Riley's Redemption (A Moon's Glow Novel) (6 page)

I smiled. “I’m a
werewolf. I’m always hungry.”

“Does that mean you’re
finally accepting your new situation?”

I turned into the
restaurant’s parking lot. “You mean turning nineteen? Yes, my birthday was a
few months ago.” I grinned at my own joke. When I first met Adrian we were in a
yogurt shop and instead of using the word werewolf we were calling it “being
nineteen.” It was the age he was when he was bitten.

Adrian laughed, shaking
his head. “Yes, that’s what I meant.”

My smile faded as I
contemplated his words. “I am embracing my new life as much as I can.” I pulled
into the drive-thru and stopped behind a red van. “Thanks to you.”

He sat up in his seat,
no longer needing to lean his head out until we were back on the road. “What do
you mean?”

“I took the advice you
gave me when Nate was burying Charlotte and her buddies. You helped me see that
when Nate bit me, he saved me from a lot of pain. And there was no point in
dwelling on what I couldn’t change.” I moved forward in the line. My lips
twitched, fighting the smile that was threatening as I thought about mine and
Nate’s reunion. “We made up that night.”

Adrian smiled. “Good,
I’m glad you saw how wise I am and took my advice.”

I snorted a laugh as we
moved forward.

Once we placed our
order and we were back on the road, I asked, “What happened to your parents’
house. Did you look there when you were searching for Marisa?”

He shook his head as he
balled up a wrapper from the burger he had just devoured. He reached into the
bag and pulled out another one. He took a few bites before he answered me. “No.
Charlotte forced me to let her use it, so we used to stay in it when we were in
the area.” He clenched his teeth and balled his hands into fists. “I hated them
being there. James and Charlotte killed my parents and then they stayed in our
house like they owned it. I couldn’t stand it.” His voice trailed off. “The
first time we were there I tried to kill James.” His voice was an angry
whisper. James was one of Charlotte’s minions, who just happened to be a nephew
of Nate’s that hadn’t taken the secret of what Nate truly was well. Charlotte
found him and bit him, making him a werewolf like she did to Nate so many years
ago.

I sucked in a breath,
suddenly nervous for him. His face was hard, his eyes colored yellow with rage.
“What happened?” I whispered, my burger forgotten on my lap.

He lifted a shaky hand
and pushed back his bangs to show me the claw marks I noticed when I first saw
him in the yogurt shop. “I stabbed him with a silver knife and Charlotte
attacked me in her wolf form.”

“Why didn’t the marks
heel?”

“Because they put salt
on it to prevent it from heeling.” He smirked, his lips turning into a bitter
smile. “They wanted me to remember what would happen if I did anything like
that again.”

I gasped, imaging how
painful that must have been. “That had to hurt.”

His eyes flashed with
fury as he nodded sharply.

I swallowed hard,
sensing the need for subject change. “Um…well…when we find Marisa, you can fix
up your family’s home for her.”

He was now staring at
the half eaten burger in his lap. “I’m never going back there.” His voice was
barely above a whisper, but I heard him clearly.

Instead of talking I
leaned down to turn up the radio, giving him as much privacy as I could,
considering we were in a small vehicle together.

After twenty minutes of
strained silence, he pointed to a town coming into view. “Let’s drive around
here and see if we catch a scent.”

I followed his
directions and made the turn off.

Close call

The town of Boman was
larger than it appeared when we first drove into it. Side roads wove from a
busy main street that led to another business district. There were two high
schools that Adrian wanted to drive around. He thought that if his sister was
going to relocate, they might choose somewhere near a school. But after hours
of driving without catching any scents we left the town.

We continued down the
I-5, stopping at each town or city we came across hoping to catch the distinct
smell of werewolf or Marisa’s human scent. When we still hadn’t found anything
when the sun dipped in the sky, we began to worry that we had taken the wrong
route. I finally convinced Adrian to stop and rent a hotel room for the night.
I was tired from all the travelling, first the plane and then an entire day of
driving in his smelly car. And if I was being honest, I missed Nate. Pathetic,
I know. I couldn’t be away from him for one night.
Man,
I had it bad.

Adrian pulled into a
tiny motel that was basically a small row of rooms. The outside was pale-blue
sided, with most of the paint peeling, exposing gray rotting wood. “Are we
sharing a room?” Adrian asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I don’t think so.” I
answered dryly, pushing my door open. I was relieved when the cool evening air
whooshed into the tiny space, replacing the smell of dirty socks inside the
car.

He laughed as he
slammed his door and stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the motel’s office.
“I guess you’re right, I haven’t been working out lately and I couldn’t take
Nate’s reaction if he found out.” He rubbed his jaw, a slight smirk appearing
on his face. Months ago, when Nate saw Adrian and me together and realized he
was one of Charlotte’s minions, he went a little crazy and mistook Adrian’s
face for a punching bag. I was shocked. It was so unlike the Nate I knew, he
was the most non-violent person around, despite being a werewolf.

“
Ha-ha.”
I
punched him in the shoulder softly.
“I told you that he wasn’t angry
anymore.”

He winced, holding the
spot where I had hit him, feigning that it had hurt. “But he would be if we
shared a room.”

I shrugged. “I’m
honestly not sure. He trusts me and because we’re mated and married, I don’t
think he’d care.” I stood next to him, yanking my bag over my shoulder. “But it
doesn’t matter anyway. We’re not sharing a room.”

He winked at me as he
pulled open the glass door.

The air in the tiny
office stunk even more than Adrian’s car. Over the last six months I sometimes
hated my extra werewolf senses. This was definitely one of those times. The
most obvious odor was smoke. The old wrinkled man at the counter was smoking
like a chimney. I couldn’t help the cough that escaped my lips as he blew a
puff of the offending smoke at us. But the underlining stench that most humans
would likely miss was body odor and urine. My gag reflexes were threatening to
lose control. Adrian’s eyes widened, giving me a look of revulsion as he got a
whiff of the disgusting smells.

“Can I help you?” the
wrinkled man wheezed, pushing his thick, black framed glasses onto his nose.

Adrian stepped up to
the sign-in counter, leaning away from the man as much as possible. “Yes, we’d
like two rooms next to each other, if possible.”

“You need easy access,
do ya?” the old man asked with a wink in my direction. “Why not get one room?”
After his insulting words, he laughed a cheesy, “Heh heh.”

My gag reflex
threatened to return.

Adrian snorted out his
own laugh and covered it up with a cough when I elbowed him in the ribs. “No,
two rooms are fine; please.”

The man shrugged and
leered in my direction.

Once he took the money
Adrian handed him, he gave us our keys.

I couldn’t get out of
the room fast enough. The guy was giving me the heebie geebies.

Outside in the fresh
air, I shook my body. “Ewww! He was creepy.”

Adrian laughed. “Oh,
come on, he’s harmless.” He slung his arm over my shoulder and walked me to his
car. “But it is a good thing we’re close. It gives me easy access.” He wiggled
his eyebrows again and barked out a laugh when I swatted him in the shoulder.

“Just open the trunk so
I can have a shower and scrub the stench of that office from my body with a
brillo pad. It smelled worse than your car.”

He narrowed his eyes at
me, faking a scowl. “Ha, ha.”

Taking his keys out, he
opened the trunk, pulled out our bags and then I followed him to our rooms.

“Goodnight, Meg. I’m
really glad you’re here.” The jovial tone disappeared, replaced by his serious
words. “I didn’t realize how much I needed you.” I knew he meant that he needed
companionship as much as my extra pair of eyes. He had been alone for way too
long and his solitude along with his frustration in not finding his sister was
getting to him.

“Adrian, you are my
friend. I’m here for you whenever you need me.”

His eyes washed with
emotion before he slipped into his room. I did the same and took in my
surroundings. As expected, the room wasn’t the Ritz. But it was cleaner than I
thought it would be and the stench from the office was thankfully missing.
Instead, it smelled of lemons and cleaner.

After a quick shower, I
fell onto the bed and flicked on the TV, looking only to chase away the
silence. I dialed Nate, hoping he was still up.

“Hey, Meg. I’m so glad
you called.” His deep voice was just what I needed to cheer my weary mind.

“Did I wake you?”

“No, I’m just going
over some work before the meeting tomorrow. We’re thinking of expanding into
Canada.”

I shifted on the hard
mattress. “Oh, yeah? I thought your stores were all over the world.”

“No, not yet.” A
muffled sound came through the line as if he was moving around. “So, how is it
going?”

“Ugh, not good. We just
drove around in Adrian’s smelly car all day and found nothing. We’re in a motel
for the night, before we move on tomorrow.”

“I hope you find
something soon.” He paused for a few seconds. “You’re not sharing a room are
you?” he asked hesitantly.

I wanted to snort with
laughter, but I didn’t want to offend him. “No, we’re in separate rooms. Why,
would that bother you?”

“Uh…no. I mean, I trust
you. But since we’re not sure whether or not Adrian has met his mate, I’m not
entirely sure I trust
him
.”

Again, I fought the
urge to laugh. Adrian had hinted at liking someone when we first met and I had
thought he might have a mate. I wasn’t sure though and I never asked him. But
Nate had nothing to worry about. I
was
a mated werewolf and I had
absolutely no urge to be with anyone but him. “You realize I love you more than
anything right?”

“I know and
I
love you. But you’re traveling alone with another guy, the person who you
leaned on, after I betrayed you. I can’t help but worry a little.” I hated the
strain in his voice. I wished he would forgive himself, but after everything
we’ve been through, how could he doubt me? Besides, Adrian was and always would
be my friend, nothing more. For some reason, I enjoyed being around him, he
made me laugh and I felt comfortable with him. I considered him part of my
family, or at least part of our little werewolf pack.

“Well don’t. You are my
husband. Besides, Adrian said he hasn’t been working out since he’s been away
and I have. If he tries anything, I’ll kick his ass.”

He chuckled softly, the
soft sound warming my heart. “Why was I worried?”

I smiled, wishing he
was there with me. I ached to feel his touch. “Who knows?”

We talked for a while
longer until the day’s events started to creep up on me. We said good-bye and
he promised to call if he was able to join us tomorrow.

The sound of a door
slamming pulled me out of a deep sleep. My muffled brain registered that I
wasn’t in the cottage. And just as my mind started to shut down once again the
scent of an unknown werewolf drifted through the door. I jumped up, suddenly
wide-awake.

Wearing only the tank
top and shorts I fell asleep in, I peeked out the window. A girl that looked
about my age with her brown hair in a messy braid, wearing faded jeans and a
black rock band t-shirt, stood in the parking lot. “I’ll be right back. Stay in
the car until I return.” Her voice was sweet and cheerful as she spoke to someone
in the blue station wagon she emerged from. As she started to head toward the
office I moved to the door and opened it, poking my head out. The werewolf with
the braid had her hand out, reaching for the knob.

When I turned my head
and gazed into the car I could see a girl with long black hair, leaning back in
the seat, reading a book under the interior light.

The wind shifted and
from the corner of my eye I could see the girl with the braid spin around. Her
gaze landed on me and then she was moving, running back to the car.

I stepped out of my
room and banged on the door next to mine. “Adrian,” I yelled, just as the braid
girl made it to her vehicle.

Before she slipped
inside she reached out and stabbed Adrian’s tire with a knife that appeared out
of nowhere. I rushed into my room, yanked on my jeans, grabbed my bags and
rushed back out. The station wagon was spinning out of the lot and Adrian was
opening his door. When he poked his head out, his hair sticking up in all
directions, he was only wearing white boxers. His eyes were half closed as he
opened his mouth to speak. I knew when he caught the scent because his eyes
widened and his nostrils flared.

“They’re getting away,
hurry up!” I yelled, banging on the roof of his Jeep.

He disappeared into the
room and then quickly returned with his pants and shirt on and his bag over his
shoulder. “What happened to the tire?” he shouted, irritation edging his words.

“The werewolf stabbed
it with a knife.”

He pounded the top of
the car; a thundering crack rang out in the night sky. “Well we can’t follow
them like that.” He stepped away from the car. “
Damn it
!” His booming
voice pierced through the air.

I remained still, my
bag over my shoulder and suitcase handle in my hand. I didn’t know what to say
to him. His sister had been so close and now she was gone. He must feel so
frustrated. Nothing I said would have made it better.

He walked away from me
and stood in the center of the lot, his arms bent and hands linked behind his
neck, staring up at the sky, as if asking someone up there what to do next. I
felt like I should say something comforting, but I had no idea what that should
be. He was just ten feet away from his sister, the closest he’s been in ten
years and now they were gone and with a flat tire we had no way to follow them.

Finally, after several
minutes of silence, I couldn’t take it any longer. I could feel his pain from
where I stood and I had to try to help. “Why don’t we call a tow truck and get
it towed to a garage. Or we could call a rental place and have them pick us up.

Adrian spun around, his
face strained. “Or we could change the tire.”

I gaped at him. “You
can do that?”

He stalked toward me,
pulled out his keys and then opened the trunk to reveal a spare tire and a
Jack.

“Why the hell didn’t
you do that when they rushed out of here instead of just standing there?”

He spun around, his
eyes flashing yellow with anger. “Because I was pissed off and I never thought
of it until now,” he yelled.

I would have been
angry, if I didn’t understand his frustration. He had never yelled at me
before, even when I was being stubborn and refused to except that I had just
become a werewolf. So I knew he must be upset.

He reached inside the
trunk and unscrewed the tire from its lock and pulled it out.

I watched his quick
movements as he fixed the problem. Ten minutes later, we were on our way
following the blue station wagon. Of course they were nowhere in sight, but
since we saw the direction they took and the car they were driving, we had
hope. Adrian was closer to finding his sister than he had been in six months
and I could feel the nervous energy coming off of him.

“How did she look?”
Adrian asked. It was the first time he had spoken since he fixed the tire. I
had remained silent too, not knowing what to say.

I swallowed hard,
understanding who he was referring to. “I didn’t see her very well. She was
leaning back in the car reading a book. All I saw was the back of her head. She
had long black hair.”

He nodded sharply, his
eyes glazed with emotion.

“She seemed okay.” I
gulped. The air in the car was thick with tension—and stinky socks. “The
werewolf that has her is a teenage girl who looks our age. And she doesn’t seem
evil. By the sound of her voice, she sounded like she cared about Marisa.”

The only reason I knew
he heard me was because he gripped the steering wheel harder, his knuckles
going stark white.

I leaned my head out
the window, sniffing the air. I had the werewolf’s scent in my senses and now
I’d recognize it anywhere. But, unfortunately, I hadn’t caught it yet. She must
have her window closed and until she got out of the car we wouldn’t find it.

After another long
stretch of strained silence, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Are you alright?”

Adrian breathed in
sharply, his eyes flicking to mine: his stare intense. “I’m going to kill her.”
His voice was so tormented; it tore at my heart and left me speechless.

I didn’t know what to
say.