Gray Moon Rising: Seasons of the Moon

by S. M. Reine

  “Don’t,” he said. His eyes were filled with anger, but not at her. “Never, ever be sorry about that.”

  Yasir climbed up onto the rocks. They all tensed, but he didn’t attack.

  “What am I supposed to do now?” he asked Seth.

  “Why are you asking me?”

  “Well, I know what command would tell me,” Yasir said. “They would tell me to shoot all the werewolves anyway.”

  “Command also put my mom in charge,” Seth said.

  “Yeah. There’s that. But our primary mission is to protect humans, and I don’t see any werewolves here. Do you?”

  They turned to look over the peak of the mountain bathed in moonlight. There weren’t as many bodies as Seth originally thought, but there were still too many. The fight had been short and brutal. Three hunters had died. So had a half-dozen werewolves. But the dead wolves were the only animals in sight. Everyone else was very, very human.

  Rylie reached out to touch Yasir’s arm. He jerked away from her with wide eyes, and she dropped her hand.

  “Look… we’re all that’s left here. Me and Abel and Levi and Bekah… and those guys.” She nodded to the naked people among the hunters. “We are the last of all the werewolves. And that’s how it should be—I don’t want any more. But we don’t deserve to die.”

  “I can’t let you run free,” he said.

  “We have a sanctuary. A place where everyone can learn to be safe and controlled. Let us take everyone home. Nobody else should die.” Rylie gave him that look—that one that was so pleading and pathetic that Seth would have done almost anything to make it stop. Yasir didn’t look like he was immune to it, either. He wavered under her gaze. “Let us go home.”

  He faced his men. “Move out! Go back to camp!” Yasir glanced at Seth. “Just so you know, you’re not invited to join the Union anymore.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said.

  Yasir jumped down, and the hunters slowly cleared out, leaving nothing on the top of Gray Mountain but a very full moon and a dozen very human werewolves.

  EPILOGUE

  Home Sweet Home

  The drive back to the Gresham ranch didn’t feel nearly as long as the drive away had been.

  Every window in the Chevelle was rolled down, and a warm summer wind whipped through the car, carrying the fresh aroma of soil and growing wheat. Rylie was curled up under Seth’s arm in the backseat, gazing out at the long stretches of empty fields through her hair as it blew in her face. It had been so long since she had smelled cows and other livestock and the distinct strains of pollen that meant home.

  She tipped her head back to look at Seth. He was gazing out at the farms, too, and he looked as happy as she felt.

  He must have felt her gaze, because he glanced down at her. His crooked smile grew. “What are you looking at?”

  “Scruffy face,” she said, reaching up to rub his chin. “You look like a hobo.”

  “Oh yeah? You look like a hobo.”

  Neither of them cared that it was the worst retort ever. He bent down to kiss her. “You people are sick,” Abel called from the driver’s seat.

  “Then don’t look at us.”

  “I can hear the lip noises. It’s nasty.”

  Rylie threw an empty wrapper at his head. “You cannot hear that!”

  “Can too. Super hearing. And you guys suck face like vacuum cleaners.”

  Seth rolled his eyes and unbuckled to lean over the front seat and increase the volume on the radio. Abel tried to elbow him in the face, but missed. “There. Fixed it for you.”

  “Hey! Don’t touch the radio! Driver’s privilege!”

  They responded by kissing very loudly. Abel groaned and made a big deal about it, but it was pretty half-hearted. None of them could seem to stop smiling.

  Rylie couldn’t think of anything to make the day more perfect except seeing the sign for the Gresham ranch looming ahead of them on the road. She thought that her swelling heart might explode out of her chest. The gray van following them a few car lengths back took the same turnoff they did.

  When they met Scott the morning after the moon, they were surprised to find that Stephanie had somehow obtained an old school bus, which was more than enough to transport the surviving wolves to the sanctuary. Nobody argued about getting in once Rylie instructed them to do it, and Stephanie would soon have the survivors under the supervision of the coven.

  Rylie had almost joined them, but when Abel found the Chevelle abandoned by Eleanor further down the highway, they decided there was somewhere else they would much rather go.

  Dislodging herself from Seth, Rylie leaned out the open window to drink in the familiar sights of the ranch. Not much had changed since she left, aside from the fact that there were no more cattle or goats in the pasture. It was kind of better that way. Smelling the livestock had always made her too hungry.

  Gwyn had taken good care of the orchards and garden, though. There were tiny apples growing on the trees. It looked like the lettuce was already coming in.

  And when the vehicles pulled around the back of the house, Rylie found Aunt Gwyneth sitting outside the back door. Her silvery hair was twisted into two thick braids, she wore a loose button-up shirt, and her face was shadowed by a cowboy hat.

  She saw the Chevelle. Her mouth fell open. She ripped her hat off.

  Rylie didn’t even wait for Abel to park.

  Throwing open the door, she leaped out. “Aunt Gwyneth!” she yelled, launching herself up the hill.

  Gwyn didn’t have any words to speak. She gripped her niece tightly in her arms, and Rylie squeezed back, doing her very best to keep from crushing her. Her aunt smelled right. She was rhubarb pie and steak and garden soil and fertilizer. She was the grass in the field and the sun in the sky.

  She was family. She was pack. She was home.

  Rylie gripped her like she would never let go, but she did have to, eventually. But Gwyn only held her at arm’s length. Her aunt’s cheeks were shining, and Rylie had left a big wet patch on her shoulder.

  “I have so much to tell you,” Rylie said. “Oh my gosh, so much has happened, I don’t know where to start—I’m so sorry, Gwyn—”

  “I don’t give a half a damn about your apologies.” She sounded gruff, but her eyes gave her away. “Look at you! You’ve gotten all skinny. Have they been feeding you? I’m going to have a talk with those boys.”

  “They have taken very, very good care of me,” she said with a quavering smile. It lasted about a second before she started crying again, and she had to hug Gwyn some more.

  “Hey, don’t forget about the rest of us,” Seth said, putting a hand on Rylie’s shoulder. She backed up a little. He picked Gwyn up off her feet and tried to swing her around.

  She pushed him away. “You’ll break my back, son.” But Rylie could tell she was pleased.

  Abel lurked a few feet away, staring at his feet.

  “Nice to see you, ma’am,” he said.

  Gwyn waved her hands. “Don’t go all ma’am on me right now. There’s plenty of time for that later. Come here.” They embraced, and Rylie caught Abel smiling over Gwyn’s shoulder. He tried to hide it when he saw her watching. “Now, enough of all this hugging and crying business. Bah!” She gave a hard snort. “You boys been looking after my girl?”

  “Yes ma’am,” Abel said. She gave him a sharp look.

  Seth wrapped his arm around Rylie’s waist. “She’s been looking after us.”

  The van doors opened, and Scott climbed out. Bekah and Levi followed after a moment, hanging back like they weren’t certain they would be welcome. They were on their way to California, but they had detoured instead of following Stephanie’s bus.

  “Think you brought a big enough entourage?” Gwyn asked, eyeballing Rylie. She shrugged helplessly. She couldn’t do anything about her pack.

  “I’m so happy to see you in good health,” Scott said, shaking her hand. “How have you been doing?”

  Gwyneth’s
voice took a sharp edge. “I’m well enough, as long as you’re not here to kidnap my niece again.”

  “Aunt Gwyneth!” Rylie gasped. “That was my choice!”

  But Scott didn’t seem offended. He gave them an apologetic smile. “I have no intent of separating your family again. In fact, the boys tell me you’ve been trying to sell the ranch. May I ask how that’s progressing?”

  “We’ve got a couple offers. I’m considering.”

  “I hope you would consider one more offer. You see, we’ve recently come upon a larger ‘family’ than we expected to have. About a dozen werewolves. Even without Rylie and Abel, my sanctuary in California can only house another eight people. Four more need a place to stay while they work on learning self-control.” He swept a hand toward the fields. “With a new fence, and without the livestock, this would be a great place for a new sanctuary. I’d like to buy it.”

  Gwyn raised an eyebrow. “A werewolf sanctuary?”

  “I already promised Scott I would run it,” Rylie said helpfully.

  “You’re sixteen, babe.”

  “Well, I can run it when I’m not in school.” When Gwyn continued to look skeptical, she hastily added, “And Abel could take care of everything when I’m busy doing homework and stuff.”

  “Could he now?”

  Abel shrugged. “It’s not like I’ve got anything else going on.”

  Gwyn stared at them. Bekah gave her biggest grin from behind Scott’s back. Rylie was sure her aunt would say no, but when she finally spoke, it was to say, “Oh, all right. If it keeps you close to home.”

  Scott and Gwyneth shook hands. Rylie tried not to cheer. She could tell by the way that Seth squeezed her to his side that he felt exactly the same way.

  “I don’t want to be rude, but we’ve been driving for quite some time,” Scott said. “Would you mind if we rested for a bit?”

  “Suppose not, if you don’t mind the house being a mess. Most of it’s in boxes right now while I get ready to move. Oh, but that reminds me!” Gwyn ducked into the kitchen and reemerged with a stack of envelopes, which she handed to Seth. “The owner of the apartments where you and Abel used to live visited last week with some mail. He asked me to have you set up a forwarding address. Look.”

  Seth looked through the envelopes. Some of them were really thick. Rylie leaned around his shoulder to read the addresses as he flipped through them.

  Some of it was junk, but most of it wasn’t. They were packets from universities.

  “Oh my gosh,” she whispered. “Open one!”

  Seth handed Rylie most of the mail, keeping one envelope. He tore it open. His breathing was a little too fast as he skimmed the contents of the letter.

  “Don’t keep us hanging,” Gwyn said. “What’s the word?”

  “We are pleased to inform you…” he read aloud in a whisper. A huge smile dawned on his face. He spread his arms wide to Rylie. “I got accepted! I’m going to college!”

  Gwyn whooped, and Rylie set the letters on a fence post before jumping on Seth. He swung her around with a laugh.

  “Look at these,” Abel said, going through the rest of the envelopes as they spun. His eyes widened a little more as he looked at each one. “You’ve been getting them for months.”

  Seth couldn’t seem to stop laughing. He finally put Rylie back on her feet, and she pushed him gently. “Open more!” she urged.

  He tore through one after the other. He didn’t get accepted to one college—which wasn’t his first choice anyway—but the rest were acceptances. Some even included scholarship offers. He was going to have his pick of universities.

  Scott shook his hand vigorously. Aunt Gwyn gave him a hug and a peck on the cheek. Even Levi gave him a slap on the back, and he had never really cared that much for Seth.

  “This calls for a celebration!” Gwyn declared. “I’ve still got all kinds of meat in the deep freezer, so let me go thaw some steaks. How’s some beer sound to y’all?” She took two steps for the kitchen before thinking about that offer. “Well, for Scott, at least. Rest of you can have well water. It’s all I’ve got.”

  “I’m almost drinking age,” Abel said.

  She shot him a look. “Almost.”

  Scott and his kids hadn’t planned on sticking around for long, but they ended up doing a big barbecue on the grill out back. And somehow, before long, the day stretched out into the evening.

  Bekah made a run to the store for drinks that didn’t have alcohol and got supplies for s’mores, too. They stayed outside until long after the sun set and left crystalline stars in its place. They roasted the marshmallows over the fire and talked about a lot of things, none of which had anything to do with werewolves.

  “Believe it or not, you made it back in time for the last week of classes. And graduation, for that matter,” Gwyn told Seth as he carefully mashed a chocolate bar against a marshmallow. “The school called. Missing finals means you’re not valedictorian, but they might have mentioned something about being salutatorian.”

  He was still grinning from the college acceptances, but that almost made him light up brighter than the fire. “That’s not hard in a graduating class of twenty, is it?”

  She kicked him in the ankle. “Keep your sass to yourself. I’m saying congratulations.”

  “Thank you.”

  He kissed her on the temple. Gwyn kicked him again before going to talk business with Scott.

  “It’s going to be fun having a sanctuary out here, huh?” Bekah asked. “It’s so nice with all these rolling hills.”

  “And not a mountain in sight,” Levi agreed.

  Rylie shared the sentiment. She would have been perfectly happy to never set foot on a mountain again.

  She wouldn’t have minded if the night kept going forever, but they had been driving for a long time, and eventually, people started yawning. Scott tried to leave for the motel in town, but Gwyn wouldn’t hear anything of it.

  “If you’re buying the ranch, you might as well stay here,” she said. “I can even drag in a mattress or two from the shed.” Gwyn took Scott, Bekah, and Levi inside to find them sleeping space on the living room floor.

  Rylie was exhausted, too, but she didn’t want to go inside. Abel was on his sixth or seventh s’more, which seemed to be the only acceptable non-meat food he had encountered since turning into a werewolf. Seth’s arm over her shoulders felt so comfortable, so right, that she couldn’t bear to move him. And the quiet night had filled her with a sense of peace that she hadn’t known since her dad had died.

  They stayed on the patio swing to watch the fire burn down until there was nothing but glowing embers. Crickets chirped around them in a pulsing rhythm. Muffled conversation drifted through the windows as a breeze ruffled the grass.

  “Which college do you think you’ll pick?” Rylie asked Seth.

  “I don’t know. The closest one, I guess. I don’t want to go too far.”

  “Don’t do that,” she said. “I mean, the closest one is still three hours of driving away. It’s not like you could be that close anyway. You should go to your favorite and I’ll fly out to visit.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll figure it out later,” he murmured into her hair.

  “It kind of sucks,” Abel finally said. He had been quiet all night. “I thought we would all get to be together after this, but you’ve got to go and become some big, important doctor.” Seth didn’t say anything, but Rylie could see his frown in the dim light of the dying fire. She opened her mouth to protest. Abel spoke first. “But it’s good.” He hesitated. “I’m proud of you.”

  Seth grew very still. “Thanks,” he said.

  “Whatever. Shut up. Don’t go all wimpy on me, you ugly jerk.” His brother stood up and dusted off his jeans. “I’m wasted. Too much chocolate. I’m going to den up on the softest part of the floor and go unconscious for a few days, but wake me up on the next moon.”

  “No problem,” Rylie said with a half-smile. He went inside, sl
amming the screen door behind him.

  She and Seth continued to swing, very slowly, for a very long time.

  The moon seemed so big in the sky. Before getting bitten, she never would have known that it wasn’t full, but she could feel the subtle difference in the shadows on the edges. Yet the silvery rays had no pull on her. It wasn’t some powerful, immutable force drawing out her wolf. It was just a moon.

  Seth was gazing at it, too. “What was it like?” Seth asked. “Talking to gods?”

  Rylie gave a faint smile. “Does this mean you believe me?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, the whole idea is nuts. But I saw you change back to human on a moon. I saw you make everyone else change, too. How do you explain that?”

  “It’s my animal magnetism,” she said with a small giggle.

  “You are so hilarious.” Seth squeezed her hand. “But I’m serious. What was it like?”

  Her smile faded. Her eyes went distant. “It was like… being really warm, and safe. Someone whispered to me. Everything was gray.” She shook herself. “I don’t know, I can’t really remember.”

  “How do you feel now?”

  “Good. Normal.” She laughed. “Almost the old normal, even.”

  “Maybe it’s over,” he said.

  Rylie searched inside herself for the wolf. It was still there, but it was either sleeping or so satisfied that it didn’t respond to her internal probe.

  “Maybe,” she agreed. She nudged a rock off the patio with her toe. “You know… I kind of have to agree with Abel. I mean, I’m happy that you’re going to college. But I’ve still got two more years of high school before I can come, and I just got you back.”

  Seth wrapped his hand around hers. Their tangled fingers looked right in the moonlight.

  “Don’t worry about it right now. Right now is good, and I’m not going anywhere yet.” He kissed her gently. “We still have all summer.”

  A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  I can’t believe we reached the end. When I wrote Six Moon Summer eighteen months ago, I never could have imagined all the love that it would receive from readers, and I never would have imagined that it would help me reach my dream of becoming a full-time writer. It’s all because of support from wonderful readers like you. Thank you for everything.