Moonlight by Rachel Hawthorne Page A

their surroundings more easily. I cooed softly as I moved down to his hindquarter—the one that had gotten hurt. I’d never been this close to a wild creature. It was thrilling and unnerving. I knew if he decided to attack me that I wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving, but I also instinctually knew that he wouldn’t hurt me. I didn’t know an animal could be so still. I brushed my hand through his fur, expecting to feel matted fur and dried blood. But it felt the same as the fur at his shoulder. I reached for my flashlight and shone it on his backside.
    There was no blood. Not a trace. That didn’t make sense. I could have sworn he’d gotten hurt. I thought maybe if he’d gone into a river or pond, the blood might have washed away, but there should have been gouged flesh where the bear had clawed him. Very gently I moved his fur aside, but I could find no wound. Mystified, I sat back on my heels. “I guess it was the bear’s blood.”
    It wasn’t as though I’d fully recovered from the ordeal in the river—I could have been mistaken about what had really happened.
    I looked at the wolf. His head was twisted around as he watched me. I said, “You’re so beautiful. I’m glad you’re all right, but you can’t hang around here. You might get hurt.” Especially if Dr. Keane or Mason spotted him. “You need to go back to your pack.”
    Suddenly he snapped his head forward. He gave a throaty growl.
    “What is it, boy?” Then I chastised myself. Did I really think he could understand what I was asking? That he could answer me?
    He glanced back at me, before taking off like a speeding bullet. I’d been worried that maybe I’d just been unable to find the wound, but now I knew for certain that he wasn’t hurt at all.
    I sat there for a while, staring into the darkness where he’d disappeared. I’d seen TV specials about people who communed with wild animals, but this was my first experience. Part of me thought it should have felt weird, but at the same time, it had seemed almost natural—as though the wolf and I were somehow connected.
    It was strange. Ever since I’d returned to the forest, I’d had this odd sense of belonging. I felt a protectiveness toward the wolves especially. It was more than the fact that they were beautiful. It was as though they had human qualities: They were intelligent, monogamous, family-oriented. Maybe it was that sense of family that drew me to the wolf. Having lost my parents, family was so important to me.
    “Kayla?”
    Startled by Lucas’s unexpected voice, I twisted around. “Hey.”
    “What are you doing out here?”
    My encounter with the wolf felt very personal and private. I didn’t want to share it. Besides, I thought it was possible that he’d think I was a little psycho.
    “Just another night of not being able to sleep.” I pushed myself to my feet.
    “I’ve been there—when you’re so exhausted, you think you’ll crash and instead you stay awake.”
    “It’s a little irritating.” Although I thought if I went back to my sleeping bag, I would crash. If he noticed the first aid kit, he didn’t say anything. For all I knew, he’d seen me with the wolf and was just being nice, pretending to believe my lies.
    “Do you ever sleep?” I asked.
    “Not much. A bad habit I got into this year at college—spending way too much time studying, when I wasn’t partying.”
    “Don’t take this wrong, but I can’t see you partying.”
    “My first semester away from home, I went a little wild. We all did. Me, Connor, and Rafe. On campus, they called us the wildmen. But by the end of the year, we’d settled down.” He glanced around. “You mentioned seeing a black wolf last night. How about the wolf this afternoon? Was it black?”
    “No.” While I’d hesitated to tell Mason the wolf’s true color, I knew that Lucas was all about protecting the wildlife. “His fur was different colors—kinda like your hair, actually. Black, brown,