Beneath a Darkening Moon by Keri Arthur, now you can read online.
Chapter One
Savannah Grant climbed out of the truck and breathed deeply of the crisp air. Though it had snowed last night, the sky this morning was rich and blue, and the sun contained a surprising amount of heat.
The aspen trees surrounding the small clearing glowed a rich, vibrant gold that contrasted sharply against the blue of the sky and the white of the snow-covered peaks looming high above. Leaves littered the ground beneath her feet, but the snow that had covered them earlier was now little more than droplets of water through which the sunlight gleamed, making them glow like mini rainbows.
It was a tranquil setting that hid a darker heart.
She slammed the door shut and turned around as a second truck came to a halt in the clearing. Three men climbed out—two deputy rangers and a brown-haired teenager who looked positively green around the gills.
The teenager's gaze skirted the clearing, resting momentarily on the barely visible trail that disappeared through the aspens. Then he gulped and looked at Savannah. His blue eyes were wide and frightened—a sure sign that for once in his short life, Matt wasn't crying wolf. “I don't have to go back up there, do I?"
"No.” She tried to give the kid a reassuring smile, but it probably looked as fake as it felt. But then, it wasn't every day two human tourists were murdered within a week of each other within the confines of the Ripple Creek Werewolf Reservation.
And it certainly wasn't every day those murders were an exact replica of a past event—an event that still haunted her worst nights.
A shiver ran down her spine. Not from the cold, though here in the mountains it was certainly chilly despite the sun's heat. Clairvoyance wasn't something she'd ever laid claim to, but she'd had premonitions in the past that had certainly come true, and that was what she was feeling now. The murders would not stop with the current two—and the past she'd tried so hard to forget was about to slap her across the face.
She rubbed her arms and stepped away from the truck. “Ike, you want to stay here with Matt?"
"But—"
"Ike,” she warned, in no mood to take any of the young deputy's crap today. “You do as I say, or you head back down the mountain."
"How the hell am I going to learn anything—"
"You could always sit at a desk and do paperwork,” she cut in. “Your choice."
Sullen didn't even begin to describe his expression as he nodded. Guilt slithered through her, but she shoved it away and glanced across at Ronan. “Ready?"
The russet-haired deputy nodded and hitched the small backpack onto his shoulder. She spun, and walked across the clearing. Sunlight and golden, glowing leaves dappled the slight path, but it quickly gave way to deeper shadows as they moved into the pines.
"You were a bit hard on the kid, weren't you?” Ronan said, his deep voice seeming to resonate through the silence. “I know he can be annoying, but he is truly eager to learn."
She blew out a breath. “I know. It's just—"
"You're dreaming again, aren't you?"
She looked over her shoulder. Ronan's gray eyes gleamed almost silver in the shadows, and they were full of concern. But then, they'd known each other a very long time. Ronan was not only one of her few close friends, but he'd been her very first lover. Even though it went against her policy of not mixing business and pleasure, they still shared a moon dance when one of them was feeling the bite of loneliness.
"What makes you think that?"
His smile echoed through his eyes. “The only time you're so short-tempered is when you're feeling the heat of the moon or have been dreaming. Considering we shared a few rather energetic nights last weekend, I figured it was the latter."
She grinned. “Have you made the bed yet?"
"Yeah. Otherwise Conor would be asking who I was with."
She nodded. The cabin they used for their retreats had been in Ronan's family for years, but these days it was only occupied in spring, when the fishing was good. It was the perfect sanctuary the rest of the year, except that Conor, Ronan's younger brother, was one of those wolves who had a nose for intrigue and always seemed to be three steps behind them. While he didn't appear to know about their sometime affair, neither of them wanted him to find out, if only because the kid was a blabber-mouth. Besides, their illicit meetings not only went against her own rules but council rules, as well.
The council, she thought grimly, definitely needed to pull their heads out of their asses and look around. Not so much because of the no fraternizing with co-workers rule, but for all the other rules they were trying to institute. Like a ten o'clock curfew on anyone under eighteen. This was the twenty-first century, for God's sake, not the Middle Ages. It was dumb-ass rules like that that had driven her out of both home and Ripple Creek when she was barely seventeen.
Of course, her views on the matter, though often aired, weren't taken into consideration, despite the fact her dad was the head of the council. He also happened to be the main man behind all the saving-yourself-for-marriage flag waving currently going on, despite the hassle and heartache such beliefs had caused Neva, Savannah's twin, just over a year ago.
"What are the dreams about this time?” Ronan asked.
She brushed aside a tree branch, waiting until he'd safely passed before letting it go. “Same old, same old. Death, destruction and mayhem."
Only this time, it wasn't in the past, but the present. And that scared her, because the man behind those murders so long ago was supposedly dead.