Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) (27 page)

The sound of voices in the living room pulled me out
of my thoughts. Even though I didn’t want to move, curiosity won out. I
reluctantly crawled out of bed and opened the door just a crack. Lauren and her
father were sitting in the living room talking to Nate. Everyone’s head turned
as I walked out. “Feel better?” Nate asked as I sat on the edge of his chair.

I wrapped my arm around his shoulder. “Yes, thank
you.”

“Lauren just dropped off your suitcases.”

“What? Why? And how?” They grinned at me. My brain was
still foggy with sleep and apparently had lost the ability to use full
sentences.

“I want you here with me until we take care of Rowan.”

“Nate, I’ll be fine at home,” I started to argue, but
he lifted his hand to silence me.

“No, you won’t. You need to be here where I can look
out for you.”

When he talked to me like that, like I had no choice,
my instinct was to argue. But I knew it was for my own safety, so I held my
tongue at least until we were alone. I glanced at Lauren. “How did you get into
my room?”

“Nate talked to Mona, said you weren’t feeling well
and thought you should stay here for a few days.”

“And she believed that?”

“Nate can be very persuasive.” She smiled at him with
such admiration I wondered how I missed their connection. I had known there was
something between them, but Nate would never tell me the truth. I realized why
Lauren seemed so happy. She didn’t have to pretend with me anymore.

When Nate smiled at me, I just nodded and looked away,
feeling apprehensive by my new situation. My suitcases sat next to Nate’s
bedroom door. She had packed enough for weeks.

“Will just invited us to dinner. I said yes, if that’s
all right.” Nate placed his hand on my leg as he spoke.

Everyone’s eyes were on me. What was I supposed to
say? “Sure,” I replied softly, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the whole
situation.

“Great. We’ll see you two in a couple of hours,”
Lauren said as she stood up, following her father to the door.

After they left, I turned to Nate, suddenly feeling
awkward.

“Is there anything else you want to ask me?”

One question came to mind. “Where were you all week? I
know you said you were busy, but never said with what.”

“I was looking for whoever was killing. I knew it was
a werewolf, but I didn’t know who.”

“Your eyes did turn yellow that morning we heard about
the death, didn’t they?”

He laughed, standing up. I fell into the chair once it
was empty as he made his way the fridge to retrieve two bottles of water. He
tossed me one and then opened his, one arm leaning against the kitchen island.
“Yes. It happens sometimes when I’m angry.”

“And that night at my house, when your nails went long
and pointy?”

“It was a full moon. That’s why I had to leave at
seven. I had so much fun with you I lost track of time. I started to change, so
obviously I had to leave.”

“I’m so glad I’m not crazy. I thought I was seeing
things.”

He grinned. “You’re not crazy. You’re just dating a
werewolf.”

I laughed, dangling my legs over the arm of the chair.

“I’m going to make myself a sandwich, you want one?”
he asked.

“Sure, I’ll have one.”

As he pulled out the elements to the sandwiches, I
made my way over, joining him at the island. Before making lunch, he took out
some pickles and cheese to munch on. I picked up a piece of cheese and took a
bite. Once he was finished, he loaded all the food onto a plate.

“Can I see the pictures you hid the first time I came
here?”

“What do you mean?” He gathered the leftover cold cuts
and placed them back in the fridge.

“I thought it was strange that you didn’t have any
pictures of your family. I noticed that there were marks on the shelf where
pictures had been. I opened a drawer and saw one. It was old, with three young
kids standing in front of Lauren’s family’s house, only it was a lot older and smaller.
I didn’t look any further, but they must have been your brother and sisters.”

“Yes. I’m glad you didn’t go any further. You would
have seen a picture of me and I look exactly the same.” While he put everything
away I wandered over to the end table where I had found the photos. I pulled
them all out and started placing them back on the mantel, beside the one of us.

There was a picture of the whole family. It was aged
at the edges and faint lines throughout, but it was still clear enough to see
the people standing in front of the house. Nate’s father looked very much like
him, but his hair was a shade darker. I couldn’t tell what color exactly since
the picture was in black and white. He had his arm around a woman who must have
been his wife, Nate’s mother. She was tall, maybe about my height, which was
five nine. Her hair was up in a loose bun and she was wearing a beautiful large
corseted dress, full in the skirt, tight on the bodice.

His sisters were cute in old-fashioned dresses with
their hair in braids. My mind flashed to Laura and Mary Ingalls from
Little
House on the Prairie
. Nate stood looking very much like my dream. He was
holding his little brother, a smaller version of himself. It didn’t seem real
to me that this person was standing a few feet away from me. It almost looked
like he went to one of those old-fashioned photographers to make you look like
you lived back then.

“Lunch is served,” he called from the kitchen. I put
the picture back and joined him, sitting on the stool next to the island.

“Thank you,” I said, picking up a ham and cheese on
whole wheat.

“I know it’s not under the best circumstances that
you’re here, but I’m going to enjoy being with you as much as possible.”

“Me too, I really missed you last week.” I was fine
with telling the old Nate how I felt. But now that I knew what he was and how
old he was, having accomplished so much in his long life, I felt a little
insignificant.

He wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear,
“I missed you too. You don’t know how much I love waking up in the night and
seeing you sleeping so peacefully beside me. The last week has been so lonely
for me. You’ve shown me what I could have and now that I have it, I’m not
letting you go. You mean everything to me.” He kissed my forehead. As we gazed
into each other’s eyes, I could feel his intense feelings for me. I hoped he
felt mine. I reached up and gently touched his cheek.

He eventually pulled away, taking the seat across from
me and picked up a roast beef sandwich.

“When you shoved me behind you yesterday, did I hear
you growl?”

He stopped, just about to take a bite and lowered his
sandwich. “Yes. When I saw you standing with Rowan.” He paused, shaking his
head and laughed darkly. “The man who killed my father and my best friend,
something inside me snapped. I have found true happiness with you. I never
thought it would happen to me and I wasn’t sure I deserve it, but you are mine.
I know how that sounds, but now that I found you I have to protect you.”

I wasn’t sure what to say, but I knew arguing was not
the answer. “Well, then, from now on, be honest and I’ll know who
not
to
talk to.”

His eyes lightened slightly. “Okay.”

We finished our lunch. I ate one in the time he ate
about four. Together we cleared the mess and went outside to sit on the porch.

Family Dinner

It was a beautiful, warm day and a shame to stay
inside. I lay back on the lounge chair soaking up the sun’s heat. Nate, who was
wearing faded cut-off jeans and a T-shirt, pulled the shirt over his head, tossing
it beside him on the deck, exposing his smooth, sculpted muscles. I had seen
him without his shirt many times, but every time I did I had an urge to run my
hands over the bumps and divots along his chest and upper arms. He caught me
staring at him and gave me a lazy smile as he lay down on the chair beside me.

I remembered something I wanted him to do while we
were eating lunch. I sat up and turned to him. “Can you make your eyes turn?”

“Excuse me?” He said, lifting his sunglasses and raising
an eyebrow.

“Do it. I think it’s cool.”

He gave me a weary look. “No, it might scare you.”

“Now that I know everything, I’m not scared of you.
Nate, do you think I’m dumb? I have noticed a few things and it didn’t scare me
away.”

“Fine.” He took the sunglasses off and sat up. I could
see him concentrating and then suddenly, his eyes went from blue to yellow,
just like the wolf I had talked to. Of course, now I knew that they were one
and the same.

“Yeah, that’s cool.”

When his eyes went back to normal, he smiled and shook
his head. “I thought that if I ever told you everything you wouldn’t want to be
with me. But instead of being scared, you think it’s cool that I can change the
color of my eyes. You’re amazing.” He laughed softly.

“Nate, I know who you are on the inside. That’s all
that matters. If you went around killing people like I thought, it would be
different.”

“I guess I underestimated you. I’m sorry. Lauren was
right. She’s been driving me crazy trying to get me to tell you. She bugged me
the whole time during graduation.”

“Why did they run yesterday in the parking lot when
they saw you coming?”

“They want me to be happy and since you and I started
dating, I have been. They wanted to meet the person that put a smile on my
face. But they know how I feel about keeping my identity a secret. So when they
saw me, they left.”

“They seemed a little afraid.”

“Did they?” He smirked. “That would be nice. They know
what I am and none of my family has ever taken it seriously. They are not aware
that I have killed people and I would like to keep it that way. I know they
would understand, but I don’t like hearing that what I did is okay.”

The screech of a bird sitting on the dock had me
looking over. I watched as a seagull stood staring into the lake, almost
willing a fish to float to the surface so it could dive down and scoop it out
of the water.

I turned back to Nate and saw him watching the same
bird. “It’s not okay. I hope it never happens again and to make sure it
doesn’t, I’m going to make you eat every meal. But when I put myself in your
shoes and think about what you’ve gone through, it’s understandable. It just
doesn’t make it okay.”

“Thank you for saying that. And I appreciate you
feeding me. But I just want you to know that I could never hurt you. I don’t
care how hungry I am. It was my wolf instincts that brought me to you, so even
if it took over, it would never harm you. I need you to know that.”

“What do you mean, your wolf instinct brought you to
me?”

He turned away, looking over at a maple tree that was
blowing wildly in the wind. “Nothing. I’ll tell you later.” He said it
absently, still focused on the tree, but I wasn’t about to let it go. He was
holding back for a reason and I needed to know the truth.

“Tell me now, Nate, no more secrets.” I sat up, lifting
my legs around so my feet were resting on the deck.

He turned his head back to gaze at me. He looked
worried. “I don’t want to freak you out.”

“I think I’ve done pretty well so far.”

He stared down at his sunglasses, spinning them around
in his hand, obviously stalling. “All right.” He swung his legs up to sit in
the same position I was. He took my hands in his and gazed into my eyes. “Sadie
told me some things about being a werewolf. Like wolves, our dominant sense is
the sense of smell. It leads us to food, it alerts us when danger is near and
it also distinguishes the scents of people.” He lowered his voice and his eyes
shifted away from me. “When a werewolf smells a certain scent it triggers
something in their brain. They recognize the scent, even if it was the first
time they smelled it. They know that person…is their mate, their one and only
mate. Sometimes a werewolf can go their whole lives without finding the scent.
Some ignore it, which is what I tried to do when I smelled mine three years
ago.” He reached up and lightly brushed the hair away from my face, gazing into
my eyes. “You.”

I turned away, leaving his hand hovering in the air
and stood up. I needed space for a moment to digest his latest bombshell.
Moving over to the railing of the deck, I leaned against it, my head hanging
down, staring down at the small patch of grass. I didn’t see the blades of
brown and green. I was too focused on his last words. Now I understood the look
on his face when I saw him the first time and why he bolted. I was a werewolf’s
mate, for life. I was fine with the for life part. I knew I would never want
anyone but him. There had never been anyone but him. But the scent thing, how
he found me, was the part that bothered me.

“Did I upset you?”

I was about to answer him when a car pulled into
Nate’s little driveway. Lauren opened up the door to her compact car and
stepped out. “Hey,” she called, climbing the few steps onto the porch.