Riley's Redemption (A Moon's Glow Novel) (28 page)

“Is that it?” I asked,
finding myself truly mesmerized with everything he had said.

“I still feel the
effects of the moon. On full moon nights I feel a tingle along my skin. I like
to come up here on those nights to be around the animals and nature.”

“Would you be willing
to spare a few doses for any of us who might want it?”

Joe stood up abruptly
and glared at Nate. “You can’t be serious. You don’t know if this is true. And
whatever he gives you could kill you.” His words were spit out almost
hatefully, his accent thicker than I had ever heard it.

Nate simply shook his
head at his friend, ignoring him. “Please excuse my friend. He’s not very
trusting.”

Isaiah eyed Joe
curiously, before turning back to Nate. “That’s okay. Here,” he began, standing
up. “Let me show you where I do my work.” He stepped behind another screen and
Nate followed.

Complication

Isaiah took us into a
large room, with beakers and lab equipment spread out over most of a bulky
counter’s surface. There were locked cabinets above and he took a key out of
his pocket to open it. When he began to explain the process of the cure to
Nate, he lost me after a few big words. I found myself wandering around looking
through the room. Joe came up behind me as I was sifting through a pile of CD’s
that were leaning against a boom box. “You can’t let him take the cure Megan,”
he whispered in my ear.

I stepped back,
startled by his sudden presence. “Joe, will you lay off. It’s his decision and I
will support him no matter what.” I moved away from him and picked up a vial
that was leaning in rack. It was a puce color and when I popped the cork off I
thought I’d gag from the smell. I looked back to see if Joe was still following
me, but he was gone. I didn’t see him anywhere.

His whispered words ran
through my head and I wondered why he had been acting so strange lately. It
wasn’t just about the cure. It had started the first time Sadie mentioned
Sebastian. I had once wondered if it had to do with vampires, but this had
nothing to do with that. He was defensive over his actions in the past, but was
there more to it. Was it just Sebastian himself? Could he have known somehow,
even then, that Isaiah was looking for a cure? No, that wasn’t possible. If Joe
had known about a cure, I was sure that he would tell Nate. He knew how much
Nate hated being a werewolf.

I shoved the cork back
into the beaker and placed it in the rack. Adrian asked Isaiah a question
behind me and his voice reminded me of our hike here. He hadn’t known that Joe
wanted his help in renovating. Why would Joe lie about being at Adrian’s place?
And if he wasn’t there, where was he? The only other place he could have been
was our cottage and no one was there.

Isaiah’s rough voice
brought me out of my own head and I turned to pay attention again. He was
leaning over the counter pouring the vile looking liquid into a beaker. Was
that the cure? “
You can’t let Nate take the cure.”
Joe’s whispered words
repeated in my mind. Was that a warning? Would the stuff in that vial harm Nate
in some way? Or was there another reason for his protest? Joe’s strange
behavior lately was so confusing.

Just as I was about to
shove my worries aside and join the conversation, I remembered Nate barreling
out of our room, livid at himself for losing Isaiah’s address. A sick feeling
began in the pit of my stomach as I realized the reason for Joe’s lie and why
he had been so against our trip in the first place. It was him. He took the
address. He had been in our cottage that morning. I smelled his scent, but
hadn’t thought anything of it. He was our friend and stopped by with Lauren
often. For some reason he didn’t want us to have the cure, so he took the paper
from Nate’s pants and thought that that would be the end of it. However he
didn’t know that I had memorized the addresses. No wonder he had been so
shocked to see us when we arrived to the main house ready for the trip. It also
explained his grouchy behavior once we had all climbed into the SUV.

I scanned the room once
again and found Joe in the shadowed corner, away from the rest of the group. He
was pulling something out from under his hoodie. It was shiny and metal and he
was aiming it at our host.
GUN!!!
Without thought, I jumped into the air
and dove in front of Isaiah a split second before a gunshot rang out. A sharp
burning pain bit at my shoulder as I crashed to the floor.

“What the hell Joe?”
Nate yelled, at his friend as he hovered over me.

Joe rushed toward us,
staring down at me, his eyes washed with regret. The gun was still in his hand.
“I’m so sorry Meg. I didn’t mean to shoot you.”

“You meant to shoot
someone,” Adrian mumbled.

“Can you get some
cloths and bandages?” Nate asked Isaiah as he shot a scowl toward his Irish
friend.

As Isaiah rushed away,
Sadie hunkered down on the floor next to me, taking my hand. “You’ll be fine.
We just have to get the silver out.” Her words put me at ease, although, I
already knew that or I wouldn’t have jumped in front of the bullet in the first
place.

Nate was leaning down
placing his hand on my chest, trying to stop the blood, but he was staring at
Joe. “What’s going on?”

Before Joe could
answer, I murmured, “He took the address and he was aiming for Isaiah.” My
voice was so weak, I wasn’t sure anyone heard me until Nate stood up. I gazed
up at him through my heavy eyelids that were threatening to close. I could feel
Sadie move closer, placing her hand where Nate’s had once been.

“Is that true?” Nate
asked his friend. Adrian approached Joe from the other side, as if blocking his
escape.

After several seconds,
Joe looked at Lauren, his eyes tortured. “Yes,” he whispered.

Lauren closed her eyes;
her features distorting in pain.

Adrian reached out and
removed the gun from Joe’s hand. Joe didn’t put up a fight.

Isaiah returned with
the cloths and handed them to Sadie. Once she took them and laid them onto my
chest he handed her something that looked like clamps.

Lauren joined Sadie,
kneeling down toward me. “Are you okay?” she whispered, a tear falling down her
cheek. I tried to smile reassuringly, but I’m not sure if I accomplished that.
“I’m okay.”

Nate glanced at Sadie,
his eyebrows raised in question. She nodded and squeezed my hand.

Once he was reassured
that I would be fine, Nate stepped closer to Joe, his face dark with fury. “How
long have you known there was a cure?”

Joe winced at the
question, his shoulders slumping. “Ten years.”

Lauren sucked in a
shocked breath, while Nate continued to question him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because, for the first
time in my whole life, I had a family.” He pointed to Nate. “You were my
family, the one person I could count on. I have never had that, even when I was
human. Charlotte was selfish and only thought of herself. My mother was so busy
working, she was never home. My own father left when I was a baby. You were my
brother and now that I found my mate and you’ve found yours, we’re a real
family, a real pack!” He was starting to raise his voice, his eyes wild. “You
can’t take that away from me. If you turn human, you’ll die and I’ll be alone.”

“What about me?” Lauren
asked, anger and hurt laced in her words.

Joe’s face softened as
he turned to the woman he loved. “Would you honestly stay a werewolf if Nate
and Megan took the cure?” he asked. “Because, I have no interest in being
human.”

Lauren squeezed my leg
and stood up, stepping around Nate and Adrian until she stood in front of the
man she loved. Her face just inches from his. “I am your mate. You’re stuck
with me, whether you like it or not.”

Intense emotions burned
in Joe’s eyes as he leaned in to kiss her.

My eyes were getting
heavier and the pain was spreading. My whole right side was turning numb. I
opened my mouth, but I couldn’t speak. My eyes closed and I managed a soft
whimper before blackness slithered its way over my vision.

“I’m sorry baby, but
this is going to hurt.” Nate’s voice was far away and it sounded muffled, like
he was speaking with a mouthful of cotton. I opened my mouth to respond, but
nothing came out. My eyelids were closed and my body felt heavy, like an
elephant had decided I’d make a good pillow. I couldn’t move. I was about to
fade back into darkness, wondering what he meant until something dug into my
skin. The feeling of white-hot fire erupted in my shoulder and I screamed. A
hand clamped over my mouth and the smell of guava mixed with the smell of mint chocolate
entered my senses. “It’s okay, he’s almost done.” Lauren’s voice was right at
my ear. Lauren and Adrian were right above me and it must have been Adrian that
was holding my mouth. If I could move my arms, I would have punched him in the
face.

“I’m so sorry Megan.
But I have to leave.” Lauren’s voice was a ragged whisper and I felt tears fall
onto my face. “You will be fine, I know that, or I wouldn’t be able to go.” I
opened my eyes struggling to focus on her face. She was right above me, her
face distorted in sorrow. I tried to speak, to ask her what she meant but no
words would come. “You are my best friend. We’ve been through so much together.
I don’t know what I will do without you in my life.”

Again I struggled to
speak, but nothing came. “I will call you when I can. I love you.” She bent
down and kissed my cheek and then Nate was digging into my skin.

It felt like he was
using a hot wrought iron poker. It seemed to go on for hours, but it must have
only been seconds and he was probably only using his fingers. Suddenly, the
pain stopped, leaving only a dull burn.

“Lauren,” I whispered
when the pain faded.

I felt Nate’s lips on
my burning forehead. “She’s gone,” he whispered. My heart clenched at his
words. What did he mean she was gone? Where did she go?

“Lift her up and bring
her to the back. Her body needs to extract the silver,” Isaiah’s rough voice
instructed, interrupting my thoughts of my best friend.

Now that most of the
pain had disappeared, the foggy conversation with Lauren returned, only to fade
once more as I felt my consciousness slipped away once again.

The sound of humming
woke me. My shoulder still ached, but the burning was gone. I opened my eyes
and saw Sadie relaxing in a blue plush chair next to my bed. Ear buds were
plugged into her ears as she rested her head against the back of the chair, her
eyes closed as she hummed a tune. Her phone lay on her jean clad leg. Her dark
braid was slung over one shoulder.

We were in a room. Two
walls were metal and the other two were the temporary dividers that were placed
throughout the building. I was in a single bed, my shirt was gone, but my bra
and a bandage covered the important parts. A plain white, thin blanket lay over
me. If it wasn’t for the walls, I would have thought I was in the hospital.
Night had fallen, leaving the only light in the room a small lamp next to the
bed. I could smell some kind of medicine and laundry soap from the pillow case
under my head.

I reached my shaky hand
out to touch Sadie’s knee.

Her body jerked, her
eyes snapping open. “Geesh, you scared me,” she gasped, her hand hovering over
her heart and then yanking out the ear buds. They hung over her legs, dangling
in the air.

I smiled weakly. “Where
is everyone?” My throat burned with thirst.

“Nate and Adrian are
with Isaiah, mixing a batch of the cure.”

Butterflies fluttered
in my stomach. This is what I wanted, but now that it was happening I was
nervous. “And Joe?” I don’t know what I was asking, did I want him to be
punished for what he had done. I know he never intended to shoot me, but he did
want to hurt Isaiah, maybe even kill him. I couldn’t help but be angry at him
for all he had done. It didn’t help that my shoulder still hurt.

She frowned, her eyes
moving to focus on the hands in her lap. “He and Nate had a huge argument and
he left.” She paused, her tortured eyes swinging to mine. “With Lauren.”

An ache formed in my
chest as I remembered Lauren’s tearful good-bye. Her words sounded so final, despite
her promise to call me. Would I ever see my best friend again? Just the thought
made my eyes burn with the threat of tears. Lauren and even Joe were part of my
family and I knew that after today nothing would be the same. How could it be
after what he did? I swallowed the golf-ball-sized lump that suddenly formed in
my throat.

When I remained silent
she picked up an envelope from the nightstand. “She left you this letter.”

I spread the paper out
in front of me and smiled at her loopy handwriting.

Meg, I’m writing you
this, because I’m not sure if you will remember me saying good-bye. As much as
I hate to leave you, I have to follow Joe. I know he has made mistakes and
believe me I am just as angry at him for shooting you and attempting to shoot
Isaiah as any of our group. He is just a man that created a cure and he didn’t
deserve to die. Joe feels terrible for what he did, but I’m sure you’re not
ready to hear that. But despite everything Joe has done, he is my mate and I
love with all my heart.

Even though I have
to leave you, Nate and my family, I won’t regret the choice I made, because I
know I will see you all again, I’m just not sure when.

Before I met you, I
had two great friends, but not a sister, that changed on that island and I will
never forget what we’ve been through together. You are more than a friend, you
are family and I will miss you the most. Don’t tell Nate I said that.

Tell everyone I love
them,

Lauren

Tears flowed freely as
her words sunk in. They weren’t just going home ahead of us. They were leaving
and not coming back for a while. What would I do without her? She had become an
important part in my life.

I folded the letter and
placed it on the nightstand next to me. “They’re leaving for a while.”

Sadie smiled softly. “I
know.”

Another tear fell down
my cheek, as I looked at her. “Are you taking the cure?” I asked hoping to take
my mind off of my friend’s departure.

She shook her head.
“No. Adrian and I want to explore our relationship before we do it. We will
someday.”

“Are you going to come
back here? What if Isaiah is dead, he’s human.”

“He is giving us a few
doses and if something happens to that, we’ll come back. I don’t think we’ll
wait long.”

I grew silent as
memories from before I passed out surfaced. “Do you think Nate will ever
forgive Joe?” I asked after a brief silence.