Under Her Skin (4 page)

"And the others?" Gabriel hadn't been alone.

"They run the gauntlet."

Daniel said it lightly, but I swallowed. "As in, the thing Native Indians used to do with captives, where they line up on both sides and beat the shit out of the person as he tries to dash down the center?"

That hint of wildness was back in Daniel's gaze again, a primal, untamed gleam I'd never seen except in the eyes of an animal. On a full-grown man, it both was mesmerizing and frightening.

"Something like that. Except we'll be in our fur, and they won't."

I couldn't help but gulp. That sounded barbaric, and it was on my account. Something occurred to me.

"But it isn't the full moon. How can you…you know?" In fact, how had any of

the werewolves changed form the other day, if I had to wait until the full moon to see if I was infected?

"Once we're past the first year, we can shift at will. New pack members are dependent on the full moon to change, though."

I digested this. "So, right now, you could turn into a –"

"Wolf," he finished for me. "Yes."

So many emotions crashed through me. Fear. Revulsion. Curiosity. Disbelief. What if all of this was a twisted farce, and I
hadn't
seen what I'd thought was a wolf turning into a man in the woods? What if this was just a town full of crazies who
thought
they were wolves, and in my stress, I'd bought into that?

"Show me."

The words were out of my mouth before I could form another thought. I had to see it. No matter what.

Daniel stood, the afghan falling to the floor. He met my eyes, and a ripple went through me. His were even wilder than before, starting to slant and gleam with amber. He undid his jeans, letting them drop to the floor.

Nothing but bare skin underneath.

I might have made a sound. Seeing a magnificent naked male body only a few feet away is worth a sharp intake of breath, no matter the circumstances. But all my feminine appreciation fell away when he crouched on the floor and rivers of silvery hair began to replace the skin on his back. There was a crunching sound as bones curved, popped, and formed where none had been before. It didn't look the same as in the movies. There was no screaming. No slow protracting of a muzzle replacing a face, blood spurting, or drawn-out writhing. Daniel had simply crouched on the floor and then, in about ten seconds, a wolf the size of a pony, covered in silver and charcoal fur, stared at me with bright yellow eyes.

"Marlee," it –
Daniel
– rumbled.

I felt light-headed.
Nope, you're not crazy, and neither are they
.
But that's the bad news
.

I had moved toward the door without even being aware of it. Daniel sat on his haunches in front of it, those golden eyes drilling into mine.

"Sit," he said.

A rather unhinged cackle came out of me. What looked like a huge dog was telling
me
to sit. How backward was that?

"Woof," I replied in a shaky voice, but sat in the chair he'd recently vacated. The wolf's lips pulled back in a canine version of a grin.

"Stay."

I was about to say he was pushing it, when there was another ripple over his body. As seamlessly as water flowing on rocks, skin covered that thick silvery coat of hair
,
bones elongated, reformed, and in less time than it took me to get over the shock of seeing a wolf in the room, a naked man knelt on the floor. The only thing left over from the unbelievable transformation was a fine sheen of sweat on his skin.

"Does it hurt?"

Daniel sat back. "The first few times. Then you get used to it, and it feels…freeing."

He looked like a man. A beautiful, mouth-watering specimen of a man, in fact. But an enormous animal was inside him, and took up God only knew how much of his mind and conscience.

Daniel smiled slightly. "You smell like fear again, Marlee, but I've already told you – you have nothing to be afraid of."

"That's the scariest thing I've ever seen," I replied, glad my voice was steady even though I was shaking inside. "How do I even know I'm talking to you? It might just as well be the wolf."

"It's both," he said at once. "Always. And you still don't need to be afraid."

Yeah. Sure. Considering it might be
me
shifting into an animal in a couple weeks. From where I was sitting, I had plenty to be afraid about.

"I want to go home."

Even as I said it, I knew it was useless. But it was true—so true that the very words ached.

"I'm sorry for what brought you here. But even if you left and never told anyone about the pack, think of your family. You'd hurt one of them, Marlee. You wouldn't mean to, but you'd do it."

Ice crept up my spine. "What are you talking about?"

He inclined his head. "Your ankle."

I looked at it. It was still wrapped in a cast, same as before. What…?

It hit me. When I'd walked to the door from the bed minutes ago, I hadn't been limping, hadn't felt a twinge of pain. The ugly scratches and cuts were also gone.

"Your ankle isn't broken anymore," Daniel confirmed, sympathy etched on his face. "And there isn't a mark on your skin, which would be impossible…unless you were one of us."

Chapter Five

The lights from the street seemed to pale in comparison to the moon, which shone like an ominous bright hourglass in the sky. I looked up at it and shuddered. When it reached fullness, I would change into something not human. The thought was still as unbelievable as it was horrifying.

All the residents of the town were in the streets. I did a mental head count and came up with forty, maybe fifty people. The 'pack', Daniel called them. My new family.

I thought I might throw up.

There was a slight commotion as a dozen people came from the far end of town. I recognized one of them and flinched, but Daniel laid a light hand on my arm.

Even though he was a virtual stranger, the gesture calmed me. It shouldn't, of course. Daniel was dangerous, but somehow I sensed he'd defend me against the man being led to the middle of the street.

I'd only glimpsed it right before passing out, but still, I'd know that face. When someone tries to murder you, it makes an impression. Not to mention that Gabriel was the only person here with one eye. His dark brown hair hung in strands around his face, and he was naked. What was it with these people and their lack of clothes?

Joshua stepped out from the crowd. At least
he
was still dressed. "Gabriel Thompson, you have been found guilty of infecting a human against their will."

"It's not the full moon," Gabriel snarled, trying to pull free of the two men who held him. "How do you know she will turn?"

Joshua looked my way. Daniel grasped my hand and led me forward. I didn't want to get closer to Gabriel, but thankfully, Daniel stopped after a few feet. The blond doctor stepped out of the crowd.

Gabriel shot me a look of pure hate. Instead of scaring me, it strengthened the momentary wobble I'd had in my knees. I'd never done anything to him, but he'd ruined my life. If anyone had a right to hatred, it was me.

I put my shoulders back and matched his glare. Daniel gave me an approving nod.

"Diana," Joshua addressed the blond doctor. It was the first I'd heard her name. "You

examined Marlee yesterday. What did you find?"

"Her right ankle was fractured," Diana recounted in a clinical voice. "She had multiple abrasions, contusions, lacerations, and puncture wounds on both her legs, plus a deeper wound on her right arm."

Joshua swept out a hand to me. "Look at her now."

I could almost feel the eyes raking over me, taking in my skin revealed by the short sleeved shirt and rolledup pants I was wearing. Both were too big, since they were Daniel's. My own clothes had been bloodied and ripped up in the attack, so they were no good. I didn't ask about what happened to my backpack. Seeing it again would remind me too much of everything I'd lost.

"She is completely healed. There is the proof," Joshua stated flatly. "Gabriel, your sentence is death."

Gabriel was released. He looked around in defiance, and I saw some people bow their heads, wiping at their eyes.
Was his family here?
I wondered. Daniel's was; I could see his mother on the opposite side of the street. How awful for Gabriel's family, even though I still didn't pity him.

"I die, but the rest of you will follow," Gabriel hissed. "I'm only giving out the same mercy our kind has been shown. I refuse to be ashamed to hunt those who kill us."

His words had barely died away when a shot rang out. I jumped, sucking in a breath as a gory crimson hole bloomed on Gabriel's chest. His eyes went wide, then he let out two harsh, labored breaths before falling to the ground.

Somebody sobbed. Joshua's face was grim as he lowered the smoking rifle.

"We only hunt to eat what we need to survive. We will never be like them," he stated.

Seeing someone die from a gunshot wound was nothing like in the movies, either. No, it was horrible in ways I couldn't even begin to describe.

"Never be like whom?" I asked Daniel. My voice was dull from shock.

He didn't look away from Gabriel's twitching, bleeding form. "Humans."

***

I didn't stay to watch the five men run the gauntlet. I'd already seen things that would be burned on my memory, no matter how I'd try to forget them. Daniel took me back to his cabin. He made coffee in silence and handed me a cup. It tasted like it was laced with something alcoholic, which I was grateful for.

Occasionally, I'd hear shouts coming from the direction of the town. The gauntlet was a noisy business, it seemed.

"Gabriel's wife," I said after the minutes stretched. "Joshua said a member of the pack was upset because his wife had been killed. That was Gabriel, right? Did…did hunters kill his wife?"

Daniel sat across from me, resting his elbows on the table as he drank from his own cup. The lighting in the kitchen reflected off his hair, making the russet color look richer.

"Yes."

"But why hurt me?" I wondered. "I was camping, not hunting wolves!"

A sigh rumbled out of Daniel. "Gabriel wasn't being logical. Neither were the others with him. The pack has been going through a hard time since the laws were changed."

"What laws? No one even knows about werewolves; it's not like it's open season on them."

"Gray wolves were taken off the endangered species list a few months ago," Daniel said, his expression hooded. "The government did it knowing what would happen. Before the ink was dry, scores of wolves were killed. They're trying to eliminate all wolves again. What Gabriel did was wrong, but I know what drove him to it. You can't understand what it's like, having people try to wipe out your very existence."

His voice was bitter. I set my coffee cup down with a bang.

"I'm Jewish. Don't tell me I can't understand what that's like."

After a long moment, Daniel inclined his head. We sat in silence, but oddly, it wasn't tense silence. It was as if we'd come to an unspoken truce.

"So," I said at last, mythology and reality competing in my mind. "Gabriel's wife was shot while in wolf form. How would the hunters know to use silver bullets? Maybe you've been found out after all."

A bleak smile cracked his face.

"The bullets don't have to be silver. No, Marlee, we can be killed in a lot of normal ways. But if the wound isn't mortal, and if it's not exposed to silver, we can usually heal it."

There was noise from the town again. Something like a cheer. Daniel nodded in its direction. "They must be finished."

What a strange, harsh society this was. Gauntlets. Executions. Shapeshifting. And me, stuck right in the middle of it.

"You know that soon, my family will start a search for me," I said. "My parents will notice when I don't come back from vacation, not to mention that my employers will wonder what happened when I don't show up in the next few days."

He shook his head. "What were you thinking, hiking alone?"

His tone was so scolding that I stiffened. "I didn't start out alone. My friends came with me, but then Brandy twisted her ankle so she and Tom had to leave. I was going to leave, too, but…"

I stopped. Finishing that sentence would be too revealing.
But I was sick of putting my dreams on hold, waiting for the perfect situation.

I'd put off so many things thinking I had to have my life set up
just perfectly
first. It's why I stayed at my job as a paralegal instead of continuing my education to be a lawyer (I wanted to decide on the perfect branch of law to practice before making that leap). It's why I'd waited so long to take this camping trip (I wanted to

pay my car off before splurging on a vacation). It's also why I hadn't moved to Manhattan with Paul when he'd asked me. No, I'd wanted to be further along in my career before taking my relationship with him to the next level.