Free Black Moon by Rebecca A. Rogers Page A

thing I’ve missed the past few months has made its comeback.
    Adrenaline. Screaming loud and proud underneath my skin. Fighting its way through my blood and pulsing inside my skull. A few months ago, I wasn’t a werewolf. I didn’t have raging strength or a colossus appetite or the ability to sense someone’s emotions. I was normal and still kicked ass.
    So now, when I glare at Ethan, all I see is a black channel around my line of sight, and my body changes on its own. My limbs and features lengthen and bow, fur grows like a second skin, and I’m on all fours before I recognize what’s happened. I growl at him through my newly-enlarged, razor-sharp teeth, just to see the look on his face, just to see if I can scare him senseless.
    God, this feels good.
    In response, though, he changes, countering me. I back away from the stairs, allowing him space, and the time to come down to ground level. We square off, one on each side of the room. Although his build is heavier than mine, I have no doubt that I can take him. I won before, so who’s to say I can’t do it again?
    Ethan makes the first move during my moment of thought. He bounds across the enclosed area with two giant leaps, teeth aiming for my throat. I skid out of his path, off to the side, just narrowly missing him. He snaps and growls, lips raised, a thin layer of foam coating his lower jowls. But he doesn’t budge from the same spot, like he’s waiting for me to continue the fight. With no way of communicating, we don’t have speech or vacant threats. This is an entirely new level of combat.
    Honoring his request, I launch myself at him. I’m not sure which way is up or down; all I know is that Ethan’s incisors penetrate my skin repeatedly. Even the tiny nips sting. Just as I’m about to give up, I spin around before he can catch me, biting into the flesh just above his shoulders. He releases a drawn-out yelp, but rolls over so that his backside is lying on top of my snout. I have no alternative but to release him, as my hold on his skin has weakened. While I attempt to regain my footing, he staggers to one corner of the room, turns around, and then barrels into my side, knocking me over and pinning me to the cold, dingy floor with one monster paw digging into my coat. He silences me by a single snarl expelled from his chops.
    Cameron and Ben, followed by their parents, rush through the doorway above us, all staring at the commotion below.
    “What the hell is going on down here?” yells Mr. Conway, bounding down the stairs behind Cameron and Ben. He pushes aside his two sons to gawk at the third, who has yet to forfeit his hold over me. “I leave you with one damn task and you can’t even do that correctly?” Mr. Conway glares at Ethan for a matter of minutes. Everyone else in the room bows their heads, and I wonder if they’re communicating, if Ethan is receiving a mental smack down from his father. He should’ve just given me the food instead of making everything so difficult.
    Finally relocating from his stance over me, Ethan morphs back into his human form. Clothes appear as if they were never torn from his body, and I can only guess magic is being used. Never mind the fact that I have to turn back into my other half, leaving myself exposed.
    “Sorry,” mumbles Ethan.
    “ Sorry? ” Mr. Conway’s terse voice makes me wince. “ Sorry’s not good enough. No more.” He shakes his head, waving one hand back and forth in the air to match the movement. “No more tasks for you. If you can’t complete something as simple as this without putting her life in danger, then you’re useless. How many times have we gone over the plan, Ethan? We have to keep her alive until she comes into her power, then you two can scrap all you want.”
    “I wasn’t planning on killing her, just keeping her in check.” Ethan’s excuse for attacking me with breakfast is pathetic, really. All he wanted was revenge.
    Mr. Conway reaches Ethan in three long strides,