Dark of the Moon Read Free

wasn’t?
    Because I was afraid the elders might send Guardians out to search for me, I took a circuitous route back to Wolford. I needed this time alone to shore up my courage to face everyone and not give anything away. It wouldn’t be easy for me. I wasn’t someone who believed in sugarcoating things. I was known for being honest and facing the reality of situations. Facing my own reality was going to be a bitch.
    Few people had truly embraced me before. If they learned that I couldn’t shift, they’d view me as a freak of nature. It was bad enough that I’d received the occasional odd stare because no guy had claimed me as his mate. I didn’t want to have to endure the others knowing that I hadn’t shifted on time.
    It was nearly noon on the second day when I ranacross the cold remains of a campfire on the banks of one of the rivers that ran through the national forest. My heart galloped as I knelt and sifted the ash through my fingers. I detected no heat at all, and I hadn’t noticed any light in the area when I’d bedded down the night before. It could have been several days since anyone had been here—but it felt more recent. I couldn’t explain why I had that sensation.
    The fine hairs on my arms prickled as I gazed at the rapidly flowing river. It was possible someone had been rafting and pulled over here to set up camp for the night. Farther down the river was a series of tight curves and turbulent white water. It was great for sports enthusiasts, but they were usually accompanied by a guide who would turn them back before they traveled this far north, this close to Wolford.
    It seemed paranoid to have a bad feeling about what I’d discovered, but I couldn’t help sensing that something wasn’t right. Very slowly and cautiously, I walked around the camp, noting the various boot prints that had been left behind. I could identify four distinct sets. It was also obvious that they’d arrived and left by the river. I discovered a groove in the bank where their rubber raft would have scraped along the ground as they pulled it onto shore.
    On the opposite side of the camp, I noticed an areawhere it looked as though evidence of prints had been brushed away with a leafy branch. The brush marks stopped near dense foliage. Grabbing a large stick, I began poking it around the brush. I heard the snap as I triggered a release mechanism that I’d suspected was hidden in there. The stick was jerked from my hand as the noose closed around it and the rope swung it up in the air, until it dangled high above my head, the branches shuddering with the force of being set loose.
    A snare trap. One of the simplest traps to set. Still dangerous. Still capable of killing an animal—but it was also possible the animal would survive being slung around as it was lifted from the ground. Judging by the setup, it had been designed to capture a medium-sized animal. Not a rabbit. Not a bear. But a wolf.
    A cold shiver raced down my spine as I backed away. I’d bet my life that I knew who was responsible. It wasn’t game hunters, sportsmen, or survivalists.
    It was Bio-Chrome. Our enemy. They were stepping up their efforts to capture a Shifter and they were getting closer to discovering Wolford.
    I had to get back quickly. I had to warn them. And I hoped I wasn’t too late.
     
    I felt a sense of relief when I finally arrived at Wolford to see the main residence still standing. I saw no evidence ofviolence. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
    Because I’d originally been two days away from Wolford, and because I’d been dragging my feet in no hurry to get back—until I discovered the trap—it was nearly midnight the next night when I finally reached the wrought iron gate that surrounded the compound. A couple of hundred years ago, most of the Shifters had lived here, hidden away from the rest of the world. But as the world had begun to change with modernization and industrialization, they’d moved out among humans—benefiting