Claire De Lune Read Online Free PDF Page A

known.” She dug her fingernails into her earlobes so hard that her eyes watered from the pain.
    “I wanted to tell you all along, but no one is ever told before her sixteenth birthday. Take a deep breath, Claire, breathe! It’s going to be okay.”
    Claire inhaled sharply. “It’s just not true. Werewolves, they kill people and I—I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Her voice rose.
    “Sssshh!” Her mother cautioned her. “You mustn’t wake Lisbeth.”
    She scooped Claire up, lifting her easily onto the bed.
How can she be strong enough to lift me?
Claire’s teeth chattered.
    “Why not us? It must be someone. Think about it, Claire. Why do you think we have always had an au pair? Someone to care for you when I am not here? Sometimes I am gone for work. But I sometimes leave for other reasons. One truth hides another. I know it’s hard to accept—I know, I remember.”
    “But I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t,” Claire whispered, her knees hugged against her chest.
    “The television news is not always right, Claire. We prey upon other animals, yes, but so do most men. Killing humans for sport is not allowed.”
    “So why does everyone say that werewolves kill people?” Claire challenged.
    Her mother’s lips pressed into a thin line. “One of our kind sometimes strays from our laws—the same way menstray from theirs when they kill one another. But it is not our nature. It is not our way. Those
loup-garou
who kill humans are shunned by the rest of us.”
    “I don’t believe any of this. If I, if
we
were werewolves, you would have told me before now!”
    “No, I wouldn’t have. I couldn’t. Children are never allowed to know. They don’t understand the danger involved. They are unable to keep their identity secret. Not revealing the truth until a child begins to change has been our tradition for many generations. Before we began doing it this way, many more of us were caught. And killed.”
    Her mother threw open the walk-in closet and strode to the back. “Get dressed,” she said. “Something dark-colored. We’re going out.”
    “O-out wh-where?” Claire stammered. She caught the pair of black pants her mother tossed at her.
    Her mother turned to face her. “We’re going to the woods. I didn’t believe my mother until I had seen it, either.” Her voice softened. “I will explain everything to you, when the time is right.”
    “When the time is right?” Claire squeaked, the edges of her vision growing fuzzy. “You’re telling me we’re going into the woods so that I can turn into a wolf, but it’s not the right time to talk about it?”
    “Not tonight. It takes three moon cycles for a New One to transform fully. I, though—I must transform. Do not befrightened, Claire. Nothing tonight will hurt you, I promise. You need to trust me now, and do exactly as I say.” She pressed an old shirt into Claire’s hands. “We must hurry. It will look bad if we are late.”
    Claire pulled on the shirt and crept down the hall behind her mother. She wasn’t sure what scared her more—the idea that her mother had lost her mind or the possibility that she was telling Claire the truth.
    They went out the side door, sliding into the empty night. Her mother moved so quickly through the shadows that it was all Claire could do to keep up. A painful stitch knotted her side.
God, I’ve never seen anyone move this fast.
    When her mother came to a sudden stop, Claire nearly collided with her. In front of them was an ivy-covered patch in the wall that separated their land from the forest.
    “Here is the entrance,” Marie whispered. She nodded toward the top of the wall. “That chipped brick up there—it marks the spot.” She knelt down and pulled aside the ivy, revealing a large hole in the bricks. She eased herself through the hidden opening.
    The woods were inky black, and Claire stopped just inside the brick wall, unable to see anything. She felt totally