Black Moon (Colors of the Moon #4)

Chapter 1

The pack border was looming two inches in front of my nose. My next step would take me off our land and onto the land of our neighboring pack.

I blew out a deep breath and watched the fog form in front of my snout. The sharp scent cutting into my nostrils told me it would snow tonight. This was my last chance. Not unless I wanted to leave a treacherous trail of paws carved into a crunchy white layer.

Are you ready? I asked.

The three words contained the held-back enthusiasm that was flowing through my system. It had been too long.

We're going to make it, Edria, my wolf, said. I can feel it.

Then what are we waiting for?

She perked her wolf ears and waited for three heartbeats. Not a single sound was coming from the two-mile radius around us. This was our moment.

The muscles in her legs contracted, and in the next second we were past the border. Her paws barely scraped against the frozen dirt, but it was enough to leave a betraying trail of our scent. Then again, by the time someone would catch onto it, it would be too late.

Edria kept her eyes trained on the forest in front of us to make sure we didn't damage any of the trees. We were nothing but a blurry speck rushing through the forest. Even if a member of their border patrol saw us, they wouldn't stand a chance of ever catching up to us.

We're almost there.

Edria barred her sharp canines into a wide grin when the first dot of the wooden house appeared in the horizon. Just a little farther.

Twenty feet in front of the house she dug her claws into the frozen earth. We came into a screeching stop three feet away from the small house, right underneath a bare tree. Even before we stopped, she threw the reins back over to me and I shifted into my human form.

The dark brown fur was replaced with my softly tanned skin and shoulder-length locks of the same dark brown color as my fur. Without wasting another second I slipped my legs through the bottom of my aqua blue rompers, which had been strapped to my leg, and covered my bare chest with the elastic strapless top.

Then I turned my head to the lowest branch of the tree looming above me and jumped. The rough wood pierced through the skin on my hands as I wrapped my hands around the branch, but I barely noticed the sting. Instead, I pulled my body upwards and reached for an even higher branch. Only when I had my hands wrapped around that one did I finally swing my body in a wide arch and let go.

For a second I was flying through the air with nothing but the hard ground underneath me. Then I landed on a six-inch-wide window ledge. My heels peeked off the ledge, so I dug my nails into the window's frame to keep myself from tumbling down onto the ground.

Once my balance was back, I turned to the shut window in front of me and grabbed its bottom. Despite the window being shut from the inside, it was nothing compared to my werewolf strength. I pried it open with one swift yank and allowed the cold evening air to flood inside the dark room.

I ignored most of the shadow-covered room, while I soundlessly landed on the carpeted floor. All I needed was one small band; everything else was of no value to me.

The second a golden glint caught my eye, I was already lunging across the room. I wrapped my fingers around a simple ring, which was lying on top of a nightstand next to the king-sized bed.

We did it, Edria breathed out the words on the tip of my tongue.

"You're dead."

The familiar feminine voice had me freezing in my still halfway bend position over the nightstand.