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My fingers found the puncture wounds onto die Staring up at the sky, I found a sense of peace and exciteain They were up there, beyond the clouds, waiting forfaces would welcome me

"You know you want her as much as I do," the woman said with anxiousness

"You have to stop this," the usted

I didn’t waste any e conversation Instead, I continued to stare at the sky until darkness clouded its beauty and my eyelids fell shut

Chapter One

"Anna, we need more wood," Elle called from the kitchen

Three months had passed after I was attacked in theother than death in store forfar more complex Fairytales weren’t just stories One little bite turned me into a creature who answered to the nore than a streaker at a football gae to be a roup of people who shared the same affinity for the moon and the same animalistic emotions I didn’t remember a lot about the day I was attacked, and no one stepped forward to claiue olf spread, but I wasn’t so sure One day my memory would return, and I’d knoho sired h the screen door and headed around the back of the house Every society has a pecking order: children listen to their parents, employees to their bosses, and a person clih time and hard work I was at the bottom of the order here and expected to prove myself every day The jobs no one wanted landed on ht a lesson through embarrassment Adam, the alpha of our pack, would transforular between his teeth in front of everyone When I first heard about that, I laughed, sure that it wouldn’t be all that bad It wasn’t until it happened toit was There was so in my DNA now that took on the traits of a co repri You’d think I would’ve learned my lesson after the first time, but since then, Adam has had his teeth around ers around the axe handle, I split the wood for the fireplaces Before I was infected olf saliva, there was no way I could’ve swung an axe, let alone split piles of wood all day long Noever, I was stronger than an ox It was both a gift and a curse A gift because, well, it was cool to be able to lift a car, and a curse because I couldn’t use exhaustion as an excuse to quit

The Everwood pack--named after its alpha, Adam Everwood--consisted of twenty-fiveHorn Mountains of Wyo It was my job to chop and deliver wood to each of their ho, and the other five doing equally belittling tasks My life BW (before olf) had been simple I worked as a teller at a small bank, lived in the hoht tointo theover to hbor Jitters didn’t like o in plane crash with a newly licensed pilot I told them not to fly with him, but they didn’t listen They craved life and adventure and that had gotten them killed They were the only children in their families which meant no aunts or uncles for me A few of their cousins contacted h to notice when I suddenly vanished from my old life If they called, they’d find the number had been disconnected and the house sold I didn’t have a ton of friends or a love life that consisted of more than a couple dates

When I was happy with the amount of wood I chopped, I pulled my Ford F150 around back and loaded the bed I didn’t own a truck BW, but Ada useful At the ti the rough mountain roads Had I knohat he really meant, the truck would serve asin my heels and kept ain Life was a bitch and because offrom house to house was the h the cab while Lady Antebellum filled the air I belted A out of theThe sun glistened on the river, and the scent of flowers hung in the air An eagle soared high abovefor some critter to feast on I loved suht I intended to soak up every ray before winter reached the mountains

I turned into the Anderson’s driveway and jus The only difference was the color of tin on their roofs The Anderson’s chose navy and continued the thehtened s in a neat pile by their garage Most of the pack held regular jobs and were gone during the day, but they were seasoned wolves and I was not I had trouble keeping a lid on my inner beast, and Adah to scare h, the alternative was being a work horse for the pack I made six more stops before I went towards Adam’s home--I should’ve delivered to his house first, this wasrebellion I was in theout another Lady Antebellus, when I pulled into Adam’s driveway and choked on my words Adaine of his Silverado The crunching of my tires drew his attention, our eyes locked before I looked away It was considered a challenge to stare the alpha in the eyes for too long I learned that lesson the way I learned alla wolf--the hard way