Riley's Redemption (A Moon's Glow Novel) (22 page)

His lips quirked
upward. “I wasn’t going to chastise you. I’m glad you handled it the way you
did. It was good to see Nathan having fun again. Will told me he’s been
brooding ever since he told him the secret. You showed him that nothing
important has changed.” I leaned my head on his shoulder again, breathing in
his familiar leather and pine scent. “What do you mean; you got your point
across?”

“I growled at them in
my wolf form and then pounced on Nathan, knocking him down.” I sat up and met
his gaze. “I hovered above him and snarled, showing my teeth.”

His brows went up.
“Why?”

I grinned. “And then I
licked his face and stuck my tongue out.”

A laugh snuck out of
his lips, his face a stern contradiction. He attempted to look annoyed by my
behavior, but he couldn’t hold the expression. A smile brightened his features
and he began to laugh. “How did they react?”

“Marisa screamed bloody
murder. I’m surprised you didn’t hear her.”

His laughter ceased as
he leaned forward, his lips touching mine before pulling back again. “I might
have heard something, but I was too focussed on the buck we were hunting. What
about Nathan, did he scream like a girl? I would have liked to have seen that.”
His soft laughter was one of my favorite sounds.

“No he didn’t, but he
looked like he was about to pee his pants.” I couldn’t help but laugh as the
memory of their expressions crossed my mind, reminding me of the eerie laughter
I thought I heard. The laughter faded with that added thought and the feeling
of apprehension returned. “Did you hear or sense anything strange out there?”

A line creased his
forehead. “No. Why?”

I couldn’t give him a
reason. Yes, I was sure I heard the laughter and felt something odd out there,
but I also could have imagined it. “I shrugged, planting a smile on my face.
“No reason, never mind.”

His grin returned as he
leaned forward, his face hovering inches from mine. “Have I told you how much I
love you lately?” he whispered in my ear as he leaned closer, his hot breath
sending chills over my skin.

“No, but talk is cheap
buddy. Why don’t you show me?”

Before I could process
what was happening, I was in his arms as he carried me to the bedroom, all
negative thoughts disappearing from my mind.

The work out

The next day I was on
my way to my car, heading for my weekly Saturday workout at the gym, when I was
bombarded by Sadie and Marisa. I hadn’t noticed Sadie wasn’t at the cottage.
Nate had gone in to work for a couple of hours and with him gone I thought I’d
head to the gym. I had only been back once since we returned from Sacramento.
Adrian was at the shelter helping to get the addition done, so we could get it
finished before Fun Day, which was scheduled for next week. Since Adrian hadn’t
been working out in the last six months he wanted to get back at it. He was
planning to meet me there after a few hours of work.

“Can we come?” Sadie
asked. I had just noticed they were wearing workout clothes, both in matching
tank tops and yoga pants. I myself was wearing the same, but my yoga pants went
to the knee, with a bright pink strip along the waist that wasn’t visible under
the hem of my tank.

I stared at them,
surprised by their sudden appearance. “Why?”

“You said you would
teach us to fight,” Marisa reminded me. She was talking about when we had first
met. It felt like such a long time ago and so much had happened since then, I
vaguely recalled the conversation.

At first I was tempted
to turn them down, hoping to have a quiet workout without any distractions;
but, they looked so excited I couldn’t say no. “Fine.” I grumbled, opening the
door to my red convertible.

Sadie climbed in beside
me, while Marisa slid into the backseat.

After a few minutes of
driving, I remembered last night and that Sadie had yet to fill me in on what
happened after the run with Adrian.

“Um…Sadie?” I began,
flicking my eyes to the back where Marisa was texting on her phone, not paying
attention to me. Sadie glanced at me, waiting for me to continue. “What
happened when we left you and…”

Her brows rose as she
realized what I was asking. She turned back to look at Marisa who was still
texting, with a wide grin on her face. “We frolicked and played,” she
whispered. In wolf behavior that would be considered flirting.

“And when you turned
back?” I asked dreading the answer. Since Adrian hardly acknowledged her at the
cottage, I had a feeling I already knew what she would say.

Marisa giggled at
something she read on her phone.

Sadie waited until she
was again immersed in her cell and then her expression hardened. “We changed
back together and there was some touching and an almost kiss…” she trailed off,
her eyes turning cold. “Until Joe and Lauren walked by.”

“And then?” I asked,
confused by her words, because only minutes after, at the cottage, he treated
her as he always did, indifferently.

“He pulled away from me
and ignored my existence.” I expected her voice to be laced with sadness, but
that wasn’t what I heard. She was pissed and I didn’t blame her.

A flash of anger for my
friend pierced through me. I would have to have a talk with Adrian about that.
I hated when guys toyed with us girls. I’d been through it with Nate and Lauren
with Joe. Why couldn’t love be simple in the werewolf world?

As I turned onto Hazel
Street I gripped the steering wheel, happy that my friend wasn’t here with us
or I’d have to take my anger out on him. “I’m sorry, Sadie. I’ll talk to him.”

Her lips pursed
together and so quickly I almost missed it, her eyes flashed yellow and then
back to chocolate brown. “Don’t bother. I don’t care what he thinks of me
anymore.” Suddenly she smiled and all her frustration washed away. “I know what
I did was right. In my mind I was protecting a little girl. And I’d do it
again. He knows I was unaware of the real situation and yet he still blames me.
I’m done trying to convince him otherwise.” Fierceness edged her words that I
had never heard from her before.

I felt my lips turn up
as I pivoted to face her. “I like your attitude and it’s about time too. This
is the girl Nate told me about, not that pathetic one that has been so
apologetic toward Adrian. ”

She grinned and nodded
sharply. “Thank you. It’s been a long time. I lost myself a long time ago when
I lived in fear of Sebastian finding me. And then as a mother figure for Marisa,
but last night when Adrian pushed me away again, I realized it was time I let
her come back. I’m done being his punching bag.”

I felt like yelling
Halleluiah
!
“Well, it’s nice to meet the real Sadie?”

“It sure is,” Marisa
agreed behind us. Apparently, she wasn’t as engrossed in her phone conversation
as we had thought.

As I pulled to a stop
at a stop sign, Sadie and I swung around to gape at the girl who was grinning
like a canary.

“What do you know about
this?” I asked. When Adrian and Sadie realized they were mates, Marisa wasn’t
around and I had thought they were keeping that from her. At the sound of a
horn behind us I waved at the impatient people behind us and turned back to
face the road, merging back into traffic.

“Oh come on, you said
you were his mate when you threatened him with that gun.” I had forgotten about
that. So much had been going on that day it was hard to remember everything
that had been said. She paused, sliding her phone closed. “I didn’t exactly
know what that meant at the time, but I’ve figured it out since. You two are
mated werewolves, like Nate and Megan and Joe and Lauren and he’s treating you
like trash.” She leaned forward and placed her hand on the top of our seats.
“He’s my brother and I love him, but he’s acting like an ass.”

I couldn’t help the
snort that escaped my lips.

Sadie’s brow furrowed,
as she gazed at the girl she considered her daughter. “I don’t want to change
how you see him. This is my problem, not yours.”

Mari shrugged her
shoulders, flipping her black hair over her shoulder. “It won’t, but I can
still be annoyed with how he acts toward you.”

Sadie and I exchanged
glances as I turned the corner. The gym was in sight and I held my breath when
I saw Adrian’s vehicle in the lot.

“Don’t say anything to
your brother, okay,” Sadie said to Marisa, as I pulled to a stop and turned the
car off.

“Don’t worry, I won’t,”
she said. The look she gave Sadie spoke volumes. Adrian might be her brother
that she loved very much, but Sadie had raised her and had been there for her
when she had no one else. She would always side with her.

As we made our way into
the gym, I couldn’t help but worry about this situation. I hoped that Marisa
didn’t get caught between two people she loved. Adrian was my friend and he
meant a lot to me, therefore so did Marisa.

The smell of sweat and
wax assaulted my senses, as we entered the gym that was full of people. All the
exercise machines were taken, but that was okay, because that was not why we
were here. The mats and heavy bags were free and that’s all I cared about.
Adrian was just sliding on his gloves when we approached him. He was wearing
track pants and a navy blue sleeveless shirt. His ink black hair was as short
as it was when I first met him, since he got it cut yesterday. “You’re here
early,” I observed, tossing my workout bag on the floor against the wall, the
straps fell against the mirrors. “I thought you were going to work at the
shelter for a few hours.”

He eyed my guests
curiously before answering. “I did. I got there at six.”

My eyes widened. “Six!
Was Brian there?”

“No, but I knew what
needed to be done. He arrived about an hour later.”

“How is it looking?”
Sadie asked. She had been doing night shifts before the full moon and was
heading back in tonight.

“Good, we should be
done in a few days.”

“Just in time for Fun
Day. I’d like to have the new residents in by then.” I had chosen the new
people that would move into the eight rooms and Julia and I were so excited to
have them move in. Fun Day would be a perfect time for that.”

Adrian shrugged. “If
not before then, definitely the day of.”

I frowned. I had wanted
a different answer. The sooner we got them in the better. But I had to let go
of that. It would happen sooner or later and I couldn’t rush them. I wanted
everything done right.

“What are you guys
doing here?” he asked his sister and mate. His voice held no agitation, just
curiosity.

“Remember you and Megan
promised to teach me kick boxing?” Marisa answered her brother defensively.

He narrowed his eyes,
looking confused.

“When we first found
her,” I reminded him, as I dug into my bag for my gloves.

“Oh right. Okay,
Um…I’ll go get you two some gloves.”

As he walked away, I
pulled mine on. “You okay?” I asked Sadie. The continuous sound of pounding and
underlined buzzing had me looking over my shoulder to see an overweight man
running on the treadmill. His puffy face was red and glistened with sweat. His
face was set with determination. I smiled at him as he noticed me and before I
turned away he gave me a wink. The smile turned to a grin as I faced my
friends.

Sadie was watching
Adrian as he made his way to the shelves where the owners kept the equipment.

She jumped. As if she
was so focused on the guy she had just said she was going to forget and the
sound of my voice scared her. She forced a smile and punched my shoulder.
Ow!
She was strong. “I’m fine.” There wasn’t time to argue, because Adrian had
picked out the gloves and was on his way back.

“Well, since I also
need a workout, I’ll get another bag.”  He handed the gloves to the girls and
they helped each other put them on while he disappeared into the storeroom. He
came back out with another heavy bag and hung it beside the three others, it
swayed to the right, bumping another one slightly, but it remained stationary.
He explained all the punches and kicks, while I demonstrated each one. Marisa
struggled with the kicks but exceled with the punches. But Sadie was a natural
at everything. She was such a tiny girl, with an almost cherub face that you
would never guess she would have caught on so quickly.

After an hour of
working on the bag, I asked Adrian to spar with me. Marisa and Sadie watched
from the floor, where they sat leaning against the mirrored wall, their legs
crossed in front of them.

Adrian wasn’t kidding
when he had said he hadn’t worked out in a while. It only took a few tries to
pin him to the mats, my knee to his throat. “Okay, you win,” he grunted,
inaudibly. It was hard to understand him when my knee was jammed into his
windpipe. I grinned before I got off him and stood up. As I spun around to face
the girls, his leg swung out and knocked me off of my feet. I fell to the mats
with a loud
thud
. I heard a deep rumbling chuckle as I gazed up at the
ceiling lying flat-out on my back.

“Can I try?” Sadie
asked from above me. She was staring down at me, her braid falling over a
shoulder, wisps of hair that had come loose, framing her face.

I sat up and leaned on
my knee.

“You did well your
first try, but I’m not sure you’re ready for fighting yet,” Adrian answered
her, getting to his feet.

She grinned at him.
“I’ll take my chances.”

He shrugged and held
out his hand to help me up. I took it and stood in front of her. “Do you want
to spar with me?” I asked, thinking that if she wanted to fight with someone it
would be easier to do it with me, especially after what happened last night.

She only grinned wider.
“No. I want to fight Adrian.”

Marisa snorted behind
me as my eyes widened with so many unspoken questions. I suppressed the urge to
laugh.

“Why do you want to
fight me?” Adrian asked. He was rubbing his throat where my knee had just been
lodged, his face appearing guarded.

Sadie lifted a shoulder
in a half shrug. “Because I like Megan.”

Marisa’s snort turned
into a snicker. I took a few steps away from them to avoid the fallout and
plopped down beside Mari. I folded my legs in front of me and leaned forward on
my knees, excited for the show.

Adrian was staring at
Sadie with narrowed eyes. “Fine, I’ll go easy on you.” He turned around to
smirk at me, at the same time as Sadie’s arm shot out and in a blur of movement
she had flipped him over her shoulder. He hit the mats with a loud
thump.

He lay on the mat in a
daze staring at the ceiling as I had just done, while Marisa and I gaped at our
friend.
What just happened
?

“What the heck was
that?” Marisa asked, her mouth hanging open.

“What?” Sadie asked. “I
work out every night after you go to bed?” She glanced at me and then Adrian.
We were still staring at her in shock. “I’m a werewolf running from a vampire;
I had to be able to protect myself.”

I couldn’t help but
notice Adrian’s lips twitch. He was fighting a smile.

Sadie was full of
surprises today, first her declaration earlier and now this. I wondered how
long she had wanted to take Adrian down. I was just glad that I was there to
see it.

As she held out her
hand to help him up he tried to knock her down like he did me. She anticipated
the move and caught his leg between her own, twisting onto the floor and
flipping him onto the mat again.

This time I laughed out
loud and Marisa joined me. When Adrian sat up he was staring at Sadie, his eyes
shining with approval.

Sadie stood up and
began to peel the gloves from her hands without a look to anyone and then she
sauntered away. “I’ll meet you outside,” she called over her shoulder.

All we could do was
gaze after her speechlessly.