Moon Rise (Twilight Shifters Book 2) by Kate Danley

you killed that thing." He motioned to the harpy’s body lying beside the fire.  Aein noted he had torn off its head.
    “Precautionary measure or anger management?” Aein asked.
    “Both.”
    "Good," murmured Aein.
    Lars put his arm behind Aein's shoulders and shifted her into a sitting position.  Her ribs ached.  Nothing felt broken, but it hurt.  Lars gazed into her eyes.  "Your pupils seem to be the same size, so I am afraid you cannot blame anything on hitting your head."
    "There goes my best excuse," said Aein.
    He planted a relieved kiss on her forehead.  "You scared me when you wouldn't wake up."
    She allowed Lars to help her to her feet.  She grunted, pausing a moment to rest her hands on her thighs as she caught a few deep breaths.  The rush of blood made her woozy.  "Remind me to stop being the hero, would you?"
    "Stop being the hero."
    "Done," she said as she stood up.
    Lars was fiddling nervously with his silver harness as he watched her.  The buckles were constructed in such a way that he could not remove it by himself. 
    "Want me to help you get that off?" she asked.
    "You may remove any articles of my clothing you see fit," he replied.
    She ruffled his hair and turned him around.  "This will be quite enough for the moment," she said.  Her fingers felt like she was moving them through mud and they would not work the way she wanted them to.  "Kind of a shame.  My harness ended up saving me."
    "Really?" he asked, glancing at the harpy's corpse as if she might pipe up to confirm Aein’s claim.
    With no comment from the dead body, Aein continued.  "The harpy couldn't touch it and it was a silver blade which let me cut its throat."
    The harness slid off of Lars's shoulders.  He let it drop to the ground and stretched out his chest and arms.  "Ye gods it feels good to get out of that thing.  I think I'll take my chances with the harpy."
    "Did it hurt you?" Aein asked.
    Lars answered with a small nod.  He pulled back the edge of his shirt.  There were great red welts weeping angrily on his skin.  "Whenever I moved and it got passed the fur, it burned," he said.  "I have no idea how they kept those wild werewolves harnessed."
    "Maybe they don't feel it as much," said Aein.
    "Better not to feel it at all," said Lars with finality, picking up the harness and throwing it into the swamp.  It dropped into the water with a splash.
    "Do you think they have Finn held in one of those?" Aein asked.
    The ripples of where the silver landed spread out, as if with the horror of what her question meant.
    "They must have been lying," said Lars.  "He would never have allowed himself to be caught."
    "So you're saying you think he is dead?"
    Lars rubbed his hands through the waves of his dark auburn hair.  "He can't be dead."
    "I dreamed of him last night," said Aein.  Her words came as if from another world.  "He was sitting by a fire, scanning the skies for more harpies.  He was here.  Protecting us.  And then Cook Bolstad came to me and told me to find him."
    "It was just a dream, Aein."
    "But what if it wasn't?"  She looked at Lars.  "What if they are both ghosts who came to visit me last night when I was so close to death?"
    Lars did not say anything.  He dug his shoe into the dirt.  "I couldn't help you," he said.  "You were lying there and I tried to wake you.  I stayed with you all night keeping you warm, but I couldn't help you because of these paws."  He held up his hands and gazed at them as if they had betrayed him.  "I was so scared that you were going to die."
    "Well, it looks like death won't have me," she replied.
    Finn looked down at the ground and shifted uncomfortably.  "Did you mean it?" he asked.
    "Did I mean what?"
    "Did you mean it when you said you loved me?"
    The moment came rushing back Aein, the moment she had stood there, seeing death coming.  She realized that if life was going to end, there was one thing she needed to say to Lars.
    "Of course I meant it," Aein