Free Adam & Eve (A.D.2203, #1) by Ravyn Wilde Page B

neighbor, and mate.
    Unfortunately that didn’t stop the Ku Klux Klan mentality of groups like the ‘One Racers’, humans who felt that any sub species should be staked or kept in a zoo, and definitely not allowed to associate or procreate with one of pure human blood. Never mind that over the centuries it was difficult to find a family tree that hadn’t intermingled their blood in one form or another with either Were or Vampire.
    In human form, Adam had these thoughts. In wolf form, he concentrated on one thing—following the scent of his mate.
    And this Lupine Moon that scent was strong.

CHAPTER THREE
    T he glide’s motion came to a gentle stop. Eve nervously stepped into her garage after the door shut behind the glide.
    Doors wouldn’t stop them.
    She chastised herself again for not realizing three days ago that it was time to lock herself in her private lab. Private airtight lab , she reminded herself. Idiot!
    Many years ago the One Racers had discovered that it took three days for human pheromones to disperse enough that a genetic trace was impossible for the werewolves to follow. In their zeal to keep their bloodlines pure, they locked their sexually mature sons and daughters up tightly before each and every full moon. There was no law against locking yourself up, just one that if you were caught—you had to honor the mating.
    While Eve disagreed with their politics to rid the world of all sub-humans, she heartily thanked their research. It had allowed her to maintain the ideal of strict independence. She did not need or want a mate in her life. Look what it had done to her mother.
    After Eve’s full-human father had died, Naomi had been a wonderful single mother to her sister, Jezi, and herself. She had also managed in three short years to become one of the world’s leading Crypto-zoologists. She had found, researched and documented the existence of several hidden species. The most notable of her mother’s discoveries was the Loch Ness Monster. Nessie turned out to be a large, lovable, vegetarian serpent that was 50 feet in length at maturity.
    Then “short and hairy” Maxwell, her stepfather, had marked her mother as his mate. In short order Maxwell had forbidden Naomi any outside work. They’d had Jonaa, her half-brother, and her mother had given up the fight with Maxwell to retain her scientific position and had instead become Domestic Goddess extraordinaire. Ugh!!! That was definitely not for Eve.
    In the bathroom Eve stripped the clothes off her tired body and opted for a quick air shower. Normally she enjoyed the ancient ritual of water bathing, but it would only irritate her tonight. She wanted to pace and count down the minutes until daylight.
    Clean and feeling suitably armored in her old sweat suit, she downed energy pills instead of food. Another favored ritual she would forgo tonight. All Eve wanted was for the night to be over, and to remain blissfully free from any man. Or wolf.
    The windows and doors of her 100-year-old home were first rate, and very effective at keeping out the street noise. Everything was quiet. Normally she loved her little house; tonight she’d have felt safer in a compact. One of those high-rise apartment-slash-shopping-slash-entertainment complexes that were hives of activity...and smells.
    Oh, hell. Eve’s breath caught in her throat. Was that something scratching at her front door? She strained her ears and fought for some semblance of control. Surely she was imagining a sound?
    This is stupid , she told herself. She forced her body to move towards the view panel. It was voice-activated and she could command a 360-degree view of the outside of her home. “House front,” she managed to croak out.
    At first she thought it was her mind playing tricks. A large, gray wolf was sitting patiently on her front step—flashing silver eyes looking directly into the monitor. She ducked. Oh, my God! She needed to hide. Her mind desperately searched for an escape