Secrets of the Moon

by Kristy Centeno

  “I must disinfect the gash, but it needs to be cleaned first.”

  “Am I going to need stitches?”

  “No, it’s not too deep, it’s mostly superficial, but it has to be clean nonetheless to keep it from getting infected.” She pushed my long hair over my left shoulder and I heard her quick intake of breath.

  “What’s wrong?” From the corner of my eye, I was able to see Alexis approach us. He muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t make out. “What is it?”

  “It’s just that…”

  “What?”

  “Your back.” Josephine picked up a hand mirror and handed it to me.

  The minute I stood, I regretted it. A new wave of dizziness made me incredibly queasy. I had to just stand there for several seconds waiting for the wooziness to pass before I could walk over to the full-length mirror mounted on the closet door. I stopped in front of it and turned so I could see the back of my neck. There were bruises on the back of my neck and forearms. I knew there had to be more bruises under my tank top. I must have hit the ground harder than I thought.

  I turned and handed the small mirror back to her.

  “I think you should take a shower so that I can finish disinfecting that wound. That way you can wash off the blood sticking to your hair and back. I have clothing you can borrow.”

  Downstairs, we could all hear a commotion going on. There was a loud crashing sound followed by a boom! I heard Kyran yell something at Gage. The moment I heard his voice, fear ran through me like a lightning bolt. I backed away from the door, fearing he would come up the stairs and into Josephine’s bedroom.

  Josephine walked over to her dresser and removed several items of clothing, which she then handed to me.

  “Here, wear these, we’re about the same size. Shower, and then I’ll come up and take care of your head, or Alexis can do it. I have to go downstairs and calm Kyran down.”

  She left a moment later, closing the door behind her.

  “Come on, you can shower in the hall bathroom.”

  I followed him out to the hallway and rushed into the bathroom. I locked the door the minute I was inside. I showered quickly and made sure to wash my hair to get all the dried blood out. My head and back hurt like hell. It felt as if I had been hit by a car. Once I was clean and dressed, I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

  Alexis was still waiting by the door. He escorted me to Josephine’s bedroom. Once inside, he closed the door.

  Downstairs, all was quiet, but something in Alexis’s face told me he could hear his siblings’ conversation no matter how quiet it might seem to me.

  “I need to brush my hair.”

  He opened a drawer and took out a brand new hairbrush. He removed it from the plastic packaging and handed it to me.

  “We go through hairbrushes a lot, so we always keep extra around.” He smiled and I couldn’t help but smile back. I could definitely imagine them brushing their hair in both their human and werewolf forms. Funny.

  “Thank you.”

  He nodded and walked over to sit down on a chair next to a small white desk. I sat on the edge of the bed and began to slowly brush my hair. Every stroke of the brush brought agonizing pain spreading through my skull and by the time I was done, my head was throbbing and I was exhausted. My stomach churned in a way that made me feel as if I was going to puke at any moment.

  “Here, let me take a look at you.” He stood behind me. With careful precision, he cleaned the gash with gauze and alcohol, applied disinfectant ointment to the wound, and then covered it with an adhesive bandage. How he managed to keep the bandage from falling off my hair, I had no idea.

  “My head hurts.”

  He sat next to me on the bed and stared at my sulking face. “You want me to get you some Tylenol or Advil?”

  “You use them?” I didn’t mean to sound so surprised.

  “Despite what you might think, we aren’t totally invincible to pain. We’re prone to pain just like every other creature in this world.”

  “Just answer me one question, Alexis, and please be truthful. I need the truth more than anything right now.” He nodded. “Did any of you kill that man from Iowa?”

  His soft expression turned into a stunned one. Obviously, he hadn’t expected me to know about that.

  “No, Marjorie, none of us hurt that man.”

  I believed him. “Then why did Kyran get so angry at me when I asked him about it?”

  Alexis shrugged. “Kyran is a very complicated person. He’s not like us.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “That is a very complicated subject to try to explain right now and I think it can wait. Do you want those pills or not?”

  “No, I don’t want to be left alone.”

  He nodded and helped me up so he could pull the covers from Josephine’s bed. “I think you should get some rest.”

  “Here? No, I rather go home.”

  He drew me toward him and wrapped his strong muscular arms around me.

  “No one is going to hurt you, I promise. You can’t drive back while you’re feeling sick, and the rest of us need to stay with Kyran. We have to make sure he doesn’t leave the house again.”

  “But I…” I looked up at him, feeling a little sheepish. “I snuck out of the house, and if I don’t make it back with the car by morning my mom will know I took it. I’m not allowed to drive.”

  “We’ll take care of it.” He winked at me.

  Covers removed, I curled up in bed and hugged one of the huge pillows to my body.

  “Just so you know, the car was parked next to the barn and the keys belong inside the empty chicken cookie jar inside the cupboard above the sink.”

  He grinned at me and I smiled lightly before sleep claimed me.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Despite my belief that I wouldn’t be able to sleep well that night, I slept considerably well. At first, I awoke feeling oddly out of place, but then I remembered I wasn’t in my bed or in my bedroom. As soon as I opened my eyes, the memories of the night before came back to haunt me. It would be so easy just to lie there and give way to tears, but I refused to do so. Nothing would get fixed that way; nothing would be solved, either. Kyran was still a monster; I was still hurt both physically and emotionally. That wouldn’t change even if I cried myself a river, which I wasn’t going to allow myself to do.

  I started to stretch my limbs but the sharp flickers of pain stopped me instantly. I could have sworn that every single muscle, hair, and skin surface throughout my body was hammering mercilessly. Ignoring the discomfort, I sat up in bed and was surprised when I caught sight of the form lying on the floor.

  Alexis was comfortably sleeping on the floor next to Josephine’s bed. What is he doing here, and where is Josephine? Why isn’t she sleeping in the room with me? I rubbed my eyes to clear them of the sleep-induced fog and leaned across the bed to get a better view of my handsome companion.

  Alexis lay atop a dark blue comforter. His head was resting comfortably on a large pillow. He wore a pair of gray sweat pants and a plain white T-shirt that stuck to his body like a second skin. His feet were covered in a pair of white socks, and no blanket covered his muscled body, which allowed me to notice his very admirable physique. His build was exactly like Kyran’s except for that single lock of silver hair at his left temple. Alexis and Kyran were nearly identical physically, but their personalities were completely different.

  I took the opportunity to look him up and down while he slept, appreciating his strong body and handsome features. As I stared at him, one of his fingers twitched slightly and my eyes immediately snapped to his face. His eyes were open and by the way he was looking at me, I knew he’d caught me checking him out. Embarrassed, I turned away and leaned back against the headboard.

  “How are you feeling?” I could hear the smile in his voice.

  “Like I was hit by a car.” And my body agreed with me.

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” He
sat up and rubbed his eyes in much the same manner I had only moments before. The strong muscles of his arms flexed and I had to force my eyes to look away. I didn’t want him to catch me eyeballing him again. “In a way, it’s almost as if you were hit by a car,” he said before yawning.

  “Yeah, no kidding—a very big and hairy car. Why did you sleep in here? Where is Josephine?” As much as fun as it had been to wake up with him in the room, I was a little concerned over the rest of the family. What if they had decided I was a liability to them?

  “Josephine and Gage slept in Kyran’s room with Kyran last night. And I slept here because as of last night, I was appointed your personal guardian.” He grinned and I couldn’t help but smile. “Josephine has breakfast ready, hope you’re hungry.”

  “How can you tell?” I didn’t smell anything.

  “I have exceptional hearing.” He winked, something I noted he did often. “That, and I can smell food from miles away.”

  I didn’t doubt that.

  “Come on, princess, get up. My oldest brother and his wife arrived home last night and they want to meet you.” He pulled on the sheets until my entire body was uncovered.

  I glanced down, wiggled my toes, and smiled when everything seemed to be in working order. Granted, I was swore and bruised from the neck down, but at least those were the worst of my injuries. Considering what happened the night before, things could have been a lot worse.

  “Marquis and Simone?”

  “Yes, you’ve heard of them?”

  “Kyran…he told me about them.”

  Alexis smiled, rose from his makeshift bed on the floor, and extended a hand to help me off Josephine’s bed.

  “Wait! What about my car—my mom’s car?” I looked at him expectantly.

  “Gage took care of it as soon as Marquis and Simone arrived last night.” He took my hand in his and towed me along as he walked toward the bedroom door. “Don’t worry, no one saw him.”

  Good. I just hope no one noticed I didn’t sleep at home last night either.

  Alexis released my hand as soon as we stepped out in to the hallway, and I headed toward the bathroom, with him following closely behind me. He waited outside the bathroom door, which made me incredibly uncomfortable when I had to pee. After brushing my teeth with a spare toothbrush that Alexis gave me, I exited the bathroom and headed back toward the bedroom again. Alexis went in the bathroom soon after I came out.

  Once I was in Josephine’s bedroom, I removed the bandage and tossed it in the trash bin. After brushing my hair, I decided to braid it so it wouldn’t hang loose as I ate. Maybe I was stalling. I was a little apprehensive about meeting Marquis and Simone. What would they say? Would they be angry? There wasn’t a thing I could do but wait it all out and see where everything led.

  Alexis came in the bedroom a few seconds later. His long hair was recently brushed and tied behind his head.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  I shook my head. Ready? I was about to meet the other two missing members of the family and I was terrified—two more werewolves for me to worry about.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I stood to place the hairbrush on top of the dresser then turned to face him. “Do they know what happened last night?”

  “They know everything.”

  “What’s going to happen to me, really?”

  “What do you mean?” A mischievous sparkle lit his eyes.

  “I know who or what you are. Is your family going to silence me? Is that it?”

  Alexis looked like he wanted to bust out laughing and that made me even more anxious.

  “Marquis and Simone just want to meet the girl that has made quite an impression on this family. No one is going to hurt you. I promised, didn’t I?”

  “Your brother tried to k—” I interjected. He might be amused by my discomfort but facts were facts and as painful as it was for me to even think about it, Kyran had tried to kill me.

  “No.” Alexis avoided making eye contact.

  “No?”

  “No.” He sounded like he wanted to convince himself more than he wanted to convince me. “You’re safe here.”

  “I’m scared.” I wanted to shove Alexis aside when his arms wrapped around my waist and he pulled me close, but I didn’t. Instead, I buried my face in his chest and squeezed my eyes shut.

  “There are many things you will come to learn about us. The most important one of all is that we’ve never killed any humans, ever.”

  Humans. Hearing him say it like that brought me back to reality. They were werewolves. I was a human in a werewolf-infested house. I was the intruder.

  It was honest for me to say that if they’d wanted to hurt me they could have. But they hadn’t. Even after they knew I’d discovered probably the most valuable secret they had, they’d taken me into their home and cared for me. That said a lot about the kind of people they were. Of course, I wasn’t including Kyran in all of this. I still didn’t know how he fit into this family, when he was obviously different from them.

  With Alexis leading the way, I walked down the hallway, down the two staircases, and finally to the kitchen where Gage and Josephine waited for us, accompanied by two other people I assumed had to be Marquis and Simone.

  The man was as tall as the rest of the Rousseau boys. He had short black hair that fell to the top of his eyebrows and the same blue-colored eyes as Gage and Josephine. He was handsome just like the rest of them. Unlike Kyran and Alexis, who were a little lighter in complexion, Marquis’s skin was a shade darker.

  Simone was tall for a woman, almost as tall as Marquis himself. Her eyes were a deep shade of green, and her blond hair was so long it reached down to her waist. The moment I walked inside the kitchen, she smiled. To my relief it was a warm, welcoming smile.

  “You must be Marjorie.”

  Marquis’s voice caused shivers to run down my spine. What was it with these men that caused this effect in me? Was it a werewolf thing? I had the feeling that’s exactly what it was.

  “You must be Marquis.” Now I was stating the obvious.

  “Yes, and this is my wife, Simone.”

  “We’re pleased to have you here.” Simone’s voice was oddly comforting. “Please, come sit and join us for breakfast.”

  “I don’t want to impose.” That was just my way of saying, let me the heck out of here!

  “Nonsense, you’re welcome here.”

  Still feeling a little apprehensive but knowing that being discourteous wouldn’t help my case, I sat on an empty chair in-between Alexis and Josephine. They had large quantities of scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, juice, coffee, and milk all spread out on the dining table. Boy, these people did love to eat; the food wasn’t just for show.

  Everyone seemed at ease and not the least bit worried that I, Marjorie Emery, knew the Rousseau’s were a family of werewolves.

  “So, Marjorie…”

  I glanced away from my still-empty plate as Marquis addressed me.

  “Do you have any questions you would like to ask?”

  “I…don’t want to be impolite.”

  Marquis smiled. The first true smile I’d seen on him so far.

  “No, we understand that you might have some questions. If I were in your situation, I know I would have tons of them.” He smiled again. “And I know it will be better for you if you just ask, so that we can answer and set your mind at ease a bit.” That much was true. “So, ask away.”

  Honestly, had they given me any indication that they were angry, or at least given me a hint that they were slightly annoyed that I knew their secret, I would have been able to handle the uncomfortable situation better. But because they were all so nice and oddly comfortable with me knowing their family secret, I was just one step away from freaking out.

  Josephine leaned over the table a bit to grab the plate full of eggs so she could put some on mine. I murmured a thank you and reached for a piece of toast.

  “Well…how long have you been werewolves
?”

  “We were born this way. Our parents were werewolves, and so were our grandparents, and their parents before them. We come from a long line of werewolves.”

  “Oh, are you a werewolf too?” I asked Simone, who smiled at me then nodded.

  “Oh yes. I was born werewolf too. We’re what you would call full-blooded werewolves.”

  “What does full-blooded werewolf mean exactly?”

  “Full-blooded or purebreds are those who are born werewolves. We weren’t bitten then became werewolves, like the type you see in the movies.”

  “So it’s true that one can become a werewolf by being bitten?”

  “Yes, but it is a very rare occurrence. Most humans bitten by werewolves die within hours or days of being bitten. Those that don’t either recover successfully or become a werewolf, which is very rare. The same human can be bitten many times throughout his or her lifetime, either by one werewolf or many, and never change. Or a human can be bitten once and changed by the first full moon,” Marquis explained after taking a sip of coffee.

  “The whole full moon theory is correct, then?”

  “Yes and no. It’s true that when we first change it is during a full moon, but after that we can change pretty much at will. As a matter of fact, the only time a new werewolf can change is during a full moon.”

  “So humans can become werewolves after all?”

  “Yes, but it is so rare you’ve a better chance at being in a car accident than becoming one of us.”

  “Been there, done that.” Marquis looked puzzled. “It’s not important. Anyway, does this mean humans that later become werewolves can give birth to children that are werewolves too?”

  “No. Humans and werewolves can’t interbreed.”

  “Why not? Aren’t we alike?” Now I was confused.

  “No, Marjorie, we aren’t as alike as you think. This is one big misconception. We may seem as human as you do at the moment, but our insides aren’t built the same and our reproductive system works differently from that of humans.”