Riley's Torment, A Moon's Glow Novel #2 (14 page)

Joe laid his
fork on the table and glared at Nate. “I told you how I feel.”

Nate’s face
went hard. “And I told you, I didn’t care.”

I could hear
their conversation, but it faded into the background taking second
place to my hyperactive thoughts. I was thinking about what Joe had
said about my change, and why I didn’t have a problem. I remembered
watching Joe bite Lauren and lick the wound, and with that memory,
an image from the night Lauren had interrupted us popped in my
mind. There had been so many feelings and sensations coming at me
so fast I hadn’t noticed that night, but as the image surfaced, it
all came pouring back to me. Nate scraping his teeth along my neck,
and then I felt a puncture, his teeth sinking into my skin, and the
soothing feel of his tongue as it wiped over the wound. I had been
so lost in the feelings that Nate had created with his soft touch
that I had barely noticed the bite. But from Joe’s question, the
memory came to the surface.

“It was you,” I
said, slowly. The realization fell over me like a ton of bricks. He
did it; he saved me from Lauren’s torture.

Nate and Joe
trailed off and looked at me. Lauren held a piece of bacon to her
mouth that she had stolen from the stack, and her eyes shifted in
my direction.

“What was me?”
Nate asked as I stared at him.

“I was able to
change because of you.”

His brow rose
in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“The other
night before Lauren came,” I couldn’t help the blush that heated my
cheeks. “You bit me.”

His face went
white, and then he smiled sadly, shaking his head. “No, Meg, I
marked you. And I’m so sorry I did that without asking. The wolf
has a mind of its own. But it was just a scratch. Marking is only
meant to do just that—to mark the wolf’s territory.” He winced at
the word. “I know it sounds bad, and I wouldn’t have done it if I
had been fully in control. You can’t become a werewolf unless the
skin is punctured, and saliva enters your blood stream.” Despite
his words, his face appeared apprehensive.

I nodded. “You
did puncture the skin, I felt it. Your sharp teeth poked through.”
I paused suddenly feeling embarrassed, my head staring down at my
lap. “I forgot about it because everything felt so good.” I looked
up though my lashes and saw Joe and Lauren smirking at me.

But not Nate,
there was a look of horror on his face. “No. You must not remember
it properly. I just scraped with my human teeth. They can’t
puncture your skin.”

“Nate, your
eyes were yellow, and your teeth had lengthened. I felt them break
through, and then you licked the wound.” I might not have
remembered until now, but now that I did, I was certain.

His eyes
widened.

Joe nodded in
my direction and then faced his friend. “It makes sense, Nate. Why
else did she change so easily when Lauren couldn’t, until I bit
her?”

“That’s what
made me think of it.” Joe and I were looking at each other. Lauren
was frowning at the memory. The pain I went through when I changed
into a wolf was nothing compared to the horror she had faced. We
all glanced at Nate at the sound of a snarl.

His face was
hard with self-hatred written all over it. “No,” he roared as he
pushed himself away from the table forcefully. The table shook, and
a loud shriek rang out from the chair as it scraped against the
floor. He stared at me in disbelief, and his eyes quickly filled
with pain. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered before stalking to the
front door. Once he got there, he paused. Abruptly, his fist shot
out, slamming into the wall with a loud thud. Pieces of plaster
fell on the floor in a clump, leaving a round hole in the wall.

Lauren and I
jumped at the noise while Joe just stared at Nate with his eyes
full of shock as he watched his friend storm out of the
cottage.

After Nate
slammed the door behind him, the room fell into silence. No one
knew what to say. It was Joe who finally spoke. “This is going to
be hard for him.”

I was
beyond shocked as I watched the door, wondering why Nate was so
upset. He helped me. Did he want me to suffer like Lauren had? His
reaction was confusing, and I finally turned my attention from the
door to focus on Joe. “What do you mean?”

Joe
raised a brow, as if asking “
isn’t it obvious?”
“Because he hates what he is. He never wanted to
be a werewolf, and after all these years, he still hasn’t fully
accepted it. It wasn’t until he met you that I’ve seen him truly
happy. He would never wish this on anyone, let alone the girl he
loved. And to have changed you himself…” He trailed off shaking his
head. “This might break him. His guilt will eat him up
inside.”

His words
stunned me, and honestly, I felt sick to my stomach. “Did you just
say he changed me?” My mind was whirling with thoughts that I hoped
weren’t true. My mind was in denial, it wouldn’t accept it.

Joe sat up in
his chair and glanced from me to Lauren, both of us staring at him
waiting for an answer. This couldn’t be true. He gulped, running
his hand through his hair roughly. “Um…maybe you should talk to
Nate. This isn’t my business.”

“Joe, tell
her,” Lauren said sternly. Her hand smacked against the table,
shaking the dishes. She seemed as affected as I was.

He cleared his
throat nervously, glancing between Lauren and me. “The night Lauren
interrupted you and Nate, he bit you, just like you said.” I
nodded. I already knew this part; he had helped make the transition
easier. Joe looked uncomfortable, squirming in his chair while
Lauren and I glared at him waiting for him to finish. He cleared
his throat. “Charlotte didn’t make you into a werewolf. He did.” I
gasped and Lauren swore. “If Charlotte didn’t show up, you would
have turned anyway, because of Nate.”

No, No, No. My
boyfriend, my fiancé, the man I loved with all my heart, and who I
knew loved me, had turned me into a monster?

A sharp stab of
betrayal pierced my soul. “NO!” I rasped, pushing myself away from
the table. I grabbed my coat and rushed out of the cottage. Where
was I going? I had no idea, I just wanted away from here. I needed
distance from everything werewolf. As I stormed onto the porch and
down the steps, I heard Lauren call after me. I didn’t hear what
she said though. The word “No,” was chanting over and over in my
head. This wasn’t happening, my mind wouldn’t accept it.

Lauren watched
me from the porch as I tore out of the driveway, my tires spinning
in the gravel. I vaguely noticed as I went that Nate was nowhere to
be seen, even though his car was still parked in the driveway. I
couldn’t worry about his whereabouts. I refused to think about him.
HE DID THIS TO ME! The words screamed in my mind as I drove out of
the Riley Estate.

Tears drenched
my face, and my chest burned from the sobbing as I turned onto Old
Trench road. I hadn’t been here since I was a kid, but right now,
it was where I needed to be. I slowed to a stop and turned off the
ignition, resting my head on the steering wheel. The hard plastic
dug into my forehead. The silence around me was welcoming. I just
needed to find a way to make my mind go quiet. How could I have not
put it together? When I realized Nate bit me, the first thought in
my mind was that Nate had rescued me from the pain Lauren had
suffered… not this. And when Joe spelled it out for me, I felt
betrayed.

I couldn’t stop
replaying the night this happened in my mind. What I had considered
an innocent scrape of his teeth on my neck had changed my life
forever. How could he do this to me? I looked to him for
protection, love, and friendship, and even though he didn’t mean
for it to happen, didn’t change the fact that it did.

This might break him—his guilt will eat him up
inside
, Joe had said. I
pushed the memory down. I couldn’t feel sorry for him. I was the
victim here, and I needed to feel anger and hurt, without the guilt
of his pain tainting that. I had to stay away from him—but for how
long? I didn’t know. I just couldn’t face him right now. What could
I say?

It had been
easier when I thought Charlotte was the bad guy. Instead, it had
been Nate, the love of my life, all along. How could I possibly get
over this? The shock and confusion that I had felt last night was
coming back, but for so many different reasons. I trusted Nate.
What Charlotte did wasn’t surprising, but what Nate did, I couldn’t
comprehend. I was stunned…speechless, at a loss with how to act,
how to feel. I didn’t know what to say to him. We were happy and
engaged merely two days ago, and now everything was different. He
was the one who was responsible, and I just couldn’t process
that.

Lifting up my
head, I gazed out at the scenery. I was parked in front of a rock
quarry not far from my family home. When I was a kid, I thought it
was a big bowl for a giant. Now, I just enjoyed the peacefulness of
the place.

I opened the
door and made my way over the rocky terrain, stopping at the edge.
I lay down on the hard, flat, cold stone and gazed up at the clear
blue sky. Too bad I hadn’t thought to bring a pillow. The rock
wasn’t what you’d call comfortable. While my favorite thing to do
at night was stargaze, my favorite activity during the day was
staring up at the clouds. I loved making shapes out of them and
just watching as they streaked slowly though the sky. I hadn’t done
much of this lately, since I had started working full time at the
Riley House.

I heard a
tapping sound from a distance, and with my heightened vision, I
could see a red and blue woodpecker pecking an oak tree about fifty
feet from where I lay. Would I ever get used to these extra senses?
It was even harder to understand when it was Nate that put me in
this position. I focused once more on the sky above me, trying to
clear all thoughts from my head. Just for a moment, I wanted to
forget that I was a werewolf and was engaged to the werewolf who
turned me into this… thing. Just for a moment, I wanted to stop
replaying my horrific experience on that island with Lauren as five
werewolves tried to eat me for dinner. The memory was so surreal
and hard to believe now that I was back in my natural reality. Who
was I, Little Red Riding Hood?

A year ago, my
life was so normal. I was the clichéd popular, rich girl hanging
out with the rest of the popular crowd. I wanted something
different, but not this.

And I was
back to thinking too much.
Close your mind and concentrate on the
clouds
, I told myself. A
long thin strip of white floated above me; it looked so much like
cotton I could feel the soft texture on my fingers. Behind it was a
big clump of what looked like an ice cream cone. I was thinking so
hard I could almost taste the sweet cold cream in my mouth and the
bitter salty taste of my favorite flavor, maple walnut. My mouth
began to water. I was actually happy that my body reacted that way
to normal food. After I lost control over the bacon this morning
with my eyes turning color, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to eat
regular food. I pictured myself eating raw steaks for the rest of
my life. Unfortunately, drool pooled in my mouth at that thought as
well. At least I could enjoy ice cream too. I should have known
that—Nate ate everything I did. I was just so consumed with hating
what I had become that I worried that everything I loved about my
previous life would change. I’d have to find a way to combine my
new werewolf side with the old me, or I’d go crazy. I just didn’t
know how to make it a reality. I knew that Nate would love to teach
me everything I needed to know, but I shoved the thought to the
back of my mind. I needed distance from him right now. I’d figure
it out on my own.

The clouds
floated by, leaving only the clear blue sky. While I waited for the
white stuff, I listened to the birds chirp. After about a half hour
of this, I felt my eyelids droop.

The feeling of
being watched made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I
jerked to a sitting position and rubbed my eyes, feeling strange
and exposed for falling asleep out in the open. The scent of
werewolf entered my nostrils, but disappeared before I could smell
the person that belonged to it. I stood up on shaky legs and took a
few steps toward the tree line of the forest. It sprawled out
before me at the edge of the flat rock. I gazed into the woods, but
all I could see were the trees, leaves, and bushes swaying in the
wind. The only scents I could smell now all belonged to nature, and
a rotten apple about twenty feet away. Whoever was watching me was
now gone. I wondered if it was Nate. I had heard my phone go off in
my car but chose to ignore it. I needed time to myself, and whoever
was calling needed to understand that.

Just in case it
was something important, I wandered back to my car and was shocked
to see that I had been here for hours. I grabbed my phone and went
back to my spot on the cliff, not ready to get back to reality.
There were five missed calls, all from Lauren.

“
Hey, Meg, where are you? You looked really upset, should
you be driving
?” I
deleted the voice message and moved to the next one.
“
Meg, answer
the damn phone. I want to know if you’re okay
.” I felt a stab of guilt. I really hadn’t
meant for her to worry. Again I erased it and played the next.
“
Hello?
Please call me. We can’t find Nate, and now it’s just me and Joe
here, and he wants to talk. Call me
!”

Her voice
was getting agitated in the next one. “
Oh my god, why aren’t you
answering
?
My dad showed up,
and I told him I was fine, but I wanted to stay with you guys for a
few days. I can’t tell him I’m a werewolf yet.
”