Riley's Redemption (A Moon's Glow Novel) (26 page)

Once we were all
loaded, Nate started the car and drove away. I gazed out at the scenery
thinking about my first run-in with a vampire. Although, at times I was scared
out of my mind and he definitely had a frightening streak, I couldn’t help
think that he had a good side just waiting for the right person to bring it out
in him.

I felt the warmth of
Nate’s hand on my thigh and turned to face him. He was smiling. Despite, his
need to find Isaiah there was no way he could have predicted this outcome. It
was an unexpected twist that could alter the rest of our lives. Maybe it was
these thoughts that prompted me to pull the paper out again, but as Nate drove
us home and Adrian and Sadie murmured in the backseat, I read and reread the
address.

The news of the cure
was more than we could have hoped for when Nate began his search and I couldn’t
help but feel that our lives were about to change. How, I wasn’t sure, but I
knew that Nate could not let this go. This was his chance to make it up to me
for what he had done. This was his chance to become the man he once was.

He was not meant for
this life.

Loose Ends

For the third time in
the last few months, Nate and I prepared for a trip. This time the trip could
change our life. It had been two days since Sebastian had dropped his bombshell
on us and we felt obligated to find out more about it. We hadn’t really talked
about the possibility of being human again. Instead we focussed on finding the
man for informational purposes. We hadn’t discussed it with our friends either,
except to tell them about our trip and to ask if they wanted to join us. Sadie
and Adrian were all for it, but Joe had only agreed to save us from ourselves.
He didn’t trust Sebastian and was worried that we were walking into some kind
of trap. He said that for all we knew, we could be walking into a hungry vampire
hive. Lauren was on the fence about the trip as well, but I think only because
she felt torn between Joe and Nate. Just when they were beginning to get along
again, there was tension between them. I understood her apprehension because I
felt it as well. I just wanted everything to be the way it used to be. I was
finally in a good place, where I was happy and content and okay with who I was.
I wanted the same feeling of peace for all of my friends.

The morning we were to
set to begin our journey, I called my mom and Mona to let them know we were
going on a trip. I told them where, but obviously not why. Mona wished me
farewell and made a few jokes; while my mom told me to make sure I had plenty
of outfits. That was how she showed her love, which was fine now that I knew
how she truly felt.

Nate and I went to our
perspective workplaces to check in before our departure. Julia had come to
terms with my upcoming absence since it was becoming a regular occurrence. I
had hired temps for me and Sadie so they wouldn’t be shorthanded. We couldn’t
afford to be with the new wing and additional residents.

“I’m so sorry I have to
leave again, Julia,” I said again, as I stood at the door of the shelter.
Briefcase in hand, I was ready to leave.

“Don’t be, we’re
covered here. I can’t possibly be annoyed at you after everything you’ve done
for the shelter.”

The smile that tugged
at my lips could not be stopped. I was proud of what I had accomplished here
and wondered how my life would have turned out if I hadn’t been involved with
that fire over a year ago. So much good had happened from something so
horrible. “Fun Day was awesome wasn’t it?” I asked. The shelter was abuzz with
chatter about how much everyone had enjoyed themselves. It was exactly what the
residents needed. Despite my disappearance, which Nate had explained away by
making the excuse that I was sick, the day had otherwise gone smoothly. We had
decided to make it an annual event.

“It was. But now we’re
back to business and I have to get some orders out. Have a good trip, wherever
you’re going.”

I was a little vague
when I told her about the trip, only expressing that it was unavoidable. I gave
her a quick hug and was on my way.

The drive home went
quickly. It was midmorning and most people were either at work or out and
about, enjoying the sunny, summer weather.

At the last stop sign
before home I waited for a group of preschoolers, all holding on to a rope,
with an adult at each end. They must have been heading to the nearby park. A
little girl in the middle, with long blond curly locks had me thinking of the
future. Would I be able to have children with Nate and give him his own
blond-haired daughter? Or was it out of the question, as long as I was a
werewolf. I had asked Nate that question a few months after he proposed and he
couldn’t answer me. No werewolf he knew had ever gotten pregnant. And he had
never asked Stephen, the leader of the nearby pack, if it was possible. There
was never a need to.

I could tell the
conversation upset him. It was another reason for him to feel guilty for
turning me into a werewolf and since I had fully forgiven him, I dropped the
discussion and hadn’t brought it up again. I hated the sadness and guilt in his
eyes and would do anything to take it away. So since then I pushed the thoughts
away. But now, with our upcoming trip, I couldn’t help but wonder if it would
be possible. Would this Isaiah be able to cure us like he had himself or would
he turn us away? Just because he had the cure didn’t mean he was willing to
share.

As I pulled into the
tiny laneway that would lead to the cottage, I spotted Joe’s silver car driving
towards me. I moved to the side to let him by. “I think Nate is at the store,”
I explained when I rolled the window down. The air was dense with humidity, so
I was taking advantage of the car’s air-conditioner.

After doing the same
thing, he leaned out his open window. “I know. I stopped by, but when I saw he
was gone, I went to talk to Adrian. I was thinking of adding on to the pool
house.” He and Lauren were still staying there and now that school was out,
they were planning to make their stay permanent. Lauren would be returning to
school in September, but she would visit often.

“I’ll bet Lauren will
be happy with that. She said things were kind of cramped.”

He nodded. “It is. How
many clothes does one person need?” he asked with obvious love in his eyes for
the girl he mocked.

I laughed. She was the
least materialistic girl that I knew, but she did have a lot of clothes. I
lifted my foot off of the break slowly, my car moving forward a hair. “I’ll see
you later?”

He saluted me, his face
hardening as he rolled up the window. Obviously he wasn’t at all happy about
our upcoming trip. I frowned as I drove the rest of the way to the cottage.
Since we were renting an SUV with six seats to accommodate everyone, I
predicted it was going to be a long trip.

When I returned home, I
packed. I didn’t know what to take or how much. Everything about this trip was
unknown; there wasn’t really a way to be prepared. I packed pants, sweaters as
well as shorts and t-shirts. Hiking boots and sandals were the last items I
tossed in.
There
I thought, that should cover the weather; but without
knowing what to expect when we arrived, that was all I could do.

When Nate arrived a
half hour later, he rushed into the room to pack his own suitcase.

“It’s gone!” Nate
roared from the bedroom a few minutes later.

I was leaning back on
the sofa flicking through a magazine as I waited for him. We were supposed to
meet the rest of our group at the main house soon.

I sat up straight and
tossed the magazine onto the coffee table. It landed on the surface with a
splat
.

Nate barrelled out of
the room pulling his suitcase behind him, his facial features hard, his eyes
yellow and wild. “Did you take Isaiah’s addresses out of my pocket?” I had
given him the paper back the night we returned from our incident with
Sebastian.

I frowned, standing up
and shoving my hands in the pocket of my jean shorts. “No. I haven’t seen it
since I gave it back to you.”

“I left it in the pants
I was wearing. But I just looked and it’s gone.” His face shadowed with both
anger and frustration, as he ran his hand roughly through his blond tousled hair.
“How could I have been so careless?” His fist hardened and swung out as if to
hit the wall, but stopped himself. “I can’t believe I lost the last chance I
had to make up for what I did to you.” His voice was sad and filled with
sorrow.

The misery in his tone
tore at my heart. I moved toward him and enveloped him in my arms, breathing in
his leather and pine scent. “Stop torturing yourself over that. I have forgiven
you.”

He pulled away and
gazed into my eyes.
His
were back to their natural color. “I’m tired of
you forgiving me. Of putting you in situations that make you have to. I just
want to be the man that you see in me.”

I reached up and
brushed his hair from his forehead. “You are that man.”

“No, I’m not. That man
wouldn’t have lost the address or allowed a vampire to kidnap you. That man
wouldn’t have bitten you in the first place.”

I gazed back at him
matching his intensity. And then I grinned. “Who cares if you lost the
address?”

His brows pinched in
the center, confusion flashing over his features. “I do. Didn’t you hear a word
I said?”

I nodded. “Yes, you
want to make it up to me for biting me and be the man I see in you; blah, blah,
blah.”

His eyes hardened. “I
can’t believe you’re trivializing this, like it’s no big deal.”

“It is no big deal,” I
reassured him, leaning forward and placing my lips on his. When I tried to kiss
him, his lips refused to move against mine. “I’ll just write it out again.” I
said the words against his mouth, gazing into his eyes. I watched as what I
said sunk in.

He pulled away and
stared at me, a lined etched in his forehead. “What do you mean?” he asked
carefully.

“I memorized it on the
way home that night.” When his eyes widened in surprise, I asked. “Didn’t you
see me staring at it?”

He lifted a shoulder.
“Yes, but I just thought you were in shock about the cure.”

“I was and that was why
I read it over and over. I couldn’t believe what we had just heard and reading
it repeatedly helped me accept it.”

His eyes narrowed at
me. “
Have
you accepted it? Do you want to be cured and be human again?”
There it was. The big question we had been avoiding for a day and a half.

I leaned back on the
balls of my feet, thinking over his question. “I don’t know. Do you?”

He eyed me
apprehensively. “I’m afraid to say. I don’t want to influence your decision. I
know you objected to being a werewolf at first, but since you’ve forgiven me,
you’ve been so happy.”

I inhaled and exhaled
slowly. This was such a huge decision for us and it would affect the rest of
our lives. “On the count of three, we’ll say what we want together. Okay?” When
he nodded, I began the count. “One, two…three.”

“I want to be human,”
we both said at the same time. His face lit up with happiness when he took in
my words.

“Do you really think
there is a chance?” I asked.

He grinned. “If you
remember the address, anything is possible. I believe Sebastian.” He tightened
his arms around me; his hot breath tickled my cheek. “Do you?”

“Yes, I do. Like he
said, just because he needs blood to survive doesn’t make him a liar.”

“I agree.” He leaned
into kiss me. At first it was just a touch of his lips and then he took it
further, the emotion over our declaration underlining the kiss.

After a few moments we
pulled apart. “Are you ready?”

I nodded. “For
anything.”

He grinned again as he
picked up our suitcases, heading to the front door.”

The Journey

“I still think this is
a trap.” Joe repeated for the third time since we had left the Riley Estate two
hours ago. We were all crammed into the SUV heading to Virginia. That was where
Isaiah lived and if he wasn’t there we’d be driving the rest of the way to
North Carolina. The second address on the paper was for a cabin in the
Appalachian Mountains. “By this time tomorrow we’ll probably be some vamp’s
chew toy.”

I couldn’t help but
roll my eyes at his words. He had been surly since we left. Complaining about
leaving his job for a wild-goose chase and for getting all of our hopes up when
it was obviously a lie. “There is no cure” he had said many times and frankly
he was beginning to annoy me. Maybe there wasn’t, but we couldn’t ignore the
possibility.

“Whose idea was it to
bring Debbie Downer back there?” Adrian mumbled, which made me smirk. From the
rear-view mirror, I saw him spin around in his seat to glare at Joe. “Could you
give it a rest? Some of us are looking forward to this trip; cure or no cure.”
I turned to glance at Adrian and smiled. He was holding hands with Sadie and
she was gazing out the window at the scenery that passed by.

As if she could sense
me staring, she looked my way. My eyes flicked to their joined hands and back
to her. She grinned, winked and gave me a shrug. I knew things had been
different between them since Sebastian threatened to take her, but I was still
surprised at their PDA. It must have taken the fear of losing her to wake
Adrian up. If I knew that would have happened, I would have found a way to
threaten her life before.

Joe’s face smoothed out
a little. The scowl that had been a permanent fixture since we left, washed
away. “I’m sorry guys, you’re right. It would be nice to see the mountains, no
matter what happens.”

Lauren grinned and
leaned toward him, touching her lips to his. She must have been relieved that
he was finally willing to keep his negative thoughts to himself. The tension
between Nate and Joe was at an all-time high. Joe was still angry at Nate for
putting us all at risk for his own curiosity and Nate felt guilty about
Sebastian’s visit, but was annoyed by Joe’s constant warnings.

We stopped for lunch
and dinner and quite a few bathroom breaks, because Lauren kept downing
flavored water like she’d been in the desert for months. The chitchat was low,
but the music that Lauren insisted on listening to was beginning to give me a
headache. It was some new band she had seen play at Manic and they obviously
enjoyed their guitar riffs. There was plenty of them and really loud. By the
time we made it to Richmond I was willing to grovel to get out of the car.

“Are you sure this is
the address Meg?” Nate asked, after he had knocked on the large wooden front
door for the fourth time.

We were all gathered on
a cement patio in front of a large red-brick, two story house. There were no
cars in the driveway and when Adrian checked the oversized shed in the
backyard, it was also empty.

“Yes, I’m sure. He must
not be here.” I glanced around the group. “Should we stop for the night and
then head to his cabin?”

They all agreed. No one
was in the mood for much more driving. It had been a long day. It would have
been a lot faster if we flew, but for some reason Joe wanted to drive. He must
have wanted to prolong those nasty vamps gnawing on his neck for as long as he
could. No matter what we said, he was still convinced that Sebastian was lying.

We found a hotel and
rented three rooms. I couldn’t stop smiling when I saw Adrian and Sadie ducking
into theirs.

Nate laid a map out on
the table as I sipped a soda I had gotten from the vending machine. The cold
bubbles tingled on my tongue as it flowed down my throat. It was refreshing
after the long hot car ride.

“This is a map of the
mountains and according to the coordinates you gave me, this,” Nate began,
jabbing his finger at a squiggly line on the paper. “Is where the cabin is.”

I leaned down to read
the longitude and latitude. “Yep. That’s it.” I squinted at the map, bothered
by what I saw. “How do we get there from the main road?”

Nate sighed, a smile
playing at his lips. “It looks like we hike.”

I felt my eyes widen.
“Hike? That looks far.”

He nodded sharply. “Two
miles.”

I groaned, as I fell
into the small sofa in the corner of the room, the springs screeched at my
sudden weight. “Oh, great,” I grumbled. “That sounds like fun.” I had never
been much of an outdoors-girl, the one thing I had in common with my mom. When
I was little my grandfather took us camping once. Conveniently, my father had
to work, so it was us girls and my grandpa. It didn’t go well. It’s not like we
were roughing it under the stars or even in a tent. We had a large, luxurious
trailer, but even with all the amenities there were still bugs and those darn
mosquitos drove me crazy. After only a day of mine and my mother’s whining, our
trip ended suddenly.

So needless to say, I
wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow.

The next morning we
found ourselves driving down a main road and according to the map, we had to
turn onto a small lane that was little more than a dirt trail. About two miles
into the trek, the road turned upward and the twist and turns were making me a
tad nervous. With my eyes closed we drove the rest of the way up the mountain
until the road ended. We stopped at a small driveway at the edge of the forest,
where a few vehicles were already parked. A small, steel sided garage with a
padlock sat against a rock face.

“Are we sure about
this?” Lauren asked as we climbed out of the SUV.

Each of us were wearing
hiking boots, jeans and sweaters, with t-shits underneath. We carried backpacks
that were loaded with provisions that we would need. I was told that the hike
would take a few hours and with the bright hot sun, we were well stocked with
bottled water. We had left Virginia at five this morning and had made good
time, but by midmorning the sun was out, baking down on us. “Everyone ready?”
Nate asked, holding his hand out for me to take. I slid my fingers through his
and let him lead me to a well-worn trail. Since Nate held the map, we took the
lead.

Thankfully the trail
ran under a canopy of trees that provided shade, unfortunately with trees and
plant life also meant bugs and mosquitoes. I was thankful for the long sleeves,
no matter how hot it made me. We all had sprayed ourselves with repellant, but
it didn’t seem to be working.

About an hour into the
hike, I had fallen behind. Joe was walking with Nate and by the looks of it
there was nothing but awkward silence between them. Lauren and Sadie were
singing camp songs behind them and Adrian had fallen into step with me. For
some reason, he was smiling.

“What’s with the grin?”
I asked, as I swat at a mosquito for the hundredth time it buzzed in my ear.
“This situation does not call for smiling.”

He chuckled softly. “
I
think it does. I love hiking. I used to do it all the time before I was turned.
My friend and I went out on weekends when we were in college.”

I scowled at him. “I
don’t see the point.”

He pointed past me as
we emerged through the trees, into a clearing. “That’s the point.”

I turned my head to see
what he was talking about and gasped. Sprawling green hills of the mountain
were spread before us as far as we could see. It was breathtaking. The lush
grass that covered the ground was such a bright green it almost looked fake. We
were not quite at the top of the mountain, but from our vantage point we could
see it, along with a multitude of hills, plateaus and valleys. The contrast of
the white and gray mountains and vibrant green of the plant life literally took
my breath away. The sounds of birds twittering in the trees above us only added
to the imagery. I was speechless as I stood along the cliff and gaped at the
view below me.

Adrian was right; this
scene was definitely worth it. Regardless if we found a cure or not, I was glad
to have come on this journey, I knew it was a once in a lifetime experience.
The others had also stopped and were frozen as they took in the beautiful view.

“Wow,” I heard Lauren breathe.

Adrian smiled down at
me, the sun glistening off of his white teeth, almost blinding me. “I told
you.”

“Fine. You were right,”
I admitted, as we began the trek once more. “But the walking for hours part, I
can do without.”

“You’re a werewolf now;
you’re not tired are you?”

I wasn’t. But I felt
like I should be. I was human a lot longer than I had been a werewolf, so
sometimes I reacted how I would have before I was turned. And anything nature
related brought out the whiny child in me. Maybe one day I’d get used to being
different or maybe after our visit with Isaiah King, I wouldn’t have to.

Instead of answering
his question, I asked him one of my own. “Do you want to be human Adrian?”

He glanced at me
thoughtfully and turned to Sadie, gazing at her for several seconds before he
spoke. “I’m not sure.”

“I thought you hated
being a werewolf.” I stopped and leaned on a nearby tree to lift my leg, the
rough bark dug into my palm. There was a rock in my shoe and had been for a
while, I had finally had enough. I yanked the shoe off and the pebble rolled
out, disappearing into the grass below me. Adrian was waiting up ahead and when
I put my shoe back on I joined him. He was grinning down at me, laughter
dancing in his eyes.

When I slugged his
shoulder, he answered my question. “I do. But now that I found Sadie.” I
narrowed my eyes at him. “Yes, now that I’ve let myself have feelings for her
I’m happier than I’ve been in ten years. I’m afraid if we turn human we won’t
feel the same.”

It was like he had
pulled the rug out from under me; I hadn’t thought of that. Would Nate and I
love each other if we weren’t werewolves?

He must have noticed
that his words had affected me, because his eyes turned sympathetic. “I’m sure
you’d be fine. You fell for him before you were turned.”

I hated the ball of
dread that had grown in the pit of my stomach. “Yeah, but he wasn’t. And it was
the wolf in him that led him to me. What if that all goes away?” My words were
a whisper. I didn’t want Nate to hear. We had just admitted our feelings about
the cure and I didn’t want to influence him.

“I’m sorry for bringing
up my doubts Meg. But I know you have nothing to fear. You’ve been together for
over a year; Sadie and I just started. That’s what I meant.”

It was true that our
relationship was more solid than theirs, but I couldn’t help the nibble of
doubt his words had created. Since my mood had plummeted in mere seconds, I
decided a subject change was in order. “So, how did it happen anyway?” I asked
as the trail veered out around a large boulder.

“When we got back to
the estate after Sebastian left, I asked Sadie to come over so we could talk.”

I knew that part. She
had left with him and hadn’t returned except to pack her clothes yesterday
morning.

“I’m happy for you. Are
you going to tell Marisa?” Marisa had been at a friend’s house. She had met her
through Nathan and they became close right away.

He nodded. “Yes. And
Sadie will be moving into the spare room when we get back.”

I knew that her clothes
were already at the carriage house so there wasn’t much to move. A wide grin
spread over my face replacing the previous frown from earlier. “Why the spare
room?

“It just happened. It’s
a little early to live together, especially since Marisa is there.”

Thankfully, Nate and I
didn’t have an obstacle like a younger sister when we met. I basically moved in
shortly after we got together. It was so he could protect me, but when the
danger was over I stayed with him.

“I’m so happy for you,”
I gushed, reaching out to pat his shoulder. Since my hand was already in
position, I swung at a mosquito that was hovering around his face. A brow rose
over his eye at my arm flailing in front of him. I just laughed.

We grew quiet for a
while as we took in the scenes around us. There was so much green that the pop
of color from a patch of vibrant red flowers we passed was almost shocking.
When we approached a lookout bridge, we took turns peering through the looking
glass. On the other side of the bridge the terrain got a little rough. The
ground was uneven and rocky, with roots, undergrowth and patches of thistles
hindering our hike.

As we came up to a
small pond, I remembered what Joe had said yesterday morning. “I hear you’re
going to do a remodel for Lauren and Joe at the pool house,” I said, bumping my
hip against his. A bird screeched above as it whooshed past us.

His brow creased. “Not
that I know of.”

Now it was my turn to
look confused. “Joe told me that he went to see you yesterday morning and asked
you to add on to it.”

He shook his head, his
face scrunched up in confusion. “Nope, I never saw him. And I was home all
morning packing and talking on the phone to Will making arrangements for Marisa
to stay there.”

I gazed ahead of us to
where Joe and Lauren were walking hand in hand. Sadie had joined Nate and they
were talking as Nate looked at the map. His hair fluttered in his eyes,
courtesy of a gust of wind. “Huh. That’s weird. Why did he say that then?”

Again, Adrian lifted a
shoulder. “Beats me. You know him better than I do.”

Before I could ask anything
more, Nate called out that it was time to take a break.

We settled on the grass
next to the water. Nate sat next to me while Sadie leaned against a rock on the
other side. We hadn’t had a lot of time to talk since we met Sebastian. “Are
you relieved that you don’t have to look over your shoulder anymore?” I asked
her.