Promised at the Moon (8 page)

Liam opened his mouth to speak, and then he sucked in a deep breath, blinking back the burning tears that stung his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Her beautiful face held overwhelming sadness that broke him to pieces. Unable to think, he fled from the student center.

Chapter Ten

“Liam!” Natasha tracked his steps as he ran. “Liam!”

Her heart slammed into her rib cage. She’d seen the gut-ripping agony on his face from having hurt her. He would shoulder the blame and beat himself up for what had happened. No matter if he didn’t feel about her the way she felt about him, he didn’t deserve the mental butt-kicking he was about to give himself.

“Are you okay?” Clint asked again.

“Yes, yes I’m fine.” Her eyes stayed glued to the door Liam had left through.

“Do you want to sit down?” Clint motioned to her chair.

She looked at the pile of uneaten food. Nausea soured her stomach. “I think I better get going. My class is going to start soon.”

“I can walk you.”

“No.” She squeezed his hand. “I really appreciate the lunch.”

“Do you have somewhere to turn tomorrow night?” he asked. “You’re welcome to run with us, but I understand if you don’t want to, after what Liam said.”

“Why don’t you text me later and I’ll let you know.”

He rubbed his neck. “Okay.”

Natasha picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. “See ya.”

He waved and then stuck his hands in his pockets. Guilt hit her for leaving him like that, but it was more important that she find Liam.

* * * * *

Natasha called Cara and found out what Liam’s next class was. She went to the fine arts building and waited outside the room. She stayed until the hall emptied and then took out her phone to check the time. A student came running in and stopped at the door.

“Excuse me,” said Natasha. “Is this Shakespeare 210?”

“I hope so.” The girl pulled the door open and went inside.

Natasha shivered. Liam wouldn’t just blow off class.

Natasha: Where are you?

She bit her lip. With only two minutes to cross campus to her class, she hefted her bag and took off.

* * * * *

“Have you heard from Liam?” she asked Cara as they drove home.

“Not since lunch today, why?”

Natasha shrugged. So many questions mixed in her brain like a cocktail that she was beginning to feel light-headed. “Did you know a girl named Lindsay?”

Cara’s gaze whipped to hers. “Liam told you about that?”

“Sort of. He yelled at Clint today and said Clint killed Lindsay.”

Cara stared out the window. “It really isn’t my place to say, but…”

Natasha waited.

Cara sighed. “Liam had been on campus a couple years. I’d only been here for about six months when Clint and his pack came to school. Clint tried to make Liam part of the pack, but he wouldn’t have anything to do with them. Lindsay was new. She and Liam became friends. Clint started showing interest in her as well. She wasn’t Alpha mate material, so that was unusual. She wanted to be liked so badly that on the full moon, she went out with Clint and his friends. They ran in an area they weren’t supposed to. An area where humans were allowed. Something happened and she was hit by a truck and went into a coma.”

Horror ripped through Natasha’s gut. “She died?”

“I don’t know but she might as well have. If she is still alive, she’s been in a coma for years.”

That was horrible. “Are you going out tomorrow?”

“I don’t go out on the full moon.”

She glanced at Cara and then back at the road. “Never?”

Cara shook her head.

Natasha couldn’t imagine not going out if she didn’t have a bracelet to hold her wolf at bay. “What do you do?”

“I lock myself in the storage area in the basement. Liam usually lets me out in the morning, but I guess you can now.”

How sad. With how stir-crazy Natasha had grown the last few days, she wondered how Cara handled not running free.

“Do you have a place to go?” asked Cara.

“Clint invited me to go with them, but I haven’t decided yet.”

“You should ask Liam.”

Natasha entered their complex and pushed the button on her remote. “I’m not sure Liam wants to see me right now.”

“Well, you don’t have to see him.”

“True.”

* * * * *

Natasha stared at her phone. Her fingers hovered over the keypad. She didn’t know what to type.

Natasha: I need to talk to you.

She blew out a breath and waited.

No reply.

After a minute she tried again.

Natasha: Tomorrow is the full moon.

She set her phone down and shook her hair out of its clip. She thumbed through her math book and pulled out her writing assignment. Her phone beeped.

Liam: There’s a preserve ten minutes south off PCH. Park at the beach and walk across to the preserve. You’ll be fine there.

You’ll be fine there? Terror bubbled in her chest, and a scream snagged in the back of her throat at the thought of shifting alone in a new place. She’d never been out alone on a full moon. She’d always gone with Daniel and their friends or her parents and her pack. Until she’d gotten the bracelet. Panic sped up her heartbeat like defibrillator paddles. Her wolf paced back and forth, knowing the moon was close. She’d been caged too long and wasn’t going to allow this moon to pass without a run.

She swallowed hard.

Natasha: Are you going to be there?

She bit her lip.
Please say yes, please say yes
.

Liam: Maybe.

She threw her phone to the floor and scowled. She needed someone, but she wasn’t going to beg.

Setting her homework in her lap, she shoved in her earbuds and drowned out the bays of her wolf.

* * * * *

Liam stared at his phone. She was reaching out. Asking for help. But he couldn’t do it. For years he’d tried and fought to keep his temper at bay. He’d ridden halfway across the US, been picked up by Deena and Michael and started over, and still he wasn’t far enough away. He was no better than his father. No better than Clint. She wasn’t safe with him.

Liam set down his phone and lay on his bed. The warm September ocean breeze blew across his body. He stretched out in his boxer briefs, his skin too prickly to wear anything else. He lifted his arm over his eyes and lay for a long time, his mind plagued with memories. Lindsay, his mom, his dad, Asha. She deserved better.

Though he refused to say it out loud, he blamed himself for Lindsay as much as Clint. If only he’d done more to stop her, to help her feel good about who she was, she wouldn’t have needed to prove herself.

Asha wasn’t like Lindsay, though. She was smart and didn’t crave the acceptance of others. After what she’d been through, it was better that she found a new pack. She deserved the safety and community of a pack.

He sat up and cursed. And he’d just told her to go out by herself on the full moon.
Smart, Liam, real smart.

Liam: Don’t go to the preserve. You need to be with a pack.

Natasha: Don’t worry about me. I’ve got it covered.

His intestines twisted into a hangman’s noose. His wolf didn’t want her anywhere near another male. He wanted her for himself. For them to run free together in the moonlight.

Liam set down his phone and told his wolf to piss off. She was better off without him.

Chapter Eleven

Natasha wore as little as possible to class the next day. Her sticky skin seemed to cling to every piece of dust that floated by. She threw on the shortest shorts she could find and a bright-green tank top before bunching her hair up in a ponytail. Just putting her hair into a band was like a vise grip on her brain. It had been so long since she’d been through a turning that it felt impossibly worse than the last time she’d shifted.

Cara stood at the door in only her underwear. Her lean lanky body glistened from a thick layer of sweat. “I can’t do it today.”

Natasha turned from the mirror. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head. “I’m gonna set up my cot in the storage room and spend the day down there.”

“Can I help?”

Cara shook her head again and shuffled out.

She’d never seen a wolf look that bad at the full moon, and she wished she had her bracelet to give to Cara.

Her bed called to her, beckoning her to return, but she couldn’t afford to get behind in her classes. Grabbing her sunglasses and keys from her dresser, she headed out.

* * * * *

Going to class had been a bad idea. The sunlight made it almost impossible for Natasha’s oversensitive eyes to see where she was going. Twice she stopped short to avoid hitting a car in front of her.

Her stomach growled at the smell of cooking meat floating by. She swallowed hard, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to keep anything down.

Relief hugged her skin as she drove into the shade of the parking structure. She turned off the engine and sat in the cool darkness, letting it cocoon her in a sleeping bag of minor relief. The minutes ticked by, and she dragged her head off the headrest, checking herself in the mirror. Her gums ached and her teeth had lengthened slightly. Even her nails had grown longer and more pointed.

She stepped from the car and flip-flopped toward the walkway. The hairs on her neck prickled. She scanned the area and sniffed the air, but there were too many scents to distinguish a particular one. She saw no one, but the sensation of being watched jolted through her nerves like sparklers.

Rushing down the stairs made her aching head throb. She cut across the quad for class, glancing behind several times, but still she saw nothing unusual.

Class was just starting as she took a seat, dropped her bag and hung her head. She needed to calm down. Paranoia was not a good trait to gain just before a full moon.

The door behind her opened and the seats squeaked one row back.

“You okay?” Clint whispered.

She lifted her gaze and gave him a weak smile. His tank top and shorts made him look like he was ready for the beach. Buck and Rock wore similar attire. They looked irritable and stressed, but glorious with their tanned muscles bulging out all over.

Her inner wolf cheered at the sight.
Stupid mutt.

“Sorry I didn’t text you. My dad had a visiting pack in town and I had to help entertain.”

“It’s fine,” she whispered.

“Ya comin’ with us tonight?” Buck asked. “Or did Ron scare you off for good?”

Clint smacked him in the chest. “That’s not helpful.”

Buck growled and bumped into Rock. Rock growled and shoved Buck back.

“Knock. It. Off!” Clint said through clenched teeth. The two brothers grumbled and then leaned back in their seats and pulled down their sunglasses.

He turned to her. “Come with us. You shouldn’t be alone.”

“Where are you going?”

“The woods above my family’s cabin. It’s up north a little bit. There’s plenty of room for all of us to run and stay out of trouble.”

The woods. She missed the woods. It was fall, and back in Virginia the trees would be changing from green to golden and orange and burgundy. Dew would just begin to mist the ground in the mornings and the sun would take on the most beautiful hues as it set. Her gut clenched, and for the first time in a week, she missed home.

“What time?” she asked.

“I can pick you up at four to make sure we make it there before sundown.”

“Okay.” She rubbed her neck. Aches like menstrual cramps plagued her entire body.

Hot, soft fingers took over and kneaded her skin. Natasha let Clint release her tension. She groaned as his strong thumbs rolled up her neck to the base of her skull.

“Maybe when you’re done with Asha, you can help me out,” Rock said.

“Not on your life, bro.” Clint laughed.

“Why not? I’m cute too.”

Natasha laughed.

* * * * *

At the end of the day Natasha couldn’t leave campus quick enough. She practically sprinted to her car. The fever and aches only intensified the pounding in her skull. Jumping in, she threw her bag on the passenger seat. Clint would be at her place within the hour.

She drove slowly, this time keeping her eyes glued to the road. If she got into a wreck now, she’d rip someone apart for sure.

She parked in the garage with a sigh of relief, then headed for the storage room and hit the button to close the door. The storage room was locked. There was a double cylinder deadbolt that needed a key on either side. Natasha realized she didn’t have one and she didn’t want to make Cara open it for her. The way Cara had looked that morning could only be a hundred times worse by now.

She opened the garage again and ran out before it closed behind her. A rock propped open the gate to the complex. Natasha cursed and kicked it away. Stupid kids.

Inside her condo, she threw her bag to the ground. An apple-scented candle assaulted her nostrils. Natasha waved her hand in front of her nose, walked into the bathroom and blew it out. They hadn’t used the candle since she’d bought it a month ago. Why had Cara picked the most sensitive of days to light it?

Natasha went to the door that led down to the storage unit. It was locked as well. She coughed and then knocked. “Cara, do you need anything?”

No answer.

“I’m going to get ready and go with Clint out to his family’s cabin. If you need me I’ll have my phone, okay?” She pressed her ear to the door but heard only moaning.

Poor Cara.

Natasha ascended the staircase to her room, trying to find something to focus on. Cleaning was the thing she hated most, but it helped the time pass. She turned on her music and gathered up her laundry and threw a load in to wash. The scent of the fabric softener almost made her knees buckle. It was the same one her mother used. She tossed some in the wash and headed back to her room.

After straightening her bathroom and bed, she turned on the shower and stepped in. The tepid water ran over her skin and assaulted her like a million tiny needles.

Thirty minutes later, she threw her clothes into the dryer and put on a pair of yoga pants and a cami. She’d rather drive to the cabin naked, but she’d be freezing in the morning. She grabbed a hoodie, slipped on her sneakers, then bounded down the stairs. She checked her phone and then checked her emergency phone. They were both silent.

Sitting on the couch, she glanced at the clock over the oven. Just ten minutes till Clint arrived.

* * * * *

Liam pulled up to the condo and shut off his bike. He removed his helmet and set it on the back. The sun beat down on him and he moved quickly to the gate. A breeze skittered over his bare arms and up his wide-legged gym shorts, giving him a moment of relief. He punched in the gate code and walked to Natasha and Cara’s door.

Holding out his spare key, he knocked loudly. His heart slammed in his chest like a caged hummingbird. The shift was close, but he needed to check on Cara. After a minute, he knocked again. He scratched his arm and twirled the leather bracelet Asha had given him.

“Cara, open up. It’s Liam.”

There was no answer.

The hairs on his arms stood up. He shoved the key in the lock and twisted it. The interior of the condo was silent. He scanned the room and sniffed. The strong scent of apple-scented candles permeated the air.

“Cara? Asha?”

The sound of the dryer rolling around clothes was like boulders in his brain. He shut the door and set his keys on the table. He ran up the stairs and knocked on Asha’s door before pushing it open.

“Asha?”

He went down the hall to Cara’s room, knocked once and pushed the door open. “Cara?”

The room was immaculate, and she wasn’t in it. A pit grew in his stomach. He jumped the stairs and ran to the door leading to the storage area. It was locked.

“Cara! Open up!”

She moaned.

He unlocked the door and was immediately hit by the scent of blood and wolves. He raced down the stairs. Cara lay in a heap on the floor, her feet and wrists zip-tied, her mouth gagged with duct tape. She had a bloody nose and a black eye. She cried out at the sight of him.

“Cara!” Liam picked her up gently and set her on her cot. He sliced the duct tape with a sharp nail and tenderly removed it from her skin and out of her hair. “What happened?” He broke the zip ties on her wrists, releasing her.

“A guy came with several others, looking for Asha this morning after she left. I lied and told them she’d gone down to UCLA to meet some friends.”

Liam’s heart beat fast. “Where is she?”

“She went with Clint to his family’s cabin.”

He needed to get to her. He’d been wrong. She wasn’t safer with Clint. He pulled his phone from his pocket and punched in Natasha’s number. It went straight to voice mail. Liam jumped to his feet, cursing loudly. He had no idea where the cabin was.

Liam: Someone is looking for you. Call me immediately!

He paced, trying to get his thoughts to make sense but between the howl of his wolf and the rage building inside, he was blind to cognitive thought. Cara coughed and then moaned. He knelt by her side.

“Hey, hey. What can I do?”

“Water,” she croaked.

“You got it.” He retrieved two bottles from the fridge as well as a wet cloth. “Here ya go.”

She gulped down the first bottle and he wiped her mouth and nose. The swelling around her eye was already lessening.

“Do you want some pain killers?”

She shook her head. “In a couple of hours, the black eye will be the least of my worries.” She locked gazes with Liam. “Go to her.”

“I can’t.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know where she is.”

“Call Cindy.”

Liam punched in Cindy’s number and held his breath.

“What do you want?” Her voice held disdain.

“Where are you going tonight?”

“What’s it to ya?”

“I’m not trying to interfere. I just need to know where Clint’s family cabin is.”

“Why should I help you?”

“Because if it wasn’t for me, you would still be in that trailer park with your stepfather.” Liam hated the words as they poured from his mouth, but he’d do anything to keep Asha safe at this point. “Tell me where it is and I’ll never bug you again.”

“Why do you want to know so bad?”

“Asha is in trouble, and she’s on her way there with Clint.”

“Clint would never hurt her.”

“Not from him.”

Cindy was quiet for a long minute. “You mean the pack from Virginia?”

Liam swallowed hard. So it
was
Daniel. “Listen, Cindy, you have to help me, please.”

“Fine. Go north on PCH past Leo Carrillo. Take a right on Yerba Buena Road. The cabin’s up there on the left.”

“Thank you.” He went to hang up but stopped. “And Cindy?”

“What?”

“Go to the preserve tonight instead. Call everyone else. Tell them the same.”

“I can’t. They’ve already left and there’s no cell signal.”

The line went dead.

Liam leaned over and kissed Cara on the head. “I’ll be back if I can.”

“Don’t worry about me. Go save my new roomie. It’s hard finding a good one.”

Liam made sure she was comfortable. “I always worry,” he said.