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An Excerpt from Changeling Moon

Zoey didn’t need any psychic gifts to tell her that Connor cared, that he had feelings for her. She was sure of it and sure of what she’d seen in his face when she’d suggested the dance, sure of what she’d felt in his touch. She didn’t know what Connor’s problem was, but she was SO going to hunt him down and find out!

Her leg still hurt like hell but she managed to limp around the house to the backyard. She leaned on a planting bench and scanned the crowd for Connor under the glowing strings of patio lanterns that crisscrossed the yard. Instead she caught sight of an enormous WOLF as it made an impossible leap over the wall of lilacs. Terror jammed her heart into her throat and she couldn’t have shouted a warning if there’d been time.

Tumult erupted as the creature landed inside the yard and ran through the party. Someone screamed. People turned to look, some tripped trying to get out of the way and others were knocked down as the huge wolf raced around the yard with snarling, snapping jaws. Jessie’s normally placid dog exploded with primal rage and lunged for the intruder, but the wolf was far too fast.

Zoey knew, knew, it was coming for her but running had suddenly become impossible. The pain in her leg was now overriding everything, even adrenaline. Slowly she sank to the ground, fighting to stay conscious above the agony, fighting even to draw a breath, yet her fingers walked along the grass and closed over a fallen garden trowel just as the wolf reached the end of the far walkway.

It wheeled and headed straight toward her.

Her vision faltered, grayed as she struggled to kneel on her good leg, holding the trowel in front of her with both hands. Then the sudden clarity of the doomed kicked in and she could see everything in vivid detail. The hellish green light in the creature’s eyes, the grizzled and scarred muzzle, the gleam on its long pointed
fangs—

Just as she expected the wolf to leap and sink those terrible teeth into her, something knocked her flat. For a moment she couldn’t see, then realized something dark and massive was blocking her view. Her eyes gradually made out a pattern, a familiar pattern, black on silver. . . . She couldn’t even scream as the realization hit her. Another wolf, the wolf from her dreams, was standing over her.

With nerveless fingers she felt for the trowel, even though she knew she’d be dead before she could raise it, but the new wolf didn’t even glance at her. All its attention was on its gray opponent, and its black lips peeled back from long white teeth. Zoey’s own teeth began to chatter as a deep warning growl resonated from the creature and vibrated into her very bones. Without warning it sprang forward with a horrific roar. The gray wolf wheeled and ran.

The crowd dove out of the way of the pursued and the pursuer. Zoey saw the wolves clear the back gate and disappear into the darkness as strong hands slipped beneath her and lifted her from the grass.