Page 74 of The Lunatics

Are you certain?

I nodded.The closest thing I’ve heard of is mates calling out to each other over the bond. Mom and Dad can do it, but from the way Mom described it, they don’t exchange words. It’s more of a sending. Like mentally paging someone.

And you’ve never communicated with anyone else this way?he asked.

No.

Have you ever tried?

No.I stared at him.Why?

He turned contemplative.Because I’m curious if this is one of the unknown MacKenzie abilities. They would have wanted some way to communicate with one another over distances when planning to attack vampires.

His words hit me like a sucker punch. Yes, they would have wanted that.

We can’t tell anyone. No one, Michael, I mean it.

In my head, I sawher, the vampire who had killed my birth pack, closing in on me and my mate. She didn’t want word of what we could do to get out, and the Goddess only knew what she would do to a wolf who talked.

It was Michael’s turn to come comfort me, rubbing his forehead against my shoulder.We’ll keep it to ourselves, he said. And then:I truly am sorry for attacking you.

It’s okay. You didn’t mean it. Do you still want to see the forest?

I do.

Good, because I think we need to get as far into it as possible.

He hesitated.Why?

Because it’s not only your size, strength, and speed that got a boost from our bond. Your power is growing.

Even now it lapped against my skin like a tide rolling up a coastline, gaining ground the longer we stood here.

The smell of his surprise filled my nose.So, when I mentioned earlier that my senses seemed heightened…

You were noticing the increase. I need to teach you how to cage it before someone else notices, too. And we need to stay the hell away from other wolves until you learn to control it.

Why are you suddenly so afraid?he asked.

Because I don’t want to give the old-world vamp that killed my birth parents a reason to murder us.

His spine stiffened.Yes, let’s please avoid that.

Grab your clothes, and let’s go, I told him.I know a cave where we can spend the night.

Together we headed deeper into the wilderness, toward the rugged mountains and bottomless gorges the rivers had carved between them over millions of years. This was inhospitable terrain that not even the most seasoned human hikers would attempt. The hills were steep and rocky. One false step sent loose scree tumbling down. Even with our wide, padded feet, we had to be careful.

We traveled for over an hour, loping along when the game paths we followed allowed us to, slowing to a near crawl as we picked our way through the trickier spots. Eventually, we made it to a familiar, jagged outcropping of granite. With my clothes clutched in my mouth, I leapt from one boulder to another, leading Michael up the cliff face until I caught sight of the gaping maw of a mountain cave just large enough for us to squeeze through. I paused outside andscented the entrance. A mountain lion had passed by the day before, but nothing called this place home now.

We need to shift,I told Michael when we were inside.It’ll be easier to teach you in human form.

He took his clothes and retreated farther into the cave, seeking privacy. I let him go without comment. Hopefully his shift to human hurt less than the one to wolf had.

My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness of the cave. I padded over to the fire pit in its center, dropped my clothes, and slipped form between heartbeats. The prickly sensation that ran through me told me Michael was doing the same, this time without any accompanying pain. So going from human to wolf was a struggle, but wolf to human was fine. Why? Because he spent so much time as a human that assuming this form felt more natural to him? If so, we needed to work on that.

I pulled my clothes on and set about making a fire. The last time I’d been here I brought in plenty of kindling and logs. I’d even thought to carry a lighter out with me, smart wolf that I was. At this elevation, the temperature could plummet to well below freezing without warning, even in the middle of the summer. These peaks had been capped with snow up until a few weeks ago, and the dirt beneath my feet held a lingering chill that made me think it hadn’t fully defrosted yet.

When the fire was set, I touched the lighter to the tinder and gently blew, coaxing the first sparks to catch. The air had been cool in the forest. It was damn near arctic here, and since I had a feeling we would be stuck in this cave for a while, the least we could be was warm.