Riley's Redemption (A Moon's Glow Novel) (10 page)

I gazed at Nate. His
grin was wide when he spotted me, but it faded as he shifted his glance to the
two other werewolves. His face went white, his eyes awash with confusion
and…fear? “Sadie?”

A Blast from The Past

I followed his gaze to
Eva who was now gaping open-mouthed at Nate. Within seconds, several emotions
flitted over her face: surprise, fear and then finally, happiness. Before I
could understand what was happening, she was rushing past me and jumping into
my husband’s arms. The green monster reared its ugly head for an instant. Who
was this girl Sadie and why was she hugging my man? It was stupid to be
jealous, I knew that. Nate was my werewolf mate and he could never love anyone
the way he loved me. The wolf inside wouldn’t let him. However, knowing those
facts didn’t help as I watched a girl I thought was named Eva, now hugging and
kissing the man I loved.

When they finally
pulled apart, Nate stared at her face with that odd look of confusion and fear.
“How are you here?” he whispered, his hand raising up as if to touch her and
then closing it into a fist.

She stepped back, out
of his arms. “We have a lot to talk about.”

The dazed expression
remained. “But…What…How?” He turned his gaze to me, his eyebrows creased, his
eyes full of questions.

I shrugged, shaking my
head at him. He stepped toward me and reached out to grab my hand. I had missed
his touch. It had only been a day and a half since I had felt him, but it
seemed like so much longer. When he continued to stare at Eva-Sadie, I squeezed
his hand. He turned and grinned sheepishly at me, leaning into kiss me.

“That’s better,” I said
when he pulled away, his vivid blue eyes still locked on mine.

“Can we get back to our
problem?” Marisa’s voice cut through the giddiness that had flooded my mind
since Nate appeared. “Adrian, why can’t she come with us?”

I pulled Nate to the
chair I had vacated. He sat down and I perched onto the arm, leaning on his
shoulder. I couldn’t not touch him; it was as if I had to make up for lost
time. I was pathetic. It had only been thirty two hours, but I couldn’t wait to
get him alone. Although gazing at the people around me, with all the unanswered
questions and everything up in the air, that wouldn’t be happening too soon.

Adrian nodded toward
us. “Hey Nate, this is my sister Marisa.” He pointed to the girl with her long
black tresses falling over her one shoulder. “And I guess you know Eva. She’s
the one who’s been keeping her from me.”

Nate turned to whatever
her name was, as she returned to her seat, she tucked the gun under the
material of her skirt. “Eva?”

Her lips twitched, as
if she was attempting to smile, but couldn’t quite follow through with it. “I
changed my name.” Her tone of voice sounded like an apology.

Nate’s jaw locked, his
eyes flashed with determination. “What is going on? Tell me how you are here.”

She finally smiled, but
it was edged with guilt. “Can you wait just a few more minutes?”

He sighed and squeezed
the hand I was holding. “Fine. But Sadie.” He pointed a demanding finger at
her. “I want answers.”

“I know, but first we
have to settle what to do about Marisa.”

Adrian stepped forward,
glaring at the girl that was both his mate and tormentor. “She is coming with
me, there is nothing to discuss.”

“Adrian, please let her
come. She can live with us.” Marisa stood up and stared into her brother’s
eyes, her voice pleading. The only thing missing from her sentence was a droopy
lip and the word pretty please.

I knew the moment he
caved. His shoulders slumped and he pursed his lips. “Fine, she can come back
to Creekford, but she can find her own place to live. You will be staying with
me on the Riley Estate.” He turned to Nate. “Is Joe’s place still available?”

Nate nodded. “He comes
home sometimes for holidays with Lauren, but he can stay at the main house.”

“No, I want her to live
with us,” Marisa whined showing her age for the first time since we had found
her.

“Mari.” There was a lot
of frustration in that one word. “She kept you from me. I can’t live with her.”

Marisa pouted and was
about to continue to argue when Eva stopped her. “Marisa, it’s okay. Give him
some time to get to know me. I’m fine with just being in the same city as you.”

Marisa folded her arms
in front of her and plopped back down onto the sofa, dust flew up into the air
as she landed, but she didn’t protest any longer.

Eva glanced at Nate who
was still staring at her as though she was a ghost. I really wanted to know how
they knew each other and why he was so shocked to see her.

“Um…Marisa, why don’t
you go and pack up your things.” Eva-Sadie suggested eyeing Nate wearily.

“I am packed. We just
got here, remember?”

“Well then go with your
brother and start loading the car.”

She obviously wanted to
be alone with Nate and Adrian picked up on that. “Okay kiddo, let’s get your
stuff.” He held out a hand for Marisa to take.

She glanced at the hand
he had stretched in front of her and then looked up into his eyes as she
reached out, allowing him to pull her off of the sofa. “You know, you can’t
call me kiddo when you only look a few years older.”

I couldn’t help the
laugh that snuck out of me.

Adrian’s lip curled.
“So, Eva’s turned you into a wise guy, has she?”

Marisa giggled as she
let go of her brother and began to follow him into her room.

Once they were gone,
Eva-Sadie turned to Nate. “I faked my death.” Her small sentence fell out of
her mouth like an anvil. The weight those four words carried seemed to suck all
the sounds from the room. I was frozen next to the man I loved, not truly
understanding what was happening. Nate’s face was blank, as if what Sadie had
just told him had taken away all his emotions…and words apparently. He only
stared at her. I didn’t even think he blinked for several seconds.

Finally, after what
seemed like days, he breathed in deeply and his face went red. Then in
lightning speed he jumped up, making me fall into the chair. “You what?” he
yelled, shock and anger lacing his words. “How? Joe said your heart was
shattered. He buried you and when I was well enough I cremated your remains.”

She took a deep breath.
“He lied.”

Nate’s eyes popped out
of his head as they turned yellow. He balled his hands into fists and clenched
his teeth. I had a feeling that if Joe was here right now, his face would be
connecting to those balled-up fists. “
He what
?” His words were a low
growl. “Why?”

“Because, I asked him
to.”

“Why would you do
that?” he asked her incredulously.

“The bullet landed
right above my heart, similar to yours and Joe was able to get it out. When I
woke up, you were still asleep. I asked Joe what had happened and he didn’t
know. He said he came by to meet you and found us unconscious and dying from
silver bullets lodged near our hearts.”

Nate ran his hand
roughly through his pale blond hair. “I cannot believe this is happening.”

I had been silent long
enough. “Uh Nate, are you going to introduce us?”

He glanced at me as if
he just remembered I was in the room. “Oh,” he murmured. “I’m sorry, Meg. This
is Sadie, my friend that I told you Rowan killed. I guess I was wrong. And
Sadie this is my mate, who is also my wife.”

The smile that crossed
Sadie’s face was pure sunshine. Her whole face lit up. She looked so different
from Eva who had been fighting for her child. It was like she had multiple
personalities. “You found your mate?” Nate nodded, returning the smile and a
private look between them. “I’m so happy for you?”

Nate’s smile faded. “Thank
you. Now continue please. I can’t believe Joe has been lying to me for fifty
years.”

She gazed up at him
from her perch on the sofa. “First, tell me who Rowan is and how do you know he
was the one who shot us?”

“Because I saw him
point the gun and shoot you and then aim for me. It happened so quickly I
didn’t have time to react.” He closed his eyes and when he opened them again,
they were back to blue. “He was the one who killed my father.”

Her expression fell and
she closed her eyes. She held her face in her hands, wisps of dark hair
threaded through her fingers. “I can’t believe I wasted fifty years for
nothing.”

“What do you mean?” He
paused, as Adrian and Marisa came out of her room holding boxes. Adrian glanced
at me curiously. Clearly wanting to know what was happening. He must have heard
the conversation, but without knowing the background, he’d be confused. I
barely understood. I mouthed the words ‘I’ll tell you later’ before they
disappeared out into the hall. Marisa’s chatter echoed through the closed door.

Sadie sat up and wiped
a stray tear from her cheek. “I thought it was someone who was after Miles.”

“Miles? The man who
made you a werewolf?”

She nodded sadly. “Yes,
his name is Sebastian Mears and he’s been searching for him for a long time, he
found him once when I was with him. We barely got away. I thought it was him at
your house. I thought he was after me, so I could lead him to Miles. I didn’t
want to get you involved, so I convinced Joe to help me disappear. I told him
that if you were to stay near me, you’d be in danger.”

I couldn’t believe that
Joe lied to Nate for so long. They were best friends and he kept something this
big from him for over fifty years. I hoped Nate could forgive him.

“Why is this Sebastian
after Miles?”

“Like you, Miles was
turned by a selfish, sadistic werewolf. And he tried to get Miles to be like
him. The man and his gang went out on a full moon and attacked some hikers—a
man and two teenagers. One teenager was killed and the man was bitten.
Sebastian’s friend, Aiden King, was the one that was killed. Sebastian and
Aiden’s father got away.”

Nate’s eyes snapped to
Sadie. “What did you say?”

“I said Sebastian and
Aiden’s father were the two that survived.”

“What did you say
Aiden’s last name was?”

Sadie narrowed her
eyes. “King. Why?”

Nate’s face softened.
“No reason.”

There was something odd
in her whole explanation. Nate had werewolves in his life that wanted to harm
him. He was afraid for the people he loved, but never afraid for himself. But
Sadie looked terrified…of a human? “Can I ask you something Sadie?” I spoke up
for the first time since she began her explanation.

She nodded her answer.

“Why are you running
from a human? You’re a werewolf. I know many and I’ve never met one that would
be afraid of anyone. We are stronger and no match for a normal person.”

Her eyes washed with an
emotion I didn’t recognize. “I never said he was a human.”

Now I was confused.
“You said the father was bitten by the werewolf, not the second teenager.”

She paused, wringing
her hands together. Whatever she was about to tell us, she really didn’t want
to. “Years after the attack, Sebastian…changed.”

I glanced at Nate,
confused by her cryptic answer. He shrugged, clearly as baffled as I was.
“Changed? Into what?” I asked.

She sighed, shifting
glances between the hall, the window, to Nate and then to me. She turned the
mood ring on her finger and jiggled the leg that was hidden beneath the long
flowing skirt. She obviously was not comfortable with my questions.

She stood up and looked
out the window. I assumed she was making sure Marisa was still safely outside.
Finally she turned around and faced us. Her expression was determined, but it
was also underlined with fear.

Nate was now standing
next to me with his hand settled on my shoulder. His touch made my skin tingle.

“He’s a vampire,” she
whispered.

Vampires

Once again I gaped at
Sadie, the girl who appeared to be a few years younger, wearing a tank trimmed
with lace and a messy braid. “You’re not serious? You actually believe in vampires?”

She raised an eyebrow
at me. “Tell me again what the three of us in this room are?” When I only
rolled my eyes in answer, she went on. “As a werewolf I’d think you wouldn’t be
surprised that other supernatural species exist.”

I turned to Nate. “Did
you know they existed?”

He held his breath for
a moment and let it out slowly, reminding me of a deflating balloon. “Yes,” he
answered softly. “There aren’t many and they value their privacy. They don’t
like to be spoken of.” That explained why Sadie was so nervous when I asked
what Sebastian was.

“Did Miles kill his
friend?” I asked, because if he did maybe he deserved what he got. I know
Charlotte did. However, Nate had killed two men in his life and I would fight
to the death to save him from the same fate.

Sadie shook her head.
“No. Miles is a doctor and he strives to help people. He would never do that.
Like I said, his maker was sadistic and wanted Miles to follow him. He had
three other werewolves with him and they forced him to go to that forest on the
full moon. But when they attacked the humans he refused to be involved.”

“Why didn’t you just
tell Sebastian that?”

She laughed without
humor. “He didn’t exactly give us a chance. Vampires are more of an act-first
type of people. He is determined to kill all the werewolves that were there
without question. I’m not sure he’d care if he knew the truth.”

Nate’s brow lifted,
shifting his weight. He was still standing in the center of the dingy living
room. “I’m surprised that he didn’t kill you both. Werewolves are no match for
a vampire.”

“He was about to kill
us, his sharp fangs were hovered over Miles’ neck; but then he just stopped. He
disappeared without a glance at us.” She sucked in a breath at the memory.
“But, I’m sure he hasn’t given up.”

“What do you think
stopped him?”

She shrugged. “I don’t
know. I was too busy celebrating to care.”

“Do you know what
happened to Aiden’s Father? You said he was bitten,” Nate asked.

She shook her head.
“No. The only one that would know is Sebastian and he was too busy trying to
suck our blood to give us information.”

Nate went silent. His
face going thoughtful as he concentrated on all that he had learned. I knew
what he was thinking. I just hoped I was wrong. “How did you know Aiden’s last
name was King?”

“Because Sebastian said
his name repeatedly to Miles, he said it was his fault that his friend was
dead.”

Yep, I knew that’s
where Nate’s thoughts had gone. To the name he’d been searching for since he
found it in Charlotte’s jacket six months ago.

The sound of footsteps
on the stairwell and the scent of Adrian and his sister had both me and Sadie
standing up. I was heading to the door while Sadie turned down the hall in the
direction of her room. She stopped at the sound of Nate’s voice. “Do you know
Aiden’s father’s name?”

Sadie turned to face
him. Her expression held both curiosity and worry. “What’s with all the
questions Nate?”

“Uh..no..no reason,” he
stammered uncomfortably. Despite his obvious closeness to this girl he didn’t
want to explain his reason for looking for this man because he himself didn’t
know the answer. I was the only one he had opened up to and he only did that
because I asked. He’s lucky he didn’t lie to me like he just did to Sadie. He
had done that enough in the last year and I didn’t like it.

She didn’t have a
chance to question him further because the door flew open, hitting the wall
with a
smack
. Marisa and Adrian barrelled through like they were in a
race. Since Marisa won, he clearly let her.

“Everything okay in here?”
Adrian asked, his gaze shifting between the three of us.

“Everything is fine.
They were just catching up. It turns out they were friends fifty years ago?”

“Really?” Marisa asked,
glancing at Sadie. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement and the grin that
was spread over her face told me she was happy to finally be reunited with her
brother. “How old are you.”

Sadie’s cheeks flushed
pink. “Let’s just say that I’m older than your brother.”

“Wow, you must be
really old then.”

Adrian snorted, holding
in a laugh.

I laughed out loud, but
couldn’t help point something out. “Not as old as Nate, I’m sure.”

Nate narrowed his eyes
at me while Sadie grinned. Her eyes lit up when she smiled. “You’re right. He
is a lot older than me.”

“So,” Marisa began.
“Who’s driving together?”

We all exchanged
glances. Adrian’s eyes widened at me and he shook his head nodding toward
Sadie. I knew what he wanted. “Nate, why don’t we drive with Sadie so you two
can catch up? That will give Adrian and Marisa time to know each other again.”

Adrian smiled
thankfully in my direction, his eyes crinkling in the corners, grateful I had
picked up on his meaningful look.

Panic flashed in
Sadie’s eyes as she took a step toward Marisa. “I don’t know about that.”

Nate reached out,
placing his hand on her shoulder, stopping her. “Sadie, you can trust him. I
promise.”

Instantly the alarm
washed from her features and she nodded. She must trust Nate. A tug of jealousy
pulled at my chest at their obvious closeness, but not for romantic reasons. He
had known her and had been best friends before I was even thought of. We didn’t
have that much history. We had only met a year ago.

Marisa looked confused.
“Sadie?”

Sadie pursed her lips
together. “It’s my real name. I changed it to hide from someone.” Her eyes
flicked to Nate. “Apparently, for no reason.”

It didn’t take long for
us to load their belongings. They didn’t have much. Sadie had left everything
they owned six months ago when she scented Adrian in Philadelphia. They had
lived there ever since Adrian and Marisa’s parents were killed. After they
moved she made arrangements with her landlord to put their stuff in storage.
And since they would no longer be running she promised Marisa that once they
were settled in Creekford she would send for them.

When it was time to
separate into different vehicles Sadie and Marisa hugged. But when Marisa tried
to pull away, Sadie held on. Marisa laughed. “I’ll be fine. He’s my brother
Ev—I mean Sadie.”

Sadie finally let go.
“Are you sure you’re alright with this?” she asked, gazing into Marisa’s eyes
and then glancing quickly at Adrian. “You don’t know him anymore. Even if he
didn’t kill your parents like I thought, he has spent ten years with an evil
werewolf.” A low growl rumbled out of Adrian’s chest. If Sadie heard the sound,
she didn’t acknowledge it.

Marisa smiled lovingly
at the only family she had known for most of her life. “
You
may not know
him; but
I
do. I dream of all the fun things he did with me and the way
he looked at our parents. He loved us. I know it.”

Sadie sucked in a
breath and wiped an invisible tear, finally tearing herself away from Marisa.

She stood next to me
and Nate as we watched Adrian shut the door behind Marisa with a soft click.

He stepped up to us.
“Not that I owe you anything.” His voice was low and raspy. “But I can see how
much you love her. I won’t hurt her, I promise.” With that he nodded to us and
moved to the driver’s side of the car. “You following us or not?” he asked,
since we had yet to get into Sadie’s station wagon.

Moving into action we
all took our places in the car. I let Nate sit in the front while I took the
back. The events of the last few days were catching up to me and I figured a
little nap was in order.

It wasn’t long before
the comforting movement of the car lulled me to sleep.

“You bit her by
accident? Nate how could you be so careless?” The voice that had spoken was
female and dripping with condescension.

It took me a moment to
realize where I was. I recognized the low vibration below me, since I had been
driving in a car for the last day and a half. But the smell was different;
instead of smelly socks and body odor I smelled tropical fruit. The voice that
had spoken was Sadie and when I realized what they were talking about I chose
to keep my eyes closed, curious as to how Nate would react.

“I know, okay?” He
sighed heavily, the strain that had appeared occasionally since I forgave him
months ago returned to his voice. “I lost control.”

“That’s not like you.
What were you doing?” There was silence and then a soft chuckle. “
Oh
.”

“Anyway, she finally
forgave me and we’re happy, extremely happy.”

I heard a soft sound
like the touch of skin on jeans. She must have touched his leg. I tried not to
let that bother me; they were just friends. “I’m glad, Nathaniel. You deserve
happiness.”

“So do you. It must
have been lonely hiding all of this time thinking a vampire was after you.”

She sighed deeply and I
could hear years of anxiety in that sound. “It was. Until Marisa came along.”
Even from the backseat, with a small blanket covering me, I could hear the love
in her voice. “I wanted to help her. Protect her from her brother who I thought
had killed her parents. But it was she who helped me. With her I found a
family, someone to love who loved me back. I missed having someone in my life.
Since I left you I stayed away from people, thinking I was protecting them.”
Her voice turned dark, anger toward herself, evident in the tone. “Apparently,
I had nothing to worry about.”

“I still can’t believe
you’re alive.” Nate laughed softly, the sweet sound making my insides turn to
mush. “What did I cremate?”

“I’m not sure. Joe said
he would take care of everything. I was weak. I couldn’t have staged a fake
burial. I barely made it back to a hotel where I recovered.”

“I wished you would have
waited and asked me who shot us.”

I could hear movement
again, this time it sounded like she tapped the leather console between them
with her hand. “So do I. But since we can’t change the past let’s enjoy the
future.”

“Speaking of the
future, Megan,” Nate raised his voice, despite the fact that I could hear him
clearly. “Is there any room for Sadie at the Shelter?”

I sat up and leaned
over his headrest, gazing into his eyes as he turned in his seat. “How did you
know I was awake?”

He chuckled softly.
“I’ve gotten accustomed to the sound of your breathing at night. I know when
you’re sleeping and when you’re not.” His explanation was sweet, making my
heart flutter. I had missed him so much over the last day and a half.

“The shelter?” Sadie
asked, her eyes shifting to me in the rear-view mirror as she drove. I could
see the Jeep ahead of us, the sun’s rays glaring off of the paint. “You don’t
mean Riley House?” Her voice held both surprise and joy.

Nate laughed again.
“Yes. I’ve opened forty in different cities around the country. Megan took over
the shelter in Creekford. I’ve been working at the store for a while.” Nate
turned back to me. “Sadie convinced me to open the shelter.”

I shifted my gaze from
my husband to his friend, feeling very young. I was talking to the founders of
Riley House from back in the sixties. Again, I felt insignificant. This man had
lived for so long and experienced so much; I was sometimes overwhelmed.

“I’d love to help with
whatever I could, Megan.” Sadie’s eyes lit up just talking about it. I could
tell she’d be a great fit for the shelter. She already had that “It” Julia had
talked about when I first started volunteering. She had said I had it when I
expressed my need to help the people I had just met. I had wanted to adopt them
all and take care of them. I had never met anyone struggling as much as the
people at the shelter. I had been raised in a mansion and never been exposed to
anything but my rich, sheltered life. Seeing this new world had opened my eyes
to so many new things.

I smiled at her,
sitting back in my seat after I ran my fingers through the back of Nate’s hair,
the silky strands felt like feathers fluttering against my skin. “We can always
use help; we’re expanding. Adrian will be joining us as well.”

She looked away from
me, her face flushing. “Oh.”

I smirked at her as I
folded my arms in front of me, knowing that her flush was from more than just
guilt, but I stayed silent, glancing out at the houses that we passed. We were
driving through a large city with towering office buildings and lots of people
milling about on the streets.

“Don’t worry. He’ll
forgive you eventually. I don’t know him as well as Megan does, but I can tell
he’s a good man, despite the last ten years.”

“They’re mates,” I
blurted to Nate, savoring the fact that for once I knew something he didn’t.

“What?” Nate gasped
looking between the two of us.

Sadie pressed her lips
together and stared at the road ahead. “I noticed something off with his scent
over the last few months. But since I was never very close to him and I was
more concerned with keeping Marisa safe, I brushed it off. When I saw him
today, I knew.”

“She turned into a wolf
and attacked him,” I added, still a little shocked by what had happened. It
didn’t seem to bother Adrian, but I would have been freaked.

Nate frowned as he
stared at Sadie. “During the day? Sadie, you could have been seen.” Now it was
his turn to speak in condescending tones.

Sadie stared at the
road ahead, guilt flashing over her features. “I know. But at the time I wasn’t
thinking. My wolf took over and I was angry that fate had chosen a killer for
me.”