Riley's Torment, A Moon's Glow Novel #2 (25 page)

“Are you sure?”
his voice was rough, almost a growl. When I nodded, he lifted his
head.

A sharp breath
escaped my lips as I caught a glimpse of his yellow eyes in the
moonlight that poured in from the patio doors. He smiled, showing
long pointed fangs. I screamed as he leaned forward piercing my
flesh. His teeth sunk into my neck with the feel of a thousand
knives.

When he finally
pulled away, he lifted his head and glared at me with his
animalistic stare, my blood was dripping from his mouth. “You’re
mine,” he growled.

I shot up in
bed, my heart chugging like a train on a track. Out of the two
dreams that haunted my sleep every night, I preferred the other
one. I knew what was happening. My sub-conscious was showing me the
two sides of Nate. And if I was going to forgive him, I needed to
accept each one. But after that dream, I wasn’t sure it was
possible.

With my heart
still beating wildly, I glanced at the clock and groaned. Lauren
would be here soon for our training session. We’d been working with
Adrian for two weeks, and we were getting much better. I was
turning into a wolf more frequently as well. He had convinced me
that I needed to explore that side of myself before the full moon,
which was quickly approaching. Lauren even joined us a few times
when she could pry herself away from Joe. We went back to the place
where we had first turned together. Since it was on my family’s
property, we wouldn’t be disturbed. We didn’t do it every day. I
still wasn’t comfortable, and I couldn’t help but fight against the
change. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get use to turning into something
else other than human. The pain itself was reason not to enjoy it,
but it wasn’t the only one. When I was in that form, my instinct
was to kill animals, but I refused to do it. It was getting harder
to stop myself, especially when I watched Adrian. Thankfully,
Lauren had the same aversion. I had once feared I’d be a killer now
that I was a werewolf. I now knew that would never happen. I
couldn’t even kill a bunny.

After my
shower, I dressed in my standard workout clothes, tank top and yoga
pants, and then wandered to the kitchen. The smell of bacon was
overwhelming, making my stomach grumble. A plate of eggs, bacon,
and sausage was waiting on the island for me. Mona was leaning over
the sink, washing a metal bowl and humming a slow tune. Her dark
brown hair was up in a bun as usual. She was wearing a purple
blouse and black dress pants. The apron that was wrapped around her
clothes was covered with happy frogs.

I took my place
on the stool in front of my food and dug in. Mona turned around,
her eyes on the dishtowel in her hand. She looked up, saw me, and
screamed. I jumped back, my wolf’s hackles raising, looking around
for danger, taking in all the smells in the room. All I could scent
was the food she cooked, her jasmine perfume, soap, and lemon dish
cleaner

“What?” I asked
when there was no danger to be found.

She was holding
her hand over her heart, her breaths coming out in a pant. “You
scared the crap out of me. Could you wear a bell please?”

I couldn’t help
the laugh that snuck out as I took my seat once again. “You must
have been in your own world, Mona, because I did make noise. The
chair squeaked when I sat down, and my fork clanked against the
plate when I took a bite.” I eyed her, seeing the lines in her
forehead, and the strain on her face. “What’s wrong?”

She sighed.
“Your mother called.” I knew what she was about to say before the
words came out of her mouth, but I still felt a sting when she
finally voiced them. “They’re extending their vacation. When I told
her you were still here, she refused to change her mind.” By the
look of sadness in her eyes, I guessed my mother had said a few
careless words about me. I was used to them, although it didn’t
hurt any less.

I lifted my
fork, filled with scrambled eggs. “It’s fine, Mona. I get along
better with you anyway.” I shoved the fork into my mouth and
chewed. “Besides, I’m going to go back to the cottage soon,” I
lied. After the dream I had, I had no intention of going back
there. I knew I would eventually, but just not in the foreseeable
future.

Her face
brightened. “Really?”

I nodded,
lifting my glass of orange juice she had left near my plate. “You
sound happy to be rid of me. Am I that hard to live with?” I faked
laughter in my voice, trying to sound happy.

Her face
scrunched up, and her hand shot out, hitting me with the tip of the
dish towel. “Of course not, you brat. I just want you to make up
with Nate. He’s so good for you.”

Yeah right
. I
thought.
You
wouldn’t think that if you knew what he had done to
me
. Instead of speaking
my thoughts, I grinned. “I know, and we’ll be fine.”

Her eyes
narrowed suspiciously; my evasive answer didn’t fool her. I started
to eat again to stop any further questions.

Lauren showed
up just as I was putting my dishes in the dishwasher.

My glove
slammed into the thick leather with a powerful thud. The bag
bounced back and swung toward me again. That’s when I spun around
and kicked out with my right leg. The spinning back kick was my
favorite move. I felt pretty bad-ass when I did it.

The sound of
pounding on leather next to me had me glancing in Lauren’s
direction. Her sandy hair was pulled up in a ponytail. The strands
that had come loose were damp with sweat and plastered to her
forehead. The look of determination and enjoyment on her face must
have mirrored mine. I was thankful for meeting Adrian for no other
reason than this. Each time Lauren and I left the gym, we felt a
tiny bit safer. It gave us the confidence we had been lacking since
the first time a werewolf had threatened us. Sometimes, I almost
wanted Charlotte to make a move, if only to test my new fighting
ability.

“You guys are
getting really good.” Adrian’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.
He was standing between us with his arms folded in front of him,
assessing our movements. As always, he was wearing jogging pants,
but this shirt was a long sleeved sweatshirt rolled to his elbows.
His short black hair was spiked today. “Are you ready to fight each
other?”

Both of us
froze, hands mid-swing. The bag swung back and hit me, nudging me
off balance. “What do you mean?” I gasped, dizzy from both his
words and the impact.

“You need to
learn to fight with something that will fight back, so you can
react. Fighting a person is a lot harder than fighting an inanimate
object.” He pointed to the bag swinging slightly in front of
me.

Lauren and I
exchanged a worried glance. I had no interest in fighting her. She
was my friend. I didn’t want to hurt her.

“You can use
protective gear. You won’t hurt each other.” He moved toward the
back of the room to a shelf that held various supplies. He held up
two round leather puffy things that looked a bit like masks. One
was pink, the other was blue.

“This is called
head gear,” he said. “It’s to protect the face. There are all kinds
of gear here that will protect you.”

When we still
hesitated, he puffed out a breath. “Fine, then fight me.”

We grinned and
turned to each other. “Okay,” we said at the same time.

Adrian shook
his head as he dug into the shelf, picking us each out what we
would need. When we joined him at the shelves, he handed us each an
item, naming what they were, mouth guards, body protectors, and
shin guards.

When we were
fully suited up with Lauren wearing the pink head gear and me the
blue, I stood facing Adrian, feeling nervous and excited. I knew he
wouldn’t hurt me, and I also knew my body could take a hit. I had
had a few scrapes over the last few weeks that healed in seconds.
It was a little freaky to be honest.

“Go on, hit
me,” Adrian encouraged, waving his arms for me to make a move. When
I hesitated, a lopsided smile tugged at his lips. “Or are you
chicken?”

I wasn’t born
yesterday. I knew he was trying to egg me on so I would hit him,
and yes, it worked. Before he could say another word, my arm shot
out with the urge to wipe the smile off his face. He blocked the
move easily and countered with another. The impact of his glove on
my face made my teeth rattle and shoved me backwards. Before I knew
what was happening, he swung his leg, sweeping me off my feet. I
was on the mat with the wind knocked out of me, staring up at the
white stippled ceiling. There were clumps of dust stuck to the
jagged points.

“What just
happened?” I mumbled.

A deep chuckle
sounded above me. “I knocked you on your ass.” His hand appeared in
my line of sight, and I reached out to take it. He pulled me up,
and I could see the glint of laughter in his dark eyes. He was
mocking my poor fighting skills.

“Now, do you
see why you need to fight with someone? People are not punching
bags. They fight back.” He smiled as he pounded his gloves
together.

Lauren, who was
off to the side watching, giggled.

I shot her a
narrowed glare. “Do you want to give it a try?” I asked her.

Her eyes went
round, her face terrified as she shook her head.

“That’s what I
thought.” I held my laughter in, trying to hold on to my dignity
after the stomping I had just received.

For the next
half hour, Adrian talked about how to anticipate our opponent’s
moves and how to take them by surprise. By the time the hour was
up, we were panting and sweating, and I was sore everywhere.
Thankfully, I could feel my skin tingling as my aches began to
heal. But all the pain was worth it; everything he had shown us was
paying off. The last time I took Adrian on, it took much longer for
him to knock me off my feet.

Once he was
positioned in the driver’s seat of his jeep, Adrian asked, “Lunch?”
as he did every day. When we agreed, he headed to our usual spot,
Tom’s Diner. It was always crowded with lots of laughter and
voices, and the smell of gravy and bacon filled the room. Since I
had turned into a werewolf, I think it was my favorite scent. Yum.
We didn’t even open the menus because we ordered the same thing
every day—the special. I had lived here my whole life, and it was
Adrian who introduced this meal to me. And from that moment, Lauren
and I were hooked. The special was the French dip, and I’m not
talking any ordinary French dip. This was sliced savory beef
stuffed into fluffy, buttery Yorkshire Pudding. The gravy dipping
sauce was to die for. “Let me guess, the usual?” Nicole the
waitress asked with a cheerful smile on her face; a hand resting on
her hip. She didn’t need to write down our order since she took it
every day for the last week. She was younger than us, maybe a
senior in high school. Lauren said she went to Everest, but I
didn’t remember her. That wasn’t surprising considering I had spent
most of my time there trying to be a snob like my friends.

“Yes, please,”
Lauren answered for all of us.

Nicole nodded
and winked at Adrian. She might be younger, but she wasn’t at all
shy. She had been hitting on him every afternoon since he found the
place. He told us later in the car that he was afraid that one of
these days she would work up the nerve to ask him out. He didn’t
want to hurt her feelings because he liked someone else. He
wouldn’t tell us who it was though. I had a feeling it was ‘the
one’. As a werewolf, when you found that certain person, there was
a look in your eye when you spoke about them. I had seen it in Nate
and Joe’s eyes, and now Lauren’s. But he never offered the
information, and I never pried.

“You guys are
really doing well,” Adrian said, as I took a sip of my water. “You
won’t need me much longer.”

For some reason
the idea of stopping our sessions left me feeling empty. What would
I focus on to take my mind off of Nate? It was all I could do not
to think about his vivid blue eyes and his dimples.

“You’re not
abandoning us are you?” I asked, trying to keep the desperation out
of my voice.

He leaned his
elbow on the table, head on his hand. “No, of course not, I just
mean that you’ll be able to handle yourself soon. But we can
continue to train. There’s no harm in being too prepared.”

I relaxed,
feeling stupid for panicking in the first place. I glanced at
Lauren who was fidgeting with the salt shaker. “Are you coming with
us for a run today?” I asked her.

She lifted her
head until her eyes met mine. “I don’t think I can. Joe’s starting
to wonder where I’ve been lately. He wanted to come with me this
morning.”

Again, panic
fluttered in my chest. “Doesn’t he work?”

“Not on
Saturday.”

The days were
running into one another, and I never knew what day of the week it
was. I didn’t have any reason to. I had called the shelter the day
after I returned home from the island and told Julia that I was
taking some time off. She didn’t question me, just said that she’d
hire a replacement that could help me out when I returned. She
squealed when I told her that I had bought the house. We had agreed
to wait to discuss it further when I was ready.

“Is Nate back
to work?” I asked in a whisper.

Lauren’s eyes
widened. It was the first time I had brought him up since the day
in my room when I sobbed on her shoulder. “Not yet. He’s obsessed
with finding Charlotte.”

Adrian’s hands
clenched into fists; he had taken on a protective role for us since
we had gotten to know each other, and when we brought up our time
on the island, he would get angry. “Has he had any luck?”

She nodded her
head, setting her glass down, her mouth filled with water. “They
found the house where the wolves are staying, but every time they
go there, no one is home. Nate even camped out over night, but
nothing happened.”