Under Her Skin

'I'm not the one who stole your choices. Gabriel did. If you stay in these woods, you'll probably die of exposure. If you don't, then in a week, you'll change, but you won't know how to change back. Eventually you'll go insane, trapped in your new form, controlled by urges you can't imagine. You'll end up mauling whoever you come across, be it man, woman, or child. Then people will hunt you. They'll kill other wolves trying to get to you, but sooner or later, they'll find you. You'll get shot or caught in a trap, but either way, it will be horrible. Walk away now and people are guaranteed to die, including you. Come back with me and no one dies. There's your choice.'

'I can get to a doctor, find a cure,' I replied stubbornly.

Daniel laughed, but it was harsh. 'We've had doctors within the pack try to find a cure for decades. Not for ourselves, but to fix people who've been unwillingly infected, like you. There is no cure, Marlee. If there was, we'd have given it to you already.'

Hopelessness crashed over me. 'You're telling me I'll never see my family and friends again. You're so willing to do anything for your pack, but you expect me to just forget about anyone who's ever meant anything to me in my life!'

He still didn't turn around. 'If you wouldn't have refused to speak to me for days, I'd have told you that you only need to be quarantined for a couple months. Once you've learned control, you can see your family and friends. They can come here, or you can move away. You'd need to live somewhere close to wolves, though, so when you change, you're not running on four legs down a city street attracting unwanted attention.'

My brain whirled with this new information. I didn't have to be trapped here forever. I could go home, see my parents, my sister, Brandy, even my nephew again. I could wait it out. Get control. Could I actually learn to live as both a woman and a wolf?

Daniel started walking away, the dried leaves crunching under his feet. I stared after him, not moving. Was he really giving me a choice? If I walked the other way, would he truly not stop me?

I tested it. Turned and walked in the other direction. There wasn't the slightest hesitation in his steps as he kept going. He's tricking you, my cynicism whispered. He'll come back.

I kept walking. So did he. Soon the sounds of Daniel's footsteps began to lessen as we moved further away from each other. After ten minutes, I couldn't hear him at all.

Chapter Eight

Even with the moonlight illuminating the forest, I would have been lost without Daniel's scent. I wasn't used to relying on my sense of smell, but that's exactly what I was doing as I walked back through the woods toward what I thought was the town. In my peripheral vision, hazy flashes of maroon darted by. It had scared me the first few times I saw it, but then I realized what it was. I was seeing the heat living creatures gave off, just like I was looking through an infrared camera.

My sharpened senses made me feel more alive than I ever had. It seemed like I'd been sleepwalking the previous twenty-five years of my life, numbed to all the brilliance of the world around me. Of course, I knew what this was—the wolf in me, getting ready to be freed.

It was the main reason why, after sitting in the forest watching the sun fall and the moon rise, I was walking back to the town. Chosen or not, I was part wolf now. I couldn't go back to my family, friends, or coworkers, not knowing what I was capable of, even if I did make it out of these woods. If the choice was sacrificing

months of my life dealing with the strangest scenario imaginable, versus risking people I loved by hoping Daniel was wrong and I wouldn't one day eat them…well, there was no choice. Not in my opinion.

That wasn't the reason my heart started to beat faster when I recognized the man leaning against a tree just outside the limits of the town. All right, I'd had more motivation than just protecting my loved ones by returning. With every step I'd taken away from Daniel, something burning and heavy had settled in my heart. It was as unfamiliar, frightening, and exciting as the other changes I'd experienced this week. How could I care so much after such a short period of time? I'd been with Paul for three years, but hadn't felt the crushing sense of loss at our breakup that I did walking away from Daniel. Was it some supernatural hormone gone haywire? I didn't know. I only knew it was the most real thing I'd ever felt.

'I thought you were letting me go,' I said. 'Yet here you are, still in the forest instead of in bed at your cabin.'

Daniel turned. He was still too far away for me to see his expression, but his voice sounded raw. 'I was letting you go, but no wolf can sleep while his mate is in danger.'

Mate. Such a primitive word, and so possessive. All things considered, we barely knew each other. Why wasn't I uneasy at hearing it? Why did warmth spread over me, even as I was shivering in the cold night air?

I swallowed. 'How can you be sure?'

He was at my side in the next heartbeat, enfolding me in his arms, his body heat almost searing my skin.

'I knew it as soon as I smelled your scent,' he said, low and rough. 'I told you, that's how it is with wolves. That day with Gabriel—I wasn't tracking him. He and the others had masked their scents so I wouldn't be able to trace them. But I found them anyway because I'd been tracking you.'

This was overwhelming. I shuddered even as I leaned in closer to him. 'Daniel, everything has happened so fast…'

He caressed my face. 'Don't judge by that. Breathe me in. Tell me what you feel.'

I inhaled near his neck, absorbing the mix of wood smoke, cinnamon, and musk that made up his scent.

Contentment battled with lust inside me. I wanted to throw Daniel to the forest floor, rub my body all over his, claim his flesh as my own, and then hold him and never let go.

'I feel more than I have a right to,' was what I said, voice shaky.

He bent so that his lips were almost brushing mine. 'I give you the right. I want you to claim me as yours.'

And I wanted to be claimed. That was the truth of it. Whether it was me or the wolf inside who'd made this decision, I didn't know. But I felt it through every fiber of me.

I'd asked Daniel days ago if it was him I was talking to or the wolf. It's both, he'd said. Always. I hadn't understood then, but I did now. The wolf didn't feel like it was a separate entity from me anymore; it was me, but without all my fears, doubts, or hesitations. The wolf was me stripped of all my pretense, and it knew, unequivocally, that Daniel was mine.

And so did I.

'Take me home,' I whispered. It was an invitation and a promise. I wasn't giving up my family or my friends, but I'd first learn to live in harmony with the wolf in me, and I'd do it here, with the help of my mate.

Daniel picked me up and carried me to his cabin. I was smiling the whole way.

THE END

About the author:

Jeaniene is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Night Huntress series and the Night Huntress World novels. To date, foreign rights for her novels have sold to fourteen different countries. Jeaniene lives in Florida with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she swears like a sailor, rarely cooks, and always sleeps in on the weekends. Jeaniene and Matthew are the proud parents of Gypsy, their very spoiled dog who believes Jeaniene’s only purpose in life is to cater to her.

Find out more about Jeaniene at her website: http://jeanienefrost.com