Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) (25 page)

Suddenly, I was alone with a person I had seen turn
into a wolf. The room felt very small.

“Are you afraid?”

“No.” I hated that my voice wavered.

“Then why are you holding onto the door handle?” he
asked, pointing behind me.

I looked down and sure enough my hand was there, white-knuckled,
on the doorknob. I pulled my hand back, gazing down at my feet.

“I won’t hurt you. I could never do that. I love you.”
He stood up and walked around the desk to lean against it, shoving his hands in
the pockets of his cargo pants.

I flinched at his words, but stayed silent.

“It disgusts you to hear that, doesn’t it?” He sighed
and shook his head, pushing himself off of the desk. “What a difference a
couple of days make.” He took a few steps toward me.

Instinct had me take a step back.

He stopped, a look of pain flashed over his face. “I
…won’t, couldn’t…hurt you. I promise.”

I had to stop this. It was Nate. The most caring,
gentle person I had ever met. I knew that, I could see it in his eyes. But the
problem was, every time I closed
my
eyes I saw his body explode into
that snarling wolf, growling and chomping his teeth, ready to kill.

“Can you talk to me? If we discuss what’s bothering
you, it might help.” His voice was very soft, as if raising it might scare me
off.

“I just can’t get past seeing you as a snarling wolf
attacking someone.”

He laughed. I looked up at him sharply. “Of course I
was growling and attacking. I was protecting you from Rowan. He killed my
father, my friend. And he was going to kill you. I’m sorry you saw it, but I
will not apologize for protecting you.”

I still couldn’t think of what to say, so I stared out
the large bay window at the woods beyond the house.

“If it’s the image you can’t get rid of, would you
like a better one?”

I gazed at him curiously. “What do you mean?”

“The wolf in the bushes by your patio, watching you.
You talked to him. Were you afraid of him?”

“How did you know about that?”

He smiled. Then I realized what he meant. “That was
you?”

He nodded.

I didn’t know how to feel about that, I told the wolf
my private thoughts about Nate because I thought he couldn’t understand.
Apparently I was wrong.

He started toward me once more and again I backed up,
this time bumping into the door. I had nowhere else to go.

He was in front of me in a flash.

“How did you do that?” I gasped.

He smiled and shrugged. “I’m fast.”

I tried to turn my head away from him, but he took
hold of my face with both hands, making me look into his eyes. I struggled,
trying to get out of his grip. “No, stop. It’s me.” He let go of my face.
Brushing my cheek with his thumb, he whispered, “It’s me.” Then he grabbed my
hands, forcing me to touch his face. “It’s me,” he repeated. “I’m still the
same person you touched so many times before. Look into my eyes. Do you see a
monster?”

I did as he said and stared into his eyes. They were
not the yellow ones I had seen in the bushes, nor when he attacked Rowan. They
were the deep blue eyes that I had stared into so many times and wanted to get
lost in. They were the eyes that gazed into mine when he said he loved me and
the eyes that glared at the football bullies when he protected me.

A tear escaped, rolling down my cheek. “I’m so sorry I
doubted you. I’m so sorry.” I wrapped my arms around him, breathing in his
scent. I sobbed on his shoulders until my tears went dry, leaving his blue
denim shirt damp. He hugged me tightly, just as I needed him to, gently rubbing
the back of my hair, whispering quietly that it was okay and he loved me.

How could I have doubted him? He was Nate; my Nate.
What was I thinking?

I finally pulled away and was relieved to see that the
pain on his face was gone. In its place was wonder and love. “Can you ever
forgive me for what I did to you?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“There is nothing to forgive. I should have told you
what I was. If I had done that before you saw me as a wolf, you might have
understood. But I didn’t want you to know that side of me.”

“I need to know all of you, or I don’t know you at
all. All those things you told me, your last name and your family were lies,
everything was a lie. How can I believe what you say now?” I pushed his arms
and stepped away from him, starting to get angry. I stopped by the window,
turning to face him with my arms crossed in front of me.

“I was afraid you wouldn’t want to be with me. And I
was right, as soon as you saw what I was, you called the police.”

“That’s because I didn’t know Conner, or whatever his
name is, was a werewolf too. I only saw what you were and I thought you killed
those people. I don’t know how I would have reacted if you told me sooner, but
we’ll never know because you didn’t trust my love for you.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but stopped. “Your
right, I’m sorry. I should have trusted you.” He leaned against the arm of the
couch. “I promise that I won’t lie again. I will always tell you the truth.
That is, if you’ll have me back. If you can still love me in spite of what I
am.” His face was tortured as if he already knew my answer.

Who was I kidding? I couldn’t live without him. He
gave my life purpose. Before he came into my life, I had no one. He showed me a
new world in Riley House and for that I would always be grateful. I walked over
and touched his face. “You inspire people to be better. You make them want to
help others. You are the best person I know. I don’t care what you are. Of
course I love you. How could I not?”

He smiled so beautifully it took my breath away. “I
love you so much. Can I kiss you now?” he asked, uncertain of what my answer
would be.

“You’d better.”

He leaned down and touched his lips to mine. Every
doubt I had melted away. It was Nate, whatever he was. He was mine and always
would be.

Answers

When the door opened, we pulled apart. He took my hand
and held it. Lauren and her father walked in. Lauren glanced at our hands and
smiled, all her anger washed away. “I knew you wouldn’t care what he was,” she
said. “But why did you call the police?”

“When I saw him change, he was chasing what I believed
was an innocent person.” I lowered my head in shame and continued on in a
whisper. “I was sure he was the one killing the people in the park.”

Lauren narrowed her eyes, staring coldly at Nate. “I
told you that you needed to tell her the truth.”

Nate sighed, shaking his head. “Fine, Lauren, you were
right and I was wrong. Happy now?”

She smiled, falling into the plush leather chair
behind her. “Yes, I am, actually. I’m always right. Just like I was all these
years bugging you to make a move with Megan.”

Nate rolled his eyes. “Is there something you needed,
Will? I have a feeling Megan has a lot of questions and I thought I’d take her
down to the cottage so we could have some privacy.”

“Yes. This just arrived.” Will was carrying a small
box wrapped in brown paper. He walked over and set it on the desk.

Nate let go of my hand and followed Will. He ripped
the paper off, scrunching it up, leaving a crinkled ball on the desk and then
took the lid off the box. He pulled out tiny pieces of foam and then a gun; a
shiny, silver handgun.

I gasped. “What are you going to do with that?”

He looked at me, his eyes filled with uncertainty and
I knew that he was about to tell me something he didn’t want to. “When Rowan
killed my father, he left me a note and told me he was leaving town. I could
have tracked him, but I had no way of killing him. Werewolves don’t die very
easily. I met a man after I lost Sadie, about fifty years ago, named Joseph. He
is also a werewolf and is opposed to killing humans like I am. Together we have
been tracking Rowan and trying to find a way to kill him.

“You see, I loathed the woman that turned me. Because
of that I had little knowledge of what I was and what I could do. All that I
knew, I learned from my friend Sadie and she was killed before she could teach
me that much. The legends are true. Silver is the only thing that can hurt us.
This gun shoots silver bullets: Joseph and I made twelve of them. When I heard
about the killings I called him and asked if he could ship the gun and bullets
to me. He will come and help if we need him, but I don’t want to burden him
with my problems just yet.”

I learned a lot in his speech, but one thing stuck
out:
he met someone fifty years ago. How old is he
?

“Um… Nate?” My voice shook with apprehension.

He was talking quietly to Will and leaning over the
gun. “Hmm?” he said, distracted, not looking at me.

I glanced at Lauren and then her father, unsure if I
should ask in front of them. Since they made no move to leave, I asked my
question anyway. “How old are you?”

He looked up at me and smiled, then glanced at the
others. “I think it’s time I took Megan and explained everything. We’ll deal
with this later. But I’m going to bring this with me.” He nodded to the gun. “I
don’t want Lauren here shooting her foot off.” He placed the gun back in the
box and took my hand with his free one. As we moved past Lauren, she stuck her
tongue out at Nate. He chuckled, giving her a friendly pat on the head.

I was shocked at how normal the cottage was. How could
it stay the same when everything had changed so drastically? My extra hairbrush
still sat on the end table where I had left it two weeks before when Nate
rushed me out. Our picture from the shelter was still the only one on the
mantel. The movie case I left here was open on the shelf below the TV. And I
noticed the corner of the book I had been searching for last week under the
couch. I bent down to pick it up and tossed it. It fell onto the coffee table
with a
smack.

I sat down on the sofa, waiting. He placed the gun in
a safe that was hidden behind the TV and then went into the kitchen to retrieve
two sodas from the refrigerator. After he handed one to me, he sat on the chair
beside the sofa.

“Are you finished stalling?” I asked, pulling the tab
on my can. Fizz floated out and dark bubbly liquid gathered around the edge. I
slurped it up as I waited for him to answer.

He smiled sheepishly. “I know I need to tell you
everything, but I’m afraid once I do you’ll change your mind.” He opened his
drink and took a sip.

“I need to know,” I said, staring at him.

“Okay.” He took a deep breath. “I was turned into a
werewolf in eighteen ninety. I was eighteen years old.” He paused, knowing I
would need a minute to process what he had just said.

Holy crap!
That meant he was over a hundred years old. I stood
up, making my way to stand in front of the window, holding my can while I
watched a seagull dive towards the water. Waves crashed against the small
motorboat Nate kept beside his dock. The wind blew through the two maple trees
at the edge of the water. When I realized I was stalling, just like he had, I
took a deep breath. “Go on,” I said quietly, but didn’t turn around.

“I lived here in Creekford, in the house we were just
in actually. It was a lot smaller back then, but that was home. I was courting
a girl named Lucy and had hoped to marry her one day.

“One night I took her for a walk, but somehow we ended
up in the meadow. Once we realized where we were and that we were unsupervised,
we turned around, starting back for the path. It was a full moon and we were
enjoying the pretty evening. I looked away from her for only a moment. When I
glanced back, she was lying on the ground with a wolf hovering above her. She
was dead.”

When he paused, I turned around to see him glancing
down at the floor. His face was full of grief. I could tell that it was
difficult to relive the past and I felt guilty for making him, but I needed to
know. He lifted his head and seeing me facing him, gave me a weak smile before
continuing. “It came for me, but I got away. But not before it took a bite out
of my leg. I told everyone she was killed by a wolf, even though I knew it was
more than that. Besides the odd coloring, it was bigger than any wolf I had
ever seen and it stood up on its hind legs. Yet I said nothing of that, knowing
that they wouldn’t believe me.

“Over the next couple of weeks I noticed new
unexplained abilities. I could outrun a horse, jump off the barn roof without a
scratch and my sense of smell was heightened.

“I was working at my father’s general store when a
woman named Charlotte came in. She was very pretty and spoke with an Irish
accent. She told me she was the one who killed Lucy and because she bit me, I
was now what she was. She told me that there was supposed to be a full moon
that night and she wanted me to meet her because I would change into a wolf. I
didn’t believe her, until I saw her eyes change color, from blue to yellow.