The Rising Moon (25 page)

“
And to spend time with Lia…duh,” he insisted with a devious smile on his face. Denise rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“
Yea right,” Denise, Kima and I all said at the same time. I was truly going to miss them.

“
Lia can you come with me for a minute?” asked Ryan.

“
Sure.”

We walked down the street, away from the crowd and stopped beneath the same tree where we once shared a kiss. Light from the bright moon fell through the tree and made patterns on the grassy ground around us. Ryan handed me a black box with a silver ribbon on top.

“
What’s this?”

“
It’s my graduation slash going away present,” he replied.

Embarrassed, that I didn’t get him anything in return I said, “Sorry I didn’t get you a gift.”

“
Don’t worry about it. Open it.”

I slowly untied the ribbon and opened the box. Wrapped in tissue was a dream catcher identical to the one he gave me months ago.

“
Since you lost the other one, I figured you can use another. Hopefully this one too, can guide sweet dreams your way.”

I gave him a hug. “Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“
Lia,” he paused for a second. “I know your mind is made up on going far from here, but I want you to know that I’m always only a phone call away.” I smiled at him. “There’s also one more thing.” His face was serious now.

“
What is it?”

“
I want you to promise me you’ll stay away from Adam if he attempts to find you once again.”

My jaw dropped. I looked at him in disbelief. “What?” I asked when I managed to control my breathing.

But he didn’t hear me.

“
I know you love him, but I could never forgive that bastard for what he did to you. Every time I see those scars on your neck, it makes me regret not killing him that night at the ranch.”

“
What?” I asked again this time my voice was loud. He spoke too fast. He said too much at once that my mind couldn’t register what he was trying to tell me. “Are you telling me that Adam’s alive?”

“
You didn’t know?” His face went blank. My feet gave way and I collapsed on the rough, jagged bark of the tree. He squatted beside me and helped me back on my feet. “I thought you told me a couple of months ago that your memory returned and you knew what happened to Adam?”

My face boiled with anger, “So when you returned to the ranch that night, I wasn’t alone. He was there, wasn’t he? Why did you lie to me and make me believe that he left me to die alone? How could you do that?”

“
I’m sorry.”

“
I don’t need an apology. What I need is the truth,” I snapped. “I swear to God Ryan, I want the
whole
truth. I need to know what you saw that night when you returned to the ranch.”

He paced in circles for a few seconds. I stood staring at him with eyes that burned like fire. I couldn’t it. Adam was alive and he knew about it all this time and never once thought to tell me. I felt betrayed. I couldn’t believe my best friend could keep this from me.

He sighed deeply, “When I arrived at the ranch, Adam hovered over you as you lay dying on the ground. Your neck was drenched in blood. His eyes were dark and hungry. His teeth were sharp and ready.” He walked up to me and pulled me by my shoulders. His eyes were golden brown, “He promised me he would keep you safe and he couldn’t even protect you from himself. I wanted to kill him, but you begged me to let him go…so I did, but only after I told him if he really loved you, he would stay away. And so he vanished leaving you in my arms”

“
He didn’t hurt me Ryan.” I shoved his hands off of me. The thought of having him less than two feet away and having to listen to him any longer was enough to make me raging mad. “It was Lyle who bit me. Adam kept his promise. He risked his life to protect me that night.”

Tears rolled down my face.

Ryan reached for me once more but I moved away.

“
Please forgive me, Lia,” he whispered. My back was toward him. “I did what I did, because I was trying to protect you. You were covered in blood. What was I suppose to think?”

He placed his hand on my shoulder. I didn’t move. My emotions were going in all directions. I didn’t know if I should continue being angry with him, or if I should be happy in knowing that Adam was alive. My God, he’s alive!

“
For months, you saw me broken and you said nothing. All this time I thought he died because he bit Lyle in order to save my life. You allowed me to carry this guilt inside for months. And that’s not the worst of it. You led me to believe that he deserted me…that you found me alone. When all along Adam was there with me, by my side. How can you be so selfish? Tell me Ryan, what kind of friend does that?”

“
I know I let you down. I suck. I’m the worst kind of friend for not having the guts to tell you sooner. I guess I wanted to continue being your hero. It was selfish of me to keep this from you. I don’t blame you, if you never want to speak to me again. I want you to know that your friendship means the world to me and I don’t want to lose you because of my stupidity and pride. Please forgive me.”

I turned to face him. I could see that his face was broken. He was my best friend after all and there was no denying that we have grown closer over the past few months. Ryan was like family to me. I loved him as a brother.

I couldn’t hate him forever.

He stretched his arms out to me and I allowed him to hold me as tears streamed down my face.

“
I love him so much,” I sobbed.

“
I know.”

“
Why do you suppose Adam stayed away for so long?” I asked. “Do you think he’s forgotten about me?”

“
He’s stupid if he did,” Ryan’s eyes looked reserved, as if he didn’t want to upset me again. “He left because of me and if he stayed away is because he loves you. I’m sorry my pride didn’t allow me to see it sooner, but he’s a good guy. And perhaps he never did leave.”

I sighed deeply and pulled the keys out of my bag.

“
You know where to find him,” Ryan said.

∞
chapter 30 ∞

I FOUND MYSELF AT SINKS CANYON. I thought I would never return but there I was slowly making my way through the wooded paths I’ve hiked so many times before that even as the dark of night surrounded me, I could easily find my way through them. I stopped when I reached the Sinks.

The silver glow of the rising moon flickered on the water. I undressed and placed my clothes on a boulder along the banks of the river and began to run till the change took over me and I became a wolf. Like all werewolves, at the glow of the full moon I had to change rather I wanted to or not. At first, it was something I didn’t want to do when I discovered I was a werewolf. Perhaps because of the pain associated with the transformation or because of the fear of becoming a savage killing machine like Lyle, but with the help of Ryan and the other shifters, I’ve learned to embrace my gift. They gave me a way of looking at who and what I was that I don’t think I could have found on my own. I was Angelia Lafosse, the immortal wolf. I possessed immense powers beyond any other of my kind. Such as the gift of healing and foresight. And most of all the gift of immortality. I would outlive everyone I knew, but I refused to let my immortality get in the way of loving and caring for those nearest and dearest to me, as I once did. I no longer felt like an orphaned freak, an outcast. I belonged to a large family now…a pack and at the call of the blazing full moon I welcomed the transformation no longer with fear but with joy.

I ran long and far into the Shoshone national forest. The meadows were blanketed with wildflowers and tall sage bushes. The night air was filled with the scent of dirt, grass and prey. My nocturnal eyes flickered in the darkened woods and my belly growled when I smelled a deer grazing nearby. I quietly crept low behind the tall grass to where I could get a better view of it and when the deer lowered its head to enjoy its night feed of grass, a soft growl rose in my throat, before I sprung at it snapping my teeth unto its neck. It died in an instant.

After savoring the kill, I ran back to the Sinks and splashed along the shallow banks of the river washing my paws and muzzle. I changed back to human and dove into the river enjoying the warm water wash against my skin beneath the blanket of stars that shone in the velvet night sky. Startled, I stood still staring into the wall of trees beyond the wide grassy valley that held the river.

Someone was watching me.

For a moment, my heart began to beat hard and a thought crossed my mind. Did a nearby camper see me change from wolf to human and now watched me as I swam naked in the river? I took a deep whiff of air and didn’t smell human scent, but I still felt as if I were being watched. I quickly dashed to the boulder where I placed my clothes on earlier and hurried to get dressed.

I glanced over my shoulder and did not see or smell anything out of the ordinary. I continued to make my way back through the wooded path when I saw a flicker of light on the valley beyond the canyon. I turned back around and decided to head toward the light when I felt I was being followed.

“
Who’s there?” I asked.

But no one replied.

I picked up my pace as I pushed through the branches and bushes making my way to the light when it suddenly stopped. Darkness wrapped all around me. I took a step forward but my foot landed in a deep hole in the ground and my knee buckled. I tried to save myself by balancing on my other foot, but there was nothing I could do to keep from falling. Mud and rock squished beneath me as I landed on my back, knocking the breath out of me. I lay there for a couple of seconds as the trees danced around me. I plucked some leaves out of my hair. My jeans were torn and full of mud, but I didn’t care. I stood up and continued to push my way to the clearing over the steep cliff.

A cold wind circled around me as I made my way onto the valley. Goose pimples surged down my arms and legs.

“
Lia,” I heard whispered in the wind.

“
Who’s there?” No one replied. And yet…I knew I wasn’t alone. Someone was there. I couldn’t see whom, couldn’t smell what, but I knew I wasn’t alone. I felt it.

“
I know someone’s out there,” I said as I turned around staring at the valley of bush and rock. “I could feel you.”

The cold wind swept past me once again, brushing the side of my face and caressing my arm. I closed my eyes. The feel of the cold breeze, embracing me in the still of night reminded me of Adam. Of how his arms felt as they held me close. For a second, I was taken back to our last night together. Laying beside him, lost in the intense and exhilarating feeling I felt having his body close to mine.

“
Lia,” I heard my name whispered in the wind once more except this time the voice was familiar. A low vibration shimmered through my soul as he whispered my name again, but I refused to open my eyes. I didn’t want to wake from this dream, for surly it had to have been a dream.

As the breeze continued to circle around me, a lock of hair fell across my eyes. I reached up to brush it away but stopped when I felt cold, long fingers on mine. My eyes fluttered open. Wide and questioning at first, they quickly narrowed as I tried to make sense of it all.

“
Adam,” I gasped. “Is it really you?” I reached up and touched his face.

It was him. My heart did a somersault. I wasn’t dreaming. Dressed in a leather jacket and black jeans he stared at me with his crystal blue eyes. His silver hair flickered in the moonlight.

For a moment, we said nothing but stare into each other eyes. When finally, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me.

He pressed his forehead on mine. “I love you,” he said.

I wanted to tell him I loved him too, but I didn’t. “You left me,” I pulled away from him, “how could you leave me?” A thickness in my throat made it hard to speak. He stroked the side of my face which was now wet with tears. “I never left you. I’ve always been with you. It was me, who brushed your curtains as you slept at night. I was that whisper in the wind that called out your name the many times you walked through these very woods. I could never leave you, my love. You’re a part of me…the air that I breathe. The very essence of my existence is to love you.”

“
But, why did you let me believe you were dead? How did you survive Lyle’s bite? I don’t understand. I thought werewolf blood was like poison to a vampire?” I asked all in the same breath.

“
Your blood saved my life. It prevented Lyle’s blood from poisoning me.”