Jeaniene Frost - Under Her Skin

She gave me such an odd look that I cursed myself for not coming up with a better reason for her to go away. Well, I didn't have much time to think up a clever ploy. But then she smiled.

"Be right back."

Laurel got up, fastened a towel around herself, and walked away. I waited, barely breathing, until she rounded a cabin that took her out of sight, then I bounded up, running flat out of the nearest line of trees.

I didn't have shoes on so rocks cut into my feet, but I ignored them. It would only take Laurel ten to fifteen minutes to return. That's all the time I had to get away.

I ran like I was on fire, noting with a growing sense of awareness that I was moving faster than I ever had before. Maybe it was the werewolf curse inside me that would help me get away. Go faster. Head for the mountains. It'll be harder for them to track your scent over all the rock.

The forest was alive with sounds. The cry of birds. The rustling of branches as they rubbed together in the wind. The thuds my feet made on the drying leaves strewn over the uneven ground. That feeling of fright began to lessen, replaced with an inexplicable joy over running as hard and fast as I could. I might be running away from this life, but right now, I felt strong, free, and wild, like the forest itself was spurring my steps. I went faster, forgetting the pain in my feet, until the trees were almost a blur around me. Giddiness bubbled inside me. This felt right. Like I'd been waiting my whole life to run this way.

Something hard collided with me, snatching me up. My heart was already pounding, but it kicked into another gear as I glimpsed who'd grabbed me. Daniel. He whirled me around to face him, those blazing amber eyes pinning me as tightly as his grip did.

"What were you thinking?" he asked, giving me a shake. "You're in a bathing suit and a towel! I should have waited and gone after you tomorrow. Maybe spending the night freezing out here would have knocked some sense into you."

My emotions were on overload from the dizzying adrenaline rush of my escape, the frustration of being caught, and the residual exhilaration of the run. I didn't feel like myself. I felt as if something hiding inside me had finally taken over.

I grabbed Daniel's hair and yanked his head down, slanting my mouth across his. There was a split second where he froze — then his mouth opened, his tongue twisting with mine. His hand tangled in my hair, jerking me closer, while the other hand molded our bodies together. The heat coming from him made me gasp, but I

pressed against him, wanting more of it. He growled, kissing me deeper, harder, unleashing a flood of lust even as it shook me from my earlier recklessness.

If you don't stop now, you'll end up having sex here, on the ground just like the animal you're turning into…

"No!"

I wrenched away, panting. Daniel let me out of his arms, but his hand tightened on my wrist, not letting me get entirely free.

"What's wrong?"

I gave a bark of laughter. "You. Me. Everything."

He pushed his hair out of his face, staring at me with an intensity that made me shiver.

"It's right, even if you don't want to admit it."

My towel had fallen to the ground, leaving me in just the bathing suit. Daniel's eyes slid over me like a rough caress. A tremor ran through me and gooseflesh rippled, as if my skin were trying to arc toward him with a will of its own.

Daniel's grip on my wrist softened to a light stroke of his fingers. "You want me," he said in a low voice. "Why are you pushing me away?"

That stiffened my spine. "Because I can. You've stolen all my other choices, but this one's still mine. And I say no."

He let me go. That warm amber light in his eyes hardened to something darker. He picked up my towel, handed it to me, and turned his back.

"I'm not the one who stole your choices. Gabriel did. If you stay in these woods, you'll probably die of exposure. If you don't, then in a week, you'll change, but you won't know how to change back. Eventually you'll go insane, trapped in your new form, controlled by urges you can't imagine. You'll end up mauling whoever you come across, be it man, woman, or child. Then people will hunt you. They'll kill other wolves trying to get to you, but sooner or later, they'll find you. You'll get shot or caught in a trap, but either way, it will be horrible. Walk away now and people are guaranteed to die, including you. Come back with me and no one dies. There's your choice."

"I can get to a doctor, find a cure," I replied stubbornly.

Daniel laughed, but it was harsh. "We've had doctors within the pack try to find a cure for decades. Not for ourselves, but to fix people who've been unwillingly infected, like you. There is no cure, Marlee. If there was, we'd have given it to you already."

Hopelessness crashed over me. "You're telling me I'll never see my family and friends again. You're so willing to do anything for your pack, but you expect me to just forget about anyone who's ever meant anything to me in my life!"

He still didn't turn around. "If you wouldn't have refused to speak to me for days, I'd have told you that you only need to be quarantined for a couple months. Once you've learned control, you can see your family and friends. They can come here, or you can move away. You'd need to live somewhere close to wolves, though, so when you change, you're not running on four legs down a city street attracting unwanted attention."

My brain whirled with this new information. I didn't have to be trapped here forever. I could go home, see my parents, my sister, Brandy, even my nephew again. I could wait it out. Get control. Could I actually learn to live as both a woman and a wolf?

Daniel started walking away, the dried leaves crunching under his feet. I stared after him, not moving. Was he really giving me a choice? If I walked the other way, would he truly not stop me?

I tested it. Turned and walked in the other direction. There wasn't the slightest hesitation in his steps as he kept going. He's tricking you, my cynicism whispered . He'll come back.

I kept walking. So did he. Soon the sounds of Daniel's footsteps began to lessen as we moved further away from each other. After ten minutes, I couldn't hear him at all.

Even with the moonlight illuminating the forest, I would have been lost without Daniel's scent. I wasn't used to relying on my sense of smell, but that's exactly what I was doing as I walked back through the woods toward what I thought was the town. In my peripheral vision, hazy flashes of maroon darted by. It had scared me the first few times I saw it, but then I realized what it was. I was seeing the heat living creatures gave off, just like I was looking through an infrared camera.

My sharpened senses made me feel more alive than I ever had. It seemed like I'd been sleepwalking the previous twenty-five years of my life, numbed to all the brilliance of the world around me. Of course, I knew what this was—the wolf in me, getting ready to be freed.

It was the main reason why, after sitting in the forest watching the sun fall and the moon rise, I was walking back to the town. Chosen or not, I was part wolf now. I couldn't go back to my family, friends, or coworkers, not knowing what I was capable of, even if I did make it out of these woods. If the choice was sacrificing

months of my life dealing with the strangest scenario imaginable, versus risking people I loved by hoping Daniel was wrong and I wouldn't one day eat them…well, there was no choice. Not in my opinion.

That wasn't the reason my heart started to beat faster when I recognized the man leaning against a tree just outside the limits of the town. All right, I'd had more motivation than just protecting my loved ones by returning. With every step I'd taken away from Daniel, something burning and heavy had settled in my heart. It was as unfamiliar, frightening, and exciting as the other changes I'd experienced this week. How could I care so much after such a short period of time? I'd been with Paul for three years, but hadn't felt the crushing sense of loss at our breakup that I did walking away from Daniel. Was it some supernatural hormone gone haywire? I didn't know. I only knew it was the most real thing I'd ever felt.