Dark of Night Read online

  Connell grabbed my arm. “What’s going on with you?”

  I tugged myself free. “I’m sorry for what I said. I just need some fresh air.”

  His rigid posture softened. “I feel terrible that you had to see your friend like that.” He seemed genuinely concerned.

  “I’ll be fine.” My throat was dry again.

  “The chief doesn’t think you’re a suspect, if that’s what’s worrying you. It’s standard procedure. It would apply to me too, if I saw a murder victim the day before she died.” An expression of regret creased his brow.

  “I don’t want to fight anymore. Please. My place tonight. Eight?”

  “Lonescu,” the chief called out.

  Connell’s gaze lingered over me like he might answer me, and I yearned for him to nod or do something. But I had to get away from the smells of blood, and Connell’s sex musk, before something bad happened.

  He spun away, as if I were nothing but his colleague, rather than the woman he loved. I rushed toward the back end of the street. A crawly sensation pinched my skin like a thousand ant bites. God. No. Not here. The full moon hadn’t arrived yet. My muscles twitched, and I ran.

  At the end of the lane, I caught a glimpse of the Braşov Hollywood-style sign adorning the mountain. I dashed into the woods, behind the first few lines of trees, and knelt onto a bed of dried pine needles.

  Breathe.

  Inhale.

  Exhale.

  Too many unruly things were happening at once, and I had to keep my head straight.

  A thunderous gasp rolled from my mouth. My hands clutched the grass. Inside, I felt her, my wolf, stirring. My transformation urges had ignited too early. Days before they should.

  Without any reservation, my own change pushed forward. My limbs quivered uncontrollably.

  Images of Connell finding me flashed in my mind.

  An inferno seized my body, and a half-howl, half-shriek, tore past my lips. On all fours, my wolf poured out of me like a broken dam, spilling free and uncontrollable, ripping my clothes to shreds. A bronze pelt cloaked me. The injury on my hip flared with pins and needles.

  I shook off the human remnants, trotting in a circle. Colors blended and shadows glowed with a gray hue. I was a moonwulf outside the full moon. I’d always been able to control my wolf when I turned, which apparently was unusual for a moonwulf, but this was new.

  Footsteps closed in from the lane, and Connell appeared at the wood’s shore. “Daci? Where are you?”

  Crouching low, I watched through the foliage and gaps between pine trunks. I contemplated transforming back into human form, but how would I explain being naked and my clothes shredded. I wasn’t even sure I could control a safe change back.

  A wrinkle claimed Connell’s brow as he swept the area with his gaze. “Daci?” He inched closer.

  Only a few trees stood between us.

  My pulse hammered.

  He shook his head, then threw his hands into the air. “Can’t believe she took off.” There was a crooked frown on his face, and something else — despair. He rubbed his arms. His posture slumped slightly.

  My heart bled. It sickened me to not respond when I lay right there. Maybe that was my chance to reveal who I was. He’d just as likely shoot me.

  He gave a heavy sigh, and then walked off.

  I glanced down at my house and car keys cradled in a nest of dried leaves and branches. A quick nudge of foliage covered them. I crept deeper into the woods and bolted away from the city.

  Chapter Three

  Confused and broken, I sprinted through the woods farther from the city and deeper into the forest. I’d given Connell my heart and planned to walk away from the pack, yet he doubted me. Sure, he wasn’t aware of my sacrifices, but wasn’t love about trust and forgiveness? I wanted to throw it all in his face and tell him he could keep his stupid love. But I couldn’t do it when I’d give my life for his.

  If I found the elixir recipe to stop my transformations, then I could live like a normal person, and Connell and I could be together. But that wasn’t my only concern anymore, now I seemed to turn into a moonwulf days before the full moon, too. And how could I selfishly pursue the answer to my problems when a dracwulf was taking innocent lives? I had to do something and quick before the police started searching the forest and got themselves killed.

  I decided to track down the dracwulf. If only I had visited the pack during the last twelve months, I might have sensed the dracwulf lurking deeper in the woods and stopped it before it killed Catalina. A guttural snarl burst past my throat, and dread crawled through my chest like a snake’s venom poisoning my insides. Too many if onlys, and I hated looking back.

  Every so often I spotted prints in the soil too small for the animal on my radar. A splashing sound reached my ears, and I trailed the source to a narrow stream twisting down the mountain. The water tasted sharp and icy. With a quick splash to my face, I continued my trek through thigh-high undergrowth.

  Night crept over the skies, and I still hadn’t located the dracwulf. I had to speak to Sandulf about the beast and to Radu about the potion. I broke into a stride. The woods whizzed past until I spied lights peeking through the trees ahead. Overgrown foliage spread over a timber-framed house where vaporous tendrils of smoke floated from the chimney, dissipating into the pitch-black night. The five wulfkin in the pack, not including me, lived in that house.

  A fluttery feeling rolled through me. Returning to the pack home felt surreal and somehow comforting. Everything seemed older and smaller, or maybe I’d forgotten the simple life of a wulfkin.

  I hurried across the path toward the pack house, but the fresh scent of kindling and musk stopped me.

  “It’s good to see you, Daciana.” Enre’s voice carried on the breeze. I’d recognize his deep tone anywhere — he was my ex. “How are you in wolf form outside the full moon?”

  Behind me, Enre leaned his shoulder against Sandulf’s Land Cruiser. Black strands of hair stuck to the sides of his face. His hands disappeared into the pockets of his faded jeans and he wore no shirt or shoes. The muscular swell of his torso and carved arms made him a prime target for all females. I’d been there already, and while he was gorgeous, I didn’t feel a connection. Not like Connell.

  I willed myself to transform, and like slithering into a coat, warmth slinked over my skin, the fur shriveled, and I morphed into my human form, brown hair tumbling over my shoulders. A light sprinkle of rain licked my skin, and the ache in my hip from the dracwulf’s attack no longer hurt. Nothing like a good transformation to speed up healing.

  Enre strolled forward, eying me up and down, his hand caressing his chin. “I missed your al naturale form.”

  “Get a grip.” Nakedness amongst wulfkin was as normal as breathing air.

  He drew closer, his blue eyes tracing the length of my body. “Do I still have a place in your life, or did you forget me while living in the city this past year?” He shook his head, spraying me with water. “I remember my rohang, it was fun, but I never forgot my wulfkin roots when I returned home.”

  Enre’s heart was in the right place, but most of the time he let his wolf control him, which meant he acted before he thought. That included the words that came tumbling from his lips. Sure, I’d spent the last twelve months amongst humans — a rite of passage before becoming a full-blown wulfkin. And he was curious whether I’d forgotten about him. I hadn’t. Though I had no intention of returning to pack life. “What are you talking about?”

  The rain drizzled around us. Surrounding trees swayed, branches rubbed against one another, and the wind picked up.

  “The years we dated. How do you remember me? As the wulfkin who loved you unconditionally, a mistake, a fling, or the hottest lover you’ve had?” He ran his fingers down my cheek and my lips.

  I threw back his
arm. “Yep, you’re still the same Enre I remember.”

  “As the hot lover. I knew it.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh, despite the narrowing of his eyes.

  He inhaled deeply and gritted his teeth.

  I had forgiven dozens of stupid things he did when we dated, and it got to the point where I realized no matter what I tried, he was never going to change. In comparison to Connell, I doubted I really loved Enre. It was a lust thing. Though I didn’t hate him — far from it — Enre was part of me, and always would be.

  “Anyway, who let the forest take over the house?” I asked. Knee-high grass covered the property, the dead tree lay halfway across the driveway, vines spread over the roof gutters.

  “Things have changed since you left. We’re too busy running errands to do anything else.”

  “What errands?”

  “You’ll see.” He shrugged and made his way toward the entrance. Thumping the door open, he vanished inside. A delicious aroma of raw meat teased my senses.

  I trailed after him, greeted by a wall of warmth and fur scents: powdery, milky, and musty. The stone fireplace blazed, throwing amber light into the darkest corners.

  Fawn-colored skins masked the gashes in the wooden floorboards, with scratches stretching out from beneath them like tentacles. These were reminders from when the pack wrestled Enre’s wolf into submission, and with that thought, the incident resurfaced. Enre and I were in a brawl over a young child loose in the woods. I blinked away the memory, resisting the urge to rub the wound that refused to completely heal on my leg.

  Enre emerged from the hallway and threw me a T-shirt. “Put something on before you freeze.”

  I smiled and dragged on a black top that fell to my thighs. It smelled of his wolf, earthy and musky. “Where is everyone?”

  “Some are setting bear traps near the city. Others are out back.” He gave me a long stare as if he was waiting for me to say something, then brushed past me and out the front door.

  He was acting strange, like he couldn’t wait to get out of the house. He said the pack had been running errands, and members were away that night. Gatherings were compulsory, no matter what, except for those on rohang, of course. Had the rules changed? A year ago, no one would have dared break them: don’t kill humans, don’t let humans know we exist, never abandon your pack, attend gatherings, and don’t create a dracwulf. Well, someone had already broken the last two.

  Heavy footsteps approached from behind, and unlike Enre’s light stride, I sensed Radu before he spoke. “Is it really you?” His arms coiled around my waist and he lifted me off the floor. “You’re here to stay now.” His chuckle filled the room, and he carried me into the kitchen, while I pretended to struggle. Yeah, it was an act. No one knew we spent nearly every night for the past few weeks together, pouring over books, drinking too much coffee and snacking on rabbit jerky.

  The exposed ceiling beams continued through the kitchen. Aside from a counter along the enormous window and several knives attached to the wall, the kitchen remained bare, lit only by the moonlight streaming through the window. Years ago I’d convinced Sandulf to buy an oven for my meals outside the full moon, and after months of nagging, he purchased an old-fashioned wood stove. Once it was installed, I cooked my own dinners and the waft of bacon and eggs had the wulfkin salivating. My meals soon turned into enormous feasts for everyone in the house. Those were great times. Now the place no longer felt cozy. It was bare of voices and laughter, replaced with the cold of an abandoned house.

  My eyes settled on plates of raw meat on the counter.

  Radu dropped me on my feet. “Look what I caught.” His voice carried a natural, low tone, and each time he smiled, the tiniest creases formed at the edges of his eyes, reminding me of our childhood games in the woods.

  Botolf pressed his hip against the counter in the darkest corner of the room and stepped into the moonlight. He wore the widest smile, along with a cherry-colored shirt covered in white palm leaves. I rushed over and embraced him. My arms wrapped all the way around his chest, something I couldn’t do twelve months ago. Firewood and soap cologne emanated from this wulfkin who had nurtured me, alongside Sandulf. Though he was reaching 150 years of age, he looked no older than seventy. I’d forgotten how much I missed him.

  “There’s something different about you tonight.” His voice was heavy. “You smell earthy.”

  Maybe he inhaled the recent resurrection of my inner wolf or traces of the victim. Hesitant to panic the wulfkin with news on the dracwulf’s killing binge, I bit my tongue. “Same old me.”

  “You’re here to join us for the run, then?”

  I pried myself out from his embrace, uncertain whether I could coax my wolf back out for the run, even if I wanted to. It seemed she had a mind of her own of late. “I’ll never keep up in human form.”

  Radu approached us, and his silvery eyes met mine. His strawberry-blond hair, stubble and sideburns set him aside from the pack, not to mention the fact that he was a standout when in the company of humans. It was something he hated, and he avoided them at all cost. “Even if it was a full moon, you’d never catch me.”

  I shoved my shoulder into his. “Hey, don’t dare me.”

  He nudged me back, his lips curling upward. “Oh, you’re dared.”

  “Give me a couple of nights, and you’re on. I’m faster than you in moonwulf form, and you know it.”

  Radu moved toward the counter “This will be fun.” He chortled, imitating an exaggerated malevolent laugh.

  Botolf stared at Radu, who pawed the meat. “I sure hope you’re not planning to eat before Sandulf does?”

  “No.” Radu’s cheeks reddened. He glanced my way.

  Botolf patted Radu’s shoulder. “Coming out to help set up the table?”

  “Be there soon.”

  Botolf headed out back. The second the door slammed shut, I dragged Radu to the farthest corner of the kitchen. “Where have you been the past few days? What’s going on? Did you find anything?”

  Radu’s words dropped to a hushed whisper. “Sandulf’s got everyone running around for the council while he does who-knows-what. For the past few days, I’ve done nothing but chase bears away from the city. The damn things keep going through people’s garbage. I didn’t know how to get in contact with you to tell you I wouldn’t be there, since Sandulf’s been watching all of us.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what’s going on with him.” Radu leaned against the wall. “He’s been out in the backyard most of the afternoon, just staring into the woods. He hasn’t spoken to anyone today. Everyone’s on edge, but no one knows why.”

  Looking at Radu’s gaze flit around the room, a burst of guilt hit me. He smoothed and re-smoothed his gray T-shirt.

  The dracwulf was the problem, and Sandulf’s behavior meant he had to know about it. But why not tell anyone else? As tempted as I was to spill everything to Radu, I decided to wait until after speaking with the alpha. “I’ll talk to him and see what he says, but first, have you found anything on the you-know-what?”

  His chin dipped to his chest. “I’ve gone through all my books, including the ones I took from Sandulf. No mention of the recipe or ingredients. One entry said something about salt, but nothing else.” He mumbled his words.

  My stomach dropped. I wouldn’t give up on Connell. Ever. “There has to be something else. Otherwise, why did they mention it the books?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck and stared with concern in his eyes. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

  I nodded. “Please don’t tell the others.”

  “Give me some credit. Do you think I want to face Sandulf if he finds out? You’ve always stuck up for me, and I’ll have your back. That was our pact.”

  I grabbed his hand and squeezed. “What are we going to do?”

  “There�
�s a couple more books under the broken board next to the fireplace.” He leaned in closer. “Right at the back, but I haven’t had enough time without someone in the house to grab them.”

  I bit my lip. “Okay. Once the pack’s left for the run, I’ll get them. That’ll work.” I gave him a hug and we stayed like that a few moments, both shaken from the secret we held that could easily get us killed, and I was glad for his friendship.

  When the back door scraped open, we both flinched and stepped apart. Botolf halted in the laundry room. “I’m not even going to ask.” He crossed the dark kitchen. “Daciana, Sandulf wants to speak to you alone, outside.”

  A chill ran down my spine.

  Chapter Four

  Pushing past the back door, I stepped into the night. An autumn breeze swept hair over my face, and I flicked it off.

  Sandulf stood in the far corner of the yard, watching me.

  I wet my lips and strolled closer, keeping my head high despite the tingling claiming my fingers and toes. Why should I be nervous? After all, I needed to tell him about the dracwulf’s kills, but I also knew he wouldn’t forget the small tidbit that my rohang was over, and I still hadn’t returned home. I steadied my breathing, reminding myself if I found the potion in the books stashed in Sandulf’s secret hiding spot, then none of it would matter.

  Moonlight caught on the crest-shaped emblem on the breast pocket of Sandulf’s uniform. As a member of the Romanian Rangers Association, Sandulf protected a large portion of the Carpathian Mountains with his team — basically, the pack. His job ensured a home for his wulfkin, and he had the authority to close the forest if needed.

  Sandulf took me in his arms and squeezed. “Good to have you home, Daciana. The pack’s missed you.”

  My muscles tightened, and I was tempted to ask if he missed me too. My loyalty lies with the pack. Always would. But my heart belonged elsewhere. So I changed topics. “I heard the council’s been keeping everyone busy lately.” I broke free from his arms.