The earth rumbled from the assault of thunder. Flashes of blinding light filled the sky with jagged streaks that backlit her like a statue of an ancient dryad arising from the trees. She crept ever nearer to the edge, now hesitating, now moving again.
Suddenly Tony understood what she meant to do. No! He wouldn't let death rob him a second time! Forcing yet more speed from his aching legs, he raced against the clock.
The hawk cried out once more, and suddenly Tony was soaring with it, battling the turbulent up-and-down drafts, dropping to the ground just as Lily prepared to take her final step. With a roar of denial, Tony resumed his human form and snatched her from the edge.
"White Hawk!" She wrestled to free herself from his restraining hold. "Stop it stop. You don't understand."
He grabbed her pummeling hands and shook her fiercely. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, then pressed her close to his chest.
She continued to struggle, writhing against his chilled skin, warming it with her heat. Her hips brushed the thin fabric of his trousers, heating his lower regions.
"Let me go, you fool," she ordered, her voice thin and breathless. "This is for your own good . . . it's for Shala. For all your people."
"Killing yourself won't help anyone, Lily." This time he spoke softly, burying his face in her whipping hair. It grazed his face, the bare skin of his shoulders, and smelled of herbs and spices and pine. She was so tiny, barely reaching his shoulder, so fragile. Why hadn't he realized earlier that this woman needed his protection, not his censure? He inhaled, his breath catching, and trembled at the knowledge of how close he'd come to losing her.
"I don't understand. Even now you save my life although the Tribunal soon plans to take it. Why?"
"We need you." His words came out with a ragged exhale.
"N-n-need me?" She tilted back her head, shaking it slowly. "No one needs me, White Hawk. None of you are safe while I'm alive. Please, please let me go. Turn around and forget you ever saw this."
"I can't." He pulled her head back to his shoulder. She didn't struggle this time, and he whispered in her ear, "When I– When I found your note and realized you were gone . . . I went to your quarters to tell you I'll be your advocate."
"Why? You still believe I killed your wife." She was trembling now. They both were. And though the cold wind bit at their bodies he knew that wasn't the cause.
"For many reasons. But the true reason is I—I . . . I care about you. I'll defend you well, Lily, to my death if that's what it takes. Trust me, if you will."
She chuckled bleakly and lifted her head, fixing her dark gaze on him. "What makes you think you can trust me?"
"You saved my daughter's life." His golden eyes met hers levelly. "That's enough proof."
"You don't know . . ." Lily looked away. White Hawk's gaze held so much tenderness she could hardly bear it "Sebastian . . . the ceremony . . ." Would he kill her when she showed him what she'd again become. With his own hands? The ones that had combed her tangled hair the night before and even now held her tenderly against his chest. Would he kill her when he knew?
What did it matter how she died?
"Let me go. I need to show you something."
His eyes took on a suspicious cast, but he dropped his arms. "No tricks," he said warily, clearly prepared to stop her if she bolted toward the canyon.
She glanced toward the drop-off, then smiled weakly, steeling herself against the disgust she knew would arise on his face. Will it. She only had to will it.
Alchemize.
Again the change came instantly. One moment she was shivering in the freezing wind, the next moment she noticed it not at all.
She'd expected a startled cry, a quick jerk of revulsion. Instead he uttered a soft, "How?" She heard no loathing in his voice.
"After you left, Sebastian forced me back into the circle and completed the Song of Hades. That's what he was doing when you arrived. He almost succeeded in transforming Shala too."
He flinched at that but said nothing.
"I thought the ritual was unsuccessful — you'd interrupted it and—" She gave a short ironic laugh. "It was well, untraditional. It shouldn't have worked, but it did. You see now why I can't live."
She couldn't read his expression nor discern his thoughts, and felt only an overwhelming sense of amazement from him.
"Aren't you going to say something?" she snapped.
"You look like no werewolf I've ever seen."
"What are you talking about?"
"Look at your hands, Lily."
She dropped her gaze and again saw the pale down covering her hands. Only this time the hair seemed incandescent. She still didn't have claws, though the ragged edges of the fingernails she'd torn on her climb were now smooth and perfectly rounded. She lifted her hands to her face and touched the flat even features of a human, not the short muzzle of a werewolf.
"I know it doesn't make sense." Then, almost in a whisper, she added, "Over time, I'm sure it will get worse.”
"Do you know that?"
She shook her head.
"Do you feel an urge to dine on my bones, Lily?"
"What a stupid question," she replied sharply. "I'm not hungry."
"If you were, how would you do it? Where is your werewolf height? Your fangs, your claws?"
"I don't know! But I can't risk it!" She swung her arms in agitation. Why the hell couldn't he understand? "You, Shala, Star Dancer, you're all in danger. And I'm the only reason Sebastian brought his pack to Ebony Canyon. When I'm gone, they'll leave! Can't you see—"
Tony turned abruptly toward the nearby trees. His expression grew distant and unfocused, and he lifted his arms to the cloud-covered moon. "And White Wolf Woman shall leave the deer and the wolf people, and come to live among the Two Leggeds," he intoned in an altered voice. "Although they shall first revile her for what she had once been and blame her for the howling and gnashing of the beast of the forest, White Wolf Woman shall hold high her head and remain. Her mastery of the hungering natures of the meat-feeders, the plant-feeders, the feeders on both, will bestow her with strength beyond any known to this world. She shall join with the bear and fend off the monsters.
"Thus aided, the people shall gather their belongings and under the dark moon rising pass into their true land."
A whirlwind suddenly enclosed them both, spiraling leaves, twigs, and small rocks. But they stood untouched inside its calm eye. As quickly as it arose, the tempest vanished, leaving Lily staring at the shaman before her. Slowly White Hawk's eyes cleared and he looked at her.
"What was that about?" Lily asked, vaguely noticing that her hands were trembling and sending out tiny sparks of light.
"An omen. I don't know its portent, only that you have a place in it." He reached out and took her hands. "Return to human shape and come back to the village with me. Come back, if you will."
Lily heard the plea in his voice, felt it draw her to obey. Oh sweet heaven, she wanted to. This man who asked it of her was extraordinary in every way. A loving child waited down below, and a giving people seemed ready to accept her. Oh yes, she wanted to obey.
With one lingering look at White Hawk, she spun and leaped toward the abyss. One jump took her to the canyon's edge, where she alchemized to fragile mortal form and prepared to take the final plunge.
Then Tony was upon her, calling her name, cursing her, holding her, pulling her back. She tried to fight him off and they tumbled. Arms and legs entwined, they hit the earth with a force that knocked Lily's breath away. His weight pressed her against the uneven ground. Rocks and twigs poked her skin, but she ignored their bite and pounded on White Hawk's back, demanding that he let her up.
Thunder clapped so loudly it drowned out her words. Lightning flashed in dizzying strobes that nearly blinded her. But still she fought. She twisted, drove an elbow into White Hawk's stomach. He grunted, then captured both her wrists and forced her arms to the earth.
"You won't die, Lily. I won'
t let you."
The words, so reminiscent of those he spoke that night in her bedroom, held an entirely different meaning this time, and gave her such a jolt she stopped fighting. Still panting from exertion, Lily looked directly in his face. There was a shimmer of unshed tears in his golden eyes, an emotion she couldn't quite identify. She felt it in her heart. His nostrils flared slightly, his mouth softened.
Slowly he lowered his head.
When his lips met hers Lily thought she truly might die from the sheer bliss of it. An unexpressed sigh filled her heart. She felt a sweet rush as White Hawk moaned against her mouth and parted her lips, returning his kiss with a hunger she'd never known.
Tony had felt as parched as the canyon, and Lily's kiss was like life-giving rain. He should be horrified at wanting her this way at this horrendous time, but horror eluded him. He felt fulfilled, as though he'd been designed by the Great Spirit only to kiss this woman, hold her in his arms. And the passion with which she returned his kiss made his heart swell.
Their kiss was hidden from the world by a swirl of silver hair, and he held her hands against the earth, arching his back ever so slightly to gentle his claim on her mouth. He ran his tongue across her lower lip, then inside her mouth, feeling the smooth moist surface, slipping slowly between her teeth. She met his tongue passionately, made mewing sounds in her throat. Her body began to tremble.
"Lily," he groaned, releasing her lips and rolling to bring her on top of him. Her legs parted and slid on either side of him. She swayed almost imperceptibly against the swelling beneath his pants.
Rocks pricked at his bare back, making his muscles quiver, but he felt no pain. Every inch of his body was alive with need for her. The thunder roared again. Their kiss broke, and his eyelids fluttered open. He saw her above him, hair flying in the wind, dark almond-shaped eyes clouded with desire.
"You shouldn't have stopped me," she said. "Why did you do it, you who have wanted me dead for so long?"
He touched the hollow of her throat. Her pulse throbbed visibly, rapidly. Such a tender spot, one he'd often dreamed of slicing with his hunting knife. But now? Now?
"Duty," he replied, dropping his hand. He saw a faint widening of her eyes, knew he had hurt her. "That night when I saved you from Sebastian, I acted out of duty. But tonight?" He reached up and took the lapels of her jacket and began slowly slipping it down her arms. "I don't know, Lily. I couldn't bear to see you die. My heart's on fire from wanting you. It’s torture not to touch you . . ."
Torture. Yes, torture. He jerked the jacket down her arms, revealing the clinging cotton camisole she wore. She took his hands and brought them to cover her small, firm breasts. He held them for an instant like precious jewels, then slowly rubbed his thumbs across the nipples. They hardened for him, small aching nubs that begged for his caress.
Lily let out a muffled cry. Exquisite sensations raced through her body, tingling up and down her spine, moving through her limbs to her fingers and toes. White Hawk lifted his hands and she felt the bite of freezing wind against her skin as he pushed up her camisole. She moaned in protest, but when his mouth closed over her throbbing nipple her protest died and she thought she might scream from ecstasy instead.
She arched her neck, and through her closed eyelids saw the pure white field of flashing lightning. Thunder roared, shaking the earth beneath her knees. Wind whipped her hair relentlessly against her chilled and naked arms. But the rest of her was hot. Blazing hot. And wild like the storm.
Beneath her White Hawk trembled. She'd known what was in his mind before, had felt his hate, his desire to slit her throat with that deadly knife of his and take her life. But now he would take from her what she'd never before been able to give. She loved him, this man who'd once prayed for her death. Which felt like a little death itself, she realized, the pain of it piercing her heart.
She shuddered again as his tongue moved toward the under curve of her breast, and then he was kissing her belly, quickly, hungrily as though he wanted to devour every inch of her body. Tightening her thighs against his hips, she began to rotate her own. He was hard and full of wanting, a wanting she needed him to spill into her.
If there was life after death, she'd remember this moment forever, remember the unrelenting hardness of his muscled chest, remember the poignant tenderness of his mouth . . .
For despite his belief that she wasn't a werewolf, Lily knew she couldn't risk finding out she was. The zenith of the full moon was but three nights away, bringing the werewolves' blood frenzy to its peak, and if White Hawk was wrong, his people would suffer for his mistake.
But she would seize this night in White Hawk's arms. Tonight was theirs. Tonight.
Tony had started to unbutton Lily's jeans when she exploded above him. Like the beast she once had been, she clawed at his trousers, bucking her hips, yanking them down. He kicked his feet, sending the pants flying somewhere into the meadow, and she began tearing at her own clothes. The camisole soared, the jeans were discarded, and she hovered over him, shoulders heaving from the force of her need.
Her hands, her fingers were everywhere. Stroking and massaging his taut biceps, exploring the rise of his chest, moving down the rippled muscles of his abdomen, and finally closing over the center of his need. He was hot and engorged—her hand was chilled from the wind—and his body turned rigid from the electric pleasure her touch evoked. He let out a cry. She whimpered in response, elevated her hips, and guided him into her.
Her movements were uncontrolled. She swayed and bucked, crying out uninhibitedly, touching him here, touching him there. He brought her mouth to his, taking it in a brutal kiss that matched her passion.
The cold wind gusted, blowing dry leaves and grass around them, whipping her hair like a nine-tailed whip, and still he held her mouth. She sheathed him fully, tightening around him. He swelled inside her, growing larger, growing hotter, feeling her, wanting her, needing her . . . loving her.
She let out a throaty cry and shuddered from head to toe. Tearing her mouth from his, she collapsed onto his chest, gasping and moaning. A second later, Tony felt his own release approaching. He tried to hold back, but she rotated her hips, tugging at him, holding him.
When his explosion came, he felt one with the thunder and lightning, one with the raging wind, one with Lily.
She whimpered again, and Tony took the sound, merged it with the waves of pleasure exquisitely tearing his body apart, and pulled Lily tight against his heart, never to let her go.
Chapter Twenty-One
White Hawk pulled Lily closer to his chest. "You're cold. You need your clothing."
"No . . . yes." Lily settled against him for just a little longer. The ground was hard, rock-filled and unforgiving, and the wind felt like a freezer blast, but she didn't want to end this last moment between them. Not yet.
White Hawk stirred and gently moved her to a sitting position. Then he stood up, searching the rim for their clothes.
"Your trousers are over there." Lily pointed to a pale mass atop the dying grass of the meadow.
As he went to retrieve them, she saw her chance. Her jacket was at her feet. She put it on, then started for the rim where her jeans and camisole had landed.
He wouldn't guess her intent, not yet. By the time he did, it would be too late.
She picked up her jeans, then glanced at the meadow. White Hawk was stepping into his trousers. As he began tying the drawstring at the waist, Lily made her move.
Dropping the jeans, she sprinted toward the canyon, breath catching, hesitation in her every footfall. But she must do it! Now! Before she changed her mind.
Suddenly a bird screeched. She saw that hated flash of white. Before she knew it, Tony again clutched her against his chest, whispering questions, murmuring crazy reassurances.
She didn't fight. Instead she trembled, clung to him with equal ferocity, knowing she'd hoped he'd do this all along. Tears filled her eyes as she contemplated the result of her selfishness.
But she wanted to live! Especially now, with this strong and steady man she'd dreamed of holding her in his arms and begging her not to do it.
"You're one and the same, aren't you?" she asked, when she regained her voice. "You and the hawk."
He nodded, and she wondered why she hadn't made the connection earlier, but didn't really care. He was here now and she was still alive.
She tried to pull away, but Tony tightened his hold on her. "It's over, Lily. You'll have to find the courage to live."
"I won't try again." She shook her head sadly. "But we both may come to regret it."
"Then you'll come back with me?"
"White Hawk . I– I–"
"Tony," he said gruffly.
She stared at him blankly.
He drew a finger softly along the curve of her jaw. "When a woman makes love with a man it gives her the right to use his first name."
She continued to stare, feeling dazed.
"You're important to me, Lily." He looked away, but not before she saw the vulnerability in his eyes. "I care for you."
Now it was her turn to look away. Why had she hoped for something deeper, more impassioned?
"I don't deserve your caring. You of all people should know that."
"But you've got it regardless. Don't ask me to explain, or to vow that a part of my soul doesn't still rail against it, but my feelings are what they are." He tilted her chin up, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Will you come back with me?"
Lily sighed heavily. "Yes, White Hawk, and may God help us both."
Moonlight glinted off his straight white teeth as he let out a laugh of pure joy. "Call me Tony, darling. Call me Tony."
"Tony," she echoed, then she tilted back her head to receive his kiss, trying to convince herself she hadn't hoped he'd say he loved her.
* * *
Lily sat on the pallet in her quarters and clutched the crystal she'd replaced around her neck, still shaken by the events of the previous evening. When they'd returned to the village, she'd gone with Tony to Star Dancer's hogan, where he'd informed the High Shaman he would defend Lily.
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