Whispers at Moonrise

hall while everyone stared. She wasn’t glowing anymore. Her internal bulb had blown sometime during the night.
    She’d stayed in her room all weekend and meditated, and slept. Obviously, bringing someone back to life took it out of you. Holiday and Burnett had dropped by with food, TLC, and news that all the bodies of the girls has been turned over to their families. Both Burnett and Holiday were now glowing, but it was a natural glow. They were in love.
    That only made Kylie miss Lucas even more.
    Derek had called twice just to say he was thinking about her. Lucas hadn’t. She didn’t even know if he was aware of what had happened. Still, his silence was hard to take.
    Helen and Jonathon had dropped by. And Miranda, Perry, and Della had checked on her almost every hour. Even during the night, they’d crack open the door and peer at her. Of course, that could be because she looked really cool glowing in the dark. Hell, they could have sold tickets to the other campers for a dollar a peek. Not that they would. They were her friends.
    Kylie stared down at her runny eggs and frowned as she felt all eyes in the dining hall on her.
    Nope, right now, glowing wasn’t the problem. It was her pattern. She’d changed again. She was finally a werewolf and Lucas wasn’t around to enjoy it. And neither was Socks. Her cat hadn’t come out from under the bed all morning. He made his prejudices known. Just as clear as the other werewolves here at the camp. Not one of them had come to say hello, or go to hell.
    “You hanging in there?” Della asked.
    “Like a pro,” Kylie answered, and looked up to see Hayden Yates walk into the dining hall. Her heart did a little dance. He was back. Relief at knowing she wasn’t completely alone washed over her.
    We are your family. Her grandfather’s words sliced through her.
    “You still can’t lie worth a damn,” Della said.
    Kylie looked away from Hayden before anyone guessed they shared secrets.
    Della was right. She’d lied. She wasn’t hanging in there like a pro. More like by a thread. She was confused, scared, and worried. She might have stopped glowing, but what was next? What freaky thing would she be calling her grandfather or running to Hayden to help her fix? And if she really belonged at Shadow Falls, why did Hayden’s presence bring her so much comfort?
    *   *   *
    “Let’s get this show on the road,” Chris, the Meet Your Campmate leader, announced after breakfast. Kylie stood outside beside Della. She fought the need to fan herself. Her sudden increase in her body temperature would take getting used to.
    “And first on our list of names is none other than our brand-new were.” Chris’s gaze shot to Kylie.
    Kylie’s breath caught. The first people announced were generally the ones someone had paid in blood for Chris to arrange. Swallowing, her gaze shot to Derek. But he stared at Chris in concern.
    “Kylie, you get the pleasure of Fredericka’s company.”
    Oh, great. The were had saved her life only to kill her later.
    “I can follow you if you want,” Della whispered, her eyes bright.
    Kylie shook her head, tired of always being under someone else’s protection. “No.”
    Fredericka walked up. “You wanna walk to the lake?”
    “Sure,” Kylie answered. Why not? The lake would be a nice place to die.
    “I’ll see you later.” Della’s tone came with all kinds of warnings for Fredericka.
    As they started walking, neither Kylie nor Fredericka talked. Kylie listened, but amazingly, she barely heard their footsteps. The ability to move in silence must be part of being were. Her mind chewed on what Fredericka really wanted.
    Or it did until her friendly blue jay showed up and did a song and dance right in front of them.
    Fredericka frowned. Kylie shooed the bird away. “Go!”
    As they continued on, Kylie did some thinking. She didn’t believe the she-wolf really wanted to kill her. Then again, hadn’t she already tried once? Putting a lion in Kylie’s bedroom several months back hadn’t been an act of kindness. But if the girl really planned on murder, would she have let the whole camp know they were together?
    Then another thought suddenly hit. Was Fredericka pissed that Kylie hadn’t said thank you for saving her life?
    She’d planned on doing it. She really had. But she’d spent all her energy on stopping herself from glowing this weekend. Nevertheless, she should have done it first thing this morning. Was it too late?
    Better