Moonlight

For Alex, werewolf and tattoo advisor extraordinaire.

Thanks for all the brainstorming lunch sessions and for

answering my questions at two in the morning.

You rock! Love, Mom

PROLOGUE

Moonlight washed over us, washed over Lucas and me.

A hushed silence permeated the forest. Giant trees surrounded us. Their rustling leaves whispered warnings in the warm breeze of the summer night. But we ignored them. We cared only about one another.

He was much taller than I was, and I had to bend my head back to gaze into his silver eyes. They were hypnotic, which should have calmed my racing heart but instead only made it speed up. Or maybe it was the nearness of his lips that sent my heart into a chaotic rhythm.

He took a step closer and I retreated, but a tree stopped me from going as far away as I wanted. Was I ready for this? Was I ready for a kiss that would change my life? I knew that if he kissed me I’d never be the same again. That
we
would never be the same. That our relationship would shift—

My mind stuttered with the enormity of such a simple word.
Shift
. It meant more to me now—now that I understood.

Lucas was suddenly nearer. I hadn’t seen the movement. He was just there. He could move that quickly. My knees grew weak, and I was grateful that I had a sturdy tree to lean against. He lifted his arm and pressed his forearm against the bark over my head as though he, too, needed some sort of support. The action brought him even closer. I felt the welcoming heat of his body reaching out to mine. Under normal circumstances he would have drawn me in for a comforting snuggle, but nothing about tonight was normal.

He was beautiful in the moonlight. Gorgeous, really. His thick, straight hair—a medley of colors: white, black, and silver, with a little brown thrown in for good measure—hung down to his shoulders. I had this reckless urge to touch it, to touch him.

But I knew any movement on my part would be a signal to him, a signal that I was ready. And I wasn’t. I didn’t want what he was offering. Not tonight. Maybe not ever.

What was I afraid of? It was only a kiss. I’d kissed other guys. I’d kissed Lucas.

So why did the thought of a kiss from Lucas tonight terrify me? The answer was simple: I knew this kiss would bind us together forever.

His fingers gently brushed my hair back from my brow. He’d once told me the shade of it reminded him of a fox. He thought of everything in terms related to the forest. It suited him and his solitary ways.

Why was he so patient? Why didn’t he push? Did he feel it, too? Did he understand how momentous it would be if—

He dipped his head down. I didn’t move. I barely breathed. In spite of all my reservations, I desired this. I craved it. But still I fought against it.

His lips were almost touching mine. Almost.

“Kayla,” he murmured invitingly, and his warm breath caressed my cheek. “It’s time.”

Tears stung my eyes. I shook my head, refusing to acknowledge the truth of his words. “I’m not ready.”

I heard an ominous, throaty growl in the distance. He stiffened. I knew he’d heard it, too. He shoved away from me and glanced over his shoulder. That’s when I saw them: a dozen wolves restlessly prowling the perimeter of the clearing.

Lucas looked back at me, disappointment reflected in his silver eyes. “Then pick another. But you can’t go through it alone.”

He turned his back on me and began striding with purpose toward the wolves.

“Wait!” I screamed after him.

But it was too late.

He started discarding his clothes with each quickening step. Then he was running. He leaped into the air—

By the time he hit the ground, he was a wolf. He’d transformed in the shimmering wink of time from boy to beast. He was as beautiful in wolf form as in human form.

He threw back his head and howled at the moon, the harbinger of change, the bringer of destiny. The anguished sound reverberated through me, called to me. I wrestled against answering, but the wildness that resided deep inside me was too strong, too determined to have its way.

I started running toward him. . . .

It was difficult to believe that less than two weeks ago, I was laughing and mocking the idea of werewolves actually existing.

And now I, Kayla Madison, was about to become one.

ONE

Less than two weeks earlier . . .

Fear. It was a living, breathing thing that resided inside me. Sometimes I could feel it prowling around, striving to break free. It journeyed with me now as Lindsey and I stalked through the national forest’s dense thicket near midnight. But I’d become pretty good at hiding the panic. I didn’t want Lindsey to think she’d made a mistake when she’d convinced me to work as a wilderness guide with her during the summer. I figured I could learn a few tricks from her about battling my inner demons. She took the meaning of adventuresome to a whole new level.

But still, coming alone to a place where wild things looked for tasty snacks was insane. It was even crazier that we hadn’t told anyone. We’d kept quiet because leaving the barracks once the lights were out was reason for dismissal. After surviving a week of intensive training, I definitely didn’t want to get fired the night before my first assignment.

I tightened my fingers around my weapon—a Maglite. My adoptive dad is a cop who taught me, like, a hundred ways to kill a man using a flashlight. Okay, so I’m prone to exaggeration, but still, he’d shown me a few self-defense moves.

Off to the side where the trees and brush were thickest, I heard a rustling noise.

“Shh! Wait up. What was that?” I whispered harshly.

Lindsey scanned her flashlight between the trees and into the darkness of the canopy of leaves above. While there was a crescent moon tonight, its light couldn’t penetrate the thickness of the trees here. “What was
what
?”

My flashlight beam hit her as I swung it around. She flinched and held up a hand to protect her eyes from the harsh light. Her silky, white-blond hair reflected the light and appeared magical. She reminded me of a whimsical fairy, but I knew her delicate features hid an inner strength. She’d been featured in the local paper because she’d saved a child from a cougar attack by putting herself between the animal and the child and yelling at it until it ran off.

“I thought I heard something,” I told her.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.” My heart thudding, I glanced around again. I loved the outdoors. But tonight, being out here gave me the creeps. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched or having a
Blair Witch Project
moment.

“Like footsteps?” Lindsey asked.

“Not really. Not like a person makes. More a soft plodding, like walking in your socks—or on paws maybe.”

Lindsey slung her arm easily around my slender shoulders. She was a little taller than I was, and her muscles were firm from all the hiking and rock climbing she did. We’d met last summer when I’d come camping with my parents. Lindsey had been one of our guides—or sherpas, as the park personnel referred to them. We’d connected and become fast friends, keeping in touch over the school year.

“We’re not being followed,” Lindsey assured me. “Everyone was asleep when we left our cabin.”

“What if it’s some kind of predator?” This fear I was experiencing didn’t make sense. But I knew I’d heard something, and I knew it wasn’t friendly. I couldn’t explain how I knew—just a sixth sense sort of thing.

Lindsey’s laughter echoed through the trees.

“I’m serious. What about that cougar you chased off last summer?” I asked.

“What about him?”

“What if he’s out for revenge?”

“Then he’ll eat me, not you. Unless he’s just hungry. Then he’ll eat whoever runs the slowest.”

Which would be me,
I thought. I wasn’t exactly athletically challenged, but I wasn’t
American Gladiators
material either.

I took a deep breath and listened intently. The woods were eerily quiet. Didn’t they go silent when danger was near? “Maybe we should head back.”

We were about a mile from the village that was at the entrance to the park. Lindsey and I shared a small cabin with Brittany, another guide. Once lights were out at eleven, no one was supposed to leave the cabin.

Now Lindsey imitated the sound of a chicken.
“Bawk! Bawk!”

“Very funny. What if we get fired?” I asked.

“We’ll only get fired if we get caught. Come on.”