THE AWAKENING

Cassandra struggled to be free, but the grip holding her felt like iron bands clamped around her thighs.

“Let me go!” she screamed like a banshee, rising up to claw at his face with her nails but her efforts were met with steely silence as they ran through the night.

The cold air burned her face and she began to shiver.

They entered what looked like a cave and were immediately enveloped in inky darkness but her captor navigated the tricky twists and turns as if they were traveling a lighted path.

They emerged in a large cavern where he finally set her down with little finesse or grace. She landed on her rear with a squeak of pain but he paid her little heed as he was too busy building a small fire to warm the ice-box interior.

In truth, she was too cold to flee even if, by chance she could find her way out. Her legs felt like frozen stalks of flesh that might shatter if she tried to run.

The walls were rough hewn by time, dripping large formations from the ceiling like frozen teardrops. The desolate atmosphere only heightened the chill permeating her bones.

“Hurry, I’m going to die of hypothermia,” she snapped to her captor.

The man shot her a dark look as if annoyed she could speak and pulled a hidden stash of firewood from a hole in the cavern to toss in a blackened fire pit.

“Vacation home?” she quipped.

“You test me,” he warned.

was pretty comfortable in the barren surroundings, yet

minutes a blaze filled the cavern with dancing light and she reluctantly sought the

“Come, warm yourself, she-wolf.”

jaw. “The least you can

but she was going to freeze if she didn’t get some of that heat. Meeting his stare with a glare, she scooted over to the

by a man who was strong enough to best two werewolves but didn’t smell like

captor as she warmed her hands. He was big, much like Jandin and Koris, but there was something

was cropped short to his skull with military precision, possibly to soften the fact that he was almost too

was breathtaking in a lethal, anti-hero way that she

also knew he was different from the others. As a test, she lifted her nose and surreptitiously

werewolf,” he said, saving her the trouble. She gasped and recoiled, not quite sure what to think, only fairly certain she wasn’t safe

are you?” she

mouth thinned in a parody of a smile. “That’s because I am not human.” His smile faded. “And neither are you. Otherwise, two rival werewolf clans wouldn’t be tearing each other to shreds to breed with

crass way he framed his statement but she lifted her chin and met his stare with open challenge. “I didn’t ask for any of this. Yesterday my biggest worry was my mid-term final.

work out for you?” he

went into my Breeding Time as Jandin called it. So, if you’re not a werewolf, what are

a Breeding

hard one of his own.

he allowed without apology. “Others, we simply let nature take