Chapter 1

October, Friday night football game

Rock Falls, Delaware

Sam

Megan snagged a cheese-laden chip from the plastic container on my lap. With a saucy smile and a mischievous twinkle in her eye, she popped it in her mouth. My eyes lingered longer than they should have as she licked cheese off her finger, oblivious to the way she twisted up my insides.

The football stadium speakers boomed into the chilly night air, and I sighed. I shouldn't want her. But when her big hazel eyes sparkled with excitement from the football game, kissing her was all I could think about.

Brody Harrington sauntered by, and Wolf growled inside me.

"Megan!" He wedged himself onto the metal bleachers between Megan and the girl next to her and slung an arm around her shoulders, trapping her long caramel-colored hair underneath.

"Hey, Brody!" Did she lean into him?

I wanted to rip his arms off.

"Come to winter formal with me."

I stopped myself from growling outright.

Megan laughed, and some of the tension riding in my shoulders receded. "Are you serious?"

Brody's eyebrows drew together. "Of course, I'm serious." He winked as his hand slid to her upper arm. "So is that a yes?" He tightened his arm around her, drawing her closer. So help me, I would tear his face off if he tried to kiss her.

Wolf stirred within me, reminding me of my limitations. Never mind that I'd been in love with Meg half of forever. Pack rules were pack rules. Unfortunately, they didn't prevent Brody from kissing her. Stupid human.

"I'll think about it." Megan put her hand on his chest and pushed away. I exhaled. Brody turned his eyes to me.

"Help me out here, Wolfe. Convince her to go with me."

"Megan's a big girl. She can make up her own mind." Megan flashed me a smile as she ran a hand through her hair. My turn to wink at her.

"Let me know, Meg." Brody squeezed her shoulder again and mercifully hopped up and bounded down the stairs.

"Aren't you going to go with him?" Shelby Atwood sat one row behind us where she'd been digging her knee into my back half the game.

Megan turned to Shelby, her leg brushing against mine and sending sparks up my thigh. "I don't know. I can't tell if he's serious or just being a flirt."

"Are you kidding? He's totally serious. You should go catch him and tell him you'll go with him." I resisted the urge to glare at Shelby. In the two years since Shelby had moved to Rock Falls, I'd never entirely been able to figure her out. She raised Wolf's hackles.

I swallowed hard and turned my attention back to the white-striped turf. It was the last quarter, and we were up by three. Nacho cheese and hot dog remains littered the bleachers in front of me. A cold wind made me shiver until Megan inched closer, and my blood ignited. Why could I not get this girl out of my head?

Noise pounded all around us. Lights flashed, the crowd cheered, someone two rows over dropped their coffee. Cheerleaders waved their pom-poms down on the track while our team thundered down the field.

Adrenaline raced through my veins, maybe from the game. More likely from Megan's arm pressed against mine.

****

With three seconds on the clock, we were in possession on the twenty-yard line and down by one. Half the town of Rock Falls was in the stands, surrounding the student section. We were on our feet, yelling loud enough to drown out the cheerleaders, jumping and wildly waving our arms in the churning noise. Energy poured from the crowd into the night skies as our quarterback was a streak of lightning on the field. Megan jumped beside me and squeaked as she slipped on someone's spilled soda. With the wolf's natural grace evident in my movements, I snatched her around her middle and brought her close. Big mistake. Her sunshine and roses scent shot straight to my head.

Her eyes twinkled from the rush. Her hand rested on my chest, right over my thundering heart.

She's off limits. You can't have her. My brain chanted.

Her breath was warm on my face. I wanted to scent her. Drag my nose up the side of her neck. I swallowed.

One kiss. Could it hurt?

Yes. It could.

My eyes still flitted to her lips, full and so close to mine. My other hand found her waist, and her eyes widened in surprise and her lips parted. Her hand pressed into my jacket.

Wolf whined inside me, wanting to taste her lips, too, but wary because she wasn't our kind.

But when she stilled and didn't pull away, my fingers curled around her. Her chest rose and fell against mine.

With the crowd shouting around us, my resolve weakened. My head tipped without my permission, bringing my lips achingly closer to hers.

She didn't move, and the rest of the world fell away. Wolf picked up her accelerated heartbeat over the din of the crowd.

Her head angled, and fireworks exploded inside me. Wolf nudged me hard, and terror seized me. What was I doing? I opened my mouth to say something—anything—to break the tension I'd created between us when a hard shove between my shoulder blades rocketed me into Megan. My face throbbed where our heads knocked together.

Straightening, my arms still around Megan, I froze.

Wolf surged inside me. The tang of her blood and the bitter aftertaste of my toxins mixed on my tongue. Fear roiled through me. Wolf howled inside.

Jerking back in horror, I felt my stomach fall to the gravel below the bleachers.

"Ow." Megan rubbed her forehead.

"You're bleeding." Shelby's voice held as much horror as I felt. I shrugged off Shelby's hand still between my shoulders. She'd tripped.

Meg gingerly dabbed her forehead, her finger coming away bloody. I riveted on that tiny drop of blood on her finger. Light flared around the corners of my vision, and I thought for a second that my heart was literally going to explode.

I bit her. I bit her.

Panic burst in my chest. For a second, I couldn't even breathe.

"Meg, I'm so sorry." My strangled words were lost in the crash of people flocking to the parking lot.

"Wow, Sam, you've got a hard head and sharp teeth," she stammered. Her face flushed red as a blood moon.

Shelby stormed off without an apology.

A popular fantasy theme song blasted from Megan's pocket and broke the mounting tension.

She swiped the rest of the blood from her forehead and fished her phone out of her pocket.

"Rachel?"

I couldn't move. I was rooted to the spot. The ramifications of what I'd done were astronomical.

I bit Meg. While I was human. I'd never heard of anyone being turned unless they'd been bitten by the wolf, not the human. Of course, no one from our pack had bitten anyone in over two hundred years—in either form. Maybe this wasn't as bad as it seemed. Please, let this not be as bad as it seemed!

"Oh. How much longer do you need?" Megan swayed, and the barest hint of perspiration shone on her forehead.

Guilt and terror warred in my chest. This was definitely as bad as I thought. I had to get Megan out of there.