Riley's Torment, A Moon's Glow Novel #2 (17 page)

Mandy shifted
her feet and swallowed hard. She was nervous, and my non-open arms
were not helping. “Um…I was wondering if you wanted to come out for
a frozen yogurt. I thought we could go to La crème, our
favorite.”

I took in a
breath like I was considering her offer. “Nope. See ya.”

I was closing
the door, when I heard Mona call out from behind me, “She’d love to
go.”

I spun around
and glared at Mona with wide eyes.

“Just a
minute,” I said to my old friend, leaving her standing on the step
with the door still open. I yanked Mona into the main living room,
careful not to dig my fingers into her skin, like I had done the
other day—accidentally.

“What are you
doing? You hate Mandy,” I hissed.

“
Yes I
do. But you need to get out of this house before I end up
strangling you. I can’t afford the bail money.” She smiled,
laughter dancing in her eyes. “I am sick of seeing you lying around
here doing nothing but eating and watching TV. You need fresh air,
and other people.
And good lord
, I
need a break.”

I narrowed my
eyes, actually enjoying the fact that I was annoying her. I’m not
sure why, but I had been in an argumentative mood lately. “Fine,
I’ll go. But if I turn into a stuck-up snob, it’s your fault.”

She huffed, her
eyes going wide. “It’s better than a hibernating sloth that eats
too much.”

Damn it
, I wish
my lips hadn’t twitched. Before I broke out into a full smile, I
whirled on my heel. “Just give me a few minutes to change,” I said
to a shocked Mandy. I left her with her mouth hanging open.
Apparently, she was as surprised as I was that I had
agreed.

I told her to
meet me there. I wasn’t ready to be in a car alone with her. After
our history, I had trust issues.

It took me ten
minutes into the visit with Mandy to regret going with her.
Honestly, I was surprised it lasted that long. After an exchange of
pleasantries, she had dived into a whining session on how all of
our old friends had abandoned her. Brandon was away at Harvard,
Shane got a scholarship for football in Virginia, and Chris was off
to Yale for pre-med. I was almost impressed; I didn’t think he had
it in him to help others. But then she told me that his parents
were pressuring him to be a doctor, and my opinion of him was
restored.

She played with
the end of her growing black hair. It was the longest I’d seen it
since we were kids. “And Jenny was sent to a relative in Arizona to
go to school. Her father is hoping that living with his side of the
family will make her appreciate her life here.” She stuffed a
spoonful of her strawberry frozen yogurt into her mouth and
swallowed. “I guess his family is poor.”

The door
signaling a new customer drew my attention away from the most
boring conversation I could ever remember having, and made eye
contact with Lauren. I sunk into my seat as she headed toward us. I
wasn’t ready for reality yet. I just wanted a few more days of
living in denial. She stood in front of us wearing her brown suede
jacket and faded blue jeans with a tiny heart drawn on the knee.
They were not my clothes, so she must have finally moved home. I
could also smell her guava shampoo, another sign she was no longer
staying at the cottage.

Had she left
Nate alone? Was he missing me as desperately as I missed him? I
swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat as she
approached our table.

“Hey,” she said
to me and then flashed a fake smile to Mandy. “What are you doing
here?” she asked.

I wasn’t about
to tell her that I was only here because Mona was sick of me. I
smiled as if I was actually enjoying myself. “Just catching up with
Mandy. She was just telling me about the old gang. We’re thinking
of getting together later.” I paused as she tried to hide a frown.
“What about you?”

“I was actually
on my way to see you at your parents’ house to see if you got my
text, and I saw your car here.” I didn’t miss her remark of it
being my parents’ house and not my own. She had been telling me
constantly for the last week that I belonged at the cottage. I had
no idea she was such a nag.

“Sorry, I can’t
make it. I’m busy with my friend.” I gestured to Mandy across from
me to clarify who I was referring to.

Lauren glared
her hazel eyes at me, her hands on her hips. “Are you really going
to do this?” We both knew she wasn’t talking about me eating ice
cream, but the whole Mandy thing.

I might have
made it sound like I wanted my old life back in one of our phone
conversations. It couldn’t be further from the truth, but since she
wasn’t letting up on trying to convince me to forgive Nate, I got
desperate. I actually enjoyed the lie when it obviously irritated
her. I had never been so nasty before turning into a werewolf. What
was next, murder? I winced at the thought and took a drink of the
lemonade I had ordered. I needed to wash that word away. I hated
even joking about it.

All I could do
was nod before Lauren turned in a huff and rushed out of the
store.

“Are we doing
something later?” Mandy asked, her voice raised an octave in
excitement. I had almost forgotten she was here.

I turned my
attention away from Lauren’s car as it spun away from the yogurt
shop and glared at Mandy. “God, no.” I stood up, as if I was going
to leave. “So, thanks for this. That was good. It was great to see
you.”

I could tell by
the expression on her face that she knew my fake tone of voice. She
had heard it before enough times. She nodded, grabbed her purse off
the back of her chair, and shoved her arms in her leather coat. She
headed out the glass door; the bell signaled her departure. Feeling
lighter after losing the dead weight, I sat down and ordered
another peanut-butter, chocolate crunch. I wasn’t ready to go home;
it was starting to get claustrophobic inside those very large
walls.

About five
minutes later, I stiffened in my seat. The scent of werewolf wafted
toward me, and my nostrils flared as I spun around to face a guy
about my age. He had short black hair, deep brown eyes, and a
scruffy face. His nose was a little crooked and even from ten feet
away I could see a couple scars on his forehead at the edge of his
hair line. I took in a deep breath when I realized what they looked
like—claw marks. Besides the scars, he was okay looking, if you
were going for the ruggedly handsome look. But honestly, his
appearance did nothing for me. I had a mate, even if we weren’t on
speaking terms.

His nostrils
flared as well, and his wild gaze fell on me. My hackles rose, and
my instinct was to defend my territory. This wolf wasn’t a member
of my pack and didn’t belong here. I pushed away those thoughts as
he strolled over.

“Can I sit
down?” he asked politely, his harsh eyes a contrast to his
tone.

Since my hands
were shaking with anger for some unknown reason, I kept them hidden
behind the table on my lap. “No one else is sitting there,” I
answered dryly, hoping he didn’t hear the slight growl in my
voice.

He sat down and
leaned back in the chair, eyeing me with interest. His lip twitched
at the corner. “You’re new, aren’t you?”

I narrowed my
eyes that I had to concentrate on to keep from turning yellow. “If
you mean new to Creekford, then no, I’ve lived here all my
life.”

He smirked,
resting his elbow on the back of his chair. “No.” He shook his
head, his eyes never leaving me. “That’s not what I meant.”

All I did was
shrug. There was no way I was going to be the first to bring up the
W word.

“So who’s your
mate?” he asked nodding to the right side of my neck. I furrowed my
brow, not knowing what he was talking about. “Your mark.”

That was odd
because since I turned into a werewolf, the scratch that had been
there had healed. “What are you talking about? I have no mark.”
Damn, where was a reflective surface when you needed one? Was the
scratch back? It wasn’t there this morning.

“You do. It’s
healed, but male werewolves will take one look at your neck, smell
his scent, and run the other way. I’m fighting it right now.”

Wow, that was
sort of cool, in a controlling werewolf kind of way, but I would
never admit having those thoughts to anyone. I was still in denial.
Werewolves may exist, but I certainly wasn’t one. “Why are you
fighting it? Why not run?”

“Because I’m
new in town and didn’t expect there to be others like me.”

“Like you how?
Eighteen year olds?”

Again he
smirked, this time adding an eye roll. “Nineteen actually, but you
know what I mean.”

I just grunted
in answer. “What do you want?”

“Just to talk.
What’s your name?”

I tilted my
head, refusing to answer his question. “What’s yours?”

He smiled,
showing white teeth and a sparkle in his eyes. “Adrian.”

“Why are you
here in Creekford, Adrian?” A shrill scream rang out in the crowded
shop, Adrian and I took defensive positions, our bodies tensed, and
our fists clenched. We were ready to fight…until we laid eyes on
the source of the scream. A baby was reaching a hand out to her
mother, she wanted more frozen yogurt.

I relaxed in my
seat, breathing a sigh of relief. I grinned at Adrian as he did the
same.

After a few
seconds, he answered my question. “I lived in my last town for over
five years, and it was time to move on.” He drummed his long
fingers against the table top.

“And where was
that?” I asked as I dug my spoon into the cold peanut buttery
chocolate in my bowl.

“A small town
called Brownridge in Vermont.”

I didn’t
recognize the name of the town, but I had been to Vermont a few
times skiing with my family. Always for work events, it was the
only time they pretended to be parents.

“Who are you
staying with?” I asked him as I played with my spoon, making
designs in my frozen yogurt.

He cocked a
brow. “I’m renting a room at a boarding house.” He paused when a
waitress came to take his order. He chose chocolate chunk. When she
left to fetch his yogurt, he turned back to me. “Is the inquisition
over?” There was no aggression in his voice, just curiosity. His
face was blank as he waited for my answer.

I smiled, even
though I tried not to. “Do you know a girl like you named
Charlotte?” I couldn’t help feel that it was no coincidence that
another werewolf just happened to be in Creekford around the same
time Charlotte had taken us.

Both brows rose
now. “Like me? You mean nineteen?” He wore a lopsided grin, which
made a laugh sneak out of my month.

I pressed my
lips together and waited, not willing to let it go. I needed to
know whether or not he knew her. I’m not exactly sure what I would
do with this information, but it was good to have.

“Do you think
every nineteen year old knows each other?” he asked, and I nodded.
He chuckled. “You are new.”

“And you’re
not?”

He shrugged.
“Probably not, compared to you. It’s been ten years. I’ve had to
move twice.”

My mind went
blank. I didn’t want to talk about werewolf stuff, and it was
getting harder to pretend we weren’t discussing exactly that. “What
do you do here? Do you have a job?”

“I don’t have
one yet. But I have money saved. And my parents left me some when
they died.”

I was suddenly
worried that he had something to with their deaths. After all, many
of his kind were killers. “How did they die?” I asked with my eyes
narrowed.

He chuckled
darkly. “Oh, you think that because of what I am.” He paused
glaring at me. “What you are, means I killed them?” His voice was
rising. I glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention
to us. The only person looking our way was a little girl with big
brown eyes and a tiny brown ponytail sticking up on the top of her
head. And since she looked about two, I guessed we were in no
danger of exposure.

I shrugged,
hoping to convey indifference. “All I asked was how they died. Why
do you sound defensive?”

He ran his hand
through his dark hair and sighed raggedly. “They were murdered
because of me. Someone found out what I was and tried to have me
killed. They stood in front of me protecting me, fighting them off
to give me time to run. I hated leaving them, but they begged.” His
voice was rough with emotion, and I found myself feeling sorry for
him.

I swallowed a
lump that had formed after imagining how horrible it must have felt
leaving them to die. “I’m sorry.”

He blinked,
sitting up in his chair and glanced down at his dessert as the
waitress set it on the table. He scooped up a big helping and took
a bite. When he swallowed, he glanced at me. “Thanks.”

I nodded, at a
loss for words.

“So what do you
do, on full moon nights?” he whispered. “Is there a large forest
where humans won’t be in danger?”

I stilled,
wondering why he worried. “Have you ever…” I trailed off, unable to
finish asking the question that I’ve been burning to ask since he
sat down.

His face
hardened. “Once. My creator wanted it. But guilt haunted me
afterward. So I never took a life again, and I left him soon
after.” He sighed looking up at me. “Have you?”

So much for not speaking about werewolves.
“No, it’s only been a
week.”

His eyes went
wide, and his mouth hung open in shock. “A week? I’m surprised that
your mate allows you to go out alone. Or your creator. Unless they
are one in the same?”

I couldn’t tell
him the truth. Despite everything, I still loved Nate. And sitting
here with another guy was making me see how much I missed him. I
shook my head. “No, it wasn’t him. I was kidnapped, and it was done
then. I’m away from him because we had a disagreement. I know I
should be learning how to do this, but I’m trying to hold onto my
humanity.” I whispered the last word, hoping no one would hear.
“I’ve been hiding out in my childhood bedroom, wishing that I had
never met any nineteen year olds.” I glanced up at him through my
lashes.