by Carmen Fox
“Let it happen, Kensi. Breathe. Come on.”
Why the fuck was he so calm?
“Help me.” But my words weren’t words. More a yap or a whine.
“Breathe, baby. That’s all you have to do. Nature will take care of the rest.”
Drake seemed confident, so I breathed.
My jaw clenched, stretched until I could no longer feel my lips, and I breathed.
Thousands of needles jammed into my skin, making my eyes water, and still I breathed.
Despite the moon giving off ample light, colors disappeared from view. Yellows blurred into greens, orange into reds, and my field of vision broadened. Most pronounced were the grays. Each helm of grass, each line of a tree’s bark, came into focus. Then, finally, the pain subsided.
“There you go. You’ve done it.” Drake kneeled before me, in all his naked glory, and ruffled my neck. “And you’re such a beautiful wolf.”
I was a wolf.
Shit.
I was an actual wolf.
I lifted my hand, covered in brown and white fur, then placed it back down. I shifted my weight from left to right, testing out the pads underneath.
Springy.
I did a combination of left hand, right hand. ‘See that?’ I yapped.
Drake laughed. “You’re getting the hang of it already.”
A song drifted from deeper inside the woods, a siren’s call, luring me. I’d heard it first when I was a toddler playing in the forest with imaginary fairies and nymphs, and I’d put it down to an overactive imagination. But maybe this song was part of being a werewolf.
I stared into the gray of the first line of trees, then into the black beyond.
“Go on.” He shooed. “Run free.”
I swiveled back to my mate, his voice no less enticing than the music tickling the leaves.
“I’ll be right behind you.”
My thank you became a happy bark. Not speaking was going to be a downside. That much I could tell already.
I kinked my head at the man I loved. Of course, I didn’t need vocal chords to communicate how I felt about him.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to?”
I lapped my long tongue across his face, slobber and all. Then I turned and ran, driven by my mate’s soft laughter and pulled in by the trees’ melody.
My toes spread out, my feet bounced off the ground, and I leaped across a branch. Skidded. Ran on. A log stretched across my path up ahead. I took aim. Timed my jump. And cleared it with bags to spare.
A shadow moved to my right. I tumbled to a stop. A small creature, a rabbit maybe, or a squirrel. I sniffed the air.
Gamey.
Delicious.
I stalked toward the bush where it had disappeared. Disturbed the leaves with my nose.
The damn thing broke away, zigging here, zigging there. I chased after it, across rockier terrain, tongue out, doing everything a wolf should do.
The distance between us grew. My lungs pumped hard, but my legs didn’t tire. If only I could run a little faster, get a little closer.
Drake’s wolf cut off its escape route. The squirrel zigged when it should have zagged. I snapped at it, caught its tail.
Full force, I smashed it against the ground. Repositioned it in my mouth. Clamped my teeth shut and crushed its tiny body in my jaws until it stopped jerking and its blood ran down my throat.
Heart pounding, I stood, waiting for my mate to approach. He stepped up and licked my face. ‘Well done.’
I placed the corpse onto the ground and stared at it. What now? I was hungry. I’d caught food. The one thing missing was the connection from one to the other.
Drake approached.
I snapped my head up. ‘My kill. Back off.’
He took a step back and pounded with his front legs on the ground.
His communication skills were the worst. Was he doing a happy dance? Did he have a splinter in his paw?
He fixed one end of a branch to the ground with his feet, and yanked on the other end with his teeth.
Got it.
I placed my front paw on the creature’s body and pulled at it until its delicate body split. My stomach growled, and I finally gave into my hunger.
The animal tasted like it had smelled, but its bony frame didn’t yield much meat. When only its cracked skeleton was left, I licked my lips and stepped aside.
Drake approached cautiously. He nuzzled under my jaw, and I could feel my ears pricking sideways. So weird.
I lifted my head to give him better access, and he rubbed his throat against mine. If I could purr, I would, but the sound I made was best described as a content growl.
My insides cramped, and I jerked away from Drake.
Shit. Maybe I should have stuck to rabbit. Or chocolate. Squirrel would challenge anyone’s stomach.
Another sharp ache raced across my body. My arms, legs, mouth twisted as something ripped me into every which direction. Why was this happening? If I’d taken my time. Eased myself into being a wolf. Because this—
I curled up on the ground, weak, trembling with pain. Drake had got it wrong. Something inside me was skewed, something so hideously defective, I couldn’t hold my animal form.
“It’s okay.” Drake’s voice soothed me through the fits. He’d pulled me onto his lap and stroked my head with even movements.
Invisible bullets bounced through my drained body, but I was too wiped to even react to the pain.
“What’s wrong with me?” I wiped a tear from my cheek.
“Nothing’s wrong with you. The first time is painful and short. It gets easier, I promise.”
The moonlight illuminated Drake’s smooth chest, made his tattoos curl like ropes and chains across his bicep. With his help, I tilted his head down so I could kiss him, just for a second. A glorious second.
Squirrel-taste and all.
“Was it like that for you?” I asked. “Painful?”
“Yes and no. My change didn’t hurt that much, but then I come from a long line of late-generation werewolves. Your genes belong at least fifty percent to the past, when shifting was still a new experience for human bodies.” He guided me up until I sat on his lap. “But I didn’t hold my animal shape longer than you did first time around.”
“Do you think my mom’s changes were even worse?”
He slid his hand up my bare leg and thigh, brushing off dirt and plant matter where he found it. “Possibly.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and breathed him in. It would never have occurred to me that, one day, I’d find a scent homier than that of the woods, but here it was, clinging to every one of his pores.
“Are you going to be in trouble for not letting Jonah in on your plan for the Moon Promise?”
“No. Love isn’t something an alpha can rule over.” He swept my hair aside, and stroked my shoulder. “A father on the other hand...”
“I told you I should have called him.” I grinned into his neck. “Worried my dad is going to tar and feather you for defiling his only daughter?”
“Worried? No. Terrified? Absolutely. Your father commands an army. I command a four-slice toaster.”
“Guess we’ll see.”
“Not sure I care for your casual attitude toward my life.”
I lifted my head and locked onto his gaze. “I’ll protect you.”
“Phew.”
“Besides, the Moon Promise comes without a return policy, so your life is very important to me. I only hope my dad feels the same way.”
“Aaand the terror is back.”
“He’ll love you. How can he not? You’re adorable.” I giggled and smooshed his cheeks between my fingers. “Besides, he’s been after me for getting a mate. Once or twice he even mentioned how much he’d like a moon son. I always thought he was a romantic, when all along he’d known I needed to take the Moon Promise.”
“Okay. But do me a favor.”
“What?”
“Don’t tell him I’m adorable.”
“Deal. And you’ll tell your brother about the mating tomorrow?”
“Um, sure.”
“What, you don’t want to?” I gave him my most badass stare. “Ashamed of me already?”
“He kind of already knows. Once I heard the cops were looking for me, I went by his place. We talked and your name came up.”
“I still don’t get—”
“He asked me if, once my name had been cleared, I’d track you down in Chicago. I said I’d make you mine the minute I was a free man.” He held my chin firmly in his hand and smiled like an Olympic medalist.
“You decided my future without asking?” I narrowed my eyes, then slapped his shoulder for good measure. “You didn’t think I should get a say in this?”
“Of course I was going to ask you.”
“What if I’d said no?”
“I’d have compelled you with my dominance.”
I slapped him again, harder. “Watch it.”
“I’m kidding.” He laughed. “Hell, of course I’m kidding.”
“You’d better be.”
“Look at that.” He winced. “You’ve found your dominance.”
I nearly fell off his lap, but he caught me in time. Wow, he was right. The hole he’d previously filled with his own power brimmed with familiar strength. It was a solid force, and I flexed it like a muscle.
Drake grimaced again.
How much could he take without unleashing his own power?
“Don’t push it.” Drake lifted my chin toward him. “Don’t push me.”
“All this, it’s new.” I stowed it away, folded it like a blanket, then I curled up tight in his lap. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. In a weird S&M way, it’s quite pleasant.” He wrapped me into his arms to share his warmth with me.
“I have a better idea.” I slipped off his lap, got up, and quickly took two steps away from him. “Aren’t you curious?”
He got on all fours, and even in his human form, the wolf in him was all too evident.
I beckoned with my finger over my shoulder and strode, hurried, then ran toward the house.
He chased me for a while, even though he could have so easily caught me.
The black of the forest morphed into grays as I exited into the clearing within the circle of trees. The blanket lay crumpled on the ground. Still running, I swerved left, but Drake snaked his arm around my waist and yanked me back.
“I think I know what you had in mind.” He turned me in his arms and moved his face close to mine, gaze fixed on my lips.
“Took you long enough.” I smiled and leaned in for the kiss.
He softly pulled me down onto the blanket and covered me with his weight.
I had been so wrong about so many things. I wasn’t a dud. Drake wasn’t a bully—and the Moon Promise wasn’t an inevitable end, but only the beginning.
THE END
Thanks for reading!
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If you can’t get enough of werewolves and other things that go bump in the night, check out The Silverton Chronicles.
www.carmen-fox.com
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About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Carmen Fox lives in the south of England with her beloved tea maker and a stuffed sheep called Fergus. She’s an award-winning writer of urban fantasy with heart and sassitude, and loves meeting her readers.
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http://www.carmen-fox.com
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Acknowledgements
Books are written in isolation, but many wonderful people did many wonderful things to get Moon Promise from my desk into your hands. Dylan, Ana, Shaz, Kally, Carole—I thank you all.
My gratitude also belongs to you, my reader. You take my worlds and enrich them with your enthusiasm and kindness.
I also thank my mother for her unwavering support. Without her, my life would be a mess.
Garry Rodgers has helped me tremendously with his extensive knowledge of all things dead. Garry, you’ve been amazing. Any mistakes I made are entirely my own.
Finally, a special note to Nana: WYWH