Emerald Moon

by Deanna Kinney

  The day turned into evening and the girl still slept. He needed to get them some food, but he hated leaving her alone. He stood and the dog’s eyes opened though he never moved. Ren knew then that the girl would be fine while he slipped out to buy their supper.

  There were few people in the dining car, but he made a point to study each one of them. His senses told him they were all human. He relaxed a bit and approached the bar and ordered their food. He’d ridden trains many times in his life and knew what food to order. The burger and fries were his favorite.

  He ordered a drink while he waited. He had sensed the woman at the end of the bar eyeing him when he’d entered. She stalked up to him and took a seat beside him. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, a pretty woman to be sure. And if it were a different time then he might’ve been tempted, but there were more important things to think about, and the stakes were high if he failed to do his job. He couldn’t afford any distractions. The woman bought him a drink and he allowed it, but once the food was ready, he downed the drink and took the food, leaving the woman there, her eyes trailing longingly after him.

  Back inside the cabin, it was now dark. He flicked on the light and sat the food down on the little table between the sofas. The girl was still asleep. He reached out to touch her and the dog bared his teeth. He didn’t growl or make any sound at all. But it was clear he was warning him to stay away.

  Ren growled down at the dog, but the dog was not to be intimidated. He quickly decided on a new strategy. He grabbed a fry from the plate and stuck it up to the dog’s nose. He gulped it down without delay. This actually brought a smile to Ren’s face, though just a small one. The dog rose, stretched, and then hopped down from the sofa. Ren then reached down to rouse the sleeping beauty. “Wake up, girl. You need to eat.”

  Emerald stirred, yawning and popping her neck as she slowly came to a sitting position. “I swanny, I didn’t hear you leave to get food. I’ll be dog, it looks good. Thanks.”

  Was she speaking English? Sometimes he wondered. The southern twang was hard enough to get used to, but the uses of some of her words puzzled him.

  She must have been starving because Ren had never seen a girl so small eat so fast, though she had given most of her fries to her pet. “You should chew your food more slowly. It’s better for your digestion.” he stated.

  She smiled at that. “I shall try to remember that.”

  It was a cute smile and Ren quickly noticed the dimples in her cheeks. “You have dimples.” Ren touched his finger to his check. The words were out of his mouth before he realized it.

  “Yes.” She grinned, taking the last bite of her fries and chewing them purposefully in slow motion.

  He resisted the urge to laugh. Since when did he have the urge to laugh anyway? He could barely remember. And he shouldn’t have it now. Their lives were in peril after all.

  With that small banter, the air around them had shifted, giving exit to the tension from earlier. Maybe now things could settle down and they could just coexist in peace.

  * * * * * *

  Darian Graves sat at his desk scrolling through the phone. The girl was a beauty that was for sure, but who was she? And why were the werewolves protecting her? He scrolled past photo after photo of the girl’s dog. Feeling frustrated, he slammed the phone down. How could someone so young be obsessed with their dog? Did she not have friends or a boyfriend?

  He had spent so many years getting to where he was. He was now the strongest vampire leader in the Southern states of America. Once Southern America was conquered, he could move northward toward Canada. His ultimate goal of controlling all of America was within his grasp. But first he had to subdue all of the wolf packs. Next on his list was the Dandridge Pack, and he had already made his first move. But this act of kidnapping this girl had thrown him into confusion. What were they up to?

  The door burst open. “Sir, we have news.”

  “Come in. Come in,” he urged Tobias, his top guy.

  He stalked in and stopped in front of the desk. “We have confirmed that it was Ren Callaway that escorted the girl to her home. He killed three of our men. The cops are there now.”

  “Are you sure?” Darian asked, his shock hard to hide, especially from Tobias who had known him for so many years.

  “Yes, sir. One of our men spotted him at her home getting into the car with the girl.”

  “And did our man follow them?”

  “No. He came straight here to report to me.”

  This gave Darian lots to think on. He began pacing back and forth behind his desk. “Why would they call in Ren Callaway?”

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Tobias asked him.

  His eyes widened as the new thought hit him. “I’m thinking that this girl must be the one who will end the war. We have to find out where they’re going and destroy them at once.”

  Darian’s phone began ringing. He picked it up and answered. “Are you sure?” he asked into the phone. “Fine. You better be right about this. If I find out you steered us wrong, you’ll pay. You and your entire pack will pay. If it turns out you’re right about this, I want you to have some men available to take over during the daylight hours. I’ll be in touch.”

  He hit the end button on his phone and turned to Tobias. His smile stretched across his face. “They are heading to the train station. It seems they’re planning a little visit with the Chatwin Pack in Missouri.”

  “That’s good news,” Tobias said. “Now we have them.”

  “Yes,” he said, smirking. “Send four of our best men to the train station.” Then he thought about Ren and the last encounter he had with him. “On second thought, make that six men. I want them found and I want them dead… both of them.”

  ~7~

  Emerald hadn’t asked Ren’s permission. She didn’t think it was a big deal as she gathered some things from her pack and headed for the door. She hadn’t even seen him move, but he was suddenly at the door, his giant hand pressing against it.

  He didn’t say anything. He just stared down at her, his eyebrow arched in question.

  “I want to go to the bathroom and wash up before bed.”

  “Hmmm,” was his only reply. It was more of a growl deep in his throat, but he removed his hand, allowing her to leave.

  He followed Emerald to the bathroom at the end of the hallway, standing guard outside while she washed up, brushed her teeth, and changed into her pajamas for the night.

  When she exited, she quickly recognized a slight confused, if not amused, expression on Ren’s face as he studied her choice of P. J.’s.

  “What?” she asked glancing down at her favorite unicorn pajamas.

  “Unicorns?”

  “What, you have somethin’ against unicorns?”

  “Hmmm,” was his only response.

  Back in their sleeping car, Ren pulled the lever allowing the small upper bunk bed to lower. Emerald tried to climb up, but she fell backwards—twice. Trying again, she grabbed the handle up top and pulled. “Umphh. Dadgummit,” she muttered, falling again.

  She squealed as Ren scooped her in his arms and tossed her up onto the bed.

  “Um, thanks?”

  She arranged the sheets and pillows and laid back, getting herself comfortable.

  Beta whined below, glancing up at her.

  “Oh, do you think you could toss him up as well?”

  Ren peered up at her and his expression was saying ‘seriously?’.

  She mouthed the word ‘please’ and he quickly scooped the dog up and placed him in bed with her.

  “Thank you,” she responded, her tone cheerful.

  Beta curled up against the far window. The space was small, but they fit just fine.

  Down below, Ren had pulled the two small sofas out to make another bed. She glanced down as he got situated and quickly noticed that he was not going to fit completely. The sleeping cars were not made for the likes of him, that was for sure. Both of his lower legs hung over the side
, though he didn’t seem to mind it.

  Ren switched the light off and shut the curtains to the window. Emerald left the curtain to her window by her bed open. She enjoyed staring out into the stars. It was very peaceful. She let her mind wander to all the things that had led her to this night. It was a lot to take in. She had lost so much that was important to her and gained the weight of the world all in the same day. How was she to process it all? After some time, she decided to worry about that tomorrow, as the rocking of the train slowly lulled her to sleep.

  It all happened so fast. One minute she was dreaming, then she was screaming, and then she was falling. When she opened her eyes, she was in Ren’s arms.

  “What-what happened?” she gasped. The room was dark but as she gazed up, she could see the glow of Ren’s eyes staring down at her. Were they really glowing? She became aware that he was holding her close, very close. He must have sensed it too because he quickly inched over and plopped her down on the bed beside him.

  “Are you all right, girl?” He asked her.

  “I-I’m not sure. What happened?” she asked him again.

  “You woke up screaming and then you fell off the bed. Luckily, I caught you or you’d have a really bad headache in the morning.”

  “Oh, well, thank you then.” She was unnerved. First, that she had had another nightmare; second that Ren’s reflexes were so fast that he could catch her in mid-air without any warning at all, and lastly, that his eyes were glowing in the dark. But as she peered up at him again his eyes were normal, at least his normal. She thought it strange.

  “Tell me about this dream you keep having?”

  She glanced at him, surprised he was aware. She then told him all about her recurring nightmare of running from the beast in the forest.

  He was silent and then he spoke, “Have you ever had dreams that have come true before?”

  “Yes. Quite a few actually. For one, I saw my adoptive parents in a dream a year before I even met them.”

  “You’re adopted?”

  “Yes. I grew up in foster care before my adoptive parents found me.”

  “Do you know your biological parents?”

  “No. I never knew them.”

  He seemed deep in thought for a moment and then he asked, “And have you had this dream about the werewolf chasing you before?”

  “Yes. This was the eighth time.”

  “Well, we’ll have to make sure that doesn’t happen then.”

  He lifted her back into her bed, but sleep eluded her for most of the night. Her heart raced at the fresh memory of Ren holding her so close. It’s the last thing she should be thinking about in a time like this, and yet she couldn’t seem to think of anything else. She finally drifted to sleep in the wee hours of the morning.

  “Are you hungry, girl?”

  The question woke her, and she groaned, covering her head with the blanket. “I have a name you know. And it’s not girl. Besides, I am a woman.”

  He didn’t respond, of course.

  She climbed down from her bed and stood stretching and popping her neck.

  “You know you really shouldn’t do that,” he said, reaching up for Beta.

  “Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that before.”

  Ren scooped Beta, who was still sitting on the top bunk, into his arms and set him on the floor. Emerald didn’t even have to ask him this time.

  Her dog began to whine.

  “Um, we have a problem. Beta needs to go potty.”

  “Potty?” Ren was in the middle of raising her bed up further out of the way. “No problem. We’ll be stopping at the next station in about thirty minutes. If he can just hold it until then. In the meantime, let’s eat.”

  She glanced at the small table to see two trays of breakfast food. There were eggs, bacon, grits, biscuits, gravy, jelly packs, and coffee.

  “Oh, my heavens! It looks scrumptious. I’m starving.” Emerald, grabbed the coffee first. She added tons of cream and sugar and finally took her first sip. “Ohhhhh. This is so good,” she moaned, taking another sip. “I didn’t realize how much I was missing my coffee.”

  She finally gazed up at Ren and noticed his odd expression. “What?”

  He shook his head. “Neònach.”

  “Huh?”

  “You’re a strange little one.”

  She ignored him and began eating, trying to be conscious of chewing slower this time. She tore up pieces of the biscuit and gave them to Beta, along with some of her bacon. She was shocked when Ren actually gave him a piece of his bacon as well. This pleased her, though she said nothing about it.

  He caught her smiling. “What?”

  “Oh nothing,” she replied, still smiling to herself.

  After breakfast, Ren stepped into the tight hallway so she could dress.

  Once the train had stopped at the next station, the three of them exited the train to take Beta for a long walk.

  ~8~

  Emerald was about to go stir crazy. Ren wouldn’t let her leave their tiny room, saying it wasn’t safe. He had allowed her to take a shower but had stood guard at the door the entire time.

  She had thought about sneaking to the observation car when he left to take his own shower, but he was back before she could work up the nerve to disobey. She didn’t know him well enough to know what the consequences might be for such disobedience, and to be honest, she was slightly afraid to find out.

  According to Ren, they still had several days left in their journey to Missouri. She wasn’t sure she could take it. Their space was cramped, and on top of that, her and Ren seemed to have this silent war with the air vent. While she felt he was freezing her out of the room, he must’ve felt like she was burning him out. She would sneak to close the vent, and sometime later she would realize that the vent had miraculously opened. This went on for two days.

  Ren was in the process of polishing the handle of one of his many knives. Emerald was sitting across from him, watching him and enjoying the way his freshly washed, damp golden hair fell across his perfect face. She liked when he was busy with his hands, giving her the opportunity to study him in secret.

  This went on for some time when she finally decided she would try talking to him. “So, Ren?”

  He glanced up without raising his head, his fingers still busy with his task.

  “Do you have any family?”

  “No,” His voice was deep and flat.

  “None? Not even a wife…children?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s not my thing.”

  “So, you’ve never been in love?” She just decided to go there. Her curiosity over this man was driving her nuts. She needed to know about him…anything about him.

  “I didn’t say that.”

  Okay, she thought. Now she was getting somewhere. “Tell me.”

  “I’d rather not.”

  “Please,” she begged, her tone gentle.

  “Hmmm,” he growled. “Fine.” He sat his knife down on the seat beside him and peered up at her. “I took a job to protect her. She had witnessed a crime committed by some bad people.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “I failed to do my job. I underestimated my enemy and she died.”

  Emerald gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Oh Ren, I’m so sorry.”

  “I was young and thought I knew everything.”

  “What was her name?”

  “Rebecca. Enough about me. What about you? Have you ever been in love?”

  She knew he was changing the subject. “No,” she answered. She had never been in love; it was true, but she couldn’t deny she was beginning to feel a nervous fascination for this strange and mysterious man.

  “Well,” he said, letting out a big breath and taking his knife into his hand again. “You’re not missing much. It hurts like hell.”

  “That’s because you loved and lost. Unfortunately, I do know what that feels like.” She lowered her head, suddenly feeling sad
over the loss of her parents.

  “Yes,” he said, his tone compassionate, “I guess you do.”

  He reached down, tucking away the knife and retrieving his sword. He slowly began sharpening it. Emerald sat quietly, observing. Although his hands were large, they slid gracefully up and down the blade. It was mesmerizing to watch.

  She glanced down at the small table between them, and upon further inspection, realized it unfolded into a chess table.

  She suddenly had an idea. “Ren, do you know how to play chess?”

  He gazed up at her then. “Yes, a little.”

  She smiled. “Wanna play with me?”

  He appeared as if he was contemplating it and then he shrugged. “Sure.”

  She was giddy at the idea. Finally, she was getting an opportunity to get to know him a little bit.

  They spent the next several hours locked in battle over the chess board. She had won every game thus far, but he was starting to get the hang of it, and she feared her winning streak might be coming to an end. The man seriously hated to lose. With every game he got slightly more agitated, if that were even possible.

  They paused their game, though reluctantly, long enough to eat dinner, but as soon as the food was consumed, the competition resumed.

  “Yeah!” he yelled, making the final move that won him the game.

  She glared at him. Now this was a side she would have never guessed he had. He was actually smiling. It was a lovely smile that made his amber eyes gleam.

  “Mr. Callaway, I didn’t think you had it in you.”

  “What? To win?”

  “No…to smile.”

  He narrowed his eyes and pressed his lips firmly together into a tight, fine line, obviously refusing to smile further.

  But it was too late. She had seen it…and she was thrilled. There was more to this man than just a hard exterior, and she suddenly became determined to discover it.

  ~9~

  Ren hated to admit it, but he’d enjoyed his afternoon with the girl. Sitting across from her earlier in the afternoon, he had been aware that she was staring at him, studying him. Though he didn’t mind it, he did wonder what she might be thinking. Most likely she thought he was odd, after all she had never seen the likes of his kind before, and most likely never would again.