Bound To Moonlight (Sisters Of The Moon #2)

But he was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen, and he held her in thrall. He must have reached her shoulder, much bigger than a true wolf—further proof he couldn’t be real. Maybe her sad, pathetic mind had finally broken completely.

She probed his brain, sensing the man still there beneath the much simpler animal brainwaves. But he felt hazy, cut off from her.

Werewolf.

The word flashed into her brain and she saw it for truth.

He stopped only inches from her and studied her, head cocked to one side, eyes wary. She could see the understanding and caution in them. But no pain.

Whatever he was, he was immune to her mind, and her lips tugged upward in a brief smile. Then she reached out a trembling hand and laid it on his head. The fur was silky soft beneath her palm.

The wolf showed no fear. He took a final step toward her and nuzzled her with his cold nose, poking her in the belly, sniffing her fingers. A warm velvety tongue came out and licked her palm.

And Keira sank down onto the coarse grass and burst into tears.

She never cried. Well almost never. The last time had been when she’d finally accepted that her “mother” was never coming back, even though she’d known it was going to happen. That had been nearly six months ago.

The wolf nudged her. She peered up through tear-drenched eyes as he lowered himself to the ground. Then she wrapped her arms around the huge warm body and cried some more. Finally, exhausted by the release of emotions she’d kept locked in tight, she closed her eyes and gave in to the sleep she usually found so elusive.



Rain on her face woke her. The clouds had closed in and it had started to drizzle. She was warm and she realized her arms were wrapped around the most enormous dog she had ever seen. She breathed in the warm musky scent of wild animal.

Werewolf.

A sense of wonder filled her, but no fear. Maybe because she no longer feared death. Perhaps some part of her even craved the release.

But if he’d been planning to eat her, she was sure he would have done so by now. He’d had plenty of opportunity. No, she felt safe and that was something she hadn’t felt in a long time.

She reached out with the lightest of telepathic touches. His dark eyes narrowed as though he could sense her intrusion, and she backed off not wanting to risk causing him pain.

He was different from the other animals she’d encountered on the moor. They had been her only companions for years, ever since her powers had grown too strong to contain, and she’d nearly broken her mother’s mind. From that point on, she had lived alone. Her mother had brought her food and clothing, had visited every couple of days and they had watched each other from afar, never daring to come too close. She still wasn’t sure she hadn’t contributed to her mother’s early death.

She occasionally saw walkers from a distance but she’d perfected the art of disappearing. Until this man. She remembered the way he had sniffed the air. And then the incredible speed. He had raced across the moors far faster than even Dubh could ever go. As fast as a…wolf.

She sat up, pulled away, and studied the great beast. He lay on all fours, his huge head resting on his front paws as he watched her out of cautious eyes. Keira scrambled to her feet uncertain of what her next move should be.

The wolf watched for a moment longer and then rose gracefully to stand beside her. She marveled again at the sheer size of him. A shiver thrummed through the air around her, and her skin prickled with that same sensation she’d felt earlier—seconds before he changed, and it came to her what he was about to do. He was changing back. He couldn’t. This close she would blow his mind.

She took an instinctive step away and shook her head, panic building inside her.

“No, you mustn’t. Don’t change back. I’ll hurt you. Kill you. I can’t help it, I can’t control it.” She didn’t know if he could understand her, but he blinked once and dropped his head as though to agree to her demands.

Relief flooded her mind as the tension in the air vanished. She stared at her feet. She had to leave. She knew that, but regret filled her as she contemplated the return to loneliness. Maybe it would be better if he did kill her. He could rip out her throat with one bite of those razor-sharp teeth. But even now, she realized she didn’t really want to die, she just wanted an end to this strange half-life she lived. “You must wait until I’m gone,” she said. “Do you understand? Wait until I’m…” She studied the surroundings and pointed at a clump of bushes about a hundred feet away from where they stood. “Wait until I reach those bushes, then you can change. You understand?”

He nodded once.

She turned to go, but then swung around and hugged the animal once more, burrowing her nose in the thick, silky fur at his throat. “Thank you for keeping me warm,” she murmured then forced herself to release him. “Goodbye.”

This time when she turned, she kept walking, but after only a few steps, she halted and glanced back over her shoulder. The wolf was right behind her padding along on silent paws.

Maybe she could have a little longer.

“You won’t change back into a man?”