"I'm impressed. I didn't know you could run like that." He rolled to his side, propped up on his elbow, and brushed her hair from her face.

"Yeah." One word was all she could manage. She blinked and stared up at his face. Even in the night, she could see and appreciate the angles and lines of his features. He was so masculine. Always had been, even when he'd been seven. But now, with the light shadow of a beard, he was downright stunning.

The temptation to touch his cheek, to run the tips of her fingers over the stubble, tiptoed through her mind.

She inhaled, her lungs still thirsty for oxygen. Suddenly the sound of water trickling nearby filled her senses. "Are we...?" She raised her head and realized they'd arrived at the creek, the spot she'd brought her mother the day she'd asked about Daniel.

Sadness whispered through her when she remembered she might not see her dad again. She pushed that back and tried not to let the happiness of this moment melt away.

"We made good time." She realized how far they had run.

"How long have you known you could run like that?" he asked.

"Only since I've been here. But I'm getting faster."

He picked up a thick lock of her hair and watched it slide off his palm. His face was only a few inches from hers. She saw him tighten his brows to check out her pattern.

"It's still a mystery," she said.

He met her eyes. "You don't even suspect what you are?"

She frowned. "I wish."

He pulled a long blade of grass from the ground and twirled it in his fingers. Then he looked over his shoulder at the moon, only half-full. "When I was a kid and lived next door to you, when I'd shift, I'd jump the fence into your backyard and watch you through your bedroom window, waiting and hoping I'd see you turn."

"You peeped into my window?"

He smiled. "It's not like you were naked or anything. You mostly wore that Little Mermaid nightshirt." A laugh spilled out of his throat. "You looked like an angel. Sometimes I would stay there half the night thinking you still might turn."

She studied his eyes. "Did you think I was a werewolf?"

"I hoped." He touched the tip of her nose with the grass. Then he slid it over her lips. It tickled and yet somehow felt seductive.

He continued staring as if remembering. "I wanted to run in the woods with you. To show you how fast I could go. To take you to my favorite watering hole so we could chase each other in the spring and play in the moonlight."

"Do you still hope I'm a werewolf?"

He hesitated. "Yeah. I probably shouldn't tell you that, but yeah, I do. It would make everything easier."

"Make what easier?" She thought about what Fredericka had said.

"Everything." He brought the blade of grass back over her lips. "I wouldn't have to be away from you when I shift. We could hunt together. You would be with me when I'm leading the pack."

The thought of hunting and killing wild animals didn't sit well with her, even being with the group of weres that included Fredericka didn't hold a lot of appeal, but she tried not to let it show.

"We'd make a great team."

"And what if I'm not a werewolf?"

He smiled, but for just a second she thought she saw disappointment in his eyes.

"We still make a good team," he said.

"Does everyone feel that way?" she asked, not wanting to mention Fredericka.

"What do you mean?"

"The last couple of times we've been together, someone from the pack sent for you as if they didn't want you with me."

"It's nothing," he said.

"You sure?"

He tickled her cheek with the grass. "Trust me."

"I do trust you."

"You haven't told me what you're afraid of."

She bit down on her lip. He swiped the blade of grass over her mouth.

"Start talking."

She told him about the eagle and the snake and then about the huge buck and the lightning.

He frowned. "Do you think Derek is doing this? He communicates with animals."

"No. Derek wouldn't do that."

"You say that like you trust him." Lucas's tone deepened.

"I do. Please don't take it the wrong way. It's over with us, but I know he wouldn't try to hurt or even scare me. He cares about me."

"And you him?" His eyes went from blue to almost orange.

"Yes. But it's still over." She could tell he didn't like hearing her say that, but he seemed to understand. For a flicker of a second, she wondered how long it would be before she could understand it herself.

He stared back up at the moon. "If it's not him, then who?"

"I think Holiday and Burnett believe Mario and Red are behind it. And they sent the impostors posing as my grandparents. But then Della said that they're vampires, not shape-shifters, so they couldn't be doing it themselves."

"Maybe Mario has a shifter working for him. Though it's uncommon that two species work together like that." He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I won't let that creep lay another finger on you."

She knew he really didn't have the ability to keep that promise, but she liked hearing it.

Then, because it felt good talking about it, she told him about the ghost and the bird falling from the tree.

He looked concerned. "Do you think she's a death angel?" He was obviously more disturbed by the ghost than the fact that Kylie had brought a dead bird back to life.