Amara loved to walk at night, beneath the light of the full moon. Not that she was allowed to. She couldn’t count how many times her grandfather had forbade her to be out at night. Wolves, he said. Wolves were everywhere. And they were dangerous. Once, that might have been true. In fact, she knew it was, since just three years before, one had killed her father. But that had only spurred the hunters in town to action, killing off every wolf they could get their hands on in retaliation. Since then, the sleepy town of Strathford was nothing more than a boring mountain town just trying to survive until tourist season.

Still, it seemed like Grandfather hadn’t gotten the memo. She was still expected to be home before dark, still expected to listen to every little warning he had. It was like he thought the wolves could think like humans or something. She loved him more than she could say, but sometimes, she thought the old man was crazy.

What harm could it do to be out at night beneath the stars? He couldn’t hold her captive forever. As she gazed out at the surrounding houses, she thought she caught movement across the street. Was there someone up there? She blinked a couple of times and rubbed her eyes, before looking again. No, no one was there. She must have been imagining things.

“Amara, what do you think?” her friend Zoe asked, jarring her from her reverie. She and Becca were staring at her, their hands shoved into the pockets of their coats against the cold.

Amara stared at them, hastily pushing her thick, dark hair from her eyes and straightening her red wool coat. She had no idea what they’d been saying. “What do I think about what?”

Zoe gaped at her. “What do you mean about what?” she exclaimed, exasperated. “About Brad! Don’t you think he was into Becca? I mean, honestly, he couldn’t stop staring at her tonight.”

“Oh, right.” Amara forced a smile, trying to ignore her friends’ incredulous stares. “I’m sure Zoe’s right, Becs. Brad’s totally into you. I mean, the diner is pretty small, so I doubt he was staring at anyone else, right?” Truthfully, she hadn’t been paying attention to Brad at all. She’s just happy she had managed to sneak out and enjoy her freedom tonight. Whether Brad was into Becca or not just didn’t matter all the much to her at the moment.

Her friends, on the other hand, didn’t appear to approve. Zoe put her hands on her hips and glared at Amara, as if accusing her of not being a good friend. Becca looked more hurt than anything else.

Amara scuffed the ground with her shoe, feeling slightly ashamed. She knew Becca had been crushing on Brad Hendricks since like, eighth grade. And if he really did like her back, then this was huge, and she was a horrible friend not to notice.

“I’m sorry, Becs,” Amara murmured, reaching out to rub Becca’s arm in apology. “I wasn’t really paying attention, but I did notice him watching you all through dance practice yesterday. Besides,” she threaded her arm through the other girl’s and the three of them began to walk again, “you’re awesome. He’d be stupid not to like you.”

Becca’s face lit up with hope. “You really think so?”

“Of course I do.” Amara caught Zoe’s gaze. From the look in her eyes, all was forgiven. “Although, he is a guy. It may take him a lot longer to get over himself and figure it out, but once he does, he’ll realize he should have started talking to you years ago.” All three girls began to laugh.

From somewhere in the dark, Amara thought she heard a growl. Fear gripped her, and suddenly, Grandfather’s voice was in her head again, warning her about the danger of wolves. She shook herself. She was being silly. There were no wolves in Strathford anymore. But a howl in the distance made her freeze. “Did you guys hear that?” she whispered, but her friends took no notice. It must’ve been a coyote or something, she reassured herself. Nothing more. Still, she caught herself glancing over her shoulder, almost as if she were expecting to see a wolf standing in the street.

“Are you okay, Amara?” Becca asked, concern written all over her face. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Amara took a deep breath and shook her head. She was being ridiculous. Yet, she couldn’t help but feel as if she were being watched.