Full Moon by Rachel Hawthorne (best biographies to read .txt) 📕

ones. Somehow, without me noticing, he’d changed. I could see him clearly now, because the trees surrounding us were ablaze, and great orange and red flames were leaping into the sky.

Ignoring the danger we were in, Rafe pulled me back into his arms and lowered his mouth to mine until we became the fire and were consumed….

I woke up breathing heavily and sweating. I scrambled out of my sleeping bag and stumbled from the tent, welcoming the feel of the cool night air against my face. I’d slept in my clothes, so all I was missing were my shoes, but I was accustomed to going barefoot so I wasn’t bothered by the ground beneath my bare feet.

Connor was standing near the fire. He took a step toward me. “You okay?”

Nodding jerkily, I started to comb my fingers through my hair and remembered that it was braided. Only in my dream had it been free. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bad dream.” Although not in the traditional sense of nightmares. I was more afraid of myself and the images I was conjuring than I was of any monsters.

Kayla had been sitting on a log. She got up and walked over. “You’re so pale. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Absolutely. Why don’t you go to sleep? I’ll finish your shift.”

“Lucas thought we’d pay more attention if—”

“I know. Weren’t keeping watch with our mate. Connor and I will behave.”

She glanced over at him. He nodded and jerked his head toward our tent. With a shrug, she smiled and patted my shoulder. “All right, then. Thanks.”

She disappeared into the tent.

Connor took my hand. “Come sit by the fire. You’ll feel better.”

I doubted that. “There was a fire in my dream. Everything around me was burning. Just hold me for a minute.”

I didn’t wait for him to give me an answer. I walked toward his outstretched arms, never doubting that he’d welcome me there. He’d been my rock forever.

I tilted my head back and gazed deeply into his blue eyes. I don’t know what he read on my face, but he dipped his head and kissed me.

The kiss resembled nothing in the dream. It was pleasant and sweet and warm. It was reliable. It was constant. It was real.

The kiss in the dream…it was just…well, it was just a dream.

Connor led me over to the log where Kayla had been sitting. Once I was settled on it, he crouched in front of me and tucked some stray strands behind my ear.

I swallowed hard. “The summer solstice, when you couldn’t find me…I was with Rafe.”

A sadness touched his eyes right before he said quietly, “I know.”

“You caught his scent on me.”

He nodded.

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“You’re either mine or you’re not. If you’re mine, I’ll fight to keep you. If you’re not…maybe I don’t want to know.”

I skimmed my fingers along his cheek. Unlike Rafe, he seldom had stubble. “Nothing happened. We just went for a ride on his bike. I needed to get away from the doom and gloom for a while.”

“That’s what Rafe said.”

“You confronted him?”

“Of course. Actually that’s what my dad and I disagreed on. He thought I should have challenged him.”

“That’s insane! You can’t kill him just because he took me for a ride.”

“Relax, Lindsey. I don’t have any plans to challenge him. I like to believe we’ve become a little more civilized over the years and can settle many of our differences in human form, not wolf.”

“But is that the reason he’s no longer part of our sherpa team?”

“No. The elders really are worried about Brittany. If she and Daniel don’t click, they’ll probably put someone else with us.”

I thought about telling him that she wasn’t feeling the connection with Daniel, but we still had a few days for things to change.

Suddenly the hairs on the nape of my neck prickled—and not in the nice way that they had in my dream.

“Connor, do you get the sense that we’re being watched?”

“Yes.”

My breathing slowed as I tried to figure out from which direction someone might be watching us.

Connor suddenly spun around. Two girls were peering out of their tent. They both released high-pitched giggles and ducked back inside.

Connor chuckled. “I don’t remember ever being that young and silly.”

“I don’t think it was them,” I said as I stood up. I turned in a slow circle, but the earlier sensation that I’d had was gone.

“They were all I picked up on.” Connor scented the air. “Nothing unusual.”

I couldn’t shake off the feeling that there had been someone else. “Lucas was probably right. We shouldn’t keep watch with someone we’d rather snuggle with or talk to.”

Connor grinned. “He is wise, our leader. You keep watch here. I’ll circle the camp.”

I knew he wasn’t going to find anything. Whoever it was had left. But it didn’t stop me from wondering who it had been and, more important, what that person wanted.

EIGHT

We trekked for two more days, leading the girls farther into the forest. There were parts of the national forest where few people traveled, where there was more wildlife and more danger, but we avoided those places and helped the girls and their troop leaders set up their final camp in a relatively safe place. After we finished ensuring that the camp was secure, we had plenty of daylight left, so we began preparing for our departure from the group. Brittany and Daniel would stay behind with them. Normally, we’d have just left one sherpa, but the elders had given orders to encourage Brittany to bond with Daniel.

I didn’t see it happening, but a few more days together couldn’t hurt.

“We’ll be back in plenty of time to have you at Wolford before the full moon,” Lucas said to Brittany.

“Whatever,” she responded, as though she was bored with the whole thing.

It was the most important night of our lives, and she acted like she couldn’t