Full Moon Read online

  Rachel Hawthorne

  Full Moon

  A Dark Guardian Novel

  For Brandon,

  paranormal advisor extraordinaire.

  Thanks for all the breakfast brainstorming sessions

  and letting me bounce various scenarios off you.

  You’re terrific! Love, Mom

  Contents

  Prologue

  The full moon has become my enemy.

  One

  Supposedly, dreams reflect our hidden fears and secret desires, all…

  Two

  Unlike Kayla, I had attended many summer solstice celebrations. They…

  Three

  As the wind whipped my white-blond hair, which flowed like…

  Four

  Much to my astonishment, the landing wasn’t nearly as painful…

  Five

  When we got back to Wolford, Rafe swiped an electronic…

  Six

  The national forest is a little over five million acres…

  Seven

  Everyone at our table went eerily still, the way a…

  Eight

  We trekked for two more days, leading the girls farther…

  Nine

  It was nearly dark the next night when we finally…

  Ten

  Connor hadn’t put his shirt back on because he’d draped…

  Eleven

  It’s not easy to sneak out of your cabin when…

  Twelve

  The next morning, I awoke to find myself still snuggled…

  Thirteen

  Connor fell asleep. I was pretty sure that Lucas and…

  Fourteen

  To say they’d trashed the place was an understatement. Clothes…

  Fifteen

  The following night, while I watched over Mason’s encampment from…

  Sixteen

  I kept opening and closing my eyes. And each time…

  Seventeen

  “Your dad and I will be here when you get…

  Eighteen

  They clashed, they snarled, they bared their teeth. They weren’t…

  Nineteen

  I can’t explain what it’s like to take another form.

  Other Books by Rachel Hawthorne

  Credits

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  PROLOGUE

  The full moon has become my enemy.

  I’m in a cavern, preparing myself for the most important night of my life. A few days earlier I had turned seventeen. Tonight a full moon will grace the sky. As I stand beneath it, the moonlight will wash over me and I—Lindsey Lancaster—will transform….

  Into a wolf.

  I’m a Shifter, a species of beings who for thousands of years have possessed the ability to shift from human to animal form. My clan’s destined animal is the wolf.

  For as long as I can remember I’ve been anxiously awaiting this night, but for the past few weeks I’ve been dreading its arrival, because things suddenly became very confusing and complicated. My feelings, my emotions—they were all over the place. My heart was telling me one thing, my head another.

  Connor and I have been best friends forever. Our families always hang out together in the outside world, where we all pretend that we don’t have this amazing ability, where we pretend we’re like the Statics, those who can’t morph into another shape. Our parents are convinced that Connor and I are destined for each other.

  Sometimes I fear that Connor and I got caught up in their dreams for us and decided those dreams were ours, too. One night, in front of everyone, Connor declared me his mate. I was thrilled that he held such intense feelings for me, because I thought I felt the same for him. Our families celebrated. In the tradition of our kind, he had my name tattooed in a Celtic symbol on his left shoulder—our equivalent of getting engaged. Our fate was sealed.

  But then Rafe returned home this summer after a year away at college, and I began to notice him in ways I never had before. When he speaks, his deep voice is laced with a little bit of a rasp—so sexy. He doesn’t talk often, except when he has something important to say, and when he does, my toes tingle. His dark eyes have the ability to hold me captive, to make my heart beat like thunder. And when he drops that dangerous gaze to my lips, I want to melt into his arms and pull his mouth down to mine for a taste of the forbidden.

  He possesses a wild streak, prefers to live life on the edge. He’s the big, bad wolf—pardon the pun. And something in him calls to the wildness in me…but it’s a call I can’t answer.

  Connor is my destiny.

  Two years older than I am, he’s already gone through his transformation. Tonight he’ll lead me through mine. I force myself to concentrate on Connor: his blond hair, his blue eyes, his crooked grin that always makes me smile. He’s waiting for me now, waiting to share the most important night of my life. He’ll hold me, guide me through the transition, and ensure that I survive. We’ll bond deeply and forever as we go through this experience together. That’s what is supposed to happen, anyway.

  I study my reflection in the mirror. My eyes are hazel, although the color tends to shift with my mood. Tonight they look somehow more blue than green or brown. They’re sad when they should be filled with excitement at this moment, the kind of anticipation a girl feels right before the prom.

  My white-blond hair hangs loosely around my shoulders. The white velvet robe I’m wearing caresses my bare skin, and nervousness descends as I realize that soon it will be the moonlight touching me—the moonlight and Connor.

  I turn from the mirror and walk to the entrance of the cavern, where a cascading waterfall hides our lair from those who don’t know of its—of our—existence. I slip out from behind the curtain of water and circle the still pool that will soon reflect the rising moon.

  I spy Connor waiting patiently for my arrival. Wearing a black robe, he holds out his hand, and I place my palm against his. His fingers—so long, so sure, so steady—close around mine, which suddenly seem too delicate and fragile for what is about to happen. As though sensing my apprehension, he draws me near. The familiarity of him gives me solace. He’s the one. He’s always been the one.

  Leaning in, he brushes his lips over mine. My heart stutters with the enormity of what we’re about to do.

  Holding my hand, he leads me toward the clearing, toward the waiting moon, toward forever as his mate.

  And I just hope that I haven’t made the wrong choice. Otherwise, I’m walking straight into the single biggest mistake of my life.

  ONE

  Supposedly, dreams reflect our hidden fears and secret desires, all clamoring for attention. The one I’d had last night had been so vivid that even now, as evening drew near, it still made me squirm in my chair. I sat against a wall in the counsel room where the elders and the Dark Guardians—protectors of our society—were discussing how best to ensure our survival. Because I hadn’t yet experienced my first transformation, I was considered a novice and was not allowed to sit at the large, round table with the others. This was okay by me, because it gave me the freedom to let my mind wander—without anyone noticing that I wasn’t paying attention.

  In my dream, I’d been standing in a clearing with my declared mate, Connor, our arms wrapped around each other so tightly that we could barely breathe. The full moon served as a spotlight.

  Then dark clouds drifted over the moon, and everything went black. Still holding him near, I was acutely aware of the muscles and bones in his body undulating against me. He grew taller and broader. My fingers were in his hair, and I felt the strands thicken and lengthen. His mouth covered mine, but his lips were fuller than before. The kiss was hungrier than any he’d ever given me. It heated me from head to toe, and I thought I knew what it was