Midnight Moonlight (21 page)

Movement caught her eye, and she turned. There was a man coming up the alleyway. There was something wrong with him. Calla could see that, but she didn’t know what it was.

The man was stumbling, and his eyes were bulging.

“Daddy,” she whispered.

“Calla, sweetie, I’m talking to Mommy,” he said.

She tugged at the end of his shirt. “There’s a man, Daddy.”

The man clutched the wall, as if he wasn’t able to stand upright. His face was agonized.

“He’s sick,” said Calla.

“One second, sweetie,” said her dad.

And then the man doubled over and let out a horrific shriek.

That got her parents attention. They both turned to look at the man.

The man threw his head back and…

His skin ripped.

Something was inside him. Something furry. It was tearing away the man, like a chicken pushing its way out of an egg—a fearsome birth that destroyed.

Calla backed up, reaching blindly for one of her parents, unable to take her eyes off of the man.

Her father snatched her by the shoulder and shoved her behind him.

Then she couldn’t see. She could hear more ripping, more screaming…

She looked up at her red balloon.

Don’t let go of the balloon.

She clutched it.

“Alan, we need to go,” said her mother, her voice panicked.

“Go where?” said her father. “If we run, it will chase us. It’s instinctive for animals like that. They think we’re prey.”

Animal? What animal? Calla peered around her father’s legs to see that there was no longer a man standing there. Instead, there was a large, furry wolf. There were pieces of skin and gobs of gore scattered all around it, lying on the ground. The wolf was baring its teeth, wrinkling up its muzzle.

“We have to
go
,” said her mother, grabbing Calla’s hand and dragging her down the street.

“No, Beverly, wait,” said her father.

But the wolf bounded forward, after them, and Calla could see it as she and her mother ran.

The wolf tackled her father, knocked him down on his back just like that. And Calla had always thought her father was so strong. She hadn’t thought that anything could hurt him.

“Get Calla out of here!” her father was screaming. “Go, Beverly.”

But her mother had stopped moving. Her mother was rooted to the spot, watching the wolf and her father.

The wolf snarled in her father’s face.

“Stop!” Calla’s mother hurled her purse at the wolf.

It hit it right in the face, and the wolf turned its snarl on her mother.

Her mother shrieked.

Calla looked up at her balloon. She was terrified, but she didn’t know what to do.

Don’t let go of the balloon.

The wolf bounded off of her father and onto her mother.

Her mother was sobbing, scrambling on the pavement under the wolf, trying to get away, to get up.

Her father staggered to his feet. He was bleeding.

Calla didn’t know what to do.

Don’t let go of the balloon.

But she did. The balloon slipped out of her fingers and went up into the sky, past the streetlights, past the stars, far, far away…

And when she looked back, after watching the balloon’s ascent, it was over.

Neither of her parents was moving.

* * *

The wolves circled each other, both growling.

Calla felt frozen in terror. She understood it now—more than she had quite understood it before. Ryder was a werewolf. He was like that savage creature that had ripped her parents to shreds that night. He turned into this beast, the thing that was right in front of her.

It really was all over, whatever had been between them. She couldn’t be with a man who wasn’t really a man. She couldn’t be with a monster. She watched the wolf that had been Ryder, its muscles moving beneath its pelt as it circled the other wolf. Ryder was a predator. She could see the way that he was sizing up his opponent. He was ferocious.

But she thought of the tender way that he had touched her, the reverence of his fingers gliding over her skin…

Enoch lunged.

Calla cried out.

But Ryder backed away, avoiding the attack.

Despite everything, she wanted him to win. She didn’t want to be at the mercy of this Enoch person, who sounded cruel and horrible. Ryder was at least better than that man, she had to admit. Maybe they could never be together, but that didn’t mean that she wished him harm.

No, she hoped that Ryder won this fight. She hoped it with every fiber of her being.

Ryder swiped at Enoch with one of his paws. He connected, knocking the other wolf off balance.

But Enoch just shook it off. He leaped on top of Ryder.

Both wolves went down in a tangle of limbs and claws. There was a whimpering noise and a growling noise, but Calla couldn’t tell who was making which.

She clutched at the car door, terror gripping her. She was trying to see if she understood what this was all about. Ryder had said first blood, hadn’t he, which meant that all one of them had to was to make the other bleed.

She struggled to see if Enoch’s teeth were in Ryder.

Now it seemed that Ryder’s skin was far too fragile for such a stupid trial. How dare he risk everything this way? What if he lost? What would happen to all of them? What would Enoch do?

Calla’s heart thudded in her chest.

She was terrified, but she was also angry. She couldn’t believe that Ryder would take a chance like this.

And she couldn’t see anything.

The two wolves were still scuffling, rolling around in the light of the car’s headlights, kicking up dust. They were obscured by a cloud of dirt in the air, and the dust reflected the headlights back, making it impossible to see either of them.

All she could do was hear the noises—the growls and snarls and yips and whines.

It was too much. She was shaking. Her skin felt damp, as if a sheen of sweat had popped up everywhere. She didn’t think her heart could beat any faster. She felt it pounding everywhere—in her wrists, in her temple. It was almost painful the way it pulsed against her skin.

She stole a glance at Jasper, who was white-faced, standing on the other side of the car, his hands clenched in fists.

And underneath all the anger that was forming, and the fear for her own well-being, Calla was also worried for Ryder himself. What if the dust cleared and they saw him lying there, motionless and dead, like her parents all those years ago? What if he got himself killed?

Was Enoch ruthless enough to do it?

Calla was fairly sure that he was.

She didn’t want Ryder dead. She didn’t even want him hurt. Even if he was a monstrous wolf, she still felt a bit of tenderness towards him.

If he was dead… She felt the loss of it invade her soul, ripping through her and making her feel despondent.
No, please don’t let him be dead. Please, please
.

She pictured his body all torn to pieces, bloody and destroyed. For some reason, in her imagination, he was in human form again, and he looked so vulnerable and sad.

She shut her eyes, trying to drive the image away, but it only became stronger in her mind’s eye. She shook herself.

And there was noise all around her—the men all bellowing in loud voices.

Her eyes snapped open.

Ryder was standing up in front of the car, naked and out of breath.

The dust swam in the light of the headlights, but she could see Enoch, still in wolf form, licking a wound on his flank.

“First blood!” Ryder called out, his voice seeming to echo off the trees.

Enoch’s body twisted back into human form. He stood up to face Ryder, his expression fierce. “If you think—”

“You won’t go back on your word, will you?” Ryder’s eyes flashed.

Enoch sneered.

It was tense, no one saying anything, all the men around staring at them. The light of the headlights seemed cold, and everyone seemed frozen.

Then Enoch stalked over and picked up his discarded pants. He pulled them back on. “Fine, then. The cause doesn’t need someone like you.”

Ryder lifted his chin.

Enoch turned to the other men. “We wouldn’t take someone who wasn’t loyal, would we, boys?”

The men seemed confused for a moment, but then they all roared out a rousing negative chorus.

Enoch spat on the ground. “Get the hell out of here, scum. I never want to see your face again.”

Ryder snatched up his jeans. “My pleasure.”

Calla backed into the car as Ryder returned.

Ryder yanked open the back seat and slid inside.

Jasper got in the car too. He looked at Ryder in the rear view mirror.

Ryder pulled the door shut.

Jasper turned the key in the ignition.

The car surged forward, past all of Enoch’s men.

Calla peered out the back window, watching them grow further and further away, almost like her red balloon.

“I can’t believe you risked that,” said Jasper.

Ryder laughed. “It worked out, didn’t it?”

“You had no way of knowing—”

“I knew I could take Enoch in wolf form. I was a wolf for a long time. I’m just glad he actually went for it.”

Jasper shook his head.

Calla slumped in her seat.

The car picked up speed, and they left it all behind.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Ryder found Calla sitting outside Jasper’s RV, staring off into the distance. He thought that she looked beautiful but sad. They’d been back at the carnival for several hours, and he wanted to make sure that she got taken care of. He’d been working on that. But he had to admit that he wished she wouldn’t leave. He didn’t know much about her, but he sensed that she was a good person. And, of course, she was sexy as hell.

He’d never much cared for incredibly thin women. He liked them to look like Calla, curvy and luscious. She was gorgeous.

But beyond that, he was drawn to her in a different way. He knew that she’d cared for him when he hadn’t been himself, and he sensed her sensitivity toward him. He felt tenderly towards her as well.

He sat down next to her. “Hey there.”

She gave him a small smile.

“Look, I’ve been on the phone, and your car’s been in the city impound back at your home. I’ve got enough money to pay for you to get it out, and to get you bus fare back to where you belong.” He dug it out of his pocket. “Jasper helped too. He’s sorry about capturing you like that.”

She took the money, riffling through it. “Well, I’m glad that you’re better, so tell Jasper that I’ll get over it. Probably the most exciting thing that’ll ever happen to me anyway.” She laughed a little.

Ryder watched her, looking at the tiny lines around her eyes that formed when she smiled, the way her hair fell around her shoulders. He tried to summon up what he wanted to say to her, but he didn’t know how. “Uh…”

She raised her eyebrows.

“You don’t have to go right away if you…” He cleared his throat. “That is, if you wanted, I wouldn’t mind the chance to get to know you a little better. You know, now that I’m myself again.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh.” She sounded truly surprised. “I thought that you…” She shook her head. “But it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t do that.”

He nodded. “You probably have a lot of people worrying about you. Your family.”

“No,” she said. “I don’t really have a family. I lost my parents when I was young. They were, um, killed by a werewolf.”

He swallowed.

She turned away, no longer looking at him. “My grandparents raised me, but they’re both gone. And I think I told you that my husband left me after we couldn’t have any children. So, there’s no one worrying about me, I don’t think. Not really. And I have to admit that after we… made love, I thought I felt… but then I saw you shift into that wolf. And it reminded me of the day that my parents…”

He hung his head. Man, that was rough.

“I saw it, you know,” she said. “I was right there. The wolf would have killed me too, but someone had heard the screams and called for help. I was rescued just in time. I’m afraid that you’re just too… brutal. I don’t think I want to get to know you better. I think I just want to go home and forget about all of this.”

He was quiet.

She twisted her hands together. She still didn’t look at him.

He stood up, jamming his hands into his pockets. “I guess I can see that.”

She did look up at him, then. “I know that Enoch wasn’t a good person. I know you had to fight him. But just knowing that inside you’re…” She let out a shuddering breath.

This woman had been terrorized. Jasper had kidnapped her and held her against her will. Leroy had frightened her. And he’d had sex with her. Hell, in her state of mind, it was a wonder she wasn’t pressing charges against all of them. Ryder had been stupid to think that there could be anything between him and her.