I WOKE IN LUPINE FORM an hour before sunrise. The barest hint of light filtered through filmy curtains as dense darkness turned into nautical twilight. Birds were just beginning to sing and cool air hissed through floor vents, but otherwise the world was silent and serene.
I knew I should have shifted back to human form immediately rather than risking being seen four-legged. But I couldn’t resist wriggling out of the tangle of clothing first and padding through the house, taking advantage of pointy ears and wide wolf nostrils. I had to make sure last night’s danger had passed before I returned to weak two-legger senses.
I found Celia sound asleep in her bed two doors down from where I’d collapsed the night before. Her scent permeated the entire house, but other rooms were empty. There we
