I couldn't give him an answer right away. Class was about to start, and the professor was sending us impatient looks as she shuffled through her lecture notes. Ken had no choice but to leave, but he promised to show up after my class finished to continue our conversation.   I couldn't stop thinking about it. A party? On Friday night? He had explained it was going to be held on grounds and hosted in one of the buildings that offered venues for just such occasions. It wouldn't be one of the rowdy house parties that I'd initially thought he was inviting me to, but almost like a school dance.   It was for both current students who could afford the pricey tickets as well as past graduates, a chance to donate to the university and indulge in some nostalgic fun.   Would Alpha Evan be going, I wondered. If it was to honor donors and sponsors, surely he would be invited and more than welcome. He obviously wasn't a current s

I was drowsy all day Saturday. We had gotten back reasonably early all things considered, but I was so accustomed to waking up before the crack of dawn in Dark Moon that I couldn't rid myself of the habit here. I suspected it would stay with me all my life. Some things just couldn't be fixed, the same way some scars remained engraved in flesh for life. I had my share of both.   What must Elly and Maria be thinking now, I wondered as I looked out my window. I didn't miss them at all, but there was no doubt in my mind they missed my presence. For all the insults they had hurled at me all my life, they had been so dependent on my service that they couldn't get by on their own for even a single day.   And yet I couldn't even be glad for it. I wished we'd never encountered each other, but if I couldn't have that, I wished I could magically forget everything I had ever unwillingly learned in Dark Moon. The punctuality and industriousness that mark

I sat on the curb, desperately willing away the last traces of alcohol lingering in my system. Please, I thought. Don't let this be happening.   But prayers or no prayers, it was what it was. I watched helplessly as Leon -- who turned out to be the brown wolf who came first -- pulled away the half-crying, half-fighting Raf without a goodbye, no doubt to take her home. The last thing I heard of his thoughts before he left the range of my mind-reading was a cursing complaint about how the two of us could be so reckless as to get targeted by a band of creeps.   I wanted to shout at his back that maybe if he hadn't gotten into a fight with Raf, she wouldn't have felt the need to do this at all. But that wasn't fair. I didn't know the whole story. But what would be completely justified was telling him off for blaming Raf when a woman should have every right to expect men to be decent and not try to rape her on the street just because they could.

"I see the hybrid is still slinking around..."   Flicka had meant for me to hear that as she entered the manor, and unlike the venomous glare she had just shot me, her voice was gloating and self-assured, as arrogant as ever. I wanted to turn and follow her back inside so I could slap her senseless, but that would only show her how easily she affected me. I forced myself to walk down the steps with my head level and my posture calm, as if nothing she said could bother me.   But it didn't last. The door closed, and a moment later when I turned the bend around the stone path that led to the forest, I broke into a fierce run so abrupt my side cramped with sudden stitches.   But I didn't stop. The pain was nothing compared to the frustration of hearing the smugness in Flicka's voice as she entered the manor, as if she were taking my place. I didn't want to remember it. If a few cramps could take my mind off of her even a lit

On something that might have been a lot more than a whim, I brought a small store of banshee weed just in case. I hadn't asked how long we would be staying on Dark Moon territory, but I didn't want Evan to coincidentally have a bad spat of nightmares with no way to deal with them. The recent rains would drown the banshee weed under puddles, making them hard to find, so bringing the ones I'd already picked with me was the only other option.   I'd made the right choice. When we got off the train, the rain had picked up again, and there were new ponds everywhere along the rolling terrain that would have made herb-picking impossible.   There was also an entire crowd waiting to receive us when we arrived. I was so stunned I didn't know how to react at the enthusiasm everyone greeted us with. Dark Moon territory residents hated humans and hybrids, and yet here they were, hiding it so they could greet Evan and me with deference due to a king.