Shadow of the Moon (17 page)

Authors: Rachel Hawthorne

BOOK: Shadow of the Moon

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Returning to Wolford the next morning was not the joyous occasion that I’d expected. The elders and the Dark Guardians weren’t exactly happy with Daniel.

Yes, he’d quite possibly saved all of our butts with his attack on the harvester. But there was the little matter of his not being completely honest about himself.

So two minutes after we walked through the front door, he was standing in front of them in the council room. The elders were sitting at a table studying him as though he was an exotic creature—which I guessed he was.

On either end of their table was another table at an angle, and the Dark Guardians filled each one. I sat at the end of one of the tables. Now that I’d experienced my shift, I was a member of this elite group.

While there was a chance that Daniel was about to be kicked out of it.

He stood tall, straight, and proud, his shoulders back, his head high. I felt so much pride. That magnificent guy was mine.

Finally Elder Wilde cleared his throat and said, “You came here under false pretenses, Mr. Foster.”

I saw Daniel flinch, and I understood why. Before last night they would have called him Guardian Foster. They’d essentially stripped him of his place, were announcing that he wasn’t one of them. I knew there was a time when he wouldn’t have been bothered by the change. When he was a complete loner, when he didn’t know what it was to truly belong.

“I told you I came here to serve as a Dark Guardian,” he stated flatly.

“You neglected to tell us that you shifted into panther rather than wolf form,” Elder Wilde reminded him.

“I didn’t see that what I shifted into affected my ability to do my job.” He glanced down, then lifted his glittering green gaze to them. “And okay, yes, I didn’t think you’d accept me if you knew I was of the panther clan.”

“How many panthers are there?” Lucas asked. He ignored his grandfather’s stern look.

“I don’t know,” Daniel said. “We don’t keep track of our members the way you do. It’s one of our weaknesses.”

“And you didn’t think we needed to know that the harvester murdered your parents?” Elder Thomas asked, putting the inquisition back on course.

“I didn’t know what killed them until the night Justin died. And then all I could think about was protecting Hayden.”

My heart went out to him. He looked over at me, and I did everything in my power to convey that, no matter what happened, I stood behind him. Then finally he continued, “I thought if I told you everything you’d be hesitant to accept me. I needed to learn what you know so I can save my clan from extinction. Maybe part of the lesson for me was that I needed to learn to trust those who aren’t like me. What I did I did out of concern for my own species. I was putting what I thought were their needs first. I know now that I have to put all Shifters first, not just my species. What we shift into doesn’t define us. I can’t undo what I’ve done in the past, but I can swear to you that you will never find a more dedicated Dark Guardian for your kind.”

“Perhaps,” Elder Wilde said thoughtfully, “the first step is not to view us as a
kind
separate from yours. As you said, we are all Shifters. That is our common bond. Just as there are some Shifters with empathic abilities and some without. We don’t separate them out; we don’t see them as not belonging with us.” He glanced over at me. “Would you agree, Hayden?”

I nodded. “I do.”

Elder Wilde gazed around the table, then he looked at Daniel. “You are welcome to stay among us, Guardian Foster.”

Relief swamped me, and I couldn’t prevent a small smile from forming on my lips.

“Thank you, elders, Dark Guardians. Because you have offered to let me stay, I can now leave with a light heart.”

“You intend to leave?” Elder Wilde asked.

“Yes, sir. There are many like me who are lost, who don’t know what we as Shifters can be. Who hide what they are and have no place to celebrate it. I want them to know that they’re not alone.”

“Then you do so with our blessing, and we look forward to welcoming them here as well.”

“Thank you.”

I shoved my chair back, stood, walked over to Daniel, and slipped my hand into his. “He’s my mate. I’m going with him. I’d like your blessing, too. But I’ll leave without it if I have to.”

“You have our blessing,” Elder Wilde said. “And if your parents were here with us now, I think you would have theirs as well. They wanted nothing more than for you to be happy.”

“I can promise you that she will be,” Daniel said. He squeezed my hand, then put his arm around me, drawing me in close to his side, right where I belonged. Next to his heart.

At the top of Daniel’s tattoo where the knots had once ended, he had another tattoo embedded beneath his skin: a Celtic symbol representing my name. He said the tattoo that began on his bicep and went up over his back represented his journey from being separate to being included. It was the story of my journey as well.

With Daniel at my side, often distracting me, I was able to be out among the other Shifters. Only the most intense of emotions ever invaded me now. I was learning to use them to signal when someone needed help. I still didn’t consider this ability a gift. But I was accepting that maybe it wasn’t exactly a curse.

“You’ll be back in time for the summer solstice, right?” Kayla asked as she wrapped her arms around me.

Daniel and I were heading out to search for other Shifters like him. I wasn’t certain how much help I’d be since I couldn’t sense their emotions, but for me there would be peace in that.

“We’ll try,” I said. We were standing in the front yard at Wolford saying good-bye to everyone.

We were going to travel on the snowmobile, a gift from the elders. I didn’t know if it would be as exciting to ride on it now that it was sanctioned. We were still a month or so away from the spring thaws, but Daniel was anxious to get started.

I hugged everyone, saving Elder Wilde for last. I was surprised when tears stung my eyes as his arms came around me. He’d always seemed so strong, but suddenly he felt so frail.

“Travel safely, Hayden,” he said. “And remember, this is your home.”

“It is,” I acknowledged to him, and probably for the first time in my life to myself.

I climbed on the snowmobile behind Daniel.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready.”

He took off, and excitement spurred through me. I didn’t know what we’d find out there.

At the top of a rise Daniel brought the snowmobile to a halt, and we glanced back at Wolford.

“We don’t have to go,” he said.

I shook my head. “No, I think we do. We have other enemies. If the harvester found us, maybe they will, too. We should tell other Shifters about Wolford, those from your clan and anyone else, so they’ll have a safe haven.”

“We’ll come back,” he promised.

I tightened my hold on him. “I know.”

He revved the engine and we glided over the snow, the wind rushing by us. I was lost in a world where I felt only my own emotions.

Happiness. Joy. Anticipation. Love.

Daniel.

About the Author

RACHEL HAWTHORNE
is the author of many books for teens, including CARIBBEAN CRUISING, ISLAND GIRLS (AND BOYS), LOVE ON THE LIFTS, THE BOYFRIEND LEAGUE, SNOWED IN, and the Dark Guardian series. She lives in Plano, Texas, with her husband and two dogs. You can visit her online at www.rachelhawthorne.net.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

OTHER BOOKS BY RACHEL HAWTHORNE

The Boyfriend League

Caribbean Cruising

Island Girls (and Boys)

Labor of Love

Love on the Lifts

Snowed In

Suite Dreams

Thrill Ride

Dark Guardian #1:

Moonlight

Dark Guardian #2:

Full Moon

Dark Guardian #3:

Dark of the Moon

Credits

Cover design by Sasha Illingworth

DARK GUARDIAN #4: SHADOW OF THE MOON. Copyright © 2010 by Jan L. Nowasky. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-0-06-196290-5 (pbk.)

EPub Edition © February 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-199836-2

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