Maya worked the rest of the day with her mind spinning and the envelope still sitting in the front pocket of her apron, burning a hole like a wedge of unspent cash. She knew she should hand it over to her mother and tell her what the man from the corporation had said, but she wanted to buy herself some time to think.

In a way, Darryl Jacobs had just offered her the perfect get-out. If her parents sold the business, they’d hopefully have enough money to find somewhere else to live, and should even have some left over to retire on. Her father’s medical expenses were high—though her folks had never discussed the exact amount with her—but she was sure they’d still be able to afford to pay them if they sold. She could open the envelope and find out exactly how much was being offered, but she didn’t want to do that to her parents. They deserved to open the envelope themselves.

Though she wanted to be free, the thought of losing both the home and business where she’d grown up twisted something inside her. Yes, she wanted to get away, and didn’t feel like she was living her life, but the idea of the grill being turned into a chain-restaurant and her parents’ home being turned into a motel, or perhaps even knocked down, broke her heart.

When the final diners had left for the night, and she’d bid goodnight to the other staff, she locked up the restaurant, but couldn’t bring herself to go into the house. Instead, she left via the front of the building and stepped out onto the road. She needed some space to think clearly.

It was a beautiful night, the moon full and white above her head. Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted, the call immediately returned by another of its species. That simple, haunting cry caused something to ache inside her chest. How wonderful it must be to just be able to call out to your mate and get a reply.

Loneliness swamped over her as she turned her back on the diner and ran across the road to the side which led to the forest. She’d walk along the road a little while. The moon was bright enough to allow any vehicles heading toward her to see her. After inhaling the smoke from the grill for the past eight hours, she appreciated the fresh air.

The forest seemed to call her in, beckoning her off the road.

Maya remembered the rules: Never go into the forest alone. Don’t stray off the path. Stay home during a full moon.

Tonight would be the night when the shifters of the Dark Ridge wolves would be changing from their human form and morphing into their animal skins. The idea fascinated her, speaking to her on some dark level. Did they hunt and kill while in the shape of a wolf? Did they have sex as animals?

She wasn’t sure if the idea excited or repulsed her.

She knew she shouldn’t, but the thought of stepping beneath the canopy of branches, as though the trees themselves wanted to pull her into a comforting embrace, called to her again. It was irresponsible. Her parents needed her. She’d be breaking every one of those rules in one fell swoop—in fact, she was breaking one simply by walking down the road instead of going straight home.

Nothing is going to happen. I won’t go far. Just a few steps away from the road, that’s all.

By separating herself from the manmade road and allowing herself to be engulfed by nature, she felt like she could forget all her problems, if only for a short while. The thought that tonight she would also share the forest with shifters in wolf form also made her soul sing with joy. It was hard to explain. A whole other world lay just out of reach.

Nothing would happen. It had been years since anyone had been hurt by a wolf-shifter.

But was that because everyone else knew to stick to the rules?

No, the shifters were unlikely to even come this close to town while in wolf form, and even if they did, they’d scent her from miles away and would avoid her.

With her mind made up, she stepped off the road and between the trees.

Immediately, a part of her relaxed and she felt like she could breathe again. The tree trunks surrounded her like a supportive family. Between the trees’ branches, the moon peeped, full and low, and huge in the sky. Beneath foot, leaves and twigs crunched with every step, but the sound didn’t make her nervous. She felt better being out here, knowing there was more to the world than the walls of the restaurant and her family home. She didn’t have the answer to everyone’s problems, and for once that was all right.

Maya inhaled a deep breath of the night air and stepped—

Something yanked her back, preventing her from going any farther. Pain seared around her ankle, as though someone had placed a white hot rod against her bare skin. She cried out in shock and pain, forced to take a step back with her other foot. Confusion filled her mind. There was no one else around her, no one had grabbed her, yet the pain around her ankle continued. The moonlight wasn’t enough to allow her to get a clear look, and her body leaning over her ankle threw further shade over whatever had snagged her.

Maya crouched and shuffled back so the injured leg was partially stuck out in front of her. Immediately, she saw what the problem was.

“Ah, shit.”

The metal loop of a snare had caught her leg, and was now tight and digging right into her skin. Blood beaded around the metal where it had cut her.

Maya let out a whine. She didn’t want to have to dig the loop out of her flesh, but she had no choice if she wanted to be free again. She looked around, half expecting to see some hunters appear out of the darkness to examine what they’d caught. It was completely against the rules to hunt on a full moon, but it would seem she wasn’t the only person to break them. Or perhaps this had been laid earlier in the month and forgotten about?

She hissed air in over her teeth as she tried to get her fingers beneath the wire in order to pull it loose. But there was no space whatsoever between her flesh and the wire. The more she tried to pull, the deeper it embedded in her skin. The wire was so thin, each time she tried to get a hold of it, it cut her fingertips like a papercut.

“Oh, motherfucker!” she swore as it cut her again.

Tears filled her eyes, but there was no point in sitting on the ground sobbing. That wasn’t going to help her. No, if she couldn’t get the wire off her leg, she needed to find the source, and see what it was attached to at the other end. More often than not, the wire would be attached to a wooden stake which would have been hammered into the forest floor. She just needed to follow the wire to the stake and then try to dig it out. Then she’d have to try to get home and find some wire cutters, though right now she wasn’t sure she could put enough weight on the leg to even find the stake, never mind make it all the way home. How far had she walked? One mile? Two, even?

She began to feel her way along the length of wire she was attached to. She didn’t know what sort of wire this was, but it was lethal. Each movement pulled the wire tighter. If she’d been a bunny with its neck trapped, she imagined she’d have become headless before long.

Twigs crunched from deeper in the forest and Maya froze. She looked up, her breath caught. What was that? The hunters she’d thought about?

The crunch came again, and her heart pounded. No, that sounded bigger than a person.

Should she shout for help, or keep quiet and hope whatever it was went away? There were mountain lions in these forests, though they normally stayed farther north. Even so, the last thing she wanted was to call attention to herself if it was a predator, trapped as she was. It wasn’t as though she was able to run away.

Realizing she needed to be free more than anything else, she kept going, her hands patting in the fallen leaves and undergrowth, desperate to find the stake which held her in place.

Come on, come on.

Her fingers found the solid piece of wood and she breathed out a sigh of relief.

Movement came behind her, this time close, right in her ear.

Slowly, she turned.

A giant white wolf stood over her, its upper lip pulled back from its muzzle in a snarl. She had no doubt that this wasn’t an ordinary wolf. This was one of the shifters from the Dark Ridge compound. Had it smelled the blood? There wasn’t much—the bruising was worse than anything—but she remembered how she’d told herself the shifters would be able to scent her from miles away and would know to avoid her. What if it had been the opposite way around, and, instead of avoiding her, this shifter had been lured in by the scent of her blood?

Maya’s heart beat harder, her mouth running dry. She lifted her hand to defend herself, but she knew if this wolf wanted to cause her harm, there was nothing she’d be able to do about it. Looking at the size of the animal’s jaws and teeth, this creature could rip out her throat within seconds.

“Please,” she said, her voice trembling. “Don’t hurt me.”

The animal’s snarl instantly fell from its muzzle. It circled her, sniffing all around, before coming back around to the front. It no longer seemed quite as angry, and for that Maya was grateful, but she still had no idea what was going to happen next. She couldn’t get the wire off her leg, had already shredded the skin on her fingertips trying to do so. Part of her wanted the wolf to go away and leave her alone, while the other part desperately wanted his help.

“Look,” she started, addressing the wolf. “I know I’m not supposed to be here. I know there are rules against this sort of thing, but I’ve had a really crappy day. In fact, I’m kind of having a really crappy life, and for once I just wanted to do something crazy. Obviously, that didn’t work out so well for me, as I’m now caught and this hurts like a son-of-a-bitch. Believe me, I’ve learned my lesson. Now, I know you don’t have any opposable thumbs right now and that kind of makes it difficult for you to do much, but if there’s any way you can help me out of this situation, I’d really appreciate it.”

The big animal sat, its shaggy head cocked to one side as she spoke, intelligence gleaming in its amber eyes. She wasn’t as afraid as she’d first been.

The animal got to its feet and she held her breath, but then it turned its back on her, and started to trot away.

“No, wait!” she cried, reaching out for it, though there was no way she’d ever be able to cover that distance. But though she thought the wolf was leaving, something else happened instead.

It began to change.

The fur seemed to blur before her eyes, as though every individual strand was vibrating. Then the fur vanished, or perhaps was absorbed into his skin, she couldn’t be sure, revealing tanned skin beneath. The animal’s shoulder’s realigned, moving back, bringing its front legs in line with its torso. Its hips readjusted to move the creature from all fours to bipedal. While all this was happening, the muzzle flattened into a face, and both the tail and ears retracted.

Maya blinked, and the white wolf had vanished.

A man straightened before her, and stood. Completely naked.