Sara's Moon (Moons of Mystery Book 1)

by S Bolanos

  “Everything alright?” Michael asked, seeing my confusion.

  I popped my head up. “Yeah, my shoes must be in the other room. I’ll go get them.”

  “Your tennis shoes?”

  “The house is kind of in the middle of the woods. Appropriate footwear is definitely a must.”

  “Oh.” He looked pleasantly surprised.

  I finished stuffing the bag and walked out of Michael’s bedroom to retrieve the wayward sneakers. The question was, which other room? On a whim, I glanced in the guest room and found them sitting neatly by the wall. David had to have done that since I was pretty sure I’d tossed those in here. As I picked them up, I heard hushed voices.

  Curious, I padded closer to the living room and peered around the corner. David stood talking to Charline by the front door. He trailed a finger down her cheek and she bloomed a dusky pink as he said with a low laugh, “Dinner was incredible, Char. I don’t think I’ve ever had a meal quite like that.”

  “I’m glad you liked it,” she responded, her eyes downcast.

  His finger made it to her chin and he tipped her head up so their eyes could meet. “I very much liked it.” He gave her a gentle kiss.

  A warm hand slid along my waist and I nearly fell out of my hiding place in the hall. Guilt burned on my face as I turned to face a speculative Michael. He raised an eyebrow and I gave him a nervous smile and a shrug. Officially busted, I retreated back to the bedroom.

  We didn’t talk about the intimate scene we’d witnessed or what it might mean. Eventually, the soft sound of the front door closing drifted down the hall. I smiled to myself and zipped my bag closed.

  Michael simply shook his head before asking, “Is there anything else besides appropriate footwear you think I’ll need?”

  “No, we likely won’t venture far from the house and we are only going for a couple of nights. I’ll warn you though, my dad might insist on separate rooms.”

  Michael’s eyes twinkled. “I can be quiet.” The comment caught me off guard and my face burned furiously. True to his words, I didn’t hear him step closer and got another surprise when he stole a kiss.

  I cleared my throat. “Would you focus?”

  “I am focusing.”

  “You know what I meant,” I said as he snaked an arm around my waist and pulled me close. “Are you done packing?” I tried again.

  He kissed the side of my neck and I sighed. “I was done when I found you in the hall.”

  “Oh, so…” I cleared my throat. “Do you have any questions about this weekend?”

  Finally, he relinquished me, stepping back. He removed the duffels from the bed and placed them by the door. “Tell me about your parents,” he prompted as he took a seat on the bed.

  “Well,” I said joining him, “they can be a little eccentric.”

  “Like how?”

  “Honestly, there’s not really a way to describe it—you kind of have to see it first hand to get it. On paper they seem perfectly normal and then you meet them.” I rolled my eyes and was rewarded with a chuckle. “They have also been madly in love pretty much their whole lives, so be prepared for extra gooey.” My jaw cracked with a yawn.

  “Extra gooey, huh?” He repeated his arms circling around me.

  “Mhmm,” I mumbled sleepily.

  “I can be extra gooey myself.” He placed a row of tender kisses that trailed from my jaw to my shoulder as if to emphasize his point. “Maybe you should warn them.”

  I sighed with contentment and burrowed deeper into his embrace. “Sure…first thing…in the morning.” I barely got the words out before slumber officially dragged me down into its depths.

  I launched out of bed when the alarm went off, more energized than I'd been in days, maybe weeks.

  “Someone’s excited,” Michael laughed, tossing off the covers.

  “What? I like my parents and it’s been a while since I’ve seen them. Also, for the record, I’ve never brought anyone home before.” I lingered long enough to see his face go sheet white, then I dashed into the bathroom. While our reasons for visiting my parents had nothing to do with our relationship status, it didn’t stop the anxiety determined to turn me into a nervous wreck. Despite all my doubts, I wanted my parents to like Michael and I wanted them to like me. I’d changed, I only hoped it wasn’t too much.

  Once at work, I drowned myself in menial tasks to fill the time. I conquered the stack of folders waiting for me, finished the Bigsley report, and filed the internship paperwork. When I ran out of busy work at noon, I made my way over to Charline’s desk.

  Charline’s bold red curls bounced as she leaned back and eyed me. “Well, isn’t this an interesting reversal. Aren’t I normally the one who comes and bothers you?”

  “What can I say? I finally caught up with virtually everything since I was out, and now I have nothing to do. Only seemed fair.”

  “Touché. While normally I would cherish the distraction, regrettably, I’m under a deadline and can’t visit.” My enthusiasm evaporated. “I’m sorry, Sara. I can chat for a little bit, but someone filed their internship paperwork and now I have to deal with that.”

  “Oops.”

  She waved it away. “It seems like you’re pretty excited about going home.”

  “Yeah, I can’t believe it’s been two years. Before I moved to Raleigh, I’d never been away longer than a few weeks and that was summer camp…which I bailed on halfway through.”

  “So…” she prodded.

  “So, what?”

  “Sara, honestly. What did your parents say when you told them you were bringing Michael? Do they know about Michael? Do they know about anything?”

  I plucked at a loose thread on my blouse. “You heard me tell them I was bringing someone… But no, they don’t know the rest.” Charline’s eyes widened to the point I feared they’d fall out of her head. “I know, I know. I probably should have mentioned at least some of what’s been going on to them, but you don’t understand, they would—”

  “Drag you back home?” she offered.

  “Worse. They’d be beyond supportive and I would end up running home with my tail between my legs.”

  “You have a skewed sense of family,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

  “I know.”

  “Oh shit.” Charline sat up and immediately became hyper-absorbed in the paperwork on her desk.

  “What?” I asked, looking around for the source of her shift in behavior.

  “Thank you for clarifying, Sara. I’ll make the adjustment and send you the update about the new hire’s start date and any paperwork they may need to fill out.”

  “Uh, sure. No problem,” I replied, spying Brianne making a round of the HR cubicles. Her air of self-importance swept the area before she sauntered off to harass someone. “She’s gone now.”

  “I swear that nosy busybody has it out for me. You’d think all I do is sit around and gossip all day.” She threw her hands in the air.

  “Guess I’ll leave you to it then.”

  “Sorry, Sara,” she said, before turning back to her color-coded folders. I was making my way out of the department when she said over her shoulder, “You know, lots of people leave early on Friday, especially if they’ve cleared their queue.” She angled her head so I could make out the wink.

  I raced off to the Marketing Department. After nearly colliding with no fewer than three people, none of whom appreciated my abrupt appearance in their path, I found my quarry.

  “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen your office.” Michael looked up in surprise and I gave him my best wolfish grin. “It’s nice,” I carried on, “at least you have a door.”

  “Please don’t tell me we’re getting the intern after all.”

  “No, that’s definitely us. I just turned in the last of the paperwork.”

  He rolled away from his desk and I took it as an invitation to sit on it. He smiled back at me. “What brings you over to these parts then?”

  “Oh no
thing.” I fiddled with the pens on his desk.

  “Okay.”

  “How are things going? Getting a lot done?” I asked, beginning my fishing expedition.

  “I suppose. Of course, things are going a lot better now.” He slid a hand up the back of my calf and I almost lost my precarious perch.

  “Michael,” I hissed under my breath.

  His grin turned positively wicked. “You can always close the door if you’re worried about people seeing us.”

  I rolled my eyes and crossed my legs. “Like anyone would think much of it.”

  He dropped his hand and turned his attention to some papers in danger of falling to the ground. “So, what’s up?” The clipped question bore none of the playfulness from a second ago.

  “I was wondering if you’d be able to wrap up sometime soon and we could blow this popsicle stand early.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “A bit eager, are we?”

  “Didn’t we cover this earlier?”

  He glanced around at the desk. “Truth be told, there’s nothing here that couldn’t wait until Monday. Most of the more pressing deadlines have already passed and the others aren’t my responsibility.” He took in my borderline manic grin and laughed. “Okay, okay. Give me an hour to straighten this up and I’ll meet you by the elevators.” I frowned and he amended, “Okay, half an hour.”

  “Much better.” I hopped off of the desk and sauntered back to my own department.

  Thirty minutes later, I had an immaculate desk, an array of color-coded paper clips rainbowing across my desk, and one very sad attempt at an origami frog. I left a sticky note on Bob’s empty coffee mug and scooted out. Odds were, he wouldn’t notice, but just in case, the note seemed prudent. It wasn’t until we were strapped in the Jeep and I was bouncing with anticipation that it occurred to me that I probably should have left a list of the finished tasks as well.

  Michael shifted into drive and that was the last I thought of it. I guided him out of the city veering us northwest until we hit the more obscure county roads.

  “Should we call to let them know we’ll be early?” Michael asked.

  “I was wondering that.” A glance at my cell showed the tiniest of bars fading in and out. “Damn.”

  “What?”

  “Reception is already shot.” I squirreled the useless device away. “It’ll be fine.”

  “If you say so.”

  I opted to ignore his bleak tone in favor of conversation. “I know we’ve already talked about it, but I thought we could use this time to go over our problem.”

  “What exactly were you wanting to discuss?”

  “I don’t know. I feel like we should know more than we do. How is it that no one has any idea what he looks like? If he’s been doing this for years, then someone has to have seen something.”

  “We have the scraps.”

  “But smells can be masked. That still isn’t a guarantee.”

  “I suppose you have a point. Enough perfume and you can’t smell a damn thing.”

  “Exactly. Not to mention, we’ve seen him twice now and we still don’t know what he looks like.” Michael rolled his shoulders and stared straight ahead. “I know a name isn’t any better as far as identification,” I continued, “but at least it would be something.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you.” The comment put a severe damper on what had started as a good mood.

  “So,” I said, dragging it out until Michael glanced over. “Charline and David. Thoughts?”

  He laughed, the strain of it barely noticeable. “I honestly don’t know who I’m more worried about.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “No offense, but Charline is definitely a handful. She’s going to give him a run for it. But I don’t know, David comes with his own quirks.”

  “Like what?”

  “For starters, he’s always been on the lookout for the one. He can be a little intense about it.”

  “You say it like there’s more to it than the usual hopeless romantic business.”

  Michael shifted in his seat. I couldn’t tell if it was discomfort at the wounds or the turn in conversation. “Some weres hold the belief that there is one true mate for everyone—a soul mate if you will. Since David was a pup, he’s believed that someday he’ll find his true mate.”

  “That explains some of his weird remarks. What about you? Do you believe in the one-true-mate philosophy?” I asked it jokingly, but his response was serious.

  “I razzed David relentlessly about it while we were growing up. I viewed it as a fairy tale that parents told their children to keep them from being irresponsible. The idea that you could meet someone and instantly know that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with them is ridiculous.” His fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “That’s not how real life works and it’s foolish for him to be so stubborn about it.”

  The intensity of his words set me aback. Granted, I wasn’t sure how I felt about what David had said, but Michael’s conviction bordered on angry. “Is that what his comment to you was about the night he came to town? Whether you were becoming a believer?”

  He deflated right before my eyes. “Yes. He’s determined that one day I’ll learn the error of my ways and will likely lord it over me until the end of time.”

  “I’m pretty sure that’s what best friends are for.”

  He looked at me surprised, clearly not expecting such a lighthearted answer. I smiled at him and nearly missed our turn.

  “Oh, take a right up here. We’re almost there.”

  “Have you told them anything?” Michael asked, guiding the jeep down the narrow turnoff.

  “Anything about what?” I really didn’t want to have to admit that they knew literally nothing about him beyond that he was coming with me.

  “About being a werewolf.”

  “Right. No, they don’t know anything specific about the attack or anything after.”

  “Well,” he prompted.

  “Well, what?”

  “Are you going to tell them?”

  “I feel like I should, but how many people are you supposed to tell? We never did talk about my slip up with Charline. Both of them,” I amended.

  He chuckled. “That was probably inevitable. I don’t know how she does it, but she could put a priest to shame in getting confessions.”

  “Isn’t that the truth,” I mumbled.

  “As for the rest, information should be on a need-to-know basis.”

  “So, you don’t think I should tell my parents?”

  “On the contrary, I think you absolutely should. They’re your family and deserve to know the truth. Plus, it will make future visits a lot less awkward when you don’t have to constantly come up with explanations for behaviors people might find odd.”

  “Run into that, have you?” I poked.

  “Maybe once or twice. It was very different when I moved to Raleigh. Adjusting to life outside of the pack wasn’t easy. Then again, it wasn’t really optional either.” He snapped his mouth shut, but before I could inquire more, he said, “This must be it.”

  23

  Ghosts in the Attic

  My parents' three-story Queen Anne style house appeared before us in all its eccentric glory. The dying light blinked in gabled windows nestled beneath steeply pitched roofs highlighting the asymmetrical design.

  A deep sense of longing arose within me as I took in the historic home that had somehow withstood not only the passage of time, but being swallowed whole by a determined forest. It was behind those vine-covered walls that I'd first come to know love at the hands of two doting parents. I could think of no memory that didn’t have at least a touch of happiness or joy. This was home.

  I never should have kept them away.

  Who knows, maybe if I hadn’t been so blindly stubborn, then none of this would have happened.

  I absently swiped at a renegade tear and glanced over at Michael. As the car lurched to a halt, my anxiety returned, twis
ting my stomach into an unpleasant knot.

  “You grew up here?” Michael asked, sparing me an incredulous look.

  I unclicked my seat belt. “Yeah, why?”

  He shook his head as he opened the driver side door. “No reason. A little surprised is all. Kind of reminds me of where I grew up.”

  The unexpected tidbit immediately caught my attention. “Oh? How so?”

  He took a second to appreciate the view. When he looked back at me, there was a sadness clouded his eyes. “No reason. Forget I said anything.” The door closed with a metallic thud.

  “But…” I began, twisting around to chase the answers he was withholding. That’s when I noticed the claw marks on the hood.

  Crap! How could I have forgotten about those? That’s not going to comfort my parents at all.

  I looked to the front of the house as the front door opened and my parents stepped out onto the porch. I swallowed down my burst of nerves and slipped out to join Michael at the rear of the Jeep. They appeared to be waiting for us, but there was no telling how long that would last.

  Thanks to enhanced vision, I could clearly see Peter’s sturdy grip on Tom’s arm. Seeing them standing side by side gave me another thought. I grabbed Michael’s arm to get his attention and prevent him from finding out before I had a chance to correct my oversight.

  “I forgot to mention something earlier.”

  “What is it?” he asked as he passed me my duffel.

  “I have two dads.”

  “Yeah.” Of course, he would have heard them on the phone when I called. “Is that what you were so nervous about?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Then what?” he asked, pocketing the keys.

  “Remember how I said I’ve never brought anyone home?” Michael missed a step and I bit my knuckle. “Yeah, probably should be interesting.”

  “That’s putting it mildly.”

  I grimaced at his tone and fell in step beside him. We walked in silence until we stood mere feet away from the two men who’d raised me. Rather than wait for things to get awkward, I launched into introductions.