town moved quietly in the wake of the discovery-windows stayed shut, gossip buzzed in hushed voices, and the woods w

its size or its silence. Not those gold-burnin

ber, feelings that weren't hers, and a presence hovering just out

r said over breakfast. "

went untouched. Her mother's eyes narrowed. The same s

n the woods, Aria.

w what

g with a too-sharp clink.

lready walking

-

ious, half-afraid, and full of questions she didn't want to answer. Every

or the forest's edge. The police had posted signs, but no patrol. The

enough to be surrounded.

s when sh

creek, half-hidden in the shadow of an elm. T

e b

ke he belonged to the forest. But it was his eyes that stopped her heart-ambe

olf's

each other for

he

" Aria asked, voice sh

dly. "You're the one who

ne else was dumb eno

er the log and walked closer, boots s

iffened. "Do

then added, "

hat. "That suppos

n, more gently thi

ge of warning. Everything about him radiated calm

you?" s

uca Blac

n her mind, though she didn't

moved

veni

d tilte

e day after a m

Suspicious of ever

reep around foggy wo

uckled.

he was listening to sounds she couldn't hear. And something els

th, then said, "You

oat dried.

e w

The words fell

do

e. Not far.

e? Then yo

es

art racing. "And you

seen w

own her spine. "Wh

she could see a faint scar beneath his left eye. "Some

not-w

it, haven't you? In your dreams. In

head. "You d

ow en

A pendant. Silver, shaped like a crescent moon with a

his belong

d it, something flared in her chest. A pulse. The heat. Her vision blurred for a mome

e pendant like

that?" she

a said quietly. "O

away. "You'

st watched her wit

," he said. "You'

rrying the distant sound of

urned

-

ge of town, lungs burning, heart hammeri

eams said

isions came again

athed in s

hains of moonligh

always the wolf.

u

he pendant was o

it

ll

emember brin

de her, somet

hing

hing

ma Mmesoma Perpetual