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the woods. Should she call again? If she did, might she bring something unwanted, something dangerous upon her? She squared her shoulders and reminded herself that the biggest threat to her, the Coughlins, were dead and buried. The only dangerous things in the woods at this time of year were the wolves, who usually avoid human beings. Something small skittered across her path and she jumped. Okay, she was little nervous alone in the dark woods, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her. She would do her damnedest to find Michael. If she did, she would open her heart to him. If he felt the same way about her—she shivered in delight at the thought—she would be a happy woman. If he didn’t, she would be unhappy. Desperately, wretchedly unhappy, but at least she would know.
    The darkness seemed to lift a little as the clouds moved and the almost-full moon shone down. The world was devoid of color, only black and shades of gray, but at least Laura could see better. Minutes later, she walked into a little clearing and called again for Michael.
    She didn’t hear a sound as three wolves entered the clearing across from her and stopped. Unmoving, they stared at her with their pale eyes. Laura knew somehow that the largest was Michael, Michael in the form of a wolf.
    “Michael?” Laura said, “I don’t know if you can understand me.” The animal cocked its head to one side, its gaze fastened on hers. She walked boldly up to the creature and got to her knees, wanting to be level with that steady gaze. “I have to tell you my feelings. I know I have been too shy, too reticent with you. I saw how you looked at me and sometimes I thought you felt the same way about me as I did about you, but I was too shy to tell you what I felt. I didn’t tell you how much I wanted you… I didn’t tell you that I wanted you with all my heart, my soul, my body. I was afraid to say that I love the wildness in you. I should’ve told you that I felt an answering wildness in my own heart.” To her chagrin, she burst into tears. “Damn it,” she said, “I don’t want to cry.”
    The great beast stared at her for a minute before coming closer to her and gently licking the tears from her cheeks. She put her arms around his neck.
    “I’m sorry I’m merely a human,” she whispered. “I wish I could meet you as a wolf, run with you, even mate with you. But I’m just a woman—a woman who loves you.”
    The wolf stepped back and Laura thought her heart might break. She sat back on her heels and bleakly tried to accept that he was stepping away from her, that whatever he felt for her wasn’t enough to bind him to her.
    He turned away from her, went up to each of the wolves, and rubbed his muzzle against theirs. With their tails down and their bellies close to the ground, they each, in turn, licked his face, whining softly. Then he barked sharply and the two turned and ran off.
    The wolf turned to Laura and as she watched him, he transitioned into a man, a man with rugged features and hair like wolf fur whose gaze never left her own. A tall man whose nakedness revealed powerful muscles as he walked toward her. He helped her to her feet, put his arms around her, and pulled her to him.
    “I don’t care what you are. I only care that you are Laura. If you will have me, knowing what I am, I want nothing more than to love you for the rest of our lives.”
     
     
    Chapter Eight
     

     
    He looked down at her, small and vulnerable in his arms. He felt his body, his heart, his very soul ache for her. But she was too civilized, too delicate, too—no, he’d heard what she said, that she wanted him no matter what he was, and when she looked up at him he could see it in her eyes. He could see that her heart and her soul were as wild and as untamed as his own. He could see that she was as hungry for him as he was for her. Fierce desire ripped through his body and in her eyes he saw her passion rising to meet his own. When she reached up and gently