Darkmoon (#5) (The Cain Chronicles) (12 page)

He stood and left.

Rylie stared at the sliver of hallway that she could see around the bedroom door. Brody’s shadow was lurking there, just feet away. Beyond him, the werewolves were still arguing in the living room. The witches were in the cellar, and the house was filled to the brim.

But she suddenly felt so alone.

Rylie waited until Brody’s shadow
disappeared from the hallway, and then sneaked through the kitchen and out of the house.

Everyone had been telling her to stay hidden. To stay
safe
. So it had been weeks since she got to leave the ranch. Rylie was getting awfully sick of being safe—she needed to escape.

Once she got outside, none of the cars were in sight. Rylie walked toward the gates as quickly as she could and hoped that nobody would see her by the time she hit the highway. She only made it halfway down the hill before a voice called out.

“Wait!”

Rylie stopped and shut her eyes.

The apprentice witch, Brianna, pulled up alongside her in the car James had been driving. It was a silver sedan with leather seats.

“Where are you going?” Brianna asked.

“I’m heading into town.”

“You’re walking?”

“Yes.”

Brianna gave her massive stomach a dubious look. “I’m going that way to buy some stuff for James. Can I give you a ride?”

Rylie glanced up at the house. There was still no sign of Seth or Abel, but if either of them realized that she was running off, they would stop her. She could escape much faster in a car. “Sure.”

She climbed into the passenger’s seat and buckled up. Brianna pulled onto the highway.

Mercifully, the young witch didn’t talk very much. She hummed along with the hip hop radio station and beat her fingers against the wheel, but mostly, she just focused on driving. That was exactly the way Rylie liked it. No arguing, no judgment, no warnings about needing to be safe. Just silence.

She focused on the world whizzing by the window. It had been far too long since she saw any of it.

“Do you want to know what they are?” Brianna asked about ten minutes into the drive.

Rylie blinked. “Huh?”

“The babies. Do you want to know what they are?”

“I don’t really want to know the genders,” Rylie said. “I’m going to wait to be surprised.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Brianna tapped her own nose with a fingertip. “I can tell what kind of creature everyone is, so long as I’ve come across their breed a couple times before. It’s kind of a useless trick, actually.”

“Well, it’s definitely useless here. I already know that they’re werewolves.”

“Nope.”

Rylie blinked. “What?”

Brianna waved her hand vaguely in the direction of the twins. “One of them is definitely a werewolf. I can feel that. But the other one isn’t.”

“What is it?” Rylie asked, suddenly feeling faint.

“I don’t know,” the witch said, shrugging. “I don’t recognize the signal.”

As soon as Rylie’s heart remembered how to beat, it was going way too fast. “What else could it be? Werewolves
always
breed more werewolves. That’s what everyone has told me.”

Brianna frowned. It was a cute, delicate kind of expression, and just as charming as her dimpled smiles. “Sorry. I don’t mean to worry you. The fact that it’s so quiet might just mean that the baby’s human—so you probably shouldn’t worry.”

Easier said than done.

They reached the edge of town. “Drop me off at the park?” Rylie asked.

“Sure. I’m going to the drugstore. Should I pick you up when I’m done?”

“No, it’s fine. I have a ride back.” Rylie was lying, of course, but she had decided that Brianna was almost as creepy as James, and she didn’t want to get back in a car with her again.

She watched until Brianna drove off, and then started wandering. Rylie hadn’t given much thought to where she would go once she escaped. Now that she was free, she had no idea what to do with herself.

The icy streets were mostly empty, as if the entire town had gone missing in the New Year. Everything else looked the same way that it had ever since Rylie moved there in high school. A couple of businesses had closed, and those buildings had new occupants, but it could have been any one of the other winters that she had spent living with Gwyn.

How many times had she walked through those streets holding hands with Seth, totally absorbed in each other, as the world around them vanished? They had spent so many long summer days sitting under the trees, talking about the future they wanted to have together.

It had been too long since they did that. Whenever he came back from college, they had been so desperate to see each other that they barely left their bedroom, much less talked about anything. And now that he had moved back to the ranch to watch Rylie, they spent more time arguing than talking about their dreams, their plans, their future together.

Rylie wasn’t even sure that she saw a future with Seth at all anymore.

Those dark thoughts carried her through the streets. She eventually found herself in the grocery store, even though she hadn’t planned on going there.

Everyone stared at her as she walked aimlessly through the aisles. She recognized a few of the faces. It was a small store owned by a local family, so almost everything was local and organic. Normally, she really appreciated the quality food and friendly family atmosphere. Unfortunately, it also meant that everyone recognized her. They whispered as she passed. It bothered her. It bothered her a lot.

She didn’t even notice when someone crept up from behind until hands covered her eyes.

“Guess who,” said a low, masculine voice.

She reacted on instinct. Rylie spun with a growl, which cut off when she saw who had grabbed her.

Tate was older, thinner, and less smelly than he used to be. But that was still Tate’s mischievous smile, transplanted onto a body that wore a nice suit. “Oh my gosh,” she breathed. “Tate!”

He swept her up in a hug that would have been tight enough to bruise her, if she had been human. “Holy crap, you’re pregnant!”

“Yeah, I know,” she said, laughing weakly as he spun her around. “It would be kind of hard to miss with this…thing…getting in my way.” Her stomach was big enough now that none of her clothes fit, including her baggiest shirts. Now she had to borrow clothing from Seth.

“You’re huge! Is it twins?”

“Actually, yeah,” Rylie said.

Tate’s grin warmed his whole face. It made him look like the guy that she used to play video games with in high school. He didn’t look anything like the suited personality giving speeches on TV.

“Bet Seth’s going crazy over this,” Tate said.

Rylie just gave a pained smile.
Yeah, but not for the reason you think.

She was sick of talking about pregnancy drama. Rylie pushed him gently, playfully. “What are you doing in town? I thought you were too important to hang out with us anymore.”

He shrugged off her question. “Just…visiting some family.”

“Going to run for office while you’re here?”

Tate laughed. “Nah, I’m holding out for president.”

“That’s so weird,” Rylie said, shaking her head in disbelief. Once upon a time, Tate would have responded to the suggestion of running for office by flipping her off and rolling another joint. “You’ve changed. You really have.”

“I’m not the only one,” he said, reaching out to rub her stomach. She gritted her teeth and pretended that she didn’t mind. “This is great. I’m really happy for you. What are you doing back? You moved away so quickly during school. You didn’t even say goodbye.”

“I guess I’m visiting family, too,” she said. “I’m staying with my aunt at the Gresham Ranch.”

Tate dropped his hand. “At the ranch?” His tone was so weird that she immediately regretted saying anything.

“Yeah,” she said.

Tate stared at her. “Golden eyes,” he said, so softly that Rylie wasn’t sure that she had heard him correctly.

She frowned and reflexively reached up, like she could conceal her eyes from him, until she realized what a stupid idea that was. “What did you say?”

He blinked and shook his head. “Nothing.” But he was still staring, just not at her eyes anymore. Instead, his gaze had become fixed on her stomach. Rylie backed away from him, covering her bump protectively with both hands.

Did he realize that she was a werewolf?

The bodyguard that Seth had hired stepped around one of the aisles, seeming to appear out of nowhere.

“Hey, Rylie,” he said. “You almost done?”

Even though Brody’s tone was casual, there was something distinctly menacing about the way that he held himself—like he was thinking of violence, even though he carried a grocery bag filled with meat from the butcher shop on the corner. His shoulder-length hair was loose around his shoulders, approximating the appearance of a tattooed caveman.

Brody smelled almost as menacing as he looked. He wasn’t one of the wolves that could change on command, but the scent of fur and fang hung over him like a cloak.

“Rylie?” Brody prompted after a moment. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” she said weakly.

“We haven’t been introduced,” Tate said, sizing up all six feet and two hundred pounds of pure muscle that was Brody. Next to him, Tate looked like a child.

“This is my…um, this is my friend, Brody,” Rylie said all in a rush, finally catching up with the conversation. “Brody, this is—”

“Tate Peterson,” Brody said, shifting the bags onto one arm so that he could offer a handshake. “I’ve seen you on the news.” A hint of edge had entered his voice. Brody’s feelings on the OPA were obviously not any better than the rest of the pack’s.

They shook hands. Was Tate staring at Brody’s golden eyes, too? “Nice to meet you,” Tate said, glancing at Rylie. “Guess I should…”

“Yeah,” she said. “I should go, too.”

Tate backed away from them at first. When he reached the door, he stepped onto the sidewalk and pulled out his cell phone.

Brody was watching him like a wolf that had sighted prey. “Should I stop him?”

“No! God, no, Brody,” Rylie said. “He’s an old friend of mine. We were just talking.”

But she could hear Tate on the phone through the glass as he walked away. He was too far for her to make out the specifics, but he sounded tense. And the voice on the other end was just as grim.

Brody spoke, drawing his attention back to her. “Wait here while I check out.”

She was so shocked at running into Tate that she didn’t even think to leave. Once Brody was done with his groceries, he led her out to the pickup and set the groceries behind her seat. He watched the parking lot while Rylie climbed in.

“I’m going to take you home now,” Brody said, getting behind the wheel.

She nodded mutely.

“You know, you’re not the first pregnant woman I would have protected,” Brody said. “There was another one in Alabama. Rich woman. Her family told me that nobody was out to get her, but she was scared anyway. Anxieties, I guess.”

“Was anyone out to get her?”

“Yep. Ex-boyfriend. He would have killed her if I hadn’t broken his neck first.”

He sounded so calm about it. Rylie gaped. “Wow.”

“I’m not proud of it, but I did what I had to do, and I’m glad she’s safe. She’s living in Maine with her son now. They’re happy. I did that for them.” Brody’s eyes slid over to her. “I’d be happy to do that for you, too.”

In truth, having someone that she could trust at her back would be priceless, especially after the massacre at the wedding had revealed several traitors in the pack. Now the entire world was getting scarier, and it seemed like her high school best friend wasn’t trustworthy, either.

“I appreciate the offer,” she said slowly. “And you seem competent. The problem is…”

“Seth.” Brody nodded. “Like I said, my last pregnant client’s family was a problem, too. But you shouldn’t let your problems with him keep you from being safe. That’s all.”

He started the engine.

Rylie’s womb was clenching again in the faint warning of contractions to come. Tate had stressed her out and she couldn’t afford to be so afraid.

“I’d appreciate all the help you can give me, Brody,” she said finally. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, ma’am.”

T
WELVE

Haven

Rylie and her new bodyguard
had just walked through the front door at the ranch house when Seth jumped on her. “Jesus, where have you been?” he asked, seizing her by the shoulders. “Are you okay? I thought the Union had gotten to you!”

She shook him off. “I’m fine, Seth. I just went for a walk.”

He stared at her, as if he couldn’t believe what she had said. “A walk?”

“Yeah. You know, moving my legs, carrying my body in a forward motion, ambulation—”

“Stop it,” he snapped. The heat of anger in his voice shocked her to silence. “I thought you and our babies might have been killed, and you come back joking about it? What’s your problem?”

Brody was standing a few feet away, unlacing his boots and pretending not to listen. But he would hear everything, of course, and so would everyone else in the house with super hearing.

“Let’s talk about this outside,” she said.

They headed out back. The cellar doors stood open, allowing a plume of blue smoke to swirl toward the clouds. Rylie could hear Brianna in conversation with James and Gwyneth as they passed.

Rylie kept walking until they reached the pond. Then Seth rounded on her.

“You can’t do that to me,” he said.

“Do what? Have a mind of my own?”

“Just run off like that. It’s a safety issue.”

“No, it’s a control issue.”

“Rylie—”

She held up her hands to silence him. “I’m the Alpha, Seth. You can’t control me. It weakens me in front of the pack. Maybe I wouldn’t be having so many problems with Levi if you would just trust me.” Rylie took a deep breath and blew it out. “I think I’m going to start sleeping in Gwyn’s room. She doesn’t use it anymore, and her bed is bigger. I’ll be more comfortable like that.”

Seth paced away from her, tension radiating in his every movement.