Azure (The Silver Series Book 5) by Cheree Alsop Page B

then
stopped.
    She stood in the middle of the trail and
glared at me with her hands on her hips. “I'm not going back,” she
said in a tone edged with the slightest hint of fear.
    I wondered if she had ever seen a phased
werewolf before. We looked like normal wolves, but bigger. A phased
werewolf weighed the same as in human form because mass wasn't lost
during the phase, just relocated, which made for some quite
intimidating animals, and I was the biggest werewolf of any I had
met.
    I sat down on the trail and watched her,
weighing my options. The rain fell around us with a patter that
sounded like tiny feet, turning the dusty ground into plastered mud
while the few plants soaked in what they could reach.
    I couldn't phase back to human form until
the moon sunk below the horizon, so I could either drag her back
unwillingly in my wolf form, facing who knows what kind of
battering she was capable of after the last several assaults I had
experienced, or I could go with her, make sure she was safe, then
convince her to return with me after the moon had lost its
hold.
    I rose and walked slowly through the rain to
her side. She stiffened and I could tell she forced herself not to
run. A twist of her fear tangled on the night breeze and a pang ran
through me at the thought that she had seen so much of what we
really were and was still afraid. I gave a soft snort and passed
her on the trail. It surprised me how hard it was to turn my back
on her with her Hunter background even after what I knew of her. I
fought back a wry smile at our similarities, reminding myself that
a wolf's smile looked a bit more menacing than a human's.
    “ Where are you going?” Nora
demanded from behind me.
    I kept walking, knowing she had no choice
but to catch up.
    Her feet thudded on the path and she huffed
when she grew near. “What? You going to walk me to my dad's?” The
heavy sarcasm held a hint of hope.
    I was grateful I couldn't answer in wolf
form and kept walking. She caught up to my side, then fell in step
at the far side of the path. We walked for several minutes in
silence. The breeze brought me her subtle scent of vanilla and
sunflowers touched with rain. She studied the moon, the stars, the
landscape around us, everything to avoid looking directly at me. I
almost gave up and walked away when she cleared her throat
softly.
    “ It's nice not walking
alone,” she said in an uncertain voice. The rain pattered around us
lightly, but the darkness of the clouds to the east indicated
heavier rainfall at higher elevations. I wondered how she dared to
walk through a night where even the full moon was obscured by
clouds and the rain sounded like a hundred creatures waiting just
out of sight.
    I glanced at her. She stared straight ahead,
but her hand strayed over and rested on my back. I walked on as
though I didn't notice, but a surge of warmth ran from the spot on
my back and down my legs, making them weak. I wondered at the
strength she had over me and what she represented. My mother had
pretty much threatened to come over and kill her for me, and I had
no doubts what Nora's parents would do if they ever found Two.
    I kept seeing her eyes that first night in
camp, wide with pain but fierce with determination. When she looked
at me, I smelled fear, but also an edge of defiance and courage
that I admired. Her look had pierced right through me and wrapped
around my heart. I shouldn’t have saved her from the others, but at
that point, it was the only course of action available to me. The
heat from her hand and the tremor that ran through my skin at her
touch scared me. I needed to keep my wits about me and I couldn’t
let her make me so vulnerable. Yet here we were, walking through
the night against all logic, and I still felt weak under her
touch.
    If she felt anything strange she didn't show
it, but she kept her hand on my fur. I didn't know if it was for
comfort or because my eyesight was better in the dark. I was glad
that as a wolf I