Beth took in a deep breath of forest air, closed her eyes and tried, again, to focus. She’d tossed and turned the entire night, lying awake and unsettled by the intensity of her encounter with Braden. She still wasn’t sure what to do about him. But one answer had come to her in the darkness. She finally understood what Chase had been trying to teach her. It hadn’t taken her long to figure out that she needed to start by focusing exclusively on one object, with one sense, and then open herself to the rest of them. Last night it had been the feel of Braden pressed against her, warm and deliciously male, that had finally snapped her senses into focus. Just the echoes of the sensations were enough to arouse her.

Beth pulled herself away from the memory and allowed herself to only consider what it taught her.

Focus on one thing. Let your senses spread from there.

Instinct, rather than determination, would get her what she wanted. Widening her stance, she let her eyes fall closed and focused exclusively on the first thing she noticed.

Chase, standing next to her, radiated heat and his breathing was slow and measured. In, out. In, out. In, out. Without thought, Beth altered her breathing to match his, the sound of air rushing through lungs and out the nose the only thing she heard.

“What do you hear?” Chase’s voice joined the sound of their breathing, sending her concentration wobbling.

Maintaining her exclusive focus on what she heard, Beth assimilated Chase’s voice. He repeated the question every few breaths like encouragement, until it layered into the sounds of their lungs stretching and collapsing, so intertwined it was almost indistinguishable.

Beth snapped her head toward a faint rustle to her right, tracking the sound through the underbrush.

“You hear that?”

Beth nodded, and then realized Chase’s voice didn’t block the other noises she was processing and decided to try to vocalize her answer, “Yes.”

“Good. Where?”

Beth focused again, pulling the sound to the forefront of her mind, actively muffling the various sounds that were beginning to seamlessly flow with Chase’s voice and their breathing. “A little to our right, moving closer.”

“How big is it?”

“Small, I think…but it sounds loud. Louder than I think it really is.”

“Good. Now, track its movement, and the next time it stops, I want you to open your eyes and tell me what you see.”

Beth frowned, a line of uncertainty creasing the skin between her eyes. She wasn’t sure she could maintain her focus if she opened up another sense.

Sensing her hesitation, Chase said, “You can do this. Remember, you aren’t opening up all of your senses. You won’t drown. Find the noise, focus only on it. When you are certain of where it is, open your eyes. See past everything else—the trees, the grass, everything. Your only concern is what’s making that noise.”

She pushed Chase’s voice out of her awareness. The undergrowth rustled. Closer now. Again. Creeping nearer to where she and Chase stood. She tracked the sound, each crunch and brush of undergrowth drawing her attention like a ping on sonar. When it stilled, and didn’t move again, Beth opened her eyes.

“What do you see?”

“Red.” It moved again, the sound still clear to her, though no longer her primary focus. “It’s small, maybe a cat?”

Chase laughed. “Not out here, look again.”

“It’s in the undergrowth again, I can’t see it.”

“Can you hear it?”

“Yes.”

“Then be patient.”

Red fur darted between the trees, a flash of bushy tail. A glimpse of pointed ears. “It’s a fox. A young one.”

“And what do you want to do?”

The reply burst from her without thought. “Hunt.”

“Then focus on the senses you need to do that. On the legs that will make you fast enough, the ears that will hear every flick of his tail against the forest. Focus, and let the shift happen.”

Beth floundered for the first time that morning, two halves of her warring with each other. One half insisted she hunt. The other insisted she had no reason to. “I…”

“Don’t hesitate.” Chase’s voice was a grating whisper that silenced her conflicting thoughts. “Trust your instincts to guide you through the change. You can do this.”

No, I have to do this.

She focused on what she remembered of being a wolf and trained her senses on the noise the fox made as it circled away from them. The pain of the first muscle contractions caught her by surprise. She wavered, then redoubled her focus and slid into the change.

Less than a minute later, Beth stood on four shaking legs, still trembling from the change, but not aching as fiercely as she was used to. Stretching and arching, Beth shook off the last of the residual tension, then inhaled the forest scent that surrounded her. The musty fragrance of the forest rushed through her snout, her instincts separating the interesting smells from the nonessential, the most vibrant standing out like homing beacons. She smelled the way the morning dew dampened the earth, the far off stink of a skunk and the fur of the fox, coated in the earthy smell of his den.

Ears perking and eyes seeking, Beth rotated to where the fox last moved through the underbrush.

A rustle of leaves.

A flash of red.

Instinct took over. Her hindquarters hunched and her eyes fixed on the patch of red, bright against the green of the leaves. She thrust with her legs, pulled her forepaws underneath her and dove into the brush.

She came down hard and unbalanced, the force of her leap and the momentum of her body tossing her hind legs up and over, sending her rolling through the bushes. The fox skittered and raced away, disappearing out of sight. Chase’s laughter rang in her ears.

Beth picked her way out of the brush and trotted up to him.

“Well someone’s happy despite their loss.” Chase smiled smugly and glanced toward her tail.

Embarrassed, Beth willed her tail to stop swinging happily back and forth like a puppy who’d just chewed up a favored pair of shoes. Unsuccessful, she plopped her butt to the ground and growled a warning.

“Don’t worry about it. Everyone acts that way the first time. And everyone misses their first time, too.” He smiled a toothy grin and sat so they were eye to eye. “You’ll learn to control it better, balance your instincts with your reason.” Chase paused, considering her somberly. “It’s what makes us so dangerous. We keep our human minds, but have the instincts and abilities of an apex predator. With the right balance, the sheer predatory power of the wolf can be beautiful, even when deadly. It’s our human half we have to control. The temptation to revel in power is a far more potent force than you realize.”

Beth cocked her head, considering what Chase was trying to tell her. She thought about Rachel and the way she died. It was still difficult to believe that the wolf wasn’t vicious or evil. It was, after all, the wolf’s senses that had hunted them down, the wolf’s fangs that had ripped Rachel’s throat to shreds. Even now, all of her senses seemed to be analyzing and dismissing everything around her with only two criteria in mind: prey or threat. If it fit into neither category it was dismissed. It certainly seemed like the part of her consciousness dedicated to the wolf was pretty single-minded and very violent.

She knew instinctively what would have happened had she caught the fox. Saliva flooded her mouth at the thought and disgust surged through her.

“I can see that you’re still struggling with the distinction. That’s fine.” Chase extended careful fingers, running his hand over her head and around her ears before quickly withdrawing. “Alright. Let’s work on getting you back on two legs. Then we’ll do it again.”

***

Beth slunk around the door Chase held open for her, keeping her body low to the ground, her ears flicking back and forth.

This is so embarrassing!

The loose clothing she left the house in that morning hadn’t survived her first shift. Chase had whipped around just in time to avoid seeing anything that would truly embarrass her—or infuriate Braden. They’d had to spend the rest of the morning with Beth clutching the torn remains of her T-shirt and Chase standing thirty yards away, looking in the direction of the house. Thank God the first shift had been the hardest and the rest had gotten progressively easier because Beth didn’t think she could have focused too long standing naked in the middle of the forest. As there was no way in hell she’d walk back to the house naked, she’d been forced to come back in wolf form.

Hopefully, I can sneak in before anyone notices.

Beth scrambled up the stairs, her nails clicking against the hardwoods.

“Better be careful. There will be hell to pay if you scratch those floors.” Chase’s amused remark faded as she bolted down the hall and toward her room. She drew up short when she finally made it to her door.

Shit, it’s closed.

A whine escaped the back of her throat when her paw slid uselessly off the doorknob. Wrapping her jaws around it didn’t get her anywhere, either.

Crap.

She just wanted to get into the room, shift back, and feel human again. The only thing standing in her way was a closed door.

It isn’t even locked for crying out loud!

Beth tilted her head and considered her options. Shift back and risk being caught naked. Or go get someone to open it for her.

“Need a little help?” Braden’s laughter surprised and irritated her, raising the hair between her shoulder blades.

Beth turned and pinned him with an icy glare, then scratched lightly against the door.

“Miss having thumbs, huh?” Braden hooked his own thumbs around the outside of his jean pockets and leaned casually against the door to the office.

Beth laid her ears flat against the back of her head.

Jerk. Don’t just stand there grinning!

He could at least be a gentleman and open the door for her. Pulling her lips back, Beth tried for a menacing snarl. That got her full-blown laughter. Frustrated, she darted down the hall, past Braden and into the office. Glancing around wildly for something of Braden’s, her eyes landed on his shoes, discarded by the desk.

Barely broken in leather.

They looked expensive.

Perfect.

Beth snapped one up and whirled past Braden, heading for her door.

“Shit.” He scrambled after her. “Those are new!”

Beth sat next to her door, pinning Braden with a challenging stare. When he didn’t immediately move, she let her jaw work around the shoe.

“Christ. Okay, okay.” He lunged forward and swung the door open for her. “There. Happy, now?”

Beth dropped his shoe and darted past him, moving straight for the bathroom. She heard him moaning something about drool before she was distracted by the spasms that wracked her as she willed herself back to human.

The shift left her shaking and leaning against the sink counter, panting for the first few seconds. It still hurt, every time, but it was a little easier every time, too. She no longer felt every bone and muscle snap and stretch; it was all starting to blur together into one short phase. Chase seemed to think it would get even easier.

She stuffed her arms through her robe and cinched the belt around her waist before she headed into the bedroom, intent on grabbing a change of clothes and taking a long, hot shower.

“Those were new, you know,” Braden whined.

“I hope I left teeth marks,” she said as she pulled fresh underwear out of the dresser.

“Aw, come on,” Braden said, fingers grasping the belt of her robe and pulling her to him. “Don’t be mad. Teasing is an Edwards tradition.”

He didn’t pull her flush against him, but the heat of his body still managed to seep through the thin silk of her robe, vaporizing her thoughts. When he ran the pad of his thumb down her cheek and over her bottom lip, she relaxed and leaned into him.

“I’m not an Edwards.”

He pulled gently away. “No. But you still belong here.” He studied her for a long moment and then released her. “Congratulations, by the way. You’ve obviously had a breakthrough.” His voice was a soft caress, a stark contrast to the hands that slid firmly around her, stroking over silk before coming to rest on her shoulders. A zing of arousal shot through her and exploded into whirling, sparkling bits of energy.

Obviously mistaking the tension in her frame, Braden pulled away, his face shuttered. “Not everything has to be such a battle, Beth. You can trust this.”

I want to. So badly.

He held himself at arm’s length, obviously struggling with his desire to pull her closer. She reacted to his gesture without thought. Stepping forward, she slid her hands through the hair at the nape of his neck, pulled him down and met his lips with her own. Taking advantage of the way his mouth hung open in shock, Beth angled her head and slid her tongue against his.

Braden grunted in surprise, then came alive, his tongue darting in and out, tasting her as his hands gripped her bottom and pulled her to him.

Beth allowed herself to fall into the embrace, ran her hands over his broad shoulders, then down, along the corded muscle along the length of his spine. When she found the waist of his jeans, she slid her hands along the top, then under the shirt, her nails skimming over the smooth skin of his back.

Hands kneading her through the silk of her robe, he kicked the door shut with his foot. It bounced back, clipping him in the shoulder.

“I need to talk to you.” Chase stood in the doorway, eyes flashing.

Groaning, Braden pulled away, Beth’s fingers slipping from beneath his shirt. “Right now?”

“Now,” Chase barked and whirled from the door.

The muscles along Braden’s jaw clenched as he ground his teeth, but he released her and stepped away.

“Hold that thought?”

Beth tugged at the hem of her robe and nodded.

“I swear, I’m being punished,” he said as he disappeared through the door.

 

“What’s the problem?” Braden asked as his feet hit the bottom of the stairs. “And great timing, by the way.”

Chase’s eyes cut through him, slicing away his frustration like talons through flesh. “Someone’s outside Lucy’s studio. I’m on my way now.”

“Shit. She say who it was?”

“No, she couldn’t tell.” Chase grabbed the keys off the hook by the door. “I’m going to go pick her up. You need to stay here with Beth. Call your parents. Caleb, too.”

“Caleb’s still in Portland.” Braden followed Chase out the door and down the front steps to his car.

“Call him anyway.” Chase swung into his car, slamming the door behind him. The engine revved and he rolled down the window. “Stay here, I’ll be back.”

Braden grabbed the steering wheel, keeping Chase from peeling out. “She’s at the studio Chase, in the middle of the afternoon. It’s bound to be packed. Don’t cause a scene.”

“I’m going.” He put the car in reverse and hit the accelerator at the same time Braden snatched his hand back. Chase gunned the engine, spewing gravel and fishtailing as he made a hard right on the main road.

“What’s happened?” Beth stood on the porch, clutching her robe around her.

“Lucy thinks someone’s outside the studio. Chase has gone to see what’s going on.”

“Is she okay?” Beth strode rapidly off the porch, concern tightening her face. “Does she know who it is?”

“She’s fine. And no, we don’t know who it is.” Braden propelled her back into the house. “Come on. I’ve got to make some phone calls.”

“Will he be all right by himself?” Beth asked.

Braden locked the door behind them. “Should I be jealous?” When Beth didn’t rise to the bait he continued, “He’ll be fine. He’s likely to have a harder time with Lucy than anything else.” Braden took the stairs two at a time, heading for the office.

“What? Why? He’s just going to bring her home, right?”

“I’m sure that’s what he thinks he’s going to do.” Moving into the study, Braden searched his desk for his cell phone. “But it’s the middle of the afternoon—Lucy’s ballet studio is probably full of kids. Unless she thinks the kids are in danger, she’ll make Chase stick out the afternoon with her. She won’t be done with classes until after seven, so he ought to be in a really good mood when they get back.”

Pulling his phone from beneath a stack of reports, Braden unlocked the key guard and scrolled through his contacts list.

“How can you make light of this?” Beth demanded. “You’re acting like this is no big deal.”

Braden glanced up. Beth stood before him, feet shoulder width apart, hands balled into fists and her entire body charged with defensive energy. Except her eyes—her eyes showed the wild terror she was trying to reign in.

“Beth…” Braden moved around the desk, taking hold of her arm and pulling her toward him. “We’ve been expecting this.” He smiled and used his thumb to smooth the line that creased her forehead. “We’ve dealt with this before. The Bolveks enjoy the game as much as the hunt and the kill. They’re toying with us. Toying with you,” Braden growled. “It’s what they do. Markko wants you terrified, jumping at shadows. He revels in the control it gives him. He’ll draw this out for as long as he can or until he gets bored.” He ran a hand along the side of her face, tilting her chin up to look at him. “You can’t let his scare tactics work. The less you react, the less we react, the more likely he’ll grow bored and frustrated. The more likely he’ll make a fatal mistake.”

“You knew he’d do this?” Suspicious accusation laced her words.

“From the moment he didn’t kill you in the dressing room.” Beth bristled in his arms and pulled away.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Anger burned across her face.

Better anger than terror.

Braden braced himself for the heat of her temper. “What difference would it have made? Would your decision to stay have changed?”

“No.”

“How about your decision to put yourself through learning how to control the shift, would that have changed?”

“No.”

“I didn’t think so.” He reached for her again, relieved when she didn’t pull her hand away. “You had enough on your mind. You didn’t need any more.”

She tilted her chin up, jaw setting stubbornly. “You want me to trust you? Don’t leave me in the dark. I need to know what’s going on.”

“Okay.” He pulled her to him, kissing the top of her head. “Now,” he said, pulling away from her and picking up his phone, “I’m going to call my parents, alright?”

“Yeah. Fine. First, give me Lucy’s number at the studio. I want to call her, see if I can talk her into coming home early.”

Braden laughed, but scrolled through his phone book, jotting down Lucy’s office and cell numbers on a sticky note. “Be my guest, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. She’s as stubborn as you are.” He handed the note over and dialed his father. “You can use the landline on the desk. Good luck.”

She gave him a challenging look as she picked up the phone.

Braden shrugged. “You’re gonna need it.”

***

Beth checked her watch again. Twenty past seven. Where the hell were Lucy and Chase? She resumed her pacing by the living room window, trying to reach out with her hearing. Was that a car approaching?

No.

Nothing. Just a faint buzzing noise and a headache. She couldn’t calm down enough to concentrate. Braden had been right, of course. Lucy had adamantly refused to leave the ballet studio, insisting that she had a job to do and that Chase could hang out with her for the afternoon. Beth still didn’t understand why Lucy had sounded positively gleeful about it.

“You keep that up and I’m going to have to replace those floorboards.” Anna appeared from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “Come on, you can come help me put dinner together.”

Beth pulled herself away from the window and followed Anna into the kitchen. “What can I do?”

“I’ve mostly got dinner handled, but I was going to try my hand at some apple turnovers. you could give me a hand with those.” She gestured to where a sheet of phyllo dough was warming on the counter. “Can you cut those out for me?”

“Sure.” Beth pushed her sleeves up and then set to work rolling the dough out onto wax paper, comfortable in a task she’d done many times in Angie’s kitchen. But the distraction didn’t last long. By the time Beth was laying neatly cut pieces of dough out, she was glancing out the window every thirty seconds.

“They’ll be fine,” Anna said, an amused smile softening her expression.

“I don’t know how you do this, how you stay so calm.” Beth brushed her arm against her forehead, trying to push her sleeve back up her arm. “It’s so stressful.”

“It’s not always like this. In fact, more often than not, I forget there’s anything different about our family. Conflict like this is pretty rare.”

“I’m sorry.” Not for the first time, Beth wondered if she wasn’t being unconscionably selfish staying with Braden and his family. This wasn’t their problem.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Anna waved her off with a hand. “We were probably due. It’s been years since the last confrontation with the Bolveks. And, well, in a family with three sons, and a husband who tends to get pulled into their adventures—” Anna replied as she made quotation marks with her fingers and rolled her eyes, “—you learn to expect these sorts of things.”

“So it doesn’t bother you that I brought Markko to your doorstep? That he threatened Lucy, probably just because she was with me?” Beth asked incredulously.

Anna stuck out a finger and leveled her with a glare. “First, you didn’t bring Markko here. I promise you, he’d have shown up sooner or later.” She held up a warning hand when Beth started to argue. “You didn’t. Braden brought you here and, while I’m not endorsing his method of transportation, the bottom line is you are important to my son. Therefore, you are important to us. It’s that simple.” Anna considered her quietly for a long moment. “I hope someday that won’t bother you so much.”

“I hope so, too,” Beth said, feeling Anna gazing shrewdly at her, looking for the lie in her words. “It’s hard sometimes. You’ve been so accommodating. So welcoming. You and your family make everything seem so normal…I never thought I’d feel that way again.” Words and emotions tangled in her throat, making her voice thick and heavy. “Sometimes I’m afraid I’m falling into your lives, into your family because it’s easy…”

“Oh, honey…”

“Hey, hey. What’s for dinner?” Lucy interrupted, bounding into the kitchen. “I’m starving.”

“Don’t leave your bag in the doorway where anyone can trip over it. And we’re having pork loin. You’ve got about fifteen minutes if you want to go upstairs and freshen up.”

“Nah. What are you making, Beth?”

“Apple turnovers,” Beth answered, bewildered by Lucy’s nonchalant attitude. “Are you okay?”

“What?” Lucy looked confused at first, then waved her hand dismissively, the exact same way her mother had. “Oh, you mean whoever was outside the studio? No big deal. He was gone by the time Chase got there. Probably just wanted to try and rattle us. I wouldn’t have even called, except he showed up where I work and kids come in and out all day.”

“I’m not sure you should go to work anymore, Lucy, at least not by yourself.” Beth plowed ahead before Lucy could argue. “Look, I know you have more experience with this sort of thing, that you aren’t as concerned by it. But it bothers me. I’m worried about you. I don’t think you understand what he’d do to you, Lucy. I couldn’t bear it.” Beth pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “I know you can take care of yourself, but promise me, promise me you won’t take any risks.”

Lucy opened her mouth, her face set for an argument and then snapped it shut. “I promise.” She slid onto a barstool. “Besides, Chase agrees with you, he’s not going to be satisfied with taking me to work and dropping me off, anymore.”

Beth breathed a sigh of relief. No matter how many times they tried to reassure her, she would never understand how the Edwardses seemed to take everything in stride.

***

“What are you doing out here?” Braden asked, stepping out on the porch and letting the screen door slam shut behind him.

“Just thinking.” Beth made room for him on the swing. “It’s quiet out here.”

“Yeah.” Braden relaxed into the seat next to her, pushing the bench back and forth with his foot. “Thinking about anything in particular? Or do I even need to ask.”

“I hate the waiting. I hate not knowing what’s coming.” Warm fingers slid against her own. She let her head rest against his shoulder. “Sometimes I forget Markko’s out there. Your family makes everything so easy.” She was coming to rely on their support to the point that she wondered if she could manage on her own anymore. She didn’t like the feeling that left her with.

“I understand. Forgetting what’s out there, even for a little while, makes it that much harder to deal with when you’re abruptly reminded. Like today.” Braden pulled her toward him and wrapped an arm around her, his hand lightly massaging her shoulder.

“Like today,” she agreed

“Enjoying the time you spend out here isn’t a crime, Beth. Neither is forgetting that we’re different.” He sounded relieved by the thought. “Besides, look how much you’ve accomplished,” he pointed out, pride coloring his voice.

“Yeah, but it took weeks to get this far. If you hadn’t intervened, I’d probably still be out in the woods listening to Chase tell me to focus while I contemplated ways to kill him.”

Braden laughed and squeezed her. “Chase knows how to control his wolf better than anyone I’ve ever met, including my father. But he isn’t always the best at communicating the principles. You accomplished in less than two weeks what took me more than three months.”

“I was motivated.”

“Yeah, you were,” Braden quietly acknowledged. “But you aren’t alone. You don’t have to bear the weight of this by yourself anymore.”

“I don’t want your family hurt, not because of me.” The thought ate at her like a poisoned wound.

“They know how to look out for themselves, and even if something were to happen, it wouldn’t be your fault.” Braden caught her face with a warm palm, coaxing her to look at him. “It wouldn’t be, Beth.”

Beth nodded, her cheek caressing his palm as she did so. They sat in silence for a long time after that, Braden idly pushing them back and forth on the swing.

Movement along the tree line caught Beth’s attention. Chase walked along the trees, his father a few steps behind him.

“Where are they going?”

“Hmm?”

Beth gestured toward the two men entering the forest. “Chase and your dad, where are they going?”

“Oh. Just to check the woods around the property. Two of us have been going out every night. We’ll know if Markko or anyone else enters our property. It’s just a precaution. Something we do routinely, anyway. You don’t need to worry about it,” he said, toying with a strand of her hair.

Beth sighed and balled her fists. “I wish I knew what he was waiting for.”

“Would it really help? Or would it just make you worry more as time began to slip by faster and faster?”

“I don’t like not knowing. I can’t be prepared for what I don’t expect.”

“Chase and I have been discussing it.”

“And?”

“There’s a full moon coming up.” Braden paused, but what he was waiting for, Beth couldn’t tell. “It’s the second full moon this month.”

“Oh.” Oh. It suddenly made sense. The last time she and Markko had encountered each other had been during the last blue moon. “He’d like the symmetry.”

“Feel better?” Braden asked.

“Not really,” Beth admitted. “But I don’t feel any worse, either.” She stretched her legs and took one last look at the forest not a hundred yards from the house.

Is that where it will end, one way or another?

“I think I’m going to head up to bed.” She rose from the swing and turned toward the door.

“You’re upset.” He caught her hand as she passed him. “What can I do?”

Beth turned, caught Braden’s gaze and squeezed his fingers. “Nothing. Not right now.” She watched fascinated as his eyes dilated and his fingers flexed in her own. He released her hand and leaned back into the swing.

“Whatever you need. Whatever you want, I’m here,” he said as he pushed himself up and went inside.

It took everything she had not follow him.