Kathrena was breathless when I reached my truck, as though she’d only arrived moments before I had. She smoothed down her sleek black bob, her dark eyes glittering even in the dim light. The rain clouds were thick and oppressive; they clustered, dark grey and bloated, at the top of the sky, dribbling down onto colourless stretch below. The trees, bright oranges and bottle greens, looked stark against the pale grey backdrop of the sky. “Hey,” she said softly, as I slammed the truck door. I dumped my bag onto her lap, and she frowned at me. “Everything okay?” “Fine,” I spat, throwing the gear stick into reverse.  She stilled, and then, with a sigh, turned to face the blur of trees speeding past the window. She brushed her bob across the brown patch of her exposed skin, hiding her face from view.  I could feel phantom tears burning in my eyes, my throa

I could hear Skye calling out for me, but I kept my eyes fixed on the pines and conifers as I ran. Eventually, I could no longer hear his footsteps or his cries, and I stumbled through the trees, reaching out for their ridged trunks to pull myself to a halt. My nightmate couldn’t be a werewolf, could he? I shook my head, desperately trying to clear my blurred vision. I’d responded to him with tenderness, and closeness; I’d shown him the beginnings of an emotional bond that I’d not been able to trust anyone with, even my adopted family, since my death four years ago. And now, suddenly, I was able to show a stranger such faith, such… love? I shook my head again, and, feeling my dress swilling around my legs, and the crunch of dead leaves beneath my bare feet, I gave myself over to my most primal urges. I needed to feed. That had to be it. I was confused; my guard was down. But I’d wanted to kiss hi

I showered quickly, not wanting anybody else to see my bandaged arm and leg. The hot water and the lather of the strawberry scented shampoo wound upwards together, misting the room in a thick, heady steam. I let my eyes drift shut, massaging my scalp – luxuriating in a human sensation – and reluctantly rinsed myself off far sooner than I would have liked. I let my long, wavy hair dry naturally, falling about my shoulders as I peeled off the cling film and towelled off my body. I stepped into a pair of faded black denim dungarees, and added a sage green jumper underneath before I clipped it together over my shoulders. The jumper was partly for aesthetics, partly to keep up appearances, but mostly to hide my bandaged arm.I didn’t even have time for so much as a power nap. Though my lack of sleep didn’t show up on me as obviously as it would on a human, there was a still a hint of purple beneath my eyes, and my lips looked pale pink, rather than their usual cherry red. Enjoying the scen

“What is it?” Kathrena asked. To the uneducated observer, I was sure that she looked calm, relaxed. But I’d been watching her lately, and I caught the slightly pinched look of her skin, and the way her shoulders hoisted up to brush against the ends of her hair. I had to admit that I was equally worried. Kathrena and I both had secrets to keep, and we were the only two being held back. But Aradia smiled warmly at us both, and I felt my chest unclench as I met her gaze. “I think,” she began, her words spilling out slowly as she watched us closely for our reactions, “it would be worth us… loosening the rules regarding your relationships at school. The teenage mind – it can draw links between people and events, often in a ruthless way. I worry that in the unfortunate event of more attacks, the two of you might be singled out as newcomers, and as loners.” My heart leapt,

I couldn’t quell the hope that Skye might have returned to Aspen High by tomorrow, even as I laid out of the groundwork for my plan. Kathrena’s to-do list notepad, it turned out, was quite useful indeed. There were a few torn pages, which looked as though they’d been ripped out in a hurry – not Kathrena’s style at all. I’d once watched her folding along a line, and she’d used a ruler to do it. Hastily and inaccurately were not two words I would use to describe Kathrena, or any of her actions. My words were scrawled across the page, a series of wildly looping letters that just about formed legible shapes. The lamplight was dimmed, but I could still see what I’d written clearly.  It was dark outside, now, and the strange, pointed edges of the pine trees loomed in the distance. I’d been out there earlier to hunt, as soon as my short patrol shift was finished. Aradia