Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) (37 page)

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 clothed 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.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner, but I had a run-in
with the guy that did this to you.”

Her expression turned to worry.

“It’s fine. He’s gone and he won’t come back. Where’s
Ben?”

“He went to get some lilac bushes for the backyard. I
finally got ahold of him, he’s on his way.”

I leaned over her, touching her poor, mutilated face.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you.” A tear fell on her cheek. I wiped my face
before any more fell. “He was a guy that had a problem with Nate and he wanted
to hurt me. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize anymore. It’s not your fault. I’m
just glad you’re alright.” Her lips were swollen, so when she spoke her voice
was muffled, but it would take more than a bad beating to keep Mona from
talking.

“Are you hungry? I could go get you something.”

“You know what? I could really use a slice of Luigi’s
pizza.”

“You got it. I’ll be right back.”

I ran to the elevators and out the front door. The
pizza place was just across the street from the hospital so it didn’t take long
before I was back in her room.

“One medium pepperoni,” I exclaimed, setting the
steaming hot box on the counter under the window. The smell of tomato sauce and
greasy cheese filled the tiny room. I took out a slice, placed it on a paper plate
and held it out for her. Her appetite appeared to be normal, so hopefully it
was only her face that was affected. She looked so awful I wanted to cry every
time I looked at her.

We ate pizza and talked. I couldn’t tell her
everything, but I wanted her to know that Rowan wouldn’t be coming back to harm
her.

She informed me that my parents were still gone on
their trip to Brazil and wouldn’t be back for another week. I told her that my
mother had finally texted me a few days ago to let me know they were gone.

Ben came in just as we finished eating. I left to give
them privacy.

Wanted

I drove to Nate’s house. Even with the fading sunlight
it was easier to find the small road from the Riley’s driveway now that I had
been staying there. I pulled up in front of his house and parked Mona’s little hatchback
behind my car. I’d have Nate follow me home so I could bring back both vehicles
later.

I climbed out and let myself into the cottage that had
begun to feel like home.

It was quiet and empty. “Hello?” I yelled. There was
no answer, just silence. I was sure I told him I’d be back around seven. I
looked down at my watch and saw that it was seven fifteen. “Nate?” I called
again, peeking into his bedroom. There was still no answer. I noticed a note on
the island as I walked past the kitchen. I picked it up and read:
Meg, I’m
out back. Come and join me.

I went out the back door, standing on the
deck as I looked for him. The beach was empty, but the boat we borrowed from
Will was floating on the water beside the dock. There was a light coming from
the galley below.

I stepped off the deck and walked over,
flipping off my sandals into the air. They fell on the edge of the beach, one
landing on the grass and the other face down on the sand. The cold wet sand
slipped through my toes with each step I took.

The boat bounced as I hopped onto the dock.
The water made a sucking sound as the waves crashed against the boat’s hull.
“Hello?” I called, leaning over the railing.

Nate poked his head out of the doorway. “Hi,” he said,
climbing up onto the boat’s deck. He stood in front of me, leaning down to give
me a long, amazing kiss that left me out of breath.

“Well, hello to you. What was that for?” I asked,
staggering a bit from the effect of his kiss.

“I’m happy to see you. I haven’t been away from you
for more than an hour in over a week.” I took the hand he held out and let him
pull me up onto the boat with him.

“I missed you too.”

“How’s Mona?” He brushed a strand of hair off my
cheek.

I sighed, the image of her battered face flashing in
my mind. “She’s tough. It looks like he just mutilated her face and her arm has
a slight fracture. But the rest of her is fine. Her arm and face will heal,
she’ll be all right.”

He guided my head against his shoulder. The sound of
his heartbeat was loud in my ear. “Will
you
? Be all right, I mean.”

I considered his question before I answered. “It’s
going to take a while before I stop feeling guilty about Mona. Other than that,
I’ll be fine, as long as I have you.”

He gently rubbed my hair. “Oh, you have me, all
right.” We gazed into each other’s eyes for a few beats and then he grinned.
“Well, come on, we should go before it gets too dark.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’re going to take me for a moonlit boat ride.”

I pulled away. “You’re on.” I stepped up to the
steering wheel.

He started the engine and backed us away from the
dock. Once we were safely out in the open and there was nothing I could run
into, I took over.

The breeze felt crisp and clean against my skin and
the wind whipping through my hair was thrilling. I felt all my troubles wash
away. With Rowan gone I could finally move on and be happy without the constant
worry of him showing up and killing me or someone I love. I could live in this
moment, spending time on the boat before it was returned to Will. It was
strange that he leant it to Nate so often. “This is your boat, isn’t it?”

Nate came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me to
help steer. “Yes, but I couldn’t tell you. What eighteen-year-old owns a
twenty-four-foot speedboat?”

“Good point.”

Nate led me off the lake and into a creek that was
covered by dozens of willow trees. The falling sun shone through cracks of the
treed canopy. I stopped halfway in, letting the boat drift. Nate handed me a
drink that he pulled out of the built-in cooler. We sat on the deck sipping our
sodas and while the frogs and crickets sang, Nate filled me in on what happened
after they left.

They buried the wolf deep in the woods and then went
to Rowan’s hotel to clean it out and pay for the room. They didn’t want an
investigation on Rowan’s disappearance.