Free Witch Wolf by Winter Pennington Page A

their existence a moderate amount of political and social acceptance.
    "Is that any better?" she asked in a purring voice that was only slightly accented.
    I closed my eyes and finished visualizing the tower, leaving the wolf no bars or windows to peek through. I took a deep breath, and this time could breathe without the sensory overload. It seemed Lenorre was helping me to shield.
    When I opened them she was still staring at me. I resisted the urge to push her away. She was nowhere near repulsive, but she was a stranger. Her long hair shone like polished onyx. When she turned her head, the clip that held the tresses in place winked in the flashing lights. The bands of the clip arched and entwined like Celtic knots, but the arches were too jagged, too harsh, and more tribal. Diamonds and amethysts absorbed the light, sparkling bright enough that I knew they were real.
    "Kassandra Lyall," she said softly, and my heart gave another fierce beat. I was getting really sick of people knowing who I was.
    "Lenorre," I said.
    She leaned back on her heels and kept smiling. "What brings a preternatural investigator into my club?"
    I didn't see a reason not to tell her the truth. So I said, "We're trailing someone."
    "Oh?" she asked. "Whom?"
    "Rosalin Walker," I whispered, feeling a wave of heat descend and the wolf look up. As if she could see it, Lenorre touched my arm, and her cool energy rolled through me like a caress to calm the wolf. The tips of her fingers trailed over the net material down my arm, brushing the black wristband.
    "We should speak somewhere more private." Her silvery eyes met mine.
    I didn't really like the idea, but anything was better than shape-shifting in public. My control of the beast was usually better than this. There were several things that I'd learned to recognize as triggers for the wolf, and there were certain things that helped me gain more control of it. One of the things that helped me gain control was constant practice; the second was consuming a lot of steak. It'd taken months, but I'd learned to partially shift as well. During a partial shift my nails were claws, my eyes turned gold, and my canines lengthened slightly. How did I know? That's what mirrors are for. It's quite disturbing to watch a partial shift. At least with a full shift the entire thing is fluid, the beast just rolls out of the body and voilà -it's a bipedal wolf. A partial shift is somewhere between human and animal. The partial shift takes stronger bars to stop her from spilling out completely, almost like holding a rabid pit bull at the end of a leash. You need a firm enough grip and enough discipline to keep her from breaking free and raising hell.
    The thing was it didn't always work, especially not close to the full moon. The moon calls to the beast, and a werewolf has no choice but to shift. A werewolf can't stop it. Trust me, I spent months trying.
    Lenorre stood and offered me a hand. I stood without taking it, pulling the fishnet T-shirt down over my hips. Her eyes flicked to the pentacle scar above my sternum, and then to my face. I stared at the hand she continued to offer.
    The corner of her mouth twitched. "I promise you, little wolf, that I will not bite. I am only offering my aid."
    "Oh, well," I said sarcastically, "since you promised."
    She frowned. "You do not believe me?" Her shoulders rose in a slow shrug and suddenly my ears were ringing with the sound of the music blaring. My eyes widened in surprise as I felt the wolf's response, her furred body pushing against my shields.
    I didn't take Lenorre's hand-I snatched it. I didn't care if it made me appear weak. The moment her cool skin touched mine, it was like she'd blocked out the entire world, so that we stood in a bubble of energy containing only the two of us.
    "You may not be as prideful as I thought," she whispered and made to step closer to me.
    I backed up a step, keeping her hand in mine, but putting some distance between us. "Don't test your luck,"