Cursed by the Moon (Shifter Rising Book 2)

by Rebekah R. Ganiere

  She looked over and took the pen from between her teeth. "Bothering? No. Distracting? Absolutely." She threw him a smile that crinkled the corners of her eyes, then leaned in and kissed him softly, making goosebumps raise all over his skin.

  His fingers traipsed over the scar on her back and she stiffened.

  "That thing you wanted to tell me. About your past. Does it have anything to do with this?"

  Her eyes rounded. She stuck her pen in the spine of her book and closed it. Then stared at the cover for a moment.

  "Yes," she whispered. "My mama and I used to run in the woods, a few miles from our farm. They were owned by a man named Mr. Perkins. He wasn't a mean man, but he wasn't a gentle man either."

  She drew a circle on the cover of her book with her finger.

  "We'd been running for a few hours and mama had just caught a rabbit. We'd started to pick it apart when we heard someone in the woods. Mama nudged me to move but I was too curious. Who the heck would be out that late? I waited. It was a bad move. The bullet hit me before I even realized what had happened. I stumbled and several sets of heavy footsteps came crashing toward me. It was Mr. Perkins and his son Don." She paused unsure if she was ready to tell him everything.

  "Mr. Perkins was yelling something about wolves tearing up his chickens and then he leveled the gun at me. Mama jumped in the way and knocked him back. Don shot at her, hitting her in the shoulder. I lunged at Don but mama nudged me again, wanting me to run. Mr. Perkins raised his gun. It was the last time I saw her alive."

  Noah's heart broke for the pain that poured out of Cara. He gathered her in his arms and held her close. Tears wet his skin, where her face lay against him. After a minute, she began tracing the scars on his bare chest.

  "Anyway. After the hospital I went home and found a package mama had left just in case. Inside was Donovan's card. I called and they brought me here."

  Her light touch tickled his side and his muscles quivered, making him laugh. She kissed his scar.

  "Are these from the blast?"

  "Most of them. Some are from other stupid stuff." He pointed to the long one on his side. "This one is from a BMX bike accident. And this one is from a skateboarding accident." He lifted his chin and pointed out a scar just under his chin. "This one is from a piece of coral I hit when I was surfing."

  "Wow, you’ve been adventurous."

  He shrugged. "Not so much. I ended up scaring the crap out of my mom. But what I really wanted was to piss off my dad. "

  "You said that once before. Why?"

  Noah stayed silent for a minute, trying to gather his thoughts. "My dad owns a huge import and export business with companies and suppliers all around the world. He always expected me to take over his business, no matter what I wanted. I guess saying I did stuff to piss him off isn't exactly the truth. It's more that I did anything I could to get his attention. To get him to see me. Not who he wanted me to be or thought I should be, but me."

  Cara's eyes held sadness as she listened to him. He'd only told one other person why he’d done all that crap growing up.

  "How did he take your injury?" she asked.

  Noah rubbed his thigh as a tingling sensation shot through it.

  "'Now you can finally stop screwing around and do what you were meant to do.' That's what he said when he came to see me. They were the first words he spoke when I came home and the last words I've heard him say since."

  Her brows pushed together. "You haven't seen your family in six months?"

  "My mom came to visit me in the hospital every day for a month. I finally told her to stop. She's a good woman, kind and loving, but doting on every one of my father's needs. She'd come in, primp the room, clean up the trash, and fuss over me. It just became… overwhelming. She loves me and I love her but she isn't strong enough to stand up to my dad. She's happy being the dutiful wife with the fancy cars, the nice clothes, playing tennis at the club with her friends, and going out on the yacht for parties that she catered."

  "Wow. Sounds nice."

  "Not as much as you'd imagine. It's an empty, hollow life. I'd give anything to have the kind of upbringing and connection you had with your mother."

  Cara snorted. "Yeah I could just see you out in the garden, pulling weeds and picking berries to make jam to sell at the farmers’ market."

  "Hold on a minute. You know how to make jam?"

  "Uh… yup."

  "From scratch."

  She gave him a funny look. "Yeah."

  "I thought you said you only knew how to make microwave meals?"

  "I never said that. I said maybe I should give them up. I never said I didn't know how to make something different."

  He dropped his jaw in mock surprise. "You lied to me."

  "No I didn't."

  "Yes you did! You lead me to believe that you couldn't cook." He grabbed her by the arms and pulled her on top of him. He tickled her sides and she curled into a ball laughing and trying to squirm away from him.

  "Stop, stop," she cried.

  "Do you yield?"

  "Yes, yes. I yield."

  He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her firmly on the lips. Her body flattened against his and she cupped his face in her palms. His arousal stirred as he tangled his fingers in her curls.

  "Promise me something," he said.

  "Anything."

  Their eyes connected.

  "Promise you'll never lie to me."

  She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and chewed on it for a minute. Her face flooded with emotion and she said, "I promise."

  He kissed her again. "Why didn’t you tell me that it was possible for werewolves to bond?"

  Her brows furrowed. "Because you were bitten not too long ago and newly bitten werewolves can't usually do that. It’s something you have to chose to do. To mark another werewolf as your own and bond to them.”

  "But it is possible?"

  The rapid beat of her heart thrummed against his.

  "Yes." A look of apprehension crossed her face and he smoothed out the creases in her forehead.

  "Don't worry, I'm not asking that of you."

  She dropped her head to his chest. "Whew! Oh man. For a minute there I thought you were."

  Her words were like a KA-BAR slice to the gut. She didn't want him.

  She lifted her head. "I mean. You're great and all, don't get me wrong but we've only known each other a week and that's a lifelong commitment."

  He nodded.

  A sweet smile took over her face and she cupped his cheek.

  "I'm not saying I haven't thought about it. I'm just saying it's too soon for both of us. And besides, there is something else I should tell you."

  His phone buzzed on the nightstand and he reached for it.

  "Noah–"

  He pressed his finger to Cara's lips and lifted his phone to his ear. "Hello?"

  "Noah?" It was Brigette.

  His heart plunged down to his toes. "Hang on a sec." He put the phone on mute. Damn. He'd just talked to Cara about lying and here he hadn't even told her about Brigette. He was a dick.

  "Hey I gotta take this," he said.

  She sat up. "It's cool. I need to study anyway." She gathered up her stuff, then leaned in and gave him one long, lasting kiss.

  He groaned and pulled her closer but she tore herself away. "Think of me while you're on the phone."

  "I'm gonna make you pay for that later."

  She wiggled her eyebrows at him. "Promises, promises."

  He couldn't tear his eyes away from her scar as she sauntered from his room, closing the door behind her.

  He threw his head back and growled. She was going to be his saving grace, or the death of him. Of that he was sure.

  He pinched the bridge of his nose and unmuted the phone. "Hey Brig, what's up?"

  "I just called to see how you're doing."

  "Good. I'm good."

  Silence flooded the other end of the phone, for several seconds. "Wow. I don't think I've
heard you use that word since you’ve come home."

  It was true. He hadn’t but he did feel good.

  "So I was just wondering if you'd given any thought to me stopping by to say hi next week."

  "I still don't think that's such a great idea."

  "Do you even know what today is?" Her words were choked with emotion.

  He wracked his brain trying to figure out the date. June… June… 30th. Ah crap!

  "It's our anniversary. Four years Noah. You always remember."

  "I… I'm sorry Brig. I've lost all concept of time and dates and we talked about this–"

  "Right. Well I wondered if I could have your address. I got you something. I'll send it to you."

  Man he felt like an ass. "You shouldn't have."

  "I wanted to. To remind you of the good times. But I guess if you're feeling good now, you don't need it."

  He swung his legs off the bed and hung his head in his hands.

  "Anyway. Happy anniversary. I hope you had a great day."

  What could he say? He'd told her a dozen times to move on. "I'm sorry, Brig. For everything."

  "Yeah… Me too."

  Silence deadened the air so long he thought she'd hung up.

  "You should call your mom by the way. She hasn’t been feeling too good and your dad is out of the country."

  "I'll do that. And Brig?" He should tell her about Cara. Tell her again to move on. Tell her why he was finally starting to get into a good place.

  "Yeah?"

  "Tell the guys I said hi."

  She sighed. "Sure. See ya."

  Noah hung up and pressed the phone to his forehead. He didn't know what to tell her or how to tell her. His thoughts turned to his mom. For as long as he could remember, his mom had been healthy. He dialed her cell number. The phone rang once, twice.

  "Hello?"

  He smiled. "Hey Mom."

  "Noah. It's so good to hear your voice." Her familiar, sweet voice was like smooth velvet.

  His ribcage tightened and tears formed in his eyes. "You too."

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  "Where are you taking me?"

  Cara had spent the last three days in class and her afternoons at work, then studying. She couldn't afford to get behind, but this impromptu date with Noah lightened her heart.

  Noah glanced over and winked. "You'll see."

  She sighed and sat back in her seat. She ran her fingers through his hair, then swirled his earlobe between her fingertips.

  "I like that," he said.

  The sound of his words made her smile, but it turned to a frown as her gut twisted with guilt. She still hadn't gotten the nerve to tell him about her past. She'd told him part of it, but not all. And she needed to. The longer she waited, the worse it would be. But she liked having someone of her own for once. Someone who didn't pity her or look at her like she was horrible. She was pretty sure it would be the latter when she told Noah the full story.

  Noah pulled into a large, empty parking lot and she glanced around at the vacant strip mall.

  "Uh… okay."

  He stopped the truck in the middle of the lot and hopped from his seat. He rounded to her side and pulled her door open. A wide smile spread across his face, making his brown eyes crinkle in the corners.

  "Come on."

  She looked around. "Where?"

  "Get in the other side."

  "The other side of what?"

  "The truck. I'm gonna teach you to drive."

  The bottom dropped out of her stomach. "Noah, I don't think–"

  "It'll be fine. I taught both my cousins to drive, when they were half your age."

  She eyed him skeptically.

  He rolled his eyes. "Okay, not half. They were twelve."

  "Twelve?"

  "Yeah. Every kid should know how to drive by the age of twelve. Now come on old girl, let's go."

  She jumped into his arms and he stumbled against the door but caught her by the rear as she wrapped her legs around his waist. "Do I feel old to you?"

  "No."

  She pressed her breasts into his chest. "What about these? Are they old?"

  "Certainly not."

  She licked his lip with the tip of her tongue, swirling against the seam before brushing her lips to his. "How about that? What does that feel like?"

  "Like I'm gonna throw you in the bed of my truck and strip you naked."

  She laughed and dropped to the ground. "I thought you had something you wanted to teach me."

  "I have several things I'd like to teach you now."

  She reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his lollipops. She swirled her tongue around it, then popped it in her mouth. A growl rumbled in Noah's chest. She removed the lollipop and kissed him quick before pushing it into his mouth.

  He leaned against the truck door, shook his head, rubbed his face, then pointed at her. "Driving. I'm here to teach you to drive."

  She jogged around the vehicle and slid into the driver's seat while Noah stood frozen.

  "Well old man? You comin'?"

  He crunched on his lollipop. "I wish."

  They spent the better part of an hour driving around the lot. She'd done well; only running over two parking curbs and narrowly missing one light pole.

  When her nerves were all but spent, they switched places. He drove down the highway and pulled off the road near a preserve. He parked the truck, removed a blanket and a basket from the truck bed.

  "I didn't know you had those in there," she said.

  "I'm just full of surprises."

  They walked to the preserve and he lifted the barbed wire so she could step through.

  "This is where Liam comes with Natasha during the full moon," she said.

  "Really?"

  "Yeah. It's pretty safe and there is a fence to keep people out." She looked him up and down. "Not werewolves apparently."

  They walked about a hundred yards in. Noah shook out the blanket and laid it on the ground. Cara spread out and stretched her legs. She took a deep breath, then relaxed onto the soft ground.

  "Man it feels good out here. I can't remember the last time I communed with nature."

  Noah set down the basket and knelt beside her. "I spent almost twelve months communing with nature. I became intimately acquainted with sand, scorpions, snakes, spiders and–"

  "Okay you can stop now." She shivered and looked up at the night sky. The stars shone bright beyond the clouds.

  He lay on his stomach next to her. "So you don't go out on the full moon?"

  She lifted her wrist and showed him her bracelet. "Not anymore. This keeps me from turning."

  He spun the bracelet on her wrist. "What is it?"

  "Wolfsbane. It's Natasha's but she's letting me borrow it. It fights the change at the full moon for us Bitten werewolves."

  "Where do I get one?"

  "You'd have to ask her, but I think they’re super rare. Which is why I won't let her give it to me. It’s just a loan until…" Until what? Until she could trust herself to go out again? She didn't know if that would ever happen.

  He pushed a curl from her forehead. "So was your mom bitten or someone else in your family tree?"

  "My grandpa on my mom's side was bitten by a rogue wolf. On my dad's side the bloodline goes back for generations."

  "Rogue?"

  "Yeah. Lot of people who've been bitten can't find a pack or don't want to. So they go it alone. They're called rogues."

  "Have you ever met one?"

  She shook her head. "Not really. I mean, Liam is kind of a rogue. He doesn't have a pack anymore. But he has Natasha and me. So I guess he's kind of forming his own pack now. Rogues aren't accepted very well. They tend to be more vicious and unpredictable since they don't have others to teach them about being a werewolf."

  His expression held a million questions.

  "Don't worry." She patted his hand. "That's why you have us. To make sure that never happens to you."

  He nodded, but his expre
ssion stayed somber. "And you grew up on a farm? Did you have a pack there?"

  She looked up at the sky it was obvious he didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Not since my dad took off. He had been the head of our pack but after he left it kind of just disbanded. There were only a handful of us out there in farm country. Our farm isn't very big, just a handful of acres were left by the time my mom inherited it but it's been in my family for five generations."

  "What happened to it?"

  "Oh it's mine. I own it."

  His brows furrowed. "You own it?"

  "Yeah. Mama left it to me in her will."

  "So it's vacant?"

  "No. I have someone renting the house and another farmer is renting the land but that barely covers what's left on the mortgage. The taxes and everything come from me."

  "Why don't you sell it?"

  She looked over at him. "Why would I do that?"

  "So you won’t have the stress of it anymore. To have the money to finish school and start a life."

  She'd only thought about selling the land once before. When she'd first moved to California.

  "It's all I have left of my family. All of my heritage is there. And honestly I hope to retire there someday."

  He cupped her cheek in his palm. "You're amazing."

  "You'd like it there. Fields as far as you can see. Plenty of room to roam, or hunt, or fish. Lots of time to be by yourself. To sit and think and remember."

  "Sounds wonderful. Why did you leave?"

  Panic laced through her and she looked away.

  "Because of that night?" he asked.

  Because the farmer I bit still lives down the road. "Yes."

  He turned her face to his. "What happened to your mom wasn't your fault."

  "I know that. But thank you for saying it anyway." He scooted closer and his handsome face loomed above her. "Noah–"

  He kissed her and all thoughts fled from her mind. He covered her body with his and swirled his tongue in her mouth. Cara moaned as shivers raced over her body. She ran her hands down his broad back and cupped his rear. He broke their kiss, pulling away.

  "Okay, okay. We better stop. This isn't why I wanted to come out here."

  "Really? You didn't bring me out here for a roll in the grass?"

  He kissed her nose and slid off. "Nope. I brought you out here just to be together." He pulled the basket over and she sat up. He took a bottle of wine, along with cheese, grapes, apple slices, and crackers from the basket.