“It’ll be okay for Dan.” I tucked it into the net with my other buys before nudging back to the subject. “So, how old were you?”
“When I first dated Nathan?” She smiled. “Fourteen—I thought I was pretty cool being asked out by an older boy. Everybody else suddenly decided I was worth knowing, too.”
I pursed my lips. “Yeah, that can happen.”
“I wasn’t really interested in them, though. Once we’d been out a few times, the four of us pretty much kept to ourselves. Nathan even stayed on in sixth form instead of heading off for college, just so we could spend more time together—mostly because his father tried his best to prevent it outside of school hours.”
“What was he like?”
“Nathan’s father?”
I nodded, selecting another T-shirt from a rail.
“Rob was . . .” She hesitated, seemed to think about it. “There’s a lot of him in Nathan. But Rob was less refined, less polite and extremely contemptuous toward us mere”—she dropped her voice to a whisper—“humans.”
My eyebrows lifted. “How did Nate get away with seeing you, then?”
“He proposed as soon as I was old enough.” She smiled. “And then, once I’d turned eighteen, we ran off and married behind Rob’s back. After we returned, Nathan threatened to leave if his dad didn’t accept me. The arguments lasted only as long as it took for me to get pregnant. The promise of his first grandchild gave Rob enough incentive to stop trying to drive me away.”
“It must have been tough.”
“Certainly tougher for us than Connor and Nadine. They waited until we’d paved the path before they followed. But with Nathan as Alpha’s son, they both knew he’d have more chance of getting Rob to come around. And as his only son, he did.”
“When did he tell you? Did you know what he was before you married him?”
“Of course.” She gave a quiet chuckle. “We were still young when I found out. Of course, I knew the first time we spoke there was something different about him. He wore an element of danger like a permanent aftershave.” Her gaze locked with mine. “I’d spent my whole life living by the book and obeying my parents. As soon as I knew Nathan was capable of being …bad …I was pretty much hooked.”
I laughed. “How young were you exactly, when he told you?”
“He didn’t tell me, Jem. He showed me. He’d reached sixth form by that time, and his father had insisted the relationship end, so we took every opportunity we could together.” She smiled again. “Nathan had a habit of convincing me to skip certain lessons. Usually maths. One Friday afternoon, he told me he’d meet me outside the gates, take me for a romantic stroll through the woods. Romantic strolls with Nathan often led to . . .” She waved a hand, grunting a small laugh. “Some things you don’t want to hear.”
I shook my head, but smiled. “No, I don’t.”
“Nathan didn’t tell me the real reason for the walk until we got there. He told me he was in love with me, but he couldn’t go on without showing me who he really was. ‘I need to be certain you’ll still want me, Beth’, he’d said. Like anything could change that.”
My brow creased. “Weren’t you afraid? Shocked?”
“Afraid? No, I’ve never been afraid of Nathan. He was never anything but protective. As for shocked? Yes, of course I was. But at the same time, I wasn’t really that surprised.” She gave another of her low chuckles. “It turned out to be yet another thing he made easier for Connor. Can you believe they talked me into telling Nadine?”
A small snort burst out. “How did she take it?”
“She laughed, said I was crazy and hadn’t she told me to quit watching horror films.”
Listening to Beth’s running commentary of life as a teenager and the difficulties of dating a werewolf ensured the afternoon passed with ease. On familiar ground, the conversation flowed right out of her. Whilst she talked, I shopped. I received a second call from Sean, and a third one arrived whilst Beth picked out a quality bottle of brandy for Nathan and a twenty-five year old whiskey for Connor.
Sean’s final call at almost four disturbed my checkout. “Kyle and Dan have asked me to go Christmas shopping with the three of them. Do you mind?”
“Of course not,” I said.
“I’ll see you this evening, then.”
I smiled down the line at him. “Baby, you can see all of me, if you’re good.”
His deep chuckle rumbled through the connection and remained with me for minutes after I hung up.
• • •
Rain had fallen during my time in the store, and my feet splashed through puddles en route to the car. Street lighting reflected in every wet surface. The Porsche glistened, exposing its bright yellow individuality amongst the surrounding vehicles of greys and blues.
Beth chaperoned, standing to the side and watching whilst I piled my goods into the boot. As I slammed the lid down, a strange sadness settled in.
“I should go.” I thumbed toward the car, but I didn’t want to say goodbye. “I’m supposed to be on dinner duty tonight. If I’m not back in time and Ethan gets impatient enough to do it himself …I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Beth’s eyes appeared as dark as the blackened sky above. “Does he treat you okay? Ethan, I mean . . .”
“Yes.”
“That’s good. I know he can be a bit . . .”
“Intolerant?”
Beth chuckled. “Yes.”
“He’s a pain and everything, but he treats me right.”
“Good.” She smiled before it diminished, and she grew serious. “Listen, Jem. I know it’s a lot to ask, but would you consider exchanging numbers and keeping in touch?”
My gaze went from her to my feet as I considered what I should do. Did I want to keep in touch? Of course. Should I, though? I didn’t know.
“If it will make things difficult for you, I won’t call. But it would be nice to have a direct line to someone who can tell me about my sons.” She ducked down as I lifted my face. “Plus, I can give you a heads up when I’m ready to tell Nathan about today.”
I blew out a breath but nodded despite knowing the bother it would get me in. “Sure.”
I recited my number, and Beth keyed it into her phone and rang mine. “Save that number, Jem.”
I lifted my stare to Beth’s. “I will.”
Reaching for my door, I stepped away. I’d barely made contact with the handle when she took my shoulders and turned my body into an embrace that could only be described as motherly.
Her lips skimmed across my cheek. “I can’t thank you enough for today. It’s meant a lot to me.”
• • •
My heart pounded most of the way home. The speed of the car nowhere near matched my preferred pace, and the Christmas traffic should have irked me, but I welcomed its detainment. If Beth had called Nathan straight away, he’d be furious. Beth could convince herself as much as she liked that she could talk Nathan into laying the blame onto her, but I didn’t buy it.
Nathan most certainly wouldn’t.
By the time I parked the Porsche on the driveway, five o’clock had come and gone.
I paused in the hallway, nostrils flared, and stilled the rustle of bags as I listened. The truck outside announced a presence, as did the patter of water coming from the bathroom.
“Jem, is that you?” Nathan asked.
“Yeah.” I mounted the stairs and turned into my room to hide my purchases in the wardrobe before continuing on to Nathan’s bedroom.
He lifted his head as I rounded the doorframe. “Good day?”
I tried to decipher if his words held hidden code. Deciding they didn’t, I nodded.
He returned to his open sock drawer, stuck in a couple of pairs from the top of his dresser. “You know Sean’s g
one out?”
“He called and told me.”
Nathan nodded, still tidying his clothes.
I went farther into the room and dropped my voice. “Is it okay to get those pictures from the safe?”
He sent a glance toward the bathroom where the shower still played. “Be quick,” he said with a nod.
It took less than a minute to open the wardrobe, key in the combination and reach into the safe for the pictures. Guilt swept through me when I spotted those of the inanimate Beth in my hands. I looked across at Nathan where he’d shifted to folding boxer shorts as though he couldn’t possibly wear them creased.
As much as I wanted to say something, no amount of words would get me out of any hole I might dig if I mentioned Beth—so I clamped my lips shut and left the room.
Once I’d secured the photographs in Sean’s and my wardrobe, I hit the kitchen. Before Ethan could emerge, I tossed pork chops into the oven and chopped a pile of peppers and red onions, coating them in olive oil, and added a heap of asparagus. They went into the oven above the pork, and I headed back upstairs to assemble Sean’s gifts.
Filling the album with pictures brought the blank pages to life. After removing the clear wrapping of the frame, I eased off the back to insert the one I’d had enlarged. I turned it over, held it against the wall, smiling at the forever memory of facial expressions Poppy had captured.
With the two most important tasks out of the way, I made a start on the wrapping.
• • •
Ethan straightened as I trotted into the kitchen, oven mitts on as he withdrew the chops from the oven. “Note how I finish the dinner you’re supposed to be fixing again?” His eyes held sternness, but the twitch at the corner of his lips gave his amusement away as he carried the plates to the table. “Why can nobody else in this house cook? Isn’t it about time—”
I drew out my chair loud enough to drown his words. With a smile in Ethan’s direction, I sat to await my food, turning when Nathan joined us. “Is Sean coming back for dinner?”
“He shouldn’t be too late.” Nathan took his seat beside mine.
I picked up my cutlery in ‘feed me now’ fashion, and Ethan chuckled as he placed my meal beneath my nose. Although I’d eaten a cooked dinner at lunchtime, hunger had revisited in the form of stomach rumbles before I’d even reached home.
Nathan’s gaze met mine. “Did you get everything today?”
“Yeh.” Talking around peppers and pork mumbled my response.
He nodded, went back to his meal.
I watched him out the corner of my eye, searching for a sign he knew. Paranoia traded places with guilt as my mind convinced me that Nathan bided his time to give me chance to confess before he ripped me to shreds because he had to find out from someone else that I’d met his wife.
Beth had promised to warn me before she made the call.
Hopefully, she’d meant it.
• • •
After dinner, I sent the two men into the living room whilst I cleaned up. As I closed the door on the dishwasher, I glanced toward the clock.
Seven—and still no Sean.
Unsettled by his absence, I grabbed a blanket and headed out to the conservatory. The low hum of a television disappeared beneath the beat of the weather. Beyond the glass, wind howled a gale, and leaves swirled across the lawn as though running for their lives from an unseen monster, each gust nudging the abandoned basketball a few feet.
Snuggled into the willow sofa, my body liquefied, my muscles untensed, and my brain hit a state of mushiness, teetering over an abyss of unconsciousness.
A trill ring penetrated my fuzzy mind.
I blinked, recognising the music as Nathan’s ringtone.
Beth?
Pulse rapid, my body stiffened.
“Hello?” Nathan answered.
17
As Nathan’s voice dropped to a murmur too low for me to hear, I pushed up to sit.
Footsteps crossed the living room. If Nathan came my way, it had to be Beth.
I tracked his feet along the hall toward me. I stared through the French doors into the kitchen.
“Stay with them.” Nathan appeared in the opposite doorway. “You know what was agreed on this.”
Worry rushed through me.
He rounded the table. “Yes, Sean. If they go in, you go in. You have Kyle to back you up. Give him the same order.” Nathan entered the conservatory to tower over me. “Here she is.” He handed me the phone.
I took it, placing it to my ear. “Sean?”
“There’s a bit of a problem.”
My pulse thrummed. “What kind of problem?”
“Bloody Marianne has called—said she quickly needs Josh’s help with something . . .”
I pushed to my feet. The blanket fell to the floor.
“Obviously, Josh offered to trot along and do whatever job she wants him for.”
I rubbed at my face. “Did he tell her he was out of the house tonight?”
“I, um …yeah.” He sighed. “Yeah, he did.”
“Did she know you were all going?” My fingers pushed into my hair as I stared out across the garden.
“Josh and Danny were already going. Kyle invited himself and me along later, after Josh had told her.”
My hand tightened around the phone. “How very devious of her. You know you can’t let Josh or Dan go in there alone.”
“I know. That’s what Dad’s just said.”
“If they go in alone, something—”
“Don’t worry. We’re all going in. It’ll be okay.”
A hitch faltered my pulse. “You can’t assume that. You’ve seen what their spells can do.”
“I know.”
“If they’re up to something, it won’t be strength you’ll need, it’ll be wit—”
“Yes, Jem, I know,” he said.
I blew out a breath, released my hair from within my clutched fingers. “Okay. When are you going?”
“Now.”
Another breath burst past my lips. My pulse refused to regulate. “Stay together. Don’t drink anything they offer you. And try not to inhale—”
“No fluids or air?” Sean’s chuckle did nothing to alleviate my concern. “That should give us what? A seven minute window to—”
“I want you to call the second you’re out of there. Do you hear?”
“Sure, Jem.”
“And be careful. Watch her—”
“I know.”
We said goodbye. I turned to Nathan.
Wrinkles spread across his forehead, his hand formed into a tight fist.
He seemed about as happy with the situation as me.
• • •
The click of each passing second resonated in my head. I’d tried to allow the noises of nature to provide a calming therapy, but gone was my sleepiness and my state of peace.
The only sound my mind tuned into seemed to grow louder, consuming my thoughts like a ticking time bomb.
Except, the only exploding would come from me if I didn’t hear from Sean.
Over an hour had passed since his last call.
My fingers traced the outline of my mobile in my pocket. What the hell could Marianne need Josh for, for so long? Even if the job required physical strength, there were four of them.
I dived up from the willow seat, stormed into the living room and strode past Ethan to Nathan. “What’s taking them so long?”
“They’ll have been there less than an hour.”
“Half of that is too long.” Irritated by his calmness, I raked my fingers into my hair, tugging at a cluster of strands.
Nathan’s stare flicked up to the clock and back to me. “If they’re not home by half past,
call him.”
My lips funnelled around my blown out breath as I turned from Nathan and paced the room.
The men’s attention returned to the TV for a few minutes. On my fourth width, I cut into their line of sight and drew their focus away on my spin.
Pace. Turn. A pause to check the clock. Eight-fifteen.
“I should go over there. Check they’re okay,” I said.
“They can take care of themselves,” Ethan said.
I blew out another breath, resumed pacing. “What if they’re not okay?” Turn. My hands wrung at my waist. Pace. Why would Marianne wait until she thought Josh and Daniel would be alone? A small prick of fear formed in my chest, threatening to bubble into something larger. “Something’s off about this, Nate.”
Ethan’s gaze followed my worn path.
Nathan’s did, too, until I broke away to check the time. Eight-twenty.
“Okay, call him,” Nate said.
I tugged my mobile from my pocket, dialled Sean’s number. The high-pitched trill echoed into my eardrum.
Each additional ring tightened my chest a little more.
Each tightening of my chest matched the deepening of the worry etched across Nathan’s and Ethan’s faces.
I hung up, tried Josh’s number. It rang and rang. Same result.
My bubble of panic expanded and brought my breaths in shallow spurts.
Nathan edged to the lip of his armchair. “Whose number was that?”
“Josh’s.” I scrolled down to Kyle’s number. Dialled. More incessant ringing. My hand gripped the phone as though pure strength could make them respond. “Kyle isn’t answering, either.” The heave of my chest forced my words out on a breathless pant.
Nathan pushed to his feet. “Try Dan.”
I obeyed. Same result. I hung up, retried Sean’s number. The monotonous tone filled my head. “Come on. Come on.” I looked to Nathan. “Why aren’t they answering? Nobody’s answering. Why?”
“I’ll try Connor,” he said. “See if they’ve gone there.”
I tried to take control of my breathing as Nathan dialled, as more ringtone buzzed through the living room.
“Nate?” Connor answered.
“Are the boys there?” Nathan’s tone carried a slight waver.
Blue Moon Page 16
