Jo woke up with a pounding headache and the feeling that her entire body was being crawled over by ants. She twitched reflexively, trying to get rid of the crawling sensation but it wouldn’t go. Opening her eyes, she looked at her hand, trying to see if she could shake the insects off.

But there were no ants. Though the crawling sensation continued, her skin was bare . . . in fact, all of her was bare, Jo realized with a shiver, and it was cold!

She sat up and looked around. She was in the middle of the Sacred Glade—the outdoor clearing in the forest was hallowed ground, dedicated to the worship of the Goddess. It was where the Elder Witches practiced the Great Rite when they performed it during the Summer equinox.

The sun was setting, painting the sky bloody red, and the trees loomed all around her like wraiths. She shivered and put her arms around herself, wishing she could get rid of the ants-crawling-all-over sensation. What was going on? Why was she here and who had taken off her clothing? The last thing she remembered was the whitish gas filling the back compartment of the limousine. Someone must have drugged her. But why?

“Oh look, she’s awake,” said a familiar voice. “She must be stronger than I imagined—I thought you said the gas would keep her out until moonrise.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said a deep, masculine voice. “I can breed her before moonrise just as well—if that idiot Shifter didn’t breed her already, that is.”

Jo’s eyes flew open wide at the sound of a male voice in the Sacred Glade. Male energy was forbidden here! And the other voice belonged to . . .

“Hello, Jocasta.” Bianca emerged from the trees, smiling nastily at her. “Are you up for a little ceremony?” She was wearing a long, flowing black gown that clung to her boney body and her black hair was loose around her waist. Jo thought the youthful hairstyle did nothing but make the Elder witch look older—her wrinkles were obvious, even in the light of the setting sun—but it wasn’t Bianca who drew her eyes.

Stepping out of the forest beside the Elder Witch was a powerfully built naked man with broad shoulders and cool, appraising eyes. He was big—about as big as Reese was, she estimated—and he’d shaved his head completely bald. In fact, all of him was bald—even his armpits and pubic region. In his hands was a long, hairy, spotted pelt.

“Who . . . what . . .” She looked wildly at Bianca. “Where is the rest of the Elder Council? And why is he here? Male energy is forbidden in the Sacred Glade!”

“Yes, yes, I know, I’m breaking the rules.” Bianca sighed as though following the ancient customs handed down for generations was an insignificant detail which simply got in her way. “And as for the rest of the Council, they’re on a retreat at our sister site in California right now. I volunteered to stay behind and keep the younger witches in line.” Her eyes flashed. “Which I fully intend to do.”

“What do you want with me?” Jo demanded, standing on shaky legs and trying to cover herself with her arms. “Why did you drug me? And what is this . . . feeling?” She shivered again as the tingling, tickling sensation ran all over her bare skin.

“One question at a time, Jocasta,” Bianca said primly. “That ticklish sensation is a confining spell I placed around the glade before we began. It stops you from using all those nifty new powers you’ve been acquiring and to make sure you don’t run off before the fun starts. Go ahead—try to leave.”

Jo took a step forward and then another and another. But long before she reached Bianca, she encountered what felt like an invisible glass wall in her way. Keeping one arm firmly over her bare breasts, she felt the barrier with her fingertips. It seemed to go up and up forever and extended as far as she could reach on either side in smooth, unbreakable infinity.

“See? It’s quite impenetrable—from your side anyway. You cannot get out.” Bianca sounded smug. “Of course, there’s nothing to stop someone from coming in to join you.” She gestured to the nude, bald man who was still gripping the hairy pelt in one big hand. “Meet Mr. X—I won’t tell you his name, not that you’ll be around to repeat it after tonight, but some secrets must be kept.” She smiled primly. “I will tell you he is the silent partner who owns one of the richest and most influential pharmaceutical companies in the world.”

The bald man gave Joe a most unpleasant smile.

“Oh, we’ve met before, in the forest a little while back. Remember me, Jocasta? Of course, I had a little more hair back then . . .” He rubbed one hand over his bald head. “But some sacrifices must be made in order to fulfill our destinies.”

A wave of cold horror washed over Jo’s entire body at once like an icy wave. This man was the one who’d tried to capture her in the forest outside Reese’s house—the one who had been so upset that she hadn’t been bred yet . . . Suddenly she remembered what he’d said when he and Bianca first entered the Glade—“I can breed her before moonrise just as well—if that idiot Shifter didn’t breed her, that is.”

“Stay away from me,” she said in a shaky voice.

“I’ll be happy to, my dear.” The man leered at her. “As long as you’ve already been bred.”

“What do you want with me? Why do you care if I’ve been . . . been bred?” Jo backed away from the invisible barrier.

“It’s the only way to release your full potential, Jocasta dear,” Bianca purred. “Until you take your Shifted form for the first time, your new powers aren’t fully formed.”

“How do you know?” Jo demanded. “How do you know anything about Shifters at all?”

“Well, I didn’t until Mr. X approached me some time back.” Bianca gestured at the huge bald man again. “He told me a most interesting and surprising story about how female Shifters are able to regain their youth through the Rejuvenation process. And he had been doing a bit of research into the matter and found that a witch who was also a Shifter would have quadruple the power after she had undergone the Shifting process.” Bianca paused and smiled at Jo meaningfully. “All that was required was for the latent Shifter Gene in such a witch to be woken up, and both youth and power would be hers. And he just happened to have a formula that could achieve this awakening.”

“Why didn’t you take it yourself then?” Jo demanded in a shaky voice. “Why give it to me?”

“Oh, I didn’t just give it to you, Jocasta—no, no! Why, the formula was put into our water supply here—all of Avalon got it. You’re just the lucky one it affected.” She smiled sadly. “I, alas, do not have the Gene myself at all—nor does Mr. X, which was why he approached me in the first place.”

“I’ve always wanted to be one of you—to be a Shifter,” Mr. X said, eyeing Jo in a hungry way that made her stomach flip over with sick fear. “To change my skin and run and hunt as an animal—I’ve spent the better part of my career in Pharmaceuticals researching ways to scientifically change my form.” He looked at Bianca. “But in the end, science failed me and it was magic that brought me the answer I’d been searching for so long. You see . . .” He held up the hairy, spotted pelt from which wafted a very unpleasant musky, sour odor. “I can’t become an actual Shifter. But with help from Bianca, here, I can become a Skin Walker.”

“A Skin Walker?” Jo felt like an icy hand was squeezing her throat. She stared at Bianca. “You can’t do that—it’s the darkest kind of magic! It’s forbidden—it will stain your soul for eternity.”

“Mr. X is going to make it worth my while,” Bianca said primly. “In addition to a tidy monetary payment, he promised me we could both have what we want. I will work the spell to turn him into a Skin Walker and in return, he gave me the formula to awaken your latent Gene, Jocasta. And once you are bred and Shift for the first time, your power will be ripe for the plucking. So tell me once and for all, my dear . . .” She leaned forward, glaring at Jo. “Have you been bred by that damn Shifter whose house I had my demon-shadow chase you to or not?”

Jo felt like her heart had stopped and for a moment she couldn’t say anything.

“The . . . the thing in the forest,” she finally managed to get out. “You sent that to chase me?”

“It worked beautifully. You ran right into his arms and he was supposed to have bred you by now. I was so certain he would, I even cast an illusion spell to make you see the incantation you wanted with ingredients which could only be found in the forest.” Bianca frowned. “But you disappointed me, Jo—you didn’t breed as you were supposed to. Please tell me I won’t be disappointed again.”

“I . . . you . . .” Jo shook her head, keeping her naked body as well covered as she could. “You know I wouldn’t break my vow of chastity to the Goddess,” she said at last in a shaky voice. “I would never—”

“He still hasn’t bred her!” Mr. X sounded disgusted. “I suppose I’ll have to do it myself.” He leered at Jo. “Of course, I’m not a regular Shifter so I’ll have to take a few extra steps to be certain the animal side of you is satisfied.”

Jo’s mouth felt dry as sawdust.

“Ex . . . extra steps?” she whispered.

He nodded. “A natural Shifter could breed you in his human form and satisfy your craving to release your inner beast. I will have to breed you in my Skin Walker form to achieve the same result.”

“You . . . you what?” Jo could hardly make herself believe what he was saying and her eyes kept returning to the hairy pelt hanging from his hand.

“You heard me.” He gave her a leering grin. “You and I are shortly going to be much better acquainted, my little witch.”

“Indeed you are.” Bianca nodded. “Very well, Mr. X as soon as you enter the circle I will begin casting the incantation. When you feel the change upon you, breed the girl. The moment you deposit your seed inside her, she will be able to Shift and her power will be complete.” She looked at Jo greedily. “And then I can begin the second spell—to claim her youth and abilities as my own.”

The huge man stepped into the circle, his bald head glowing in the last faint rays of the setting sun. Soon the moon would rise and bring with it unspeakable changes.

But Jo wasn’t concerned with the moon just now. She backed away from Mr. X in horror.

“Stay away from me,” she said in a trembling voice. “I don’t want anything to do with you!”

“Don’t worry, my dear.” He gave her a most unpleasant smile as he slipped the hairy pelt over his head and let it dangle down his bare back like a macabre headdress. “You won’t have anything to do with me—it’s my beast you can look forward to meeting.”

Jo wondered numbly what kind of beast he would become. It was too dim in the Sacred Glade to see what kind of animal the spotted, scruffy hide he was wearing had once belonged to but whatever it was, she knew she didn’t want it anywhere near her.

“Please,” she begged Bianca, looking at the older witch. “Don’t do this to me! Don’t let him . . . let him . . .” But her throat closed up with fear and disgust and she couldn’t finish her sentence.

“You did it to yourself, my dear.” Bianca tsked and shook her head as though she truly regretted what was about to happen but could do nothing to stop it. “You could have allowed yourself to be bred by that nice, sweet Shifter boy I sent you to,” she told Jo. “Then all this breeding in Shifted form could have been avoided. But no, you had to be stubborn. So you see, my hands are tied.” She lifted both hands as though to illustrate her point. “You must be bred so that I can have your power and your youth and if this is the only way, well—so be it.”

“You can’t—” Jo began but the older witch was already raising her arms high and chanting words that sent shivers of pure dread through Jo’s entire body.

“Spirits of Night, Spirits of Blight,

Forces to stop a man’s heart with Fright

I summon thee now in all thy power,

Heed me in this sacred hour.

That which was human must now be beast

The fur his power, the lust his feast . . .”

“Stop!” Jo shouted. “You don’t know what you’re doing!” She looked at Mr. X, who seemed to be growing larger under the furry hide that dangled down his back. “You don’t know what a curse this spell is. Do you know what you’ll have to do in order to ever change back into a human again?”

He grinned at her fiercely, his teeth long and sharp and white in the dimness of the glade.

“Oh, I know, little witch,” he growled and his voice no longer sounded human. “I know what I’ll have to do—I just don’t care.”

Behind him, Bianca was still chanting.

“Allow this male to shed his skin

And fully loose the beast within

To run through shadows, over forests and hills

He’ll not be human again until he kills

So mote it be!”

She clasped her hands together over her head and then threw her arms forward, almost as though she was flinging some heavy, invisible object into the circle at Mr. X. The huge man staggered forward, then fell to all fours in the invisible circle.

Jo backed as far away from him as she could—backed up until she felt the cold barrier of magic pressing against her bare back. A cold sweat—the sweat of fear—was trickling between her shoulder blades, making her itch. She wanted to run but she was frozen to the spot, unable to move or look away as she watched Mr. X’s transformation.

She had watched Reese Shift plenty of times before and there was always a gracefulness in the act—a feeling that his body knew exactly what it was doing and that it was enacting a natural process. What was happening to Mr. X was nothing like that.

His bones didn’t move and shift like Reese’s did—they just seemed to grow bigger. And the fur didn’t sprout naturally from his skin and flow over him in a rippling wave like it did with Reese either. Instead, the strange, spotted hide he was wearing seemed to wrap itself around him, almost as though it was possessed. It clung to his skin, sliding over him like a hungry snake and covering him in a thick, coarse pelt.

The only part of him that seemed to change, other than growing larger and hairier, was his mouth. It elongated into a gaping snout with sharp, crooked teeth jutting out in ragged profusion. The furry ears of the hide twitched at the top of his head and prickly, spotted fur covered his face. And yet his eyes remained human—human and hot with lust as the thing Mr. X had become looked at Jo.

The snout-mouth opened and a long, red tongue unfurled, dripping saliva onto the grass of the Sacred Glade.

“Come here, little girl,” the monster said in a low, snarling voice like a dog with a bone lodged in its throat. “Come here—I want to eat you up.”

For a moment Jo felt like she might black out with pure panic. She couldn’t let that thing touch her—couldn’t let it anywhere near her! If it tried to take her in this hideous half-form she would go crazy—she was sure she would.

“No,” she whispered, inching away from the thing which was not completely animal but not human anymore either. “No, stay away from me!”

“Give in,” the snarling thing Mr. X had become told her in its hoarse, awful voice. “Give in and maybe it won’t hurt so much.” He gave a harsh, howling laugh that sent goosebumps rushing all over her skin. “Then again, maybe it will. You’ll just have to wait and find out.”

“No!” Jo gasped. The past rushed back to her like a black, drowning wave and she had to fight not to be sick. Yet everything that had been done to her on the sagging, stained box springs in the crumbling cabin so many years ago would be nothing to being taken against her will by this monstrous half man/half beast.

I’ll go crazy if he touches me, she thought wildly. I know I will! My mind will break—I won’t be able to stand it.

There had to be someone who could help her. Some way to get free of this nightmare. Far away in the distance, she could hear the howling of wolves. Dimly she wondered if it was the pack that had chased her when she first left Avalon but she didn’t know or care. She only knew she had to find help somewhere and fast.

“Help!” she screamed, raising her voice as loudly as she could. “Help me! I’m being attacked! Help.”

Suddenly her abandoned knapsack twitched, then ripped apart. Out of it came a creature who was tiny at first—no larger than a mouse. But as Jo watched, it grew with exponential speed until it was bigger than a horse.

The Fox, she had time to think. That’s Reese’s Fox!

And then the immense creature was leaping into the glade, passing through the one-way magical barrier with ease as it launched itself at the other beast’s throat.