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

it. That’s what would happen. I have to stay awake and hold on. If I let go of Connor, I’ll have to add aching head to my list of pains.

“Talk to me, Lindsey. Tell me what you’re feeling.”

“My shoulder hurts.”

“Mine, too. I think you were shot. The bullet went through.”

Oh, that makes sense, I thought in a vague sort of way. I was having difficulty holding onto my thoughts and analyzing the situation. But if I was shot, then that was the reason I could feel warmth turning cold on my back. But if the bullet went through me…

“Did the bullet hit you?” I asked, and was surprised to find that my words sounded somewhat slurred.

“Yes, but I can heal as soon as we stop.”

“When will that be? I really want to sleep.”

“I know, babe. Just hold on.”

He’d never called me babe before. Never used any endearment for me. That was so sweet of him to do it now. I wanted to tell him that I’d been worried about him, but it was so difficult to form words. My mouth didn’t want to work. I laid my head against his back. He was so comfortable.

“Lindsey?”

I heard him calling my name, but the darkness called more loudly, so I answered it.

“You were supposed to take care of her!”

“Well, if you’d kept the guards and their stupid dogs from turning back, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt!”

The yelling and accusations continued. As I slowly broke through the fog of unconsciousness, I recognized the voices: Rafe and Connor. They were both alive, thank God, and clearly feeling way more energetic than I was.

“Guys, stop it!” Kayla demanded. “Don’t make me go all Dog Whisperer on your butts!”

I realized I was lying on the ground and she was sitting beside me. We were in one of our smaller lairs. So we’d gotten away. We were all safe. Weren’t we?

“Lucas?” I rasped.

“You’re awake,” Kayla said, and squeezed my hand.

“Lucas?” I repeated.

“He’s outside keeping guard. He spread some stuff around so the dogs would lose our scent. We think we’re safe here. At least for a while. We need to get you home.”

“How are you feeling?” Connor asked as he knelt beside me.

I could see Rafe standing a little off to the side, his worried gaze on me. Having two guys who wanted you was probably every girl’s fantasy, but it came with so many complications—especially when you had to choose one. Soon.

“I’m hurt. Not too badly, though.” The pain wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d expected.

“We found a first-aid kit,” Connor explained. “Had some pain meds in it. Your thigh is lacerated from where the dog pulled a Cujo on you, and your shoulder has a hole in it where the bullet went in and traveled out. We were able to pack your wounds to stop the bleeding, but Kayla is right. We need to get you home. We were thinking of tying you behind me on the bike.”

I forced myself to grin. “That’s not a ride we ever went on at an amusement park.”

“No.” He brushed my hair off my brow. “We need to move quickly, before infection starts in.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I’m going to scar.” In a few more days, when I could shift, wounds would heal without scarring, but now—

“Maybe not. Or not too bad. And if you scar…well, I think scars are sexy.”

I laughed lightly. “You do not.”

“Sure, I do. Try to drink and eat a little. Then if you feel strong enough, we’ll go.”

I knew that even if I didn’t feel strong enough, we needed to go. Because I wasn’t going to get any better without medical attention.

Connor moved away. As much as I knew Rafe wanted to approach, he didn’t. It wasn’t his right. Until I made my decision, until I told Connor that I wasn’t choosing him, he was my guy.

They both went outside. Maybe to check on the bike or on Lucas. Maybe to continue fighting where I couldn’t hear them.

“They’re both pretty worried about you,” Kayla said as she twisted the top off a bottle of water before handing it to me.

I nodded, knowing she was trying to make a point: They were equal in their affections and concern for me. Maybe she was also acknowledging that she understood the difficulty of my decision.

“Only a few nights until the full moon,” she said quietly.

I groaned low. “I know.”

“If you’re still recovering, will your body delay its transformation?”

I slowly shook my head. “No such luck. The moon has some kind of mystic power over us. It’s stronger than anything we face on earth. When it calls, we have to answer.”

She handed me a peanut butter cracker. “You need protein,” she said distractedly, then, “That is so weird—about the moon, I mean. I’ve felt it. I’ve gone through the transformation and it’s like nothing I ever felt before. You can’t prepare for it, and maybe that’s the reason the guys don’t talk about it. I know I tried to explain it, but it’s as though for a short time your body isn’t yours, but it is yours. It’s foreign and yet it’s so familiar. All because of a full moon.”

“It’s just the way it is,” I said, using the bottled water to wash down the dry cracker. I guess it was easier for me to accept these things because I grew up with them.

“What if you choose the wrong guy?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t know. I’ve known Connor forever. I’ve only recently become aware of Rafe in that way. What if all this confusion and doubt is just because he’s forbidden to me? How did you know with Lucas?”

“I just knew. Not much help, huh?”

“None at all.”

Hearing footsteps, I glanced toward the entrance. Connor stood there. “Dawn’s coming. We need to get going while you have the strength.”

I nodded. “I’m ready.”

He came over to help me stand. “You’re gonna be all right, Lindsey.”

I gave him a thumbs-up of assurance. Physically, maybe, I’d be fine. But my heart was