[BOOK ONE] When hunter-gatherer Adele Shepherd comes across an injured werewolf in the woods, it's up to her to take him in and save his life: in a remote town dedicated to killing the creatures, she's the only one left who wants to help no matter t...
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NIGHT HAD FALLEN. The sun had sunk below the horizon, pulling the blanket of twilight over the rays and hoisting up the moon in its place. Dim lunar light trickled through narrow gaps in the trees, casting an eerie glow over the snowy forest. Mist hung in the air like the hem of a ballgown floating just above the glistening ice. Ever since the stars had replaced the contrails in the sky, a fire had burned in the hearth and the flickering flames cast dancing shadows across the wall like a puppet show out of tune.
A splash of oil spat in the pan. A couple of meaty venison steaks sizzled, red flesh browning as the fire seared the tender muscle. Adele hunched in front of the fireplace with her back to Caleb, a pair of tongs in her hand to flip the meat while he buttered the potatoes she had boiled.
For two days straight, they had existed alongside each other, words cut down to necessity as they tried and failed to understand each other. Adele had refused to cancel on Angus out of principle alone: she wasn't particularly enthused about him coming over but when Caleb had told her to cancel, she had only been more determined to strike out on her own, to show him what he was doing to her.
It wasn't fair. Those words had been stuck in her head ever since he had explained what it was to be mates and she had felt it even more over the past couple of days. He had sulked ever since he had seen Angus kiss her; he hadn't listened when she had explained that she hadn't even initiated it; she hadn't wanted it; she had felt dirty when he had had pressed himself against her.
She wanted out, but she wasn't ready to commit her whole life to someone she had known for a couple of weeks. But she didn't seem to have a choice: she couldn't bring herself to reject him and he couldn't bring himself to stand idly by anymore.
The steaks were done. She pulled the pan off the fire and dropped one each onto a couple of plates, passing one to Caleb. He took it without a word, slicing into the almost rare meat and a perfectly boiled potato.
