Full Moon Kisses by Ellen Schreiber
“My friends wouldn’t meet you,” I shot back. “Are you crazy?”
“Like a fox. Or should I say wolf?”
“We can end this conversation now,” Brandon said.
“You’d like to pay me back for what I did at the championship game?” Ryder asked. “In front of all these people? Go ahead.” He put his arms out as if he was going to let Brandon hit him. “Give me your best shot.”
“I’m not talking about the past. I’m talking about you leaving her alone.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Ryder said.
Just then we heard screaming, and this time it wasn’t coming from the roller coaster. It was coming from behind us. Immediately people were dashing for cover.
I turned back and saw several sets of gray eyes at about the height of a dog. Then I noticed their shiny white coats.
“Wolves!” people yelled. “There are real wolves!”
Couples and children raced for shelter. I froze as the pack of wolves walked toward us. When they reached us, they stood around Brandon as if he were the leader of their pack.
Ryder stared at Brandon and the wolves in shock.
“What are you, some freak?” he asked.
“Yes, I am,” Brandon said.
The wolves began to growl at Ryder.
“I told you to leave my friends alone,” Brandon warned.
“They are hanging out with that guy—” I heard someone say.
“Maybe they are his.”
“Those are wild animals,” another said.
“It could be a trick. Maybe he’s their trainer,” a male’s voice said.
“What’s going on?” Ivy asked as she and Abby walked up to us.
I stared at my friends and then looked back at Ryder.
“There’s something not right about you,” Ryder said to Brandon. “Call off those animals.”
“I need a reason to.”
“My bite is worse,” Ryder said, flashing his fangs.
“I wouldn’t count on it.” Brandon flashed his fangs back.
Ryder shook his head in disbelief. “It can’t be—” he said.
“It can,” Brandon told him. “And no one will be the wiser,” he said. “It’s a perfect night for this. Everyone will think it’s part of an act. That was my plan.”
The wolves growled again.
“Call them off,” Ryder said.
Nash appeared. He paused when he saw the wolves and Ryder.
“He’s a werewolf, too!” Ryder said. “The judges even thought so.”
Suddenly Nash straightened up confidently. It was as if Ryder’s words gave him the strength he needed to step up to the situation.
Nash bravely moved to stand next to Brandon.
“Yes,” Nash said, “and what are you going to do about it?”
Ryder seemed to quake in the presence of Brandon, Nash, and the wolves.
The crowd of onlookers grew curious as security was now on the scene.
Ryder glared at me—first with fierceness, then at the last moment with a lonely and vulnerable look.
He took off, and within a few seconds Brandon whistled and the wolves howled. Then they ran into the woods.
Brandon slapped Nash on the back. Several people started clapping, and many others joined in.
“Wow—that was cool,” one said. “I’ve never seen wolves up close.”
“They were wild—but they seemed as tame as our dog,” another commented.
“Well, that was so freaky,” Ivy said. “I’m getting tired of wild animals hanging out with us.”
“You meant the wolves or that Ryder guy?” Abby said with a laugh.
“I can assure you they are gone for the night,” Brandon said. “All of them.”
Nash beamed and proudly bumped fists with Brandon.
“Now, how about winning you girls some more prizes at the game area?” Brandon said.
We all wandered over to the booths filled with stuffed animals for those who could puncture a balloon with a dart, knock over a pyramid of milk bottles with a baseball, or toss a ring over the neck of a liter bottle.
We girls smiled as we left the fest with stuffed animals in our hands and hugged good-bye after our eventful evening.
Brandon followed me home in his car and came into my house, making sure I was safe and settled in.
“Well, we foiled their big plan,” I said when we sat on the couch in the living room.
“With Nash’s help,” Brandon added.
We started to watch Night of the Werewolf.
“I think I’ve had enough werewolves for one evening,” I said, taking out the DVD and switching to a romantic comedy.
Brandon stroked my hair as I leaned against him and started to doze off.
When I awoke, he was gone and I was holding a stuffed bear instead of him.
SIXTEEN
moonlight meeting
The following day, I found a note laying on our front stoop.
On the outside of the folded white paper was typed in black, bold letters, Celeste.
I opened the note and read:
Ryder and brood left town. Meet me at dusk at the foot of Morrow Bridge to celebrate.
I texted Brandon:
I’m on my way.
The Morrow Bridge was only a few miles from where I lived. My mom had the car, so I took my bike. I headed down my street and out of our community. I walked my bike across the two-lane street and then pushed it between a barrier and overgrown brush to the gravel pit. I raced around the gravel pit to the bike trail. Once on the bike trail, I pedaled north, noticing the Little River that ran alongside me. My surroundings were so beautiful, and I couldn’t wait to meet Brandon. I finally raced over a rusty bridge and stopped at the foot of it. I didn’t see my boyfriend anywhere.
I waited for a few moments as the sun set and the full moon shone.
Then I heard Sinatra singing, “Fly Me to the Moon.”
I quickly picked it up.
“Where are you?” Brandon asked.
“At the foot of the Morrow Bridge. Just like you asked.”
He paused. “I didn’t ask you to meet me there,” he said.
“I don’t understand. You put the note in my mailbox.”
“I didn’t leave you any note,” Brandon said. “I’m waiting for you at my house.”
I froze. “Then who am I meeting?” I asked, my voice shaking.
Ryder, in werewolf form, stepped out from behind a dilapidated shack a few yards away.
“I was hoping you’d come,” he said seductively.
Ryder was hot—no doubt about it. His jagged black hair was fiercely untamed and fell over his defined shoulders. His arms were beefy, and his tattoos stretched out in monstrous forms. His earrings popped out from underneath his long locks like spikes.
I stood, immobilized. I couldn’t breathe. It was like the first time I was lost in the woods, looking into the gray eyes of a hungry pack of wolves. I didn’t have Brandon, Nash, my friends, or even a festival crowd to hide behind or give me comfort. My pulse skyrocketed, and I knew I’d have to run for my life.
I turned to escape and head back on the bridge, but I stopped in my tracks. Leopold was waiting on the other side. He appeared menacing as well. His stance was bold and threatening.
“Please help me,” I said into the phone. “Ryder and his pack are here. I don’t feel safe.”
“I’m on my way,” Brandon said.
I hung up and slid the phone into my pocket.
I spun around and hopped on my bike. I began to head to the right of where Ryder was standing. But when I pedaled to what I thought was woods, I saw rushing water between the trees. I should have known. There was the river.
I looked back at him.
“I need you, Celeste.” His voice was smooth, but I sensed he was cold and calculating.
“No you don’t,” I reassured him.
“Yes I do. I don’t want to be alone forever.” His wolf fangs glistened as h
“Who says that will happen to you? Just because you don’t have a girlfriend now…”
“But I’m not going to change—I mean, my condition…This is who I am. And what girl in their right mind would fall in love with a werewolf?”
I paused. He knew that I loved Brandon, and now he knew Brandon was a werewolf, too.
“That’s why you are the perfect girl for me.” He gazed at me with sorrowful eyes. I felt so much intensity coming from him. I felt dizzy.
He pulled me in to him and before I knew it I was on the other end of his lips. He was magnetic and his fingers slid softly through my hair. For a moment, I felt as if I were kissing Brandon. But then I caught a glimpse of his black locks and was shocked back into reality. I realized that this wasn’t my boyfriend, and I pushed myself away. I wiped off my lips and spat.
“Why did you do that?” I asked, horrified.
“Because I’ve been searching for you—” He grinned a wolflike grin.
“Forget it. You’ll have to find someone else.”
“No, it’s you. You are everything I’m looking for. Beautiful, sweet, kind, feisty. Those are all the traits that I want in someone. And I need someone to be with. We all do. Someone like me—and you are that girl.”
It was nice to hear those compliments, even from someone as reckless as Ryder. But I wasn’t about to get caught up in his seduction again. “I’m nothing like you. You’re rude. Pathetic.”
“Oh, Celeste, I was just acting. You think I’m really rude? I’m a gentleman.”
“A gentleman wouldn’t trick a girl into meeting him or into becoming a werewolf.”
“I wanted to get to know you. Perhaps I went about it the wrong way. But we are here now, and the moonlight is so beautiful.”
“There is nothing beautiful about tonight,” I said.
He snarled.
“I’m sure there is a girl for you, Ryder. Someone who will love you. But you can’t force someone the way you’re trying with me.”
“No one will love me the way that I am. I’m a monster—don’t you see? So are my friends. What chance do we have? I need someone like you.” Ryder was as genuine as I’d ever seen him. Yet I wasn’t sure why he was interested in me.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You are so compassionate and understanding. I need a girl like you. Someone who can take care of me—like I take care of her.”
“You can’t take care of anyone when you scare someone,” I said. “Just be yourself. But be a kinder self. You made enemies with Brandon, and you’ve frightened me and my friends. If you want someone kind, then you have to show up and be kind, too.”
His friends crept over and surrounded us.
Ryder came toward me again. He was dangerous and wild. His wolf fangs gleamed near me. There was no escape. I was inches away from being bitten.
I held out my arm to block him. I knew I’d kick him if I had to. But then I thought my words might be more of a deterrent.
“I know how to help you,” I said. “And this isn’t the way.”
“I’m sure you do,” he said, not understanding me.
“I have a cure. That’s what you really want, Ryder. Not to be with me—but to be yourself. Yourselves, all of you.”
“What kind of cure?” Leopold asked.
Hunter’s steely gray eyes brightened. “You can get us a cure?”
“She’s lying!” Ryder shouted, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from them.
“What if she isn’t?” Hunter asked.
“Yes,” Leopold said.
“She has to be. If she had a cure, why wouldn’t Brandon have taken it?” he asked.
“Because he gave his dose to Nash,” I said, “so he could be cured. And it worked for Nash!”
“Who is Nash?” Hunter asked.
“That guy who won the werewolf contest last night at the fest. He used to be a werewolf.”
Ryder squeezed my arm tightly.
“You’re hurting me!” I shouted.
“Don’t—” Leopold said. “She can help us!”
“Yes, let her go!” Hunter insisted.
“I don’t care if you are a werewolf,” I said. “I’ll defend myself if I have to.”
“You can’t touch me,” Ryder growled.
“I can if I have a cure that you never get. I can make sure that you’ll be like this forever.” Ryder didn’t budge.
“I’ll give it to you, Leopold,” I said. “All you have to do is help free me.”
“You better let her go, Ryder.” Leopold stepped in close, flashing his fangs at his friend.
“Yes,” Hunter added. “I don’t want to stay like this forever just so you can have a girlfriend.”
All at once a fierce howl came from within the woods behind us. A pack of wolves rushed out and headed straight for us. I covered my face out of fear, then realized they were barking at Ryder and his gang.
Ryder let go of me and growled at the wolves, but they didn’t retreat. He stared at them and flashed his fangs, but nothing he did worked to calm them down. They were ready to attack.
I felt a rush of air pass by me, and all of sudden Brandon had pushed Ryder away from me and pulled me out of harm’s way. I was so relieved to have Brandon here, I hugged him with all my might.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I nodded, so grateful my heroic boyfriend was holding me.
The wolves continued to growl at Ryder.
“Call them off,” he said.
Brandon got in Ryder’s face. “You are a menace as a werewolf and a human. There is no separation between monster and man except those fangs.”
Ryder seemed truly hurt by Brandon’s comments. I guessed that was what Ryder feared—that he really was unlovable.
“But it’s not the way you look now,” Brandon went on. “It’s the way you act—always.”
Ryder’s hurt morphed into anger. His gray eyes grew red with rage.
“You don’t know anything about me—” Ryder said.
“You know I do,” Brandon challenged back.
“I beat you before, and I can do it again—”
“Not this time,” Brandon said.
The wolves crept closer and snarled as if they were ready to kill.
“You need your dogs to do your dirty work,” Ryder jabbed.
“And you need a hockey stick to fight dirty,” he said, referring to the championship game when Ryder had attacked him. “And now a gang of werewolves to get you a date. I’m not worried.”
Brandon whistled, and the wolves retreated. He stepped closer to Ryder. “Now what are you going to do?”
Ryder looked to his friends, but they didn’t budge. Instead, they backed off and stepped away from us.
“She said something about a cure—” Leopold said.
“Yes,” Hunter said.
“Quit whining,” Ryder said, “and help me.”
“But we want her to help us….” Leopold said.
“Forget that, you jerks, jump them!”
But Ryder wasn’t able to command his pack as easily as Brandon was his.
“It was something she said—” Leopold appeared saddened that what I told him might not be true.
“We were hoping….” Hunter added.
“It’s true,” Brandon said to them.
They both perked up. “Are you kidding? You have something to make us human again? All the time?”
He nodded.
They stepped between Ryder and Brandon.
“Hey—” Ryder said. “What are you doing?”
“Exactly what we should have done before,” Leopold said. “Finding a new pack leader.”
Hunter held Ryder at bay.
“I have to tell you, there’s a chance the cure can backfire,” Brandon said sincerely, “and you could end up a werewolf full-time.”
“It’s a chance I have to take,” Leopold said.
“Me, too!” Hunter demanded.
The two eager werewolves hovered around Brandon as he grabbed the vial from out of his pocket.
“I only have one vial,” Brandon said. “But the dose is strong.”
“We’ll share?” Leopold asked.
Brandon nodded. Then he uncorked the vial and handed it to Leopold.
I admired my boyfriend, who was so gracious to give his cure over to his enemies for the chance of making them well.
Leopold took a sip and handed the vial back to Brandon.
Nothing happened.
“I’m going to be like this forever?” Leopold asked nervously. He grew so upset he balled up his fists in frustration. I feared he was going to take off into the woods in despair.
“It’s okay,” I reassured him. “It takes some time.”
“Like how long?” he asked worriedly. “What will happen?”
“You just have to be patient,” I said.
“You are just fooling me—maybe what you gave me was poison!”
He began to lunge toward Brandon, but Brandon stepped back before Leopold made contact.
“Just relax,” I said to Leopold. I went to him, and his gray eyes tensed in surprise that I’d approached him. I took his hand. He suddenly mellowed. “It’s okay,” I said. “We are here with you. You aren’t alone. It takes a few minutes to affect your body. But we won’t leave your side.”
Leopold softened; I could feel his tense hand relax.
Then the hairs on his chest began to disappear. One by one. And his beard became shorter and then was gone. His fangs receded and his steely gray eyes turned hazel.
“It worked!” he said, laughing with relief. “It worked!”
“Let me have it,” Hunter exclaimed. “It’s my turn.”
Brandon handed him the vial, and he took a sip.
Hunter tried to remain calm. But he kept checking his chest and arms to see if any hair disappeared.
“It takes time,” Leopold assured him.
“I know, I know.” He breathed in deeply to calm himself. “But it feels like a lifetime.”
“This is all your fault,” Leopold said to Ryder. “If you hadn’t asked us to sneak into that wolf sanctuary, none of this would have happened.”
“Don’t blame me—” Ryder said. He was standing a few feet away from us, watching what was transpiring with his friends.