03 Long Night Moon - Seasons of the Moon Read Online Free PDF Page B

sweater.
    Rylie glanced through the window as she decorated, half-expecting Bekah to be lurking outside. The only person she saw in the fields was Abel, but he wasn’t much better.
    “What’s Abel been doing here all day?” Rylie asked. “He was in the kitchen at breakfast this morning.”
    “I asked him to come.”
    “Why?”
    “Because he’s my employee and I can do that,” Gwyn said. “Two particularly ambitious heifers birthed today. He helped.”
    “But you always do that stuff yourself. Why are you inside if we’re calving, anyway? You can’t tell me the snow bothers you.”
    Gwyn shoved the first strand of lights into her arms. “Put that over the window.”
    Her tone of voice left no room for questions. It meant Gwyn considered the topic to be none of her business, and pushing it would probably get her “volunteered” for an awful chore. Considering half their cows were pregnant, Rylie could see herself shoulder-deep in birthing fluids way too easily. She didn’t want to find out how much a cow would panic over a werewolf midwife.
    “Should Seth help too?” Rylie asked.
    “I’ve got his number if I need him. That boy has a lot of homework that needs to come first.” Gwyn cast a sideways look at her. “Speaking of homework…”
    She sighed. “But it’s Friday .”
    “I wouldn’t put off my work if I was you. Did you know the dean of students called me this afternoon? Your grades are slipping.”
    “Isn’t that supposed to be confidential?”
    “Your flesh is mine until you’re eighteen, babe.” Gwyn gave an evil chuckle, and Rylie tried not to make a face.
    The front door opened with a blast of cold air. Abel’s towering form filled the doorway as snow gusted around his feet. His scarred face was covered by a scarf. “Rylie,” he began, and then he noticed Gwyneth. His tone changed. “Afternoon. What’s going on here?”
    “We’re decorating. What are your thoughts on scaling very tall ladders to hang lights?” Gwyn asked.
    “Depends on how much you’re paying me. Can I talk to you outside, Rylie?” He kept his tone casual, but she detected a hint of urgency.
    She dropped the Santa Claus potholders on the coffee table. “Sure,” she said, trying to sound equally casual, even though being asked to talk by Abel sent her into panic mode. Had something happened? Was Seth hurt?
    “Don’t be long,” Gwyn said. “Dinner’s soon.”
    “I’m just going to show her something. Won’t be long at all,” Abel said.
    Rylie pulled on a hat and gloves and followed him outside. It took her three steps to match each of his long-legged strides, and he didn’t wait for her to keep up.
    His smells enveloped her even though she stayed well out of arm’s reach. In some ways, he resembled Seth. They shared that gunpowder smell, and the faint tang of stomach-churning silver. But even though he had never been to Gray Mountain, he had that smell of cold stone and ice rivers, too.
    She was so distracted by Abel’s odor that she didn’t notice where they were going. He stopped at the duck pond and looked at her expectantly. The scarred side of his face was pale with cold.
    “What?” she asked.
    He waved in the general direction of the pond. “There. Can’t you tell?”
    Rylie looked again. Abel’s boot prints flattened the snow, and tire tracks crossed the field from the gate toward the trees. She stepped closer to gaze at the ice. The wind shifted.
    And that was when the smell struck her.
    “Bekah,” she said.
    “Who?”
    “Bekah Riese.” She took several short sniffs. Pictures splashed through her mind—thick fur, pine trees, and silver. There were two distinct creatures, and she didn’t know the second. “I think her brother was here, too.”
    Rylie tracked the smells around the pond. They were a few hours old. Bekah and Levi must have explored during the night, while the moon was high. She followed their traces to the top of a nearby hill.
    When she turned around, she could