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

by Smith, Christina

  “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.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  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.”

  I slowly crawled toward the back window, being careful to keep quiet, so I could see what he was doing. I watched him kick Nate, who was lying on the gravel driveway after being thrown from the car. He had changed back to his human form. I was worried that the impact of the fall might have killed him until I saw movement in his eyes. I remembered his words—“it’s hard to kill a werewolf”—and sighed with relief.

  Something hard dug into my knee. I felt with my hand to see what it was and I touched cold metal. It was the gun. I turned my head back outside to see what was happening.

  Nate was leaning up on his elbows now, trying to get up.

  Rowan stopped in front of him. “Guess what, Nate? Your precious mate is dead.”

  Nate gasped, spinning around to look for me, his eyes full of pain. Rowan kicked him again. “Now it’s your turn,” Rowan growled as he lunged into the air in the opposite direction. The wolf landed about ten feet away then turned back to look at Nate. With a low growl he lowered himself to the ground to stalk his prey. He took a few steps, growled, showing his teeth and dove into the air once again. Nate braced himself for the attack, giving up.

  The sound of Will’s voice came into my head: “Point and shoot.” So I did. The gun exploded in my hands, the impact throwing me into the leather seat behind me.

  The wolf landed on Nate, knocking him down. There was no movement at first, but then suddenly the wolf jerked and was shoved off, landing on the ground. Blood poured out of the wound on his shoulder.

  Nate sat up. His eyes fell on mine and a smile spread slowly across his face. He stood up and started toward me.

  There was a growl behind him. The wolf was getting up onto his feet.

  I aimed again and pulled the trigger. He fell onto his back, blood spurting from his front leg. Okay, so I wasn’t the best shot. All I was doing was ticking him off.

  The wolf glared at me, growled and then dove at Nate again.

  I threw the gun in the air. Nate jumped for it and swung around, shooting the wolf in the heart. This time he fell down on the ground in front of Nate and didn’t get up again.

  Nate gave the wolf one kick to make sure he was staying down this time. When Rowan didn’t move, he rushed toward me and stopped in front of the trunk, where I still leaned over the back seat. “Are you all right?”

  I nodded, unsure if it was true or not.

  “You can come out now, he’s dead. It’s over.” He peered at me through the back window. Where there once was glass was now a gaping hole. The shattered shards lay all over the seat and on my legs.

  He was waiting for me to speak and I tried, but I couldn’t form words in my head. So much had happened in only a few minutes it was hard to process it all. “It’s okay. I’m okay.” He bent down and looked into my eyes. “Are you all right? Can you talk?” He gently touched my head and rubbed my hair soothingly. “Megan, are you all right? Say something.”

  “You’re naked.”

  “Am I making you uncomfortable?” he asked with a laugh. “I have a change of clothes in the trunk.” He reached through a hole of the trunk where the lid was bent up exposing the inside and pulled out some clothes.

  I turned around and glanced out the cracked windshield to make sure no one came down the driveway.

  “You can turn around now.”

  I did as he said. He was wearing a gray T-shirt and jeans. “Can you get me out of here? I’m afraid if I stand, the car will fall over.”

  He nodded, reaching into the car to pull me out.

  When I was standing in front of him all my emotions returned. I wrapped my arms around him, kissing his cheek, his eyes, his nose, until I reached his lips. He held me tightly against him and kissed me with such passion, I was dizzy.

  “Excuse me. I’m hoping I’m not interrupting this romantic scene, but I’m hurt. The jerk stabbed me with a silver knife. There’s a dead wolf laying in Megan’s back yard and a car the shape of a pretzel in the driveway. But don’t be minding me now. Carry on.”

  We turned toward the voice and saw Joe standing behind our patio set, waving his arm in the air as he spoke. He was covered with blood and dirt, holding his side where he had been stabbed. “Oh yes and I’m naked. Do you think maybe you can wait to make out until after we clean up and find something for me to wear?”

  As Joe rambled on, Nate was staring into my eyes with a smirk on his face. “Yes, I have extra clothes, I’m a werewolf. Just don’t come any closer; I think Megan has seen enough naked werewolves for one day.”

  That was the understatement of the year. I could have gone without seeing the first werewolf, but second one was just fine.

  I watched Nate and a fully cl
othed Joe straighten out the car and shove it in the woods until Nate could have a tow truck come and get it.

  A blue mini compact car drove up the driveway, stopping in front of me. The window rolled down and Lauren leaned out. She lifted her sunglasses up above her eyes. “They’re really going to put a dead wolf in my car, aren’t they?”

  I nodded. “Yep, they don’t want to bury it around here, which is fine by me. They’re going to bury it in the woods by your house.”

  “One of the perks of being a Riley,” she said with a huff. “Are you coming?”

  “No. I’m going to get changed and cleaned up. I want to go to the hospital to see how Mona is doing. I’ll be by tonight.”

  Nate and Joe lifted the wolf into Lauren’s trunk. Joe climbed in the front seat and Nate gave me a quick hug before he got in the back. “I’ll see you later?”

  “Yes. I just need to see how she is. Don’t worry, I’ll be by tonight.” I waved as they drove out of the driveway.

  After I showered and changed I looked at myself in the mirror. My eyebrow was scratched and a bruise was forming on my check. My wrist was sore and I had scratches on the palms of my hands and knees from crawling around in the shattered glass. But besides the dull headache, I felt good. I was free to drive in my own car—well, Mona’s—until I got mine back from Nate’s house. But I no longer needed a bodyguard.

  The only problem was I would also be able to go home. I shoved that thought back as I grabbed my purse and left to go see the woman that was more my mother than my biological one.

  Mona was asleep inside her sterile hospital room when I arrived. I sat down on a plastic chair to watch her. Her face was swollen and bruised to the point that I didn’t recognize her. Her right arm was in a cast, but she wasn’t hooked to any monitors, which I took to be a good sign. I worked up the courage to get closer. Her eyes opened and she smiled. “I wondered when you would come.”