Free By the Pale Moonlight (Book One of the Moonlight Series) by Jennifer Hendren Page A

what I am. They come and go
with the cycle—a sort of reminder." He snorted softly. "As if I
could forget."
    "So that means this cycle is over?"
    He nodded and sat down again. "The cycle is
seven days—three days before and after the full moon."
    I tried to digest all of this information.
"When is the next full moon? How long do we have?"
    "November fifth, which means we have exactly
twenty-two days before I start crawling around on all fours and
taking on every flea in the free world." He said this last with a
soft laugh, but I failed to see the humor in it all. We didn't have
much time.
    I felt like crying, but I couldn't fall apart
now. "Moon cycle—seven days. It's the male version of a
period."
    He laughed for real this time. "Lucky
me."
    I sat with the real question I wanted to ask
on the tip of my tongue. Why had he followed me? I shuddered to
think about what might have happened had he not, but still, I
needed to know. He said he remembered everything during that time
of the cycle. That meant he saw me about to have sex with
David.
    "Ty..."
    His cool green eyes met mine. "Don't ask
anything you're not prepared to hear."
    "But..." My words were cut off as the shrill
sound of the warning bell rang above our heads.
    "Later." He pulled me to my feet.
    I felt numb when I took a seat in Biology a
few minutes later. When David sat down beside me, I ignored the
glare he threw in my direction.
    "Bitch," he whispered.
    I stared at him, shocked.
    His blue eyes skimmed over me, his upper lip
curled into a sneer. "Don't know why I bothered with you. I can get
better from someone else." He leaned in, lowering his voice. "But
when you get the urge, Mac. You know where I am." His hand slipped
between my legs.
    Anger welled up in my chest and I jerked
away. I slapped him—hard.
    His head reeled from the blow and red
splotches stood out against his cheek. Murmured conversations
stopped all around us as everyone turned in their chairs to watch.
Mr. Varner was nowhere in sight and no one jumped in to stop our
argument.
    He smiled. "Hey, we had a good time and I'm
sorry you regret it now."
    Several of his friends exchanged knowing
looks in the background.
    "You know nothing happened." I spoke through
a clenched jaw.
    "Baby."
    "Don't call me that. You and I both know what
happened out there." Feeling a sudden surge of bravado, I leaned in
and whispered, "If you'll recall, there was a full moon last night.
It gave me a pretty good view of your equipment." I paused and
raised my voice for effect. "Just remember, size actually does
matter."
    Several girls broke into giggles behind me,
and with one last backward glance at David's reddened face, I
grabbed my things and took off down the hall. I passed Mr. Varner
on my way out the side exit.
    "Ms. Wilhelm, w-where are you going?"
    "I'm not feeling well, sir. I'll have my mom
write a note."
     
    o0o
     
    Leaning against Ty's tank of a car, I watched
as he approached. His height guaranteed he'd always stand out in a
crowd, and I had spotted him as soon as he stepped foot outside the
school building.
    "I heard you really laid into my good friend,
Dave," he said in way of greeting.
    I kicked a small stone on the ground and
shrugged. "It's no big deal."
    He pulled on a strand of my hair until I
looked up at him.
    "I'm proud of you," he said.
    I don't know what came over me, but I threw
myself into his arms, overcome with a sudden sense of freedom. He
hugged me back, and for a second I felt the urge to press my lips
up to his. Our eyes locked and my breath caught.
    "So what have you been doing since the slap
heard round the world?" he said, breaking the spell.
    "Nothing in particular. I walked around,
thinking about you mostly." I ducked my head, the heat in my cheeks
firing up again. "About your problem, that is. I've decided first
things first. We need to find out all we can about werewolves."
    "I've scoured the internet already." A slight
edge crept into his voice.
    "Yeah, but research is my