Hunter's Moon

Seventeen: Riley

"Would you stop following me?"

I snarled and spun on my heel in the middle of the hall, crossing my arms over my chest as I fixed Drew and Eddie with a glare. They screeched to a halt, Eddie barreling into Drew's back. She growled at him, while Nadia cackled from beside me. She leaned against the wall of lockers, hands shoved into her hoodie pockets.

"Jack's still here," Drew said, as if that would somehow deter me from wanting space. When she saw it wouldn't, she tried a different tactic. "He may try to poison you again."

A low growl rumbled through my chest as the party and interrogation flashed through my mind. "I can handle myself," I snarled, spinning around once again. Besides, if he tried anything again, Nadia might just torch his ass with her strange fire magic.

My brows furrowed in thought. When we got back to the cabin and Nadia told me about her hike in the woods, she tried to produce the fire she had told me about, but had been unable to. It didn't matter. She was my best friend, and I knew she'd never lie to me.

Besides, I could tell something was different about her now. It was so subtle at first that I didn't even notice it, but the more I dwelled on the matter, the more obvious it became. It wasn't anything I could see or smell, but rather something I just sensed about her. There was a new sense of power about her, something that hinted at just how formidable she could become.

Drew growled in frustration. "Riley," she groaned, falling into step on my left side. Nadia walked on my right, both of us staring at her out of the corner of our eyes. I couldn't wrap my brain around the idea of Drew trying to help me. Our entire lives, she had gone through every length possible to make mine and Nadia's lives miserable. Now here she was, protecting me from Jack and his family.

"He's a hunter," she said, as if it were new information.

"Really?" I asked in a mocking amazed voice. "Wow, Drew, I didn't know that! Tell me more." Honestly, though, why not? I already had to deal with a psychotic werewolf, as well as a pack that cornered and threatened me into joining them everywhere I turned. Why not add a family of hunters into the mix?

"Why are you trying to protect me?" I demanded. "I'm not a member of your pack, so why bother?"

She opened her mouth to answer, her eyes flicking over to Eddie who walked on her other side. He shook his head slightly and I frowned.

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded, coming to a stop. I reached out and grabbed Drew's arm to stop her, but as soon as my hand made contact with her skin, I was sucked into a downward spiral, falling into darkness.

When I opened my eyes, everything was foggy, as if I were looking through a pair of old, dirty goggles. I was standing in what looked to be a study, much like one you'd find in a mansion. When I glanced around, I saw Drew and Eddie sitting on a bench in the corner, while Simon and Sierra stood in the center before a huge, oak wood desk.

The man sitting behind the desk was ordinarily plain-looking, and yet he carried himself with a powerful sense of authority. He was tall with neatly combed brown hair and broad shoulders, his eyes as blue and as bright as the twins'. Donovan. It had to be.

"Are you sure?" Sierra asked, glancing between her father and brother. Her eyes were wide, the blue and gold glowing brilliantly in the dimly lit study. The only light in the room came from the soft, cracking fire in the fireplace.

Donovan nodded and stood, coming around to the other side of the desk. He leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yes," he said. "I'm sure, and so is Astrid. She sensed it before the girl was even bitten."