Once in a Full Moon (15 page)

Chapter Twenty
Six Senses

T
he sun was beginning to set over the trees, and it wouldn’t be long until the rise of the full moon. I hurried to Brandon’s. I needed to see him face-to-face—and see which features stared back at me, those of a handsome guy or those of a wolf.

I found him in the backyard stacking wood into a pile alongside a small shed.

This time Brandon wasn’t pleased by my presence.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “I told you I couldn’t see you. Especially tonight.”

“I wanted to be near you, just like the wolves did when they came to see you at school,” I confessed.

“You have to leave, Celeste.” He backed away, but I followed.

“I’m not going,” I said.

He picked up a few pieces of wood that had tumbled from the pile. “You have to—it’s the only way.”

“Then you will have to carry me off,” I said, finally facing him. “And I’m much heavier than that pile of wood.”

He returned the logs into the pile and stared off at the setting sun. “Celeste, what is happening to me?” he asked.

His pain and torment were palpable. I would have taken it all away if I could. I hugged him and he caved in on me.

“I don’t know, Brandon. It seems odd, mystical, paranormal. Or maybe it’s nothing at all. Maybe it’s all coincidence.”

“But I never felt anything like this before . . . until that day when I heard you calling in the woods. And then I was never the same.”

“It was a full moon, then. I knew it was my fault.”

“It’s not—”

I’d experienced Brandon Maddox through my five senses. One, I first saw Brandon in class that day that he transferred. Two, I heard him speak when Ivy and Abby confronted him. Three, we touched that day he saved me in the woods. Four, his scent still lingered on his shirt that I kept on my nightstand. Five, I had tasted his lips against mine. But there was one more sense I was desperate to witness; I needed to confirm my suspicions through the sixth sense—the paranormal.

“I’m not leaving,” I said.

“You have to go—I don’t know how I’ll be—or what I’ll be.”

I held on to him with all my strength. “It’s okay.”

I wanted to see for sure if what we’d experienced under the last full moon was coincidence or could be explained away by another reason—one other than legends, folklore, or predictions.

The full moon shone down upon us as Brandon enveloped me in his arms and kissed me. He was so passionate and intense, I was afraid I was going to be the one who would have to throw off my coat this time.

Brandon was kissing my neck when he suddenly broke away.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I’m burning up. Like the sun is lighting me on fire—only there’s no sun.”

“Just the moon . . .” I barely managed to say.

“You must leave. Now!”

I had Brandon’s shirt at home, so I knew last month’s episode wasn’t a dream. But that didn’t mean I’d seen what I thought I’d seen. Tonight, I wouldn’t let Brandon out of my sight. I had to see the transformation for myself.

Brandon’s blue eyes turned intensely gray. He covered them and retreated. He went into the woods, using trees to block my view. He was desperate for me not to see him, but I followed him anyway. I ran past trees and jumped over fallen branches and trudged through snow. By the time I caught up to him, his hair was savagely long and lush. His face sported that sexy goatee I’d seen before, and his well-muscled arms and chest were covered with a thin layer of hair. He let out a howl.

Like last time, I backed away. My instincts told me to run for my life.

But there was something drawing me to Brandon, to this strange and powerful figure, something more than just his magnetic muscles and chiseled abs. It was his soul.

Even so, I was scared. For him and for me.

He breathed heavily. His chest heaved; his ribs were like those of a lean animal. His stare was hypnotic; I could barely stand in his presence. I wondered if, like Juliette said, he’d carry me off into the woods. Part of me wanted to escape; the other yearned to find out what might happen if I stayed—if I could help him, since this was all my fault.

I debated running, attempting to leave the uncertainty of woods on the hilltop for the safety of my home—a simple place where werewolves were on TV or were the subjects of students’ essays. However, I knew it would be impossible to outrun Brandon. In this lycan form he was powerful, perhaps invincible, and, to me, deadly attractive and soulful.

But Brandon appeared frightened about what he was capable of doing. He began to retreat. I sensed his turmoil. I wanted to stay, but he wanted me to go.

I shook my head and didn’t move. If he had wanted to kill me, he would have tried to already. I was safe with him for now. I extended my hand to him. I tried my best to remain calm, but my shaking revealed my fear.

Brandon’s brow furrowed and his piercing fangs were shining. His gray gaze bore through me.

I took a deep breath and focused on my task.

“It’s okay,” I said, my voice quavering. “I want to help you.”

“You can’t be near me like this.” His voice was low and seductive.

Brandon was more alone than I’d ever seen him before—more alone than he’d been as a new student walking the halls of a cliquey school, more than a misunderstood outsider quietly eating his lunch in solitude, more than a guy living in a small guesthouse behind his grandparents’ home, with his father a continent away.

I inched forward. Brandon didn’t attack me. He didn’t run away, either.

I took his hand, which was sporting masculine brown hair.

When we touched it was as if I could know his soul. Feelings of love, fear, loneliness, and euphoria raced through me as if we were one. I stared up at him. I was attracted to his spirit as much as to his shirtless body. By touching him, everything I thought I sensed about his feelings from across the hallway, lunchroom, or class I now felt as well, magnified a thousand times.

Then my fingers grazed his palm and the raised scar from his wolf bite. It was bright red, as if the moonlight had branded its radiance into his skin.

I placed his hand to my heart. I wanted to let him know I was here for him, like he’d been there for me.

“A wolf bit you under a full moon,” I said. “I guess the Legend’s Run Werewolf folklore is true. If you hadn’t saved me, then this wouldn’t have happened to you. And then the kiss—it was under a full moon as well. Dr. Meadows warned me . . .” I was filled with remorse and guilt at being the one who had caused his condition. If I had heeded Dr. Meadows’s warning, Brandon would have been like any other student going to school. Instead, he was a werewolf. A tear leaked and drizzled down my cheek.

“There has to be more to . . . whatever this is,” he reassured me. “It’s not your fault.”

I adored Brandon’s strength, not only physical but moral.

I reached for his face. Gingerly, I touched his goatee and stubble. He melted into my tender caress as if he’d been yearning for this touch for a lifetime.

He smelled delightfully woodsy, like burning leaves mixed with frosting snow.

He grazed the tips of his fangs along the tips of my fingers. Chills danced from them straight to my pounding heart. I felt completely spellbound, as though by being together—whether in this form or his daylight one—I felt complete. Brandon wasn’t alone, and neither was I.

“Please don’t go,” I said. “Not yet.”

There was one more thing I longed for. I felt a pull to Brandon more than ever before. If only I could get close enough to him to feel his lips against mine. By day Brandon was handsome, and by moonlight he was stunningly gorgeous and irresistible. Whatever coursed through his veins to make him a werewolf also made him unbelievably magnetic.

Brandon perked up as if he had heard something in the distance. Then I, too, heard the cry of a wolf.

Brandon lurched away. He shook his head, his long hair flowing wildly, and held me at bay. I wasn’t ready for our time together to end.

Before I knew it, I was standing in the woods alone.

His woodsy scent still lingered in the air, and my skin still danced from his touch.

But I knew now that it was true. I’d fallen in love with a werewolf.

Chapter Twenty-one
Into the Woods

T
he following day, I gazed at the empty chair in the back of the classroom.

Now that I was certain Brandon was a werewolf, I knew what I’d be dealing with when the full moon showed its haunting glow. As the moon would appear full for two more evenings, he’d be absent from school for several days, likely spending his nights in the woods. All day long police and animal control cars patrolled the suburbs and school in case the wolves showed up again. The people of Legend’s Run were up in arms about the strange animal behavior.

I was desperate to be with Brandon, but Ivy and Abby had wrangled me into watching Abby’s volleyball game after school.

Abby’s game was delayed and didn’t end until just after dusk. Ivy and Abby were going to join the other girls for a celebratory dinner, but I planned to head to Brandon’s. As I left the gymnasium, I heard faint howling coming from a tree-filled lot near the back of the school. I ignored it and continued on to my car until I saw Brandon’s Jeep parked by the school fence.

Two patrol cars were stationed in the middle of the student lot.

“Brandon?” I called.

I snuck into the edge of the woods without venturing in too far. I’d learned my lesson when I’d gotten lost in the blizzard. I wasn’t about to put my life or anyone else’s in danger.

Lights from the parking lot and gymnasium streamed in through the trees, illuminating a small portion of the woods. A fingerless-gloved hand reached out from the darkness. Brandon, in werewolf form, was leaning against a tree, smiling at me.

Happily, I took his hand and he drew me into him. He grazed his fangs against me. I touched his stubbly face. I ran my fingers through his locks, as he did the same to mine.

“I missed you today,” I said.

“I hunger for you all day and night,” he said as he kissed the nape of my neck.

He gazed at me. His lips were only inches from my own. I was longing inside to finally have them touch in the moonlight.
You must never kiss a werewolf
. I heard Dr. Meadows’s warning in my head, but I wasn’t sure if I could wait any longer.

He pulled my hair off my neck and leaned in. He breathed in as if he was inhaling me. I had dotted myself with perfume and sugary vanilla body lotion. The scent of my hair and body seemed to be intoxicating to Brandon. He tugged at my henley with his fangs and nibbled my shoulder. I was so entranced, enamored by his seductive power. I was only moments from kissing the most romantic werewolf in the world. I remembered Dr. Meadows’s words but I didn’t want to heed her warning. But my skepticism toward Dr. Meadows was what got Brandon into this state in the first place. What was I supposed to do?

“I don’t think I should—” I said, breathless.

“I understand.” Brandon must have sensed my distress.

“But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to—” I vowed.

He pulled away.

“I know someone who can help you—or at least wants to try,” I said.

“Who?” he asked, excited.

“Dr. Meadows. She’s the one who gave me the reading and warned me about the full moon.”

“Does she have experience with werewolves?” he asked.

“Almost—she’s a psychic.”

“I know . . . but has she dealt with werewolves before?”

“Well . . .” I said, “she’s never seen one.”

He couldn’t hide his disappointment. Brandon turned away from me. “There isn’t anyone to help me—” he said.

I felt awful.

“I don’t want to be some stranger’s experiment,” he continued.

“I understand—”

“It’s hard enough making excuses to my grandparents why they don’t see me for a few nights,” he said. “If word gets out in town about me, then I’ll have to remain in the woods during the daylight, too. I won’t be able to show myself to anyone. But I’ve got to find a way to stop this from happening.”

“Celeste?” I heard my name called from outside the woods.

“I have to go,” I whispered, but Brandon had already retreated into the darkness. I heard his heavy breathing but couldn’t see him to even hug him good-bye.

“Celeste! Where are you?” a girl’s voice called.

I jumped out of the woods to Ivy and Abby’s shock and horror.

“What are you doing in there?” Ivy asked. “Are you okay?”

“Of course I am,” I said. My hair was damp from the snow and my coat soiled from brushing against the tree bark.

“What were you doing in there?” Ivy asked. “We saw your car and freaked!”

“I thought I saw someone,” I said.

“Someone in the woods?” Abby said.

“There could have been wolves in there!” Ivy warned.

“Or worse!” Abby said. “Are you crazy?”

I think I was. Crazy in love, that is. But I wasn’t about to tell them that.

“You’ve been acting so strangely lately,” Ivy said, “ever since you and Nash broke up. You’re hard to get hold of and always seem distracted. But we’ll fix that, won’t we?”

Ivy took one arm and Abby linked the other. Both girls escorted me back to my car and followed me as I drove out of the school parking lot.

I was lucky I had friends who watched out for me. It was one of the many reasons I didn’t want anything to jeopardize my relationship with them.

The following day I stopped in Penny for Your Thoughts again. It was the third glowing of the full moon and I wanted to see if I could finally get help for Brandon.

I waited for a client to leave and another one to pay for some amethyst geode bookends. I was getting so agitated I was almost pleading for her herbal tea.

“He doesn’t want anyone to see him,” I told Dr. Meadows when the store was finally empty of customers. “Can you still help him?”

“I’m afraid not,” she said.

“Please,” I begged. “Don’t you have a crystal charm or some of those teas you make? Surely you have something I can just give to him.”

“I need to see him to properly diagnose him,” she said emphatically.

“You have to believe me. When it’s a full moon he turns into a werewolf. I didn’t believe it myself at first, but there really isn’t any other explanation.”

“A doctor can’t give a prescription to someone they’ve never met.”

However, the patient had to be willing to be seen. And in this case, I’d have to do more convincing.

“Then I must see him, tonight,” Dr Meadows pressed. “Tell me where he will be.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “The woods.”

“Which ones?”

I shrugged.

“Then bring him to me before sunset,” she said. “I’ll meet you here at my shop. Then I can help him.”

Dr. Meadows was pushing me in one direction while Brandon was pushing me in another. With all my research for my own essay and helping Brandon, the only cure I’d found was a silver bullet. And that definitely wasn’t an option.

I knew Brandon didn’t want anyone to see him after the sun set. I would do my best to delicately broach the subject again with him, but if I pushed him too hard, he wouldn’t want to be around me, either.