried to knee him in the groin, but he was too fast and strong for me. He knew what I intended to do before I even did it, and he was able to move aside before my knee made contact. I should have aimed for his thigh; with my miscalculated aim, maybe I would’ve made contact with his groin.

  Kyran released my surely bruised forearms and placed himself behind me. He wrapped his muscular arms around my waist and by doing so, pinned my arms to my side. I prayed he didn’t notice how badly my legs were shaking.

  “You are easy prey, Marjorie, much too easy. I could do anything I wanted to you right now and no one would know.”

  By coming here I had practically asked for it. “You wouldn’t get away with it.” Damn, did my voice sound shaky?

  Kyran snarled and let go of me. I stumbled briefly but I quickly regained my composure. I turned to look at him. There was no way I was going to turn my back on him. If he was going to eat me, I had rather see him coming.

  “You wanted to see the real monster I am…” He raised his head and sniffed the air. My heart thumped hard against my chest as he did so. What was he planning to do with me? Was that his way of saying that I was fresh meat for him?

  I shoved my fists inside my pants pockets so he wouldn’t see how much my hands were shaking. With the sudden commotion, I had completely forgotten about my phone. I still had it in my front pocket. I chanced a glance at him then and noticed that his head was still raised toward the dark sky, his eyes closed. I took out my phone and—

  The phone flew out of my hands before I was even aware it was taken. Stunned, I could only watch as it disappeared somewhere over some bushes. Kyran had sensed what I was up to and took the phone out of my hand and tossed it aside before I even realized what was happening. Damn werewolves and their keen sense of hearing!

  “Come on, Marjorie, let me show you what hides behind this face, beneath this body. Let me show you the real monster I am.”

  I wanted to say “No thank you,” but I doubted he would listen to me. He grabbed my forearm and started pulling me deeper into the woods.

  Damn it, Marjorie, do something! If I cry out, is there a chance that someone will hear me?

  “No one will hear us out here.”

  Oh Jesus! I’m screwed!

  I sank my heels into the ground, hoping it would stop him or at least slow him down, but his strength was superior to mine. When he couldn’t pull me, he dragged me. When I started raking my nails over his hands and arms, he stopped and pulled me against him.

  “You came here to see the real me. You wanted this,” he hissed.

  His breath felt warm against my face. His body was so hot I thought his clothing was going to melt right off of him.

  “No, I only…no…let me go.” My voice was but a mere squeak by then.

  I tried to push him away, but pushing him was like pushing a mountain. His hard body didn’t move a single millimeter, which made me even more aware of how vulnerable I was. He started pulling me again, deeper into the woods, and all I could t
hink of was he’s going to kill me and no one will ever know what happened to me.

  After dragging me a few feet into the woods, he stopped and let go of my arm. I had to rub my forearms up and down in order to relieve some of the pain. I knew I was going to have bruises by tomorrow—that is, if I live to see tomorrow.

  Kyran turned his back to me and took off his shirt. He let it fall to his feet. I looked up to the sky to see if there was a full moon out. There was a moon up there, all right, but it wasn’t full. Could it be possible he was just yanking my chain? How could he have known exactly what I was talking about? Because he knew what I meant when I mentioned Iowa and the dead man; I saw it in his eyes. Just like I knew that he knew that I had discovered his secret.

  “Just watch,” he murmured.

  Suddenly Kyran turned toward me, his face no longer the gorgeous face that I had grown to admire. His body twitched and jerked as it began to change before my very eyes. I could hear bones snapping, clothing tearing, and muscles extending. All kinds of popping and cracking sounds invaded my ears. I couldn’t quite make out what part of his anatomy caused the strange noises but it didn’t really matter. His body was barely human anymore.

  Hair sprouted throughout his entire body, covering it like the fur of a wolf. The fabric of his pants tore away in loud protests as the muscles of his thighs and legs bulged underneath. His chest extended further apart, his arms grew longer, and large sharp claws sprouted at the end of each finger. Kyran became at least a foot and a half taller. Where a mouth used to be, a large canine-filled snout replaced it. His head grew wider and extended upward, growing double in size. Two long and pointy ones replaced his normal human ears.

  Speechless, I watch the entire process take place but I still couldn’t believe that it was actually happening. Nothing could have ever prepared me for that, ever. Kyran was no longer Kyran—he was a monster. The monster I had come to fear.

  When the transformation finally stopped, Kyran stood in front of me taller than ever, with hair covering his entire body, including his face. His limbs were longer and filled with muscles, claws replaced fingernails, and he looked just as comfortable standing on two legs now as he did when he was human.

  As Kyran took one step forward, I took one back. When he took two steps forward, I took two more backwards. Now what? Was he going to pounce on me now? As if reading my mind, Kyran took two more tentative steps closer and growled. That was the most skin-crawling sound I had ever heard. Shivers crawled up and down my spine and my already shaking legs began to falter. When he opened his snout to show row upon row of razor sharp canines, I bolted.

  I starting running toward Vicki’s car, silently praying I could make it in one piece. I could hear him running behind me and I began to panic. He was gaining on me, fast. I was so scared, but most of all I was worried for my family.

  If I died here, my family would never know what happened to me. My father wasn’t even back from his trip yet. Would he return to a missing, possibly dead daughter? Those thoughts gave me the motivation I needed to keep running. A few short moments later, I couldn’t hear Kyran behind me anymore. Scared, I looked back. He wasn’t there, and there was no sign of him anywhere. Where did he go?

  It really wasn’t wise for me to concern myself about whether or not he’d changed his mind, especially because if he didn’t and I stopped, he would be on me in no time at all. I turned my attention back to running away and ran as fast as I could, the adrenaline rushing through my body aiding my escape.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of movement to my right. I didn’t have time to react before Kyran’s massive form exploded from within the woods and ran forward to block my escape path. I couldn’t move as fast as he could, so when he bolted in front of me I ended up crashing into him. I smashed against his chest with such force, I bounced backwards and landed in a heap on the ground. The back of my head struck the ground hard as I went down, causing sharp pains to shoot through my skull. My back throbbed mercilessly after making contact with the ground, and for a few agonizing seconds I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. I could’ve sworn I saw stars.

  Kyran didn’t move but remained poised atop me. I willed darkness to claim me so that when he started shredding my body to pieces, I wouldn’t feel it. Instead, Kyran moved back and away from me.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I heard a familiar voice behind me and I strained my neck to see…Alexis. “Get out of here, Kyran, you’ve done enough damage for one night.” And leave me alone with the other human-eating freak? I don’t think so!

  “No, I want…I want…” I tried to rise, but my head throbbed so badly I couldn’t see straight. Nausea threatened to consume me each time I tried moving. I had no choice but to lie back down, just so the world would stop spinning.

  “Don’t move, Marjie…” Alexis’s warm hand touched my shoulder and I couldn’t help but flinch at the contact. “Let me help you.”

  “No, don’t touch me!” My voice conveyed the fear and panic threatening to spill out at any moment.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said gently.

  “No! Don’t…touch…me.”

  The world was still somewhat spinning and I seriously thought I was going to pass out. Alexis helped me sit up despite my loud protests. Once I was sitting up, he touched the back of my head and brought his hand up to his face to sniff it.

  “You’re bleeding. I have to take you inside.”

  No freaking way! There was no way come heaven or hell I would willingly go inside their house.

  In a demonstration of true concern, Alexis took off his shirt and placed it behind my head, forcing the other protest working its way out of my mouth to die down immediately.

  “I’m so sorry, Marjorie. I shouldn’t have left him alone.”

  “Please, don’t kill me…just let me go.”

  I started to shove his hands away but he was a persistent devil. He wasn’t going to let go of me no matter how much I protested, and because of that I had to give up and close my eyes when the nausea threatened to get worse. If he didn’t let go of me soon I was going to vomit all over that smooth chest of his.

  “I’m not going to hurt you, no one is.”

  Hah! “Your brother…he tried to kill me!”

  Alexis lifted a concerned gaze toward me. “Come on, let’s get you inside the house and take care of that wound.”

  “No! I want to go home!”

  He didn’t listen to me. He picked me up off the ground as if I weighed no more than a pillow, and yet somehow I was surprised by that. He didn’t heed any of my objections as he started to carry me, so I began to shove him in a fruitless effort to get him to release me. Of course, all that movement caused my dizziness and nausea to worsen. Having little choice in the matter, I buried my face in Alexis’s shoulder and closed my eyes. It took me a moment to realize that Kyran was nowhere in sight and I automatically assumed that he must have left while Alexis was busy tending to me.

  My eyes were squeezed shut as Alexis ran to the house. In a few seconds, he had me inside the house and up the stairs. It literally felt like he was flying the entire time; he was moving so fast everything was just a blur.

  “What happened?” Josephine’s concerned voice startled me, but I refused to open my eyes. If anything, I buried my face deeper into Alexis’s shoulder.

  “Kyran…”

  “What did he do?” She sounded horrified.

  He tried to kill me. And if I don’t get out of here so will you all.

  “Just bring her to my room. Gage! Gage!” From somewhere downstairs, I heard Gage respond. “Bring the first aid kit!”

  They are werewolves, what do they need a first aid kit for?

  Alexis gently placed me on Josephine’s bed and tried taking a step back. Since I was scared out of my mind, I grabbed his arm and held on to him, refusing to let go at all. For a flashing instant, I had the sudden image of Alexis as my savior. For some reason flirty, fun, and handsome Alexis was the o
nly one I didn’t fear at the moment, so I desperately clung to him in hopes that he would protect me from the other human-eating monsters in the house.

  “Marjorie, no one in this house is going to hurt you,” he assured me.

  Who was he kidding? Kyran just tried to kill me! “I want to go home.” I felt as if I was staring death straight in the face.

  “Marjorie, please let us help you. I need to take a look at your head.” Josephine’s eyes were so full of concern that I began to think, how can I refuse?

  Oh, that’s right, these people are werewolves!

  “Please!” Josephine pleaded once more.

  Gage came in carrying the first aid kit and placed it on the nightstand next to Josephine’s bed. If they were planning my gruesome murder, I doubted they would bother to take care of my wounds first. If they were planning to eat me, I doubted they’d bother with me at all, just do it and get it over with. I nodded and reluctantly let go of Alexis’s arm.

  “Gage, please go out and find Kyran, make sure he doesn’t run off anywhere.”

  At the mere mention of his name, I flinched and scrambled back against the headboard.

  “Let me go,” Alexis offered.

  “No! You two will just get into a fight!” Josephine stopped Alexis’s advance. “Gage will go.” Angry and frustrated, Alexis only nodded.

  Gage left a second later and I was left alone with his siblings. Josephine opened the first aid kit and started rummaging through it. She took a few items out and placed them on the bed next to me. I only stared like a wild animal waiting for the first opportunity to bolt.

  “Can I take a look at your head?”

  I looked at her then at Alexis. Neither appeared threatening. Then again, I had just learned a valuable lesson. Appearances could be deceiving.

  “I…think I’m fine. I just want to go home.” The headache and nausea that I felt were clearly calling me a liar.

  “You will go home as soon as I make sure you’re okay.”

  If I don’t let her do this, they’ll never let me go home. “Okay.”

  I scooted back down on the bed and sat on the edge to make it easier for her to take a look. During my flight, my thick hair had gotten loose from the ponytail, which made it easier for her to part it so she could see as much of my skull as possible. With extremely cautious hands, she examined the back of my head, careful not to aggravate my wound further.

 

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