Riley's Redemption (A Moon's Glow Novel) (15 page)

“Yes.”

I smiled shyly at him,
feeling self-conscious with an audience. I stood up slowly. “I guess I’ll take
my turn then.” I wanted a shower to freshen up after the long drive.

The Secret

We met Adrian and
Marisa in the driveway of our cottage so we could all walk together to the main
house. “Are we underdressed?” Sadie asked, eyeing Nate and me who had dressed
for dinner. I was wearing a purple flowered wrap dress, while he had changed
into a navy blue button down shirt and charcoal dress pants. Our guests were
more casual, wearing the same outfits they had on this afternoon. Adrian was in
jeans and a button-down black shirt. I should have said something to them
before, but I didn’t know how to broach the subject. Nate and I were raised in
mansions where you were expected to dress up for dinner. I’m sure he was way
more agreeable to it than I was, but it was the lifestyle we were raised in. I
hated doing it at home, only because of the company at the table. I didn’t mind
so much with the Riley’s. We didn’t do it often.

“What you’re wearing is
fine,” Nate answered, as he began walking up the driveway, gravel crunching
beneath his feet. We could have taken the car, but the weather was so nice we
decided to take advantage. The five of us had been cooped up in a vehicle for
way too long.

“Are you sure?” Sadie
asked turning to me. “Megan?” Her eyes were pleading; she wanted me to be
honest.

I blew out a breath,
worried my comments would hurt her feelings. “When the Riley’s have us over for
dinner, we all usually dress up.” She cringed. “But not over-the-top and they
won’t judge you because you didn’t. If we were going to my house to meet my
very critical parents, I’d say you should change. But we’re not. Nate’s family
are great. They won’t bat an eyelash.” When Sadie still hesitated, I added, “I
promise, you’ll be fine.”

She nodded, taking
Marisa’s hand for support as they started the trek behind Adrian and Nate.

“Megan, when are we
going to look through your closet?” Marisa asked me, her hair fluttering in the
breeze. Thankfully the humidity hadn’t returned. It was still a hot July day,
but with the soft breeze it was comfortable. The smell of grass and flowers
lingered in the air making our walk even more appealing. The clouds on the
horizon reflected the bright rays of the sun, making the clouds glow an
orangey-yellow color.

“Mari,” Sadie scolded
her honorary daughter.

I shook my head and
laughed. “It’s okay Sadie.” I glanced at Marisa. “We can go in the morning and
afterward head out to get our hair done. The reception doesn’t start until
eight o’clock.”

Marisa squealed. “I’m
so excited,” she beamed, her whole face lighting up.

Her enthusiasm was
contagious. I found myself feeling excited for an event that I would usually
hate. Getting all dolled up and made up for a party my mother was throwing was
something I normally dreaded. But doing it with people that didn’t usually have
a chance to; I couldn’t wait to share it with them.

We walked the rest of
the way with Marisa rambling on about what she was going to wear and how to do
her hair. When we approached the main house Adrian stopped and smiled at me.
“Thank you,” he said softly.

Knowing that he was
referring to Marisa and our upcoming day of beauty, I patted his cheek. “No
problem,” I shrugged, dismissing his gratitude. “I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

As we all gathered into
the large living room Will called Nate into his office leaving us with Caroline,
Nathan, Joe and Lauren.

“So, tell us about your
trip.” Lauren suggested, leaning forward in her seat with interest. She was
next to Joe on one of the comfortable suede sofas. Her one leg dangled over the
other bouncing up and down, her strappy sandal flapping against her foot,
making a slapping sound.

I stared at her
pointedly, not knowing how to explain when I couldn’t talk about werewolves.
“It was a long drive.”

Marisa must have picked
up on my problem because she made a face. “And it felt even longer driving in
Adrian’s stinky car.”

I snorted out laugher,
happy she had come to the rescue. There wasn’t much I could say that didn’t
involve us werewolves searching for another werewolf and the sister she took. “
Oh,
God
, that was bad. It smelled like sweat and dirty feet,” I agreed, adding
my own take on it.

Everyone except Adrian
laughed. “Hey, it wasn’t that bad.”

“Yes it was. By the end
of the trip, we were arguing over who was going to drive in Sadie’s car. I
lost,” I exclaimed with a laugh.

Sadie grinned and gazed
at Adrian, her eyes were alight with amusement and something else that could
have been longing. The look was gone just as quickly as it appeared. For some
reason the image of her wolf snapping at Adrian’s neck popped in my mind and I
shook my head trying to clear the memory. I knew that wasn’t really her and she
was reacting to the situation, but it was hard to separate the sweet looking
shy girl and the dazed wolf attacking her mate. Pushing those disturbing
thoughts away I forced myself to focus on the people around me.

“Will you all be going
to Nate and Megan’s reception tomorrow night?” Caroline asked, pouring herself
a glass of wine from the decanter that sat on an antique bureau. She had
dressed for the occasion in a silk shimmery blouse and flowing skirt. Her hair
was upswept into a bun.

“Yes,” Sadie answered
nervously. She was smiling, but it was more to be polite. It didn’t reach her
eyes and she kept fidgeting with her jean skirt.

I knew that despite my
words she felt uncomfortable with what she was wearing. The rest of the family
had dressed up like I had expected, with the exception of Joe. His clothes were
similar to Adrian’s, dress shirt and jeans. It would take a lot to get him to
wear anything fancier than that.

“Yeah, we’re all doing
a day of beauty to get ready,” Marisa added, her grin widening.

“You don’t need it,”
Nathan whispered. Me, Lauren and Sadie turned to him. I was smiling, but the
other two appeared shocked. By the look on Adrian’s face he had heard him as
well and he wasn’t happy.

Nathan shifted in his
chair uncomfortably. He hadn’t expected anyone to hear him. But he didn’t
realize that most of us in the room had heightened hearing.

“Oh that sounds fun,”
Caroline exclaimed, oblivious to what had just occurred. “Are you going along
with them Lauren?”

She smiled at her
mother, resting her hand on Joe’s knee. “Yes, it’ll be fun.”

Caroline glanced at
Sadie, her eyes flashed with curiosity. I could tell she wanted to ask her
questions, but kept her mouth closed because Nathan was in the room. A silence
fell over us. The only sound was the ticking of the grandfather clock in the
hall and a bird chirping outside the large windows. We were unsure what to
discuss since we were limited in all things werewolf. I was searching for a
safe topic and was considering bringing up school with Marisa. But then I
realized that we had covered that earlier when we first arrived.

Caroline’s eyes lit up
as if she thought of something to say to break through the strained quiet.
“Adrian, have you and Marisa settled into the carriage house?”

He nodded. “Yes we
have, thank you. I’m going to take her shopping in a few days so she can get
some things for her room.”

Caroline turned her
focus to Marisa. “You didn’t bring anything with you?”

The conversation was
heading into a dangerous territory, I was suddenly nervous.

Mari’s eyes shifted to
Adrian and Sadie. “Uh…some, but I don’t have much. Most of my stuff is at our
old apartment.”

Nathan perked up at
that. “Where did you live?”

“Philadelphia,” Mari answered
shortly.

“Then why was Adrian
looking for you. I thought that was where he was from?”

All of
our faces went white and each of us made some sort of uncomfortable gesture. I
dug my healed shoe into the woven throw rug beneath my chair, while Adrian cleared
his throat and Sadie stared at the floor.

Thankfully,
we didn’t have to answer him. Nate and Will made an appearance. “Is everyone
ready to eat?” Will asked.

We all
jumped up, eager to drop the subject. “More than you know,” Adrian mumbled
under his breath.

I
smiled, but stared straight ahead of me, choosing not to acknowledge his words.

When
we were all seated, Nate leaned against my shoulder and whispered into my ear,
“Will is going to tell Nathan tonight.”

I
winced, worried how he would take it. The secret in the family normally
involved only Nate, but now it also concerned Lauren and me. Joe wasn’t a
member of the family yet, but he most likely would be soon. It was a lot to
take in for someone so young. But, I understood that he had to be told. Our
earlier conversation was entirely too uncomfortable.

During
dinner, Will and Joe discussed the store he was now working at to be close to
Lauren and I noticed Nate glaring at his old friend.

I
elbowed him. It was my way of telling him to stop. Lauren noticed and smiled at
me in appreciation. I got the feeling that Nate’s anger towards her boyfriend
was hard on her. The two men that were closest to her were not getting along;
it must feel like she was stuck in the middle.

“Lauren,
Nate was telling me that you were going to college. What are you taking?” Sadie
asked, noticing Nate’s inappropriate behavior.

Lauren
froze, her fork that held a piece of beef hovering in front of her. “I’m taking
business so I can work for the company.”

Sadie
smiled. “Oh that sounds great. Do you have any specific department in mind?”

Lauren
had taken the bite when Sadie was talking, now she finished chewing before she
answered. “I’d like to be a buyer.”

Will
stopped speaking and turned to his daughter, surprise was evident on his face.
“Since when?”

“I
just decided a few weeks ago.”

Nate
nodded. “That sounds like a good choice for you.”

Lauren
raised her glass and gestured it toward him. “Thank you, Nate.”

“She
will do well in anything she chooses,” Joe agreed taking Lauren’s hand and
kissing her palm. She smiled shyly, her cheeks flushing red. I smiled at the
affection between two of my favorite people.

“Do
you feel different now that you’re married, Megan?” Lauren’s mother asked me,
taking the conversation away from her daughter. I wondered if she approved of
Lauren’s choice.

“No, I
feel the same. But it does feel strange to call him my husband.”

Lauren’s
face scrunched up. “That would be really weird.”

The
dinner continued with idle chitchat. We couldn’t talk about anything deeper,
besides work at the store, which I had to admit was really boring.

Nate
insisted we leave as soon as dinner was over. He wanted to let Will talk to
Nathan and I also think he needed to get away from Joe. Judging from the scowls
he was shooting in his friend’s direction throughout dinner, he wasn’t even
close to forgiving him.

Marisa asked Sadie to come over to their house to
show her what she had done so far to her room, so we had the cottage to
ourselves. After we changed into more comfortable clothes we sprawled out on
the couch in front of the TV to watch a movie.

It was almost over when
someone pounded on the door. It was Nathan. Nate and I exchanged a worried
glance before he got up and opened the door.

Nathan stood on the
porch, his blond hair messy as if he had been running his hands roughly through
it. He was obviously upset. His face was cold, but his eyes were tortured. “How
could you?” he screamed at Nate, his voice echoing into the night.

I got up and stood next
to my husband for support. He hated this part of the Riley secret. He was so
close to all of the family members, but when they found out who he truly was,
he worried that he wouldn’t be accepted. It had happened twice and both times
ended badly. His nephew James died with Charlotte and his favorite niece Emma
left and never returned. Nate was crushed. She had been so much like his
sister; all he wanted was to look out for her. They were finally reunited when
I found her. She came to our engagement party and would be at the reception tomorrow.

“How could I what?”
Nate asked with his voice laced with concern and sorrow.

“Let my sister become
one of you!” Nathan dragged his hand through his hair. “A monster!” he yelled.

Nate flinched at the
word. It was what James had called him when he tried to get the other relatives
to kill him. It was also what he called himself when he wanted to punish
himself.

Nate stepped forward
onto the porch. Nathan stepped back. Nate winced and closed his eyes for a
brief second. “I’m so sorry Nathan, but I had nothing to do with that.” His
voice was soft and soothing, hoping to calm his nephew.

“I know it wasn’t you.
But that woman wouldn’t have done it if Lauren didn’t know you.” His voice was
filled with anger and pain, but most of all, confusion.

I couldn’t remain
silent any longer, Nate didn’t deserve this. “Nathan, I know what you’re going
through, but Nate is the same man you’ve always known. He’s a good person.”

His face twisted in
anguish. “Of course you’d say that, you’re the same as him. And you’re his
wife.” His last words were shaky; he was losing the strength in his voice.

I felt bad for him. His
life had just changed drastically in only a few moments. “Come inside and we
can talk.”

He hesitated, as fear
flashed in his eyes.

“Nathan, you have
nothing to fear from us,” Nate assured him.