Riley's Torment, A Moon's Glow Novel #2 (32 page)

He shoved his
hand through his short black hair. “No. I heard James telling her
that he tried to kill Will, and a couple of werewolves stopped him.
I assumed it was Nate and Joe.”

I grinned.
“Nope. It was me. I kicked him in the head,” I lifted my hand and
pointed to him. “Thanks to you.”

He smiled
genuinely, his eyes lighting up the room. “Really?”

I ducked my
head a little, embarrassed by his expression. “Well, Lauren got
Will out of the way, but yeah, I stopped James from choking
him.”

He leaned back
in his chair and watched me silently for a few seconds. The
expression on his face could only be described as awe. “I’m proud
of you.”

His praise
filled me with happiness. He was my teacher after all, and I wanted
to please him. When I thought about the life he had to go back to,
I felt sad for him. I wished there was something I could to do to
help. “Will you let me know if you hear of any more plans to attack
Will?”

He gave me a
firm nod. “Yes. I promise.”

When I finished
my meal, I tossed enough money on the table for my half and pulled
on my jacket. The fur collar tickled my neck. I wasn’t finished
with Adrian, but I needed to talk to the rest of the group before I
put my plan in motion.

He looked up at
me with surprise. “You have to go?” There was sadness in his voice,
and I ached for him. He didn’t have any true friends. That must be
why he went to gyms and trained. It was an escape from Charlotte
and her minions. I was familiar with the look on his face because I
had seen it in the mirror for years when I was friends with Mandy
and Jenny. I hated how they treated others and how they thought
they were better than everyone else because of their families’
money. In some ways, they were just like Charlotte and her group,
minus the wolf thing and the killing.

“Yeah,” I
answered reluctantly. “I need to tell them what you said. I’ll be
in touch again by phone. Will that put you in danger?”

“No, as long as
it’s a text. My phone is on silent. They won’t hear it buzz.”

“Okay,” I
turned to go and then spun around remembering something. “Where are
you guys staying? Is it the cabin Lauren mentioned?”

He shook his
head. “No, we haven’t been there in weeks. We moved to an old farm,
outside of town. It’s on a small island with a bridge access.” That
explained why their scents were hard to find. The water erased
it.

I smiled and
waved before pushing through the front exit. I felt bad for leaving
him because he looked lost. And I knew why. He had no one in the
world he could trust.

“We have to
help him,” I announced to everyone in the room after I explained
what I had learned from Adrian.

“
What do
you want us to do?” Joe asked, reaching for Lauren’s hand where
they sat on one of the leather sofas in the office.

“I don’t know.
Maybe you can talk to Charlotte and get her to tell him where
Marisa is.” My answer was directed at Joe, and then as his eyebrows
scrunched, contemplating my words, I turned to Nate and Will. “And
maybe give him a place to stay and some resources to help him
search.”

Will leaned
back in his office chair, springs squeaking in protest. His fingers
were steepled on his lap. It was his favorite thinking
position.

“Let me get
this straight. He helped Charlotte kidnap you and Lauren and
terrorized you both while you were on the island. Furthermore, he’s
been following us and reporting our movements to Charlotte, and you
want to help him?” I couldn’t miss the dripping sarcasm in his
voice.

“He didn’t help
Charlotte kidnap us! And you’re forgetting that he taught us how to
protect ourselves,” I added pointedly at him. He knew I wouldn’t
have been able to fight James off if it weren’t for Adrian. “And
Charlotte made him do those things. He has also given me
information to help save your life.”

“His info isn’t
that helpful. We already knew they wanted Will dead,” Joe added,
with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

I narrowed my
eyes at him. Why was no one willing to help Adrian? He was a guy
who had been hurt by Charlotte as everyone in the room had been. We
of all people should understand and sympathize with him. He went
along with her to save his sister’s life.

“As I recall,
you also ran with her, did you not?” I asked pointedly at Joe, my
face smug.

Joe scowled.
“Yes, for a year, but I left. He’s been with her for ten.”

“She has his
sister stashed somewhere and threatens to kill her when he tries to
leave.” I shot back defending my new friend. I squeezed the leather
arm rests on the chair I was sitting in, agitated by their lack of
sympathy.

“We have enough
problems. We don’t need someone else’s,” Will added, his voice
tense.

This was not
going as I’d hoped.

I raised my
hands in defeat. “You just want to leave him to suffer with her
group of minions? What kind of life is that?”

“If he wants to
change, he can leave her. I did.”

I frowned at
Joe. “Do you honestly think she’s going to let him go? She’ll kill
him and his sister. Who is an innocent child, by the way. You’re
Charlotte’s brother, and it’s the only reason she didn’t kill
you.”

“That’s another
reason we should stay out of it,” Will commented. “We can’t risk
our lives to save him. We don’t even know him.”

I felt like I
was talking to my old stuck-up friends who would rather run from
the fire then stay and help. “Are you serious?” I asked him,
shocked by his words.

“I’m sorry
about his sister, and you’re right she’s an innocent victim of
Charlotte’s sick and twisted mind. But I won’t risk my daughter.”
He paused taking a deep breath. “Or you, for that matter. I’ve come
to think of you as my third child, and I won’t let anyone hurt my
children.” He stared at Nate as he finished his sentence. The
tension in that stare was palpable.

Things had been
civil between the two since this morning, but apparently, he was
still upset with Nate. My heart warmed at some of Will’s words
though. I had never really had a real father, and I was happy that
he thought of me that way. My arguments died on my lips. But it
turned out, I didn’t need them.

“Once we settle
this problem with James and kill Charlotte, we’ll help him find his
sister.” It was Nate speaking, and his voice held the authority of
head of the family, and his one hundred and some odd years. No one
would argue when he spoke like that. I’d seen his nephews go silent
when he used that voice.

Joe sat up, his
face hard. “I told you we can’t kill her.”

Will had been
staring at Nate, looking like he wanted to argue, but at Joe’s
statement, he spun to face him. “You have to kill her!” His voice
was definitely better than last night, but it was still a bit frail
sounding, and when he yelled, it went raspy.

Joe’s face went
red, and he dropped Lauren’s hand. “She’s my sister.”

“And look at
what she’s done and what she’ll continue to do if we don’t stop
her.”

Nate sat back
in the chair next to mine and let them argue, a satisfied look on
his face. He was enjoying their argument. Why? I didn’t know.

Joe ran his
hand through his unruly auburn hair in frustration. “I talked to
Stephen. He said he’d take her and lock her up. He’ll keep her
until she changes her ways.”

“Why would he
do that?” Lauren asked, breaking her silence.

“He’s the Alpha
of the Pack; they monitor werewolves like her and stop them from
killing.”

That answered
my question on who Stephen was.

Will’s fist
pounded the desk with a loud thump. The coffee he had been nursing
sloshed on the oak surface. “That isn’t enough. We can’t risk her
getting away from him. She’s done too much to my family.”

Joe opened his
mouth to speak and closed it, and then he smirked. “Fine. We kill
her, but we also kill James.”

A silence fell
upon the room as Nate and Will froze. It was obvious they didn’t
want to do that. With the Rileys, family was everything, even the
ones that were disinherited. They wouldn’t want them harmed.

“That’s what I
thought. Why is it okay to bloody well kill my sister, but not the
man who wants you dead?” Joe’s words were hard to understand
through his thickening accent.

Nate and Will
exchanged glances. “We don’t have to figure it out right now.” Nate
said standing up and facing all of us. “I’m going to patrol the
property, and then I have a few things to do.” He gave me a pointed
look. I couldn’t help the blush that appeared on my cheeks.

When he
disappeared out the door, Lauren raised a brow at me in
question.

My only answer
was to shrug.

The atmosphere
in the room became awkward, and I decided it was time to go up to
Lauren’s room to call Mona. I didn’t go home last night, and I
hadn’t talked to her since yesterday morning.

No one
acknowledged my exit as they continued with their strained
silence.

The phone rang
once before Mona picked up. “Let me guess. You’re back with
Nate.”

No hello, or are you okay?
That was my Mona, and I loved her.

“Yes, I’m
alive. I’m so sorry I worried you.” I could be just as sarcastic as
her.

She
scoffed. “Oh please, I don’t worry about you. That boy of yours
wouldn’t let anything happened to you.”
If she only knew.

“I think you
like him more than I do.” I sat down on Lauren’s sofa and lifted my
sock covered feet onto her coffee table. I wiggled my toes and
stretched out.

“Just be
thankful I’m not twenty years younger.”

I laughed as I
ran my finger along the soft material of the armrest, making
designs on the upholstery. “Twenty? Please!” I scoffed
playfully.

“Is there a
reason you called or did you just want to insult me?” I could hear
Ben’s laughter in the background. He had always gotten a kick out
of our back and forth banter.

“Nope, I just
called to insult you.” I couldn’t stop my own laughter from
sneaking out. Leave it to Mona to cheer me up. “I’ll be here for a
few more days,” I said once I sobered.

“Oh, just move
back with him and get it over with. You’re happier there, and you
know it.”

“Are you trying
to get rid of me?”

“Of course I
am. I don’t have enough food here for you.”

A snort snuck
out. “Well, on that note, I’m going to say goodbye.”

“Love you.” Her
words were laced with warmth.

“Love you
too.”

When I hung up,
I sprawled out on the soft cushions and smiled, feeling happy after
our phone conversation. I must have drifted off, because I woke to
someone poking me. I smelled his scent before I opened my eyes to
see his crooked smile. I caught myself just as I was about to yank
him toward me and wrap my arms around him.

“Hi,” I said
instead of indulging in the impulse.

“Hi,” His eyes
sparkled. “Did you have a nice rest?”

I sat up and
rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “I guess so.” I felt groggy and
confused.

He held his
hand out, and when I wrapped mine around it, his warmth spread down
my arm. He yanked me up onto my feet until we stood just inches
apart. His scent was intoxicating. I took a breath and stepped
back, promising myself I wouldn’t rush it. I was afraid to freak
out if he pushed me too far, and I think he realized that.

“Are you
ready?”

The only answer
I gave was a small smile, feeling suddenly nervous. I followed him
to the west library, and when he pushed the door open, I gasped.
Not because of the fire roaring in the stone fireplace or the apple
scented candles that were lit throughout the room. Not even because
of the happy bouquet of daisies in the center of the coffee table.
I gasped because situated around the flowers were finger foods—my
favorite foods before I turned into an all-meat-eating-werewolf.
There were nachos and cheese, mini egg rolls, garlic knots and
marinara sauce, cheddar cheese balls, and my favorite—mozzarella
sticks with lots of sour cream. There was even some meat for him.
Some of the anger I felt for him faded by the fact that he had gone
to all the trouble to make this special for me.

“Thank you,” I
whispered as my heart fluttered.

He stepped
inside and picked up a bunch of DVD’s. “I also got your favorite
movies.”

“Is that Zombie
Mama, One. Two. and Three?”

He nodded, with
a wide grin.

I loved old
cheesy horror flicks, and for some reason, the zombie ones were the
worst. They made me laugh more than a comedy. Only Nate would know
that I would need some laughter to cheer me up. Life had turned too
serious and depressing.

I took the
copies in my hand and grinned at the covers. A zombie mom was
holding a baby that was covered in zombie makeup. The makeup was so
obviously fake, it was comical.

“Thank you.” I
looked around the room. “For everything. It looks great.”

He simply
shrugged and sat down in front of the food.

I joined him
and picked up my plate, loading it with food. There was music
softly emanating from the speakers, and as I sat back chewing on
the mini eggroll in my mouth, I glanced around the cozy room. Two
of the walls were all shelves, filled with books. The far one held
a massive stone fireplace, and the last one showcased a large bay
window and window seat. The soft burgundy cushion looked inviting.
I imagined curling up against the window with a throw blanket and a
book to read the day away. Escaping into a fantasy world where I
could forget all of my problems. Even the smells in the room were
comforting. The mix of smoke from the fireplace and the musty scent
from the books made me feel at home.