Half Wolf by Linda Thomas-Sundstrom Page B

to feel the stirring, faint movement of the wolf tucked deep inside her as easily as if his own wolf was doing the fidgeting.
    He cut off a rising growl. Kaitlin’s wolf was waking before the rest of her could catch up. The moon was calling to her early, and that just wasn’t right.
    She wasn’t Lycan. There wasn’t one real wolf bone in her body. A possible explanation for her reaction to wolf blood was that he had given her too much of it and her system was in a state of confusion. He really didn’t know what to expect. Although Kaitlin wasn’t the first human he had protected from fanged demons, she was the first human he had shared his life force with. The first person he’d wanted to share himself with. Rescuing her had felt personal.
    “Kaitlin.” He called to her again, moving to within touching range without actually making contact. “Tell me what’s going on.”
    “I see things. Valleys and hills.” Her voice was distant, as if she was relating part of another dream. Michael figured she was hallucinating, since there were no hills or valleys surrounding the college, and they were standing on flat, grassy ground.
    He wondered if Kaitlin wouldn’t be able to handle her transition, if he had merely extended her life by hours, instead of years, before that inner bonfire took her down. She looked otherworldly as she stood there, and more transparent than solid. Paler. Slighter than ever.
    When she spoke again, his heart fluttered.
    “More of them.” Her gray eyes flashed as she struggled to focus.
    “More of what, Kaitlin?”
    “Vampires.”
    “Damn it all to hell!” Michael didn’t question her perception. He put his fingers in his mouth to whistle, knowing the pack would still be relatively close and patrolling the area, and that they would hear his call.
    “These damn bloodsuckers just aren’t going to give up,” he said with his senses on full peripheral scan. “I don’t know why so many of them are coming out tonight. There must be a reason.”
    As he looked at Kaitlin, Michael began to consider whether this new wave of bloodsuckers had something to do with her. Was Kaitlin some kind of vampire magnet?
    Insane idea. He shrugged it off. Vampires didn’t plan, or have specific goals for taking revenge on their enemies. Vampires only wanted one thing, and that was to feed. Their entire existence depended on finding humans to feed on. Yet they were coming to this area as if he, Kaitlin and this damn park were ground zero for an undead rally.
    “I have to get you home.” He waved the blue shirt at her and stressed the word. “Now.”
    Seeming to comprehend the problem, she nodded. Instead of coming to him, though, she spun on her heels and took off at a run in the opposite direction...like a damn little half-human fool who hadn’t believed a word he’d said.
    * * *
    Kaitlin couldn’t breathe but refused to stop running, sure that if she kept going she could outdistance the nightmares that felt like her past, present and future all rolled into one big terrible tangle.
    She felt much too vulnerable near Michael, possibly because she actually was. He held all the cards. He was the keeper of Lycan secrets. Michael wanted her to be strong, while also fostering her need for him. He would gladly have carted her home, and then what?
    She was alive, and riddled with guilt about that. Michael belonged with his pack. If his pack were to accept her, and that was what she ended up wanting, she’d have to get Michael to sever whatever ties bound them together so that he could do what he needed to do without worrying about her.
    So she ran away from him, dreading every yard of ground she covered that created more distance and lamenting her need for space. She needed to be on her own to think. Michael needed to be with his pack. She would face this werewolf prognosis head-on as soon as her emotions caught up.
    She ran without assistance or support, not looking at the moon. Her legs were strong enough to