Chapter 52

It took Ashley minutes before she concluded her next action.

No matter what Dave said, the minute the weather broke, she'd hoof it down the mountain. The decision made her feel more in control, but she remained restless. She wandered about, threw another log on the fire, stoked it, and continued to roam. Finally, she stopped in front of the tall bookcase where Dave had picked up the book he'd taken into his room with him.



Fascinating reading, Ashley thought. One section was filled from top to bottom with novels of all kinds. A host of survivalist books, on subjects ranging from planting organic gardens to using solar power, were crammed into another group of shelves. There were medical books and magazines and a section devoted to Lifestyle Magazines.



She was about to pick up one of the lifestyle magazine cases when a small leather volume caught her eye.

The spine was badly chipped and she couldn't make out the title, so she opened it to the flyleaf. The Lycanthropy Reader: Moon Season in the current century. Underneath was a publication date of 1716.



Certainly a subject off the beaten track. She carried it to her bed and curled up to read.

As she flipped to the first page, she heard a horrible moan.

She bounced up like she'd been shot from a cannon, cringing from the ache her sudden motion caused. Several more moans and cries followed. She rushed to the window, sure the sounds had come from outside, and stared through the streaked pane. It was black out there, a dark swirling morass. Nothing could be seen, and with all that wailing wind, she was sure nothing could be heard.



But still, the moans and groans continued.



Heart pounding, Ashley raced to Dave's metal door and lifted her fist. Just as she was about to knock, she realized the grotesque noises coming from there.



Dave's music.



How odd could a man's music be? She grinned wryly, thinking she'd never heard anything odder—or more unsettling.

Feeling a sudden need for protection, she returned to the bed and cocooned herself in its layer of blankets. After a moment, she picked up the book.

'The werewolves, it opened, are fundamentally linked to the current “Lunar Cycle” and “Moon Phase”. However, this system also affects other previously available life states, like Vampires, Mermaids, and Sims of various ages. Caught in a blood frenzy akin to that of the loathsome shark, this vile mixture of man and wolf is driven to kill and maim by forces beyond its control. The urge is most irresistible on the eve of the full of moon...'



With a raging storm outside, a fire blazing in the hearth, and Dave's music playing in the next room, Ashley certainly couldn't have picked more fitting reading material.



A short while later, still clutching the book, she fell into an uneasy sleep.






• • •





Night sounds, storm sounds, surrounded Dave, and he noted every sound distinctly like a musician hears each instrument in an orchestra.

Now he heard the female stir and he pricked up his ears, absorbing the slow, regular thump of her heart as it propelled rich blood deep into her body, then brought it up, close to the skin. He saw the tiny pulse in her exposed neck. Fragile, so fragile.



How easily his sharp canines could—



The wind began to ebb; the snowfall lightened. The smells inside drifted to his nose. He sniffed and caught the familiar aromas of smoke and venison. Beneath them were newer scents, feminine scents—thick and musky, laced with the sweetness of soap and lotion. His pulse quickened.

How would it feel to hold her in his powerful arms, bend back her slender body, slice that smooth throat, and feel her hot blood?




The impulse brought back every agonized moment of the last five years.

The moment he fully became a Hunter. The moment, he was at the mercy of an Alpha Female.

The moment before he ran –As his life depended on it.




'Life' His face muzzled into a grin at his thoughts about life.




The last thing he needed to worry about. He'd acquired what most humans only dreamed of. A lifetime of several hundred years.




Heaven on earth, some would say.




If only they knew it was actually hell.

The female sleeping inside his cabin made his hell even worse. He'd relished touching her days before now, but listening to her breathe, feeling the smooth texture of her skin. Holding her that close, took all the resistance in him.




This wasn't how he planned to spend his sabbatical, he definitely did not plan to have any face from the office; not even the cleaning lady.

He comes to the cannon for aloneness, now the essence has been disrupted.

He should have left her. Now, that was a thought. Not exactly a pleasant one.

Dave looked up in despair, wanting to pray to a God he no longer believed existed.

The clouds had broken, leaving fuzzy holes through which peeked a pale ghost moon.

To unschooled eyes, it would seem full.

Yet it was not. Madness was still six days away.




Time enough? Perhaps. But then again.




Dave howled in helpless protest.




For a little while longer, Dave watched Ashley sleep, then changed to wolf form, whirled, and ran across the deep snow into the forest.