Under Her Skin(8)
Author: Jeaniene Frost

strangely exhilarating instead.

No, what had me hiding in my room at the moment was that I was increasingly drawn to Daniel. I craved his scent more than food, followed him with my gaze whenever he entered the room, and had to literally fight with myself not to touch him when he was near. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. The worst part was, I was pretty sure Daniel knew what I was going through.

He’d tried to talk to me for the past two days, but I refused to speak with him. I didn’t trust myself. I should be focusing on the fact that I was changing into a monster, and not be secretly fascinated by my new senses, or lusting after the person who held me prisoner. The night of the full moon loomed in front of me like an executioner’s axe. Whatever control I had over myself now, I knew it would be gone as soon as that ghostly orb rose in the sky. Some primal, burgeoning part of me was looking forward to that.

"…thought we could have a soak," the girl was saying. "That always helps me when I’m upset."

"What?" I hadn’t been paying attention to a word she was saying.

"The hot springs," she repeated. "We have indoor and outdoor ones. I bought you a swimsuit. Anything’s got to be better than being cooped up in this room day and night."

Outside. With just her. I gave her a quick, cagey look. Maybe this was my chance. She was petite, looked about nineteen or twenty, and seemed nice. Let’s hope she was gullible, too.

"Sure. Thanks," I added, smiling. "What’s your name again? I’m sorry, I don’t remember."

"Laurel," she said with an answering smile. "Here, I’ll leave so you can change."

"Can we go to whichever spring has the least amount of people? I’m, ah, shy about being in a bathing suit around strangers."

Growing up spending my summers at Lake Michigan, that was a lie, but she didn’t know that. She nodded.

"Sure."

I lowered my voice. "He doesn’t need to come, does he?" I asked, with a nod toward the rest of the cabin, where Daniel was. "I’m so tired of him shadowing my every move."

She lowered her voice as well. "I’ll talk to him."

My smile widened. Nice and gullible. My luck was changing.

***

If circumstances were different, I would have been awed at how beautiful this place was. The cabins were set near the end of the mini-town and spaced well apart for privacy. The mountains loomed majestically around all of it. Forests bridged the bottom of the mountains, adding a more secluded feel, and the steam rising up

from the rock-bed hot springs looked both soothing and inviting.

But, sinking into the warm mineral water, I was reminded of my tub at home in my apartment. A stab of longing went through me when I thought about my parents, who I’d meant to call before leaving on my camping trip. My older sister, Leigh. My nephew, who’d just turned one last month. My coworkers, who made the long hours from nine to five pass much more quickly. My best friend Brandy. Her boyfriend Tom, who told me in confidence right before they left that he was going to pop the question. Would I see any of them again?

I will, I promised myself. I’ll get away. I’ll…I’ll find a doctor to cure me. I just have to get away. No matter what.

"Feeling better?" Laurel asked. She leaned back, settling her arms around the edge of the rock lip.

"Yes." And I did. I’d committed myself to a course of action and I’d follow it through. No matter what.

"I don’t know why you’d be embarrassed to be seen in a swimsuit, Marlee," she went on. "You’re very pretty. Finn’s already interested."

"Finn?" I asked blankly.

"My cousin. The guy with the long black hair. You met him the same night you met me."

Oh yeah. "He looked young," I said neutrally.

She laughed. "He’s forty-two."

My jaw dropped as I remembered the smooth-skinned, flirty Finn. "Can’t be."

Laurel gave me a slanted look. "There are advantages, you know," she said in a casual tone. "You know how one year equals seven in a dog’s life? Well, we have the reverse of that. And you already know we heal a lot faster than normal people. Plus, when we change, we experience the world in ways no one else can. I don’t know how anyone would rather be just a human."

I gaped at her. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any stranger.

"How old are you?" I managed.

She settled back more comfortably. "Oh, I’m only twenty, but the good news is, I’ll look like this for a long time. The age slowing doesn’t happen until puberty’s over, thank God. Imagine being a teenager for forty years?"

I couldn’t. "And Daniel?"

"I’ll let him tell you how old he is," Laurel replied. She had a little smirk that made me wary.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Like hell. She was obviously itching to say more. I scooted closer, lowering my voice.

"What?"

Laurel’s smirk widened. "Normally, when someone’s exposed to us like you were – which is very rare, by the way – Daniel is the one to bring them in, but he doesn’t watch that person the whole time. He’s big on privacy. He’s never had someone stay at his cabin for four days straight, even a girlfriend. Add his refusal to let Finn visit you and, well…he’s acting possessive. Like a wolf with his future mate."

I was alternating between shocked and triumphant. Daniel, seeing me as a future mate? So it wasn’t just me who’d been so affected the past few days!

But that presented a whole new set of problems. It was one thing when I thought Daniel was just doing his job as the pack’s enforcer. Knowing he might be feeling the same thing toward me would decimate the slim hold I had on my control, and I still needed to get away. Not complicate things to a fantastic degree.

Or, Laurel could be wrong. Daniel could be keeping me close because he knew I hadn’t really accepted this as my new life. Either way, I had to take advantage of my chance, which brought me to why I’d agreed to this outing.

I hunched a little, letting an expression of pain spasm on my face.

"What’s wrong?" Laurel asked.

"Cramps," I said with another grimace. "I’m getting my period. Could you do me a huge favor? I don’t want to embarrass myself by springing a leak while walking back to town. Can you get me some tampons? I’ll wait here."

I climbed out of the hot water and sat on one of the large rocks, wrapping a towel around me. Here’s hoping the universal sympathy every woman had for that time of the month would result in Laurel doing something stupid.

She gave me such an odd look that I cursed myself for not coming up with a better reason for her to go away. Well, I didn’t have much time to think up a clever ploy. But then she smiled.