By the Pale Moonlight (Book One of the Moonlight Series) (31 page)

"It's time to get up, Mac. We have to go get
Ty."

I bolted upright and scrambled for my shoes.
"What time is it?"

"Eight-fifteen."

"Crap!"

We rushed to the shed to find Ty in a very
grumpy mood for neglecting him. I couldn't blame him; his muscles
must cramp from standing in the same position for so long. Melanie
did the honors of unchaining him while I stood back, afraid to meet
his direct gaze. I felt his eyes on me the entire time, and I had
no doubt he had at least some dim memory of my late night visit.
When I finally looked at him, the stony edge in his expression
confirmed my fears.

To his credit, he didn't broach the subject
while Melanie was present. Shamelessly, I clung to the poor girl
and insisted she eat breakfast before going. Ty invited himself and
sat staring me down the entire time. By time the meal concluded, I
was desperate to get Melanie to stay. She must've thought me crazy
as I tried to cajole her into spending the day. Eventually, I gave
up my futile efforts and allowed her to leave.

"We need to talk," Ty said after her car
drove off.

That was the last thing I wanted to do.

"How about later? My mom needs me around the
house this morning."

Completely ignoring my words, Ty pulled me
upstairs and closed my bedroom door behind us.

"What were you thinking?" He shook me
slightly, his hands firm at my shoulders. "What if I'd hurt
you?"

"But you didn't. You knew who I was."

"Don't ever do that again. Do you hear me?"
Then he was kissing me—my cheeks, my eyelids, my nose, and finally,
my lips.

He abruptly pushed me away to pace the room,
his shoulders tense. "You went outside where that thing could get
you. Why would you do that?" His eyes pleaded for an answer.

I didn't have one that was adequate. Finally,
I shrugged. "I don't know."

"That solves it."

"I just needed to make sure you were okay.
Something just felt—off." Of course, that didn't explain my need to
cuddle with his wolf-self. "You knew me."

His eyes flashed. "Yeah, I knew you. But
don't for one second believe I wasn't capable of hurting you—that I
didn't feel the urge to."

He scrubbed his face with his hands. "Don't
test me, Mac. I may not always pass."

I reluctantly agreed. "I'm sorry."

The third night of the moon cycle passed
without incident. Rather than relieving the stress we were all
feeling, this calm only served to splinter our already frazzled
nerves. It felt as though our enemy was silently inching closer,
waiting for its chance to strike once it lulled us into a false
sense of security. Ty, usually a voice of reason, was irritable and
prone to snapping at Melanie and me without the slightest
provocation. Even Melanie was on edge, outwardly ruffled for the
first time since this all began.

I didn't know how to act or what to say in
order to keep us all from slipping over the line into hysterics. In
the end, we all did the only thing we could do—wait and hope that
we weren't making some fatal mistake that would allow our enemy a
chance to blindside us.

On the morning of the full moon, Ty and I
were too exhausted to do much more than veg out in front of the
television. We didn't say much, both of us slightly numb to what
might lay ahead. I lay curled on the couch beside him, the drone of
a football game neither of us was watching in the background.

"Do you think we're safe tonight?" I said,
finally.

His fingers played lightly against mine. "As
long as I stay in the cellar, I think everything will be fine."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it." I
stared at our interlocked hands. "She came after me during the full
moon last time. Do you..." I paused, unable to voice my fears.

"Do I what?"

"Do you think it's the same for her? The way
it is with you, I mean. How you never remember anything—how you
completely lose control?"

Something stirred in his eyes.

"You've suspected for a while now, haven't
you?" I asked.

"Yes."

I sat up, careful I didn't put any weight
against his chest. "How would that be possible, though? The way you
described it, you're losing more control each time. It wouldn't
make sense."

He rubbed the heels of his palms across his
eyes. "I think it's time to admit we know very little about what
we're doing. For all we know, she may have managed to gain control
in some way."

I furrowed my brow, a thought fleeting in and
out of my consciousness before I could grab hold of it.
"Maybe."

"What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "I had a thought, but I
can't remember it."

"It's because you're sleep deprived. You
should go take a real nap."

"I'm fine. Besides, without you there I
wouldn't be able to sleep anyway."

A tight smile curved his lips, and he ran a
finger down the side of my face, gently tucking a loose strand of
hair behind my ear. Our eyes locked and held.

A door clicked shut down the hallway, a
reminder that we weren't alone. I snuggled back into his shoulder
and his arms tightened around me.

I must've dozed off for a while. I distantly
remember hearing a phone ringing in the background and my mother's
voice rising in volume, but it wasn't until she burst into the room
that I came fully awake.

"One sec," she said, her face flushed. She
cupped her hand over the receiver of her cell phone and whispered,
"Aunt Lynn is having her baby!"

"Now?" I said, trying to shake myself awake.
I couldn't believe I had fallen asleep. "I thought she wasn't due
for another month.."

She held up her finger and listened, a slow
smile spreading across her face. "Okay, we'll be there."

My mother beeped the phone off. "She's just
now going into labor, so we should be able to make it before she
gives birth."

The reality of her words sank in.

"But I have school tomorrow." I flashed a
glance at Ty who appeared just as tense as I felt.

My mother gave me a dubious look. "I'm a
teacher, Mac. You can miss a couple of days."

"A couple of days?" I scrambled for an
excuse. I couldn't leave Ty. "I don't know—I haven't been feeling
very well. I wouldn't want to be around the baby when I'm
sick."

She pressed a cool palm against my forehead
and frowned. "You do feel a little warm."

My face faltered for a micro-second before I
pulled it back in line. What were the odds? "See—not good to be
sick around a newborn. Besides, I'm exhausted."

"I don't know... We probably wouldn't be back
until Wednesday—Tuesday at the earliest."

"I'll be fine. Besides, I have a biology test
tomorrow," I said, pressing my advantage. "I can always visit once
they're at home."

I could tell she was caving, and my promise
to visit was the final reassurance she needed.

"I'll have to talk to your father first," she
said, and hurried out of the room. I let out a relieved sigh. She
would let me stay.

"That was close—" I said, my words faltering
when I turned back to Ty. Rather than the relief I expected to see,
he wore a deep frown.

"What's wrong?" I said.

Rather than answering, Ty heaved himself off
the couch and left the room. I waited there for a long time, but
eventually peeked out into the hallway to find him leaning against
the door opposite the family room, our cordless phone in hand. He
wouldn't look at me.

"What's going on?" I said.

Ty had called Melanie, and not twenty minutes
later, her car pulled into our drive. My house was alive with
noises as my mother and father prepared to set out to visit my
aunt.

I eyed Ty as he paced the room. Whatever he
had to say to Melanie and me, it couldn't be good. His lips were
pinched into a firm line, and he had a determined stiffness to his
posture. I'd seen him this way before. It was the look he had every
time he walked onto the football field. Only this time it was worse
because it was aimed at me.

Once Melanie was seated on the couch beside
me, he began.

"Mac—you're going with your parents." He said
this with such authority that I actually began nodding my head in
agreement.

"What—no!" My stomach plummeted into my feet.
"I'm not leaving you."

"Yes, you are." Ty said. "It's the only way
to keep you safe." He fixed me with a stern eye. "I know this
wasn't our plan, Mac, but you have to see it's the only way. I
can't protect you and it's what we should have planned for all
along. Your parents leaving made me see that."

I breathed sharply through my nose and
counted to ten. Unable to look at him, I stared at the carpet at
his feet. I wanted to scream, to yell, to do anything to change his
mind, but I knew it would be useless. Logic would be the only thing
to get through to him, and my emotions weren't running in
full-logic mode just yet.

When at last I had control, I raised my eyes
up to his. The determined set of his jaw nearly made me back down.
But I couldn't.

"I'm not leaving," I repeated, slowly, making
sure to enunciate each word. "It isn't safe to leave
you
alone."

A muscle jumped along his jaw line, and his
eyes bored into mine. It was a low blow, but a necessary one. If it
was a battle of wills he wanted, then that was what he'd get. I
wouldn't back down on this. Ever.

I had no idea how many minutes passed with us
facing off in silence. It was only the sound of Melanie shifting on
the couch beside me that broke the spell. Ty threw a glance in her
direction, looking as though he had forgotten she was there at
all.

"Back me up here, Mel," he said.

I shook my head and looked at the petite girl
beside me. "Don't tell me you're in on this."

Melanie swallowed and glanced from me to Ty,
a slight blush creeping across her freckled cheeks. "I think he
might be right, Mac. I mean—" Her eyes darted to Ty again, as
though seeking her own back-up. "Look. We don't know who or what
we're up against. Maybe if we had a little more time—maybe we could
figure it out. But we don't. And so far the shackles have
worked..." Her words trailed off as she watched my expression. What
had started out as mild annoyance was now full-fledged anger.

"If you think I'm going to leave him here
alone, you're crazy." I stood and pushed a finger into Ty's chest.
"You'll be in just as much danger. You know that, right? More
even—because you'll be chained to a goddamned wall. How the hell do
you expect me to just walk away?"

He towered above me, but just then there was
no difference between our heights. We stood eye to eye, neither of
us willing to back down first. A heavy weight pressed against my
chest, cutting off my air supply. He had to know this was stupid.
He had to.

"I want you to go," he said at last,
softly.

"No." My voice broke on the word.

We both knew he had won.

o0o

Melanie came up to my bedroom while I packed.
I couldn't look at her. Ty's decision was one thing, but for her to
take his side was quite another.

"I'm sorry," she said, picking up a T-shirt I
had dropped on the way from the dresser. I snatched it out of her
hand and balled it up before throwing it into the suitcase laid
open on my bed. She sat down and watched me move about my room.

"I'm not in the mood to talk," I said. With
that, I wrenched open my closet door and scanned my hanging
clothes. Nothing registered. Figuring it didn't matter what I
brought, I simply grabbed a handful and threw them on the bed.

"Come on, Mac."

I ignored her and started pulling sweaters
and jeans off their hangers. I didn't have the energy to fight with
her, but that didn't mean I wanted her comfort or help. Not now.
Not after she had conspired against me.

"I promise nothing will happen to him."

I glanced at her sharply. "So it's safe for
you to stay, but not me?"

She shook her head vigorously, relief
flooding across her features. "No. I have to leave, too. That's
part of the deal."

"Oh." Admittedly, her admission made me feel
better. But the fact the two of them had planned this behind my
back only ratcheted up my anger another notch. I didn't really want
to label my feelings as jealousy, but that was what it all boiled
down to. I wanted to be the one Ty turned to for help. The kind of
person he could depend on. Clearly, he didn't see me that way at
all.

"I'll stay to make sure he's locked up, but
then I'm splitting until morning."

I nodded and pulled a cardigan loose from the
pile, folding it slowly. "You promise to take care of him?" It cost
me some pride to pose the question, but I had to ask.

Melanie laid her hand on mine, stilling my
movements. "I promise, Mac."

I licked my lips and nodded, drawing my hand
from beneath hers. "Thanks."

An awkward silence hung between us. I busied
myself with my clothes, and Melanie sat there, clearly unsure of
what she should say or do next. Eventually, I couldn't stand it any
longer.

"Listen—I need to be alone for a
while..."

Melanie jumped up. "Of course." She threw her
arms around me and we exchanged an awkward hug. I closed the door
behind her and pressed my ear to it until I heard her soft
footfalls retreat down the hall. The stairs creaked beneath her
slight weight, and only then did I turn and flip open my cell
phone.

"Leave town," I said, dialing a number I
never thought I'd dial in this lifetime. "My ass."

My aunt's house was a split-level
monstrosity, filled to the brim with kids. The amount of noise they
generated could rival any screaming mob of children on a
playground. To think another voice would soon be added to the mix
was too much for me to take. As soon as possible, I retreated to
the back bedroom, claiming I had a headache. Normally, I enjoyed my
time there, but today was definitely the exception.