Dark of the Moon Read Online Free PDF

inside.
    No one was there.
    I switched on the light and dimmed it. An ancient mahogany desk sat in front of a massive fireplace. The mantel was stone with feral-looking wolves carved into it at either end. I guessed that they symbolized Dark Guardians watching over the treasures. The room was huge with ornate brocade chairs and carved wooden chests scattered throughout. I could envision the elders sitting around and going through the treasures tucked away in the chests for safekeeping. Leather-bound books lined the shelves on two of the walls, but those weren’t the books I was interested in. The one I cared about was in the glass case on a stand in the corner.
    I set my backpack in a chair. Striding by the desk, I grabbed a stone paperweight, fully prepared to do whatever was necessary to get at that book. I’d worry about the consequences later. I knew I was being rash, but I was also desperate. But when I got there, I saw no lock, only hinges. Could it be that simple? That unprotected?
    Carefully I lifted the glass lid. A breath of relief rushed out of me. I could do this without leaving any evidence behind. Setting the paperweight aside, I reached in and closed my fingers around the ancient tome. It felt as though it weighed a ton as I lifted it out and carried it to the desk. Carefully, with respect, I set it down. Taking a deep breath, my heart pounding so hard that I couldn’t hear anything except for the blood rushing between my ears, I very slowly turned back the cover.
    And stared at the indecipherable symbols.
    Had I truly believed that an ancient document would be written with modern letters and words?
    I turned to a page at random. More garbage.
    I wanted to scream! I wanted to tear out the pages, I wanted to destroy—
    “Oh my God, you’re back!”
    With my heart leaping into my throat, I jerked my head up to see Lindsey standing there. She was dressed in shorts and a tank, her long blond hair flowing around her shoulders. She looked different. More confident, moremature, more…wolfish. Before I could respond, she rushed across the room and hugged me tightly.
    “I’ve been so worried,” she said.
    I wanted to lash out at her, shove her away, but at the same time I wanted to draw her closer, absorb the comfort that she didn’t even realize she was providing. I knew she’d acquired what I’d so desperately wanted. Did she even appreciate what it was to shift?
    With her brow furrowed—no doubt because of my less-than-enthusiastic greeting—she leaned back and studied me. “Are you all right? Was it horribly painful?”
    More than you can imagine.
    I rolled a shoulder as though I couldn’t be bothered. “No biggie.”
    “I thought the pain was going to kill me.”
    “You were always a wimp.”
    “Not anymore. I’ll show you my fur later if you’ll show me yours,” she said teasingly.
    God, I wanted to weep and I never cried. It made me mad that I was changing but not in the way I’d expected. I fought to keep my voice calm, noncommittal. “We’ll see.”
    Then the significance of her words struck me. “Wait. You were with your mate. I didn’t think it was supposed to hurt.”
    “For a while I wasn’t with my mate.” She licked herlips, suddenly looking uncomfortable. That made two of us.
    “Rafe is my mate,” she blurted.
    “So tell me something I don’t know.”
    “You already heard?”
    I didn’t want to tell her that I’d seen Connor earlier. Just like my inability to shift, my few moments of connecting with him weren’t meant to be shared. Besides, they probably had only meant something to me. By tomorrow he will have forgotten our talk by the brook—except for the part about the snares. Anything intimate, though, would be long gone. “No, but Rafe has that whole looking-at-you-like-you-hang-the-moon-and-stars thing going. I knew you were going to end up with him.”
    “Wish you’d told me. I was so confused, but now…I don’t know how I could have ever thought he