Full Moon Kisses:A Full Moon Novel(19)

He gazed at me earnestly. "Me, Jake, and Dylan can straighten them out," he said. "I have no problem kicking their-"
"You don't have to do that."
"I can," Nash said, his chest puffed out.
"I know. But there is something else you can do."
"What?"
"Don't take the serum on the full moon," I said, looking at him with my eyes wide and pleading.
"Are you insane? Why would I do that?"
"Nash, I think they might not be just regular guys."
"Then what kind of guys are they?"
"I think they are werewolves."
Nash was shocked. As if he couldn't comprehend any more werewolves other than him and Brandon.
I stared at him intently. "And I think they are searching for others-girls-to join their pack."
"How did you get that in your head?"
"This one guy-Ryder-stared down Champ like you did Apollo, like Brandon did in the wolf enclosure at the zoo. The only humans I've seen who can do that are also werewolves."
"How can that be?" he asked. "More werewolves in town? I've never even heard of this Ryder guy."
"They are from Huntington. And I think they want to try to turn me."
This time Nash was the calm one, being helpful to me. "You don't know for sure that they really are werewolves."
"I do, Nash. I've seen it with you and Brandon. I know what these guys are. And remember Dr. Meadows's prediction? If you aren't the one who is going to bite me, that means one of them is."
"So we'll have to do something," he said. "No one is going to hurt you."
I felt relieved by his protectiveness toward me and decided I could ask him the tough question. "Will you delay taking the serum until the following full moon? I need you to be as fast and strong as they are so Brandon will not be all alone. You have to be on Brandon's side, as a werewolf, in case they try anything crazy."
He scooted back and looked away. Then he leaned in again. "I can help-and I will help. But as a human."
"What? You won't wait?"
"I can't wait. I have to be normal again."
"But can't you even at least think about it?" I asked.
He put his hand on mine. "I can do more as myself than I can as a werewolf, Celeste. I am a monster when I turn-uncontrollable. I still might be the one that would be biting you. I can't take that chance."
"Please do it for me," I begged him.
"But I am-I'm taking it for us both."
"Nash, when have I ever asked you to do anything? How can you say no to this? It's only one more month!"
"You are asking me to not be normal anymore. And now that I remember everything-I know what's in my heart. I can't be the one who hurts you."
"I am asking you to do something for me. For once in your life not to leave me just sitting on the sidelines, helping you." I was so exasperated with his selfishness. "Uh, Brandon was right. He can do this on his own. I was stupid to think you cared about anything but yourself."
I turned away from Nash and stormed off. I could sense his bewilderment as I left him sitting alone, students staring at him as they walked down the stairs.                       
       
           



       
TEN

the search

How are we going to find these guys?" I asked Brandon in the parking lot after school.
"You said they were hanging out in the woods near your house. Let's start there."
I hopped into Brandon's Jeep and he drove me to my neighborhood. As we got close, I wondered what we'd find. Would they still be there? And if so, how would they react to Brandon hunting for them?
Brandon parked the Jeep on the street near the wooded area and we got out. I pointed to the location where I had seen Ryder and his gang emerge before. Brandon headed down the hill to the woods, and I followed close behind. He stepped in and quickly disappeared. He was walking so fast, I had trouble keeping up with him. Once inside, he paused. He glanced around. It seemed like he was using his lycan sense to track their scent.
"Over there-" he said, gesturing to the left.
Brandon started again, walking briskly through the grass and twigs and over fallen branches. I had to jog to keep up with him.
Within a few minutes, Brandon had found their hangout. "Look," he said.
There were three sleeping bags, a cooler, and a filled green garbage bag.
"So they've been sleeping out in the woods?" I said, mortified.
"They've been here for a few days," he said.
Brandon noticed a book on one of the sleeping bags. He bent down and picked it up and flipped through it. "It's a journal," he said.
Then he stood up.
"What is it?" I asked.
"They're coming."
My heart felt like it stopped. I could barely breathe, and I froze in my position. He didn't have time to replace the journal and instead handed it to me. I held on to it as Brandon grabbed me and pulled me behind a tree. We waited as snapping branches and voices were heard coming our way.
We both tried to breathe as quietly as we could.
I couldn't make out their conversation until they reached the campsite, where their jovial mood quickly changed.
"Hey, someone was here," Ryder said.
"Goldilocks?" Leopold asked with a laugh.
"I think someone like us," Ryder said cryptically.
"It could just be a wolf," Hunter said. "They do have them in this town, you know."
"We know," Leopold replied. "But we aren't worried about wolves finding us here."
"My journal is missing," Ryder said.
"I hope you didn't write about our plans in it," Hunter said.
"I'm not stupid-" Ryder shot back. "I just use it for notes."
"Shh," Leopold said. "They might still be here."
They all paused, listening carefully, trying to sense if someone else was in the area.
"I think it might be deer-" Hunter said.
"I don't sense deer. I sense human."
The sound of his footsteps grew louder as he inched our way, ever so slowly approaching the tree we were hiding behind.
"Don't move," Brandon whispered in my ear. "They can't know you are here, too." His soft voice sent goose bumps through me, but they were mixed with feelings of fear.
Brandon suddenly jumped out from behind the tree and faced Ryder head-on.
"Hey-" Ryder shouted.
The others rushed over. I heard scuffling, and I hoped everything was okay.
I tried my best to listen to what was happening.
"What's going on, man?" Leopold charged.
Brandon didn't respond. I could feel the tension of his sudden appearance all the way to the tree that I was hiding behind.
"Hey, I know you-" Ryder said.
"I don't think you do," Brandon said firmly.
"I do. I know I do."
"Yes, it's that dude you checked in the championship game," Hunter said.
"Yes," Ryder said. "Maddox. From Miller's Glen."
"Don't you remember us?" Leopold asked sarcastically.
"How could he forget?" Ryder pressed.
"What are you doing here?" Brandon asked. From Brandon's tense tone I guessed they weren't friends.
"What are you doing here?" Hunter asked.
"This is a private community," Brandon said. "Not a campsite."
"What are you, the Housing Authority?" Ryder asked.
His cohorts laughed.
"I've heard you are harassing some girls," Brandon said, his voice still firm. "And I'm here to stop it."
Then Ryder paused. "Maddox. You live around here?"
Brandon didn't answer.
"I thought you were in Miller's Glen," Ryder said.
"I thought you lived in Huntington," Brandon said. It was a neighboring town to both Legend's Run and Miller's Glen.
"We are. We are just visiting. What about you?"
Brandon didn't respond.
"Weird that you'd leave a town where you are the most popular jock," Ryder told him. "It must have been that championship game that you lost. I guess you had to run away from the pain?"
Brandon was the most popular jock in Miller's Glen? I could see how he could be-I always thought he was unrecognized for his handsome good looks here just because he lived on the Westside. It was just like Brandon, so humble and endearing, that he never let on about his popularity back home while he sat alone here at school.
I leaned in a little more but still made sure I remained hidden by the leaves on the tree.
"So, you couldn't take the heat from the community?" he said. "It must have melted the very ice you stood on."
"I don't need to explain to you why I'm here."
"So you live in this posh area, do you?" Ryder asked. "Rich boy doesn't get what he wanted and moves to another town to escape."
Rich boy-I wondered. Brandon never gave me the impression he was a rich kid.
"So you are Mr. Popular in this town, too?" Ryder suggested adamantly. "Playing the part of the young hero. Doesn't seem fitting, though. I guess this town doesn't know about you being a loser."
Brandon didn't answer. I wasn't sure what they were referring to.
"Do you still have the scar?" Ryder asked.
"I should have ended this with you when I had the chance," Brandon said.
"With a hockey stick? Or fists?"
"I don't need to resort to such tactics," Brandon said.
"Well, we have the trophy," Ryder said.
"And I have my integrity."