She smelled change heading her way on the breeze.
“You are a stubborn woman.” Michael held out the shirt.
Kaitlin searched the dark, hoping to find different answers than the ones Michael had already given her. Wolf? Damn.
“Come,” Michael said, offering both the shirt and a hand.
She didn’t place her fingers in his. In touching Michael, she’d feel human again and needier than ever, when according to Michael, being human was far from the truth. If her fate was sealed, she had to give in and embrace what Michael and his moon were telling her.
“Cover your head so you won’t have to feel the light,” he advised. “Maybe that will help to ease your fears.”
She shook her head.
“All right.” Michael sat down on the bench. “I’ll just sit here then, and watch you go.”
The idea of leaving the overhang rendered her immobile. Their shelter suddenly seemed to Kaitlin like a tiny ship in a vast sea of uncertainty. Who was she kidding? She wasn’t going out there alone. She wasn’t really that brave.
“You’ve scared me, that’s all,” she said. “This whole night has scared me.”
“The vampires are gone, Kaitlin. If you’re talking about becoming a werewolf, I honestly thought you’d prefer life over the alternative, no matter where that life led,” Michael said. “There are good parts to being what you now are, you know.”
“Such as?”
“The park is a great place without the monsters currently tearing it up. The camaraderie of a pack is like nothing else, and almost equals the sensation of moonlight on your skin. My world is sensuous and beautiful beyond the top layer that other people see. And due to our added strength, we don’t have to be afraid of much.”
“Beneath that top layer is a fur coat,” Kaitlin said.
“True. Yet after a while, even those who weren’t born to the wolf begin to like it.”
She faced the park. “If I’m already feeling odd, and it’s not just sickness, what will happen to me if I step out there? What if I feel the moon already?”
“It can’t be the moon.”
“Okay. I’m going to find out,” she whispered, with an added inward maybe. If she took a giant step, she’d know for sure if what she was feeling was fear or something else. Something worse than fear.
With her eyes closed, she slid a sandaled toe forward, allowing two inches of skin to meet that damn mystical lure Michael had mentioned, hoping for the best, praying for a miracle.
* * *
The look Kaitlin gave him when she turned her head was one of a sorely wounded soul in search of enlightenment. Anger was in that look, and condemnation.
Could he blame her?
Nothing happened when she stuck out her foot, though it was clear that she had anticipated a reaction.
Michael shot to his feet, anxious about this whole deal, and was beside her in a flash. Kaitlin’s eyes were glassy, her face pale enough to belong to the undead. She was looking at him without seeing him. Looking through him.
Muttering an inward curse, he reached out to her. Kaitlin shied away, leaving the shelter of the overhang by taking several steps into the night. Standing in the open, with a mixture of moonlight and darkness crossing her features, she gazed up at the sky as if tempting the moon to strike. Here I am , he wouldn’t have been surprised to hear her say.
But she remained silent.
“Talk to me,” he said quietly to the woman who single-handedly obliterated what he’d come to expect as the usual process of transitioning from human to Other. It was clear to him that she was feeling something.
He had never seen this kind of recovery or the arrival of her current level of awareness, and wasn’t sure how to proceed. His plan to hand her over to Rena might have backfired because he wasn’t certain Rena would understand the complexity of this particular case, either.
What was she seeing, standing there?
What was she feeling?
He closed his eyes and looked into her mind.
“Kaitlin,” he said, able
“You are a stubborn woman.” Michael held out the shirt.
Kaitlin searched the dark, hoping to find different answers than the ones Michael had already given her. Wolf? Damn.
“Come,” Michael said, offering both the shirt and a hand.
She didn’t place her fingers in his. In touching Michael, she’d feel human again and needier than ever, when according to Michael, being human was far from the truth. If her fate was sealed, she had to give in and embrace what Michael and his moon were telling her.
“Cover your head so you won’t have to feel the light,” he advised. “Maybe that will help to ease your fears.”
She shook her head.
“All right.” Michael sat down on the bench. “I’ll just sit here then, and watch you go.”
The idea of leaving the overhang rendered her immobile. Their shelter suddenly seemed to Kaitlin like a tiny ship in a vast sea of uncertainty. Who was she kidding? She wasn’t going out there alone. She wasn’t really that brave.
“You’ve scared me, that’s all,” she said. “This whole night has scared me.”
“The vampires are gone, Kaitlin. If you’re talking about becoming a werewolf, I honestly thought you’d prefer life over the alternative, no matter where that life led,” Michael said. “There are good parts to being what you now are, you know.”
“Such as?”
“The park is a great place without the monsters currently tearing it up. The camaraderie of a pack is like nothing else, and almost equals the sensation of moonlight on your skin. My world is sensuous and beautiful beyond the top layer that other people see. And due to our added strength, we don’t have to be afraid of much.”
“Beneath that top layer is a fur coat,” Kaitlin said.
“True. Yet after a while, even those who weren’t born to the wolf begin to like it.”
She faced the park. “If I’m already feeling odd, and it’s not just sickness, what will happen to me if I step out there? What if I feel the moon already?”
“It can’t be the moon.”
“Okay. I’m going to find out,” she whispered, with an added inward maybe. If she took a giant step, she’d know for sure if what she was feeling was fear or something else. Something worse than fear.
With her eyes closed, she slid a sandaled toe forward, allowing two inches of skin to meet that damn mystical lure Michael had mentioned, hoping for the best, praying for a miracle.
* * *
The look Kaitlin gave him when she turned her head was one of a sorely wounded soul in search of enlightenment. Anger was in that look, and condemnation.
Could he blame her?
Nothing happened when she stuck out her foot, though it was clear that she had anticipated a reaction.
Michael shot to his feet, anxious about this whole deal, and was beside her in a flash. Kaitlin’s eyes were glassy, her face pale enough to belong to the undead. She was looking at him without seeing him. Looking through him.
Muttering an inward curse, he reached out to her. Kaitlin shied away, leaving the shelter of the overhang by taking several steps into the night. Standing in the open, with a mixture of moonlight and darkness crossing her features, she gazed up at the sky as if tempting the moon to strike. Here I am , he wouldn’t have been surprised to hear her say.
But she remained silent.
“Talk to me,” he said quietly to the woman who single-handedly obliterated what he’d come to expect as the usual process of transitioning from human to Other. It was clear to him that she was feeling something.
He had never seen this kind of recovery or the arrival of her current level of awareness, and wasn’t sure how to proceed. His plan to hand her over to Rena might have backfired because he wasn’t certain Rena would understand the complexity of this particular case, either.
What was she seeing, standing there?
What was she feeling?
He closed his eyes and looked into her mind.
“Kaitlin,” he said, able
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