I had forgotten how to speak, how to interact with people, and how to do anything other than plan my revenge. I stalked every news article mentioning animal attacks and began tracing a map I was convinced would lead me on the path of the murderers. Unfortunately, it was futile. The map was a chaotic mishmash that bounced around too wildly to pinpoint which attacks might actually belong to the murderers and which were perhaps a true animal's doing. Whoever these people were, they were cunning and possibly not alone. I felt defeated. There would never be any vengeance if I couldn't find them.

Out of habit, I ate food and took showers. Beyond that I did little else to take care of myself. The girl-next-door image had deteriorated and now there was only a feral being. Hiding behind the façade couldn't protect me from the horrors I had endured any longer. It was time to accept that it was a long dead masquerade. Living life as an emotionless shell was the only way to live any longer. But even dissociating offered little comfort.

My hair had grown wildly out of control and was often unkempt and even matted in a few areas. I was beyond caring for it and often considered cutting it but that would require effort that I didn't have in me. I wasn't wasting away but I had stopped leaving my house, becoming more of a hermit every day. The world outside was useless to me. Everyone carried on like nothing had even happened. The rest of my friends had moved on. Even Eric had stopped coming by. My mother had gone back to work and eventually stopped doting on me, although it was clear she worried. On the weekends she kept Savannah busy, a duty I could no longer carry out. She was too painful a reminder of her older brother.

Time was irrelevant. I had lost track of how long it had been since Maeve's murder. The fall semester had started for college, my mother made sure to inform me, but I would not be attending. Sleep was hard to accomplish, and I was eventually put on medication. It kept me from dreaming about that night in the cemetery, or anything else for that matter. It also put me in a sedated haze that made sleepwalking a more regular occurrence. At first, I was waking up in different clothes. Then I started waking up in my backyard. And finally, I didn't wake up near my house at all.

The light trickling sound of water and the gentle fragrance of the forest floor wafted me awake. A gentle breeze tickled me under my nose and caressed my body. I blinked at the sunlight that filtered through the branches above me. The ground beneath me was soft with tree litter and moss. I could feel it touching my entire body as I realized I was naked. How did I end up in the forest beyond the gates? I looked out across the deep stretch of trees and wondered how far I was from any path leading home. The sound of ferns rustling turned my attention behind me.

There stood a young man with his back to me, dripping wet and naked. Droplets of water cascaded down the defined curvature of his muscles, tempting my eyes to follow their descent. He seemed to feel my gaze on him and turned to face me. His eyes widened and his mouth slacked open, mirroring my reaction and causing me to gasp. Pressure squeezed at my heart like the talons of falcon threatening to sink its claws in. A near pleasurable tease. It pulled at me from the direction of the stranger, luring me to come closer. A hot liquid burning filled my veins. I blushed, grabbing at a nearby branch to cover myself. I averted my gaze to stare in disbelief at my naked feet.

"Did you feel that?" He asked, taking a step closer, only pausing when I took a step towards retreat. "Sorry," he apologized, his voice low and even. "I didn't know there were any more of us out here."

Any more of us? Did this guy think I was a nudist or something? I stayed huddled behind my leafy branch, staring intently at my feet.

"I'm sorry if I scared you. My pack's got a camp up the hill a ways if you're hungry," he offered.

Now the nudist was inviting me to his camp? I froze, too mortified to respond.

"Don't tell me you're a loner?" He scoffed, "Crap, by the looks of it, you're probably feral to boot. Great, just what I need. Thank you fate!" A nearby tree shook with the force of his fist slamming into it.

Whatever he was saying wasn't making much sense, but it was getting insulting. Despite the embarrassment of my current situation, I forcefully stomped my foot down in anger. "How dare you!" I risked a fiery glare in his direction. Thankfully, he was waist deep in a grove of ferns himself. I could see the edge of a small river behind him. Was he skinny dipping? I clutched at my branch for dear life. It took a moment to muster the courage to really look at him. His sandy blonde hair was dripping wet, and he whipped it back to rid his face of the water. Four lines of a scar ran across his side. They reminded me of my own scars. Something else about him was familiar too, but I couldn't place it. My nostrils flared at his scent. Although the brisk morning air of coming winter nipped at me, his scent warmed me with the calming aroma of a hot summer field.

He crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow, "The loner speaks."

The fire I was feeling in my veins stirred in my stomach. It confused me with a flash of desire. But even more so, I was offended, "Stop calling me names!"

"Hey, you're the one all alone out here," his thick laugh resonated through me, and my skin prickled with goosebumps.

I glared at him, wishing I had more than a quickly wilting branch to beat him with.

"You could always join us and then I wouldn't have to call you names anymore," he teased, grinning. After a pause, his eyes tensed with concern, "I can tell you're scared and confused. It can't be easy being all alone."

"I'm not joining your nudist cult!" I scoffed.

My feet hesitated to move at first, but I urged myself to run. He seemed to reach out to stop me but thought better of it. I ran as fast as I could, clutching on to the branch for modesty. My heart pounded in my chest twice as fast as my feet could hit the ground. Breaking into a clearing, I could make out the gate in the distance. It would be far too humiliating to march through the front of the gates all the way to my house. So, I climbed the fence of the house across the street to my own and took my chances. Luckily, it was just after the crack of dawn. The newspaper hadn't even been delivered yet. I crossed my fingers hoping no one in my neighborhood had woken up this early. Then I bolted to my front door and threw myself inside. I'd never been happier that living inside a gated community meant rarely locking doors.

My heart was thunderous and deafening in my ears from the adventure. An involuntary smile spread across my face at the excitement of it all. Suddenly, I wanted to go out into the world. An anxious tension squeezed at my heart. It reminded me I was still suffering from depression, but the exhilaration overshadowed it. I showered and got dressed in clothes fit for a real person. I even straightened the matted mess of hair on my head and coerced it into looking half decent. Sleepwalking had gotten me into a bizarre situation that I had to tell my mother about. It was still earlier than she would wake, so I sat and drank a cup of coffee, battling my impatience.

A knock on the door caused me to jump in my seat. I laughed at myself, putting my fingertips to my lips to trace the smile there. It was so unfamiliar these days. The excitement had made me electric. It felt so good to feel my smile and hear my genuine laugh. It was as if I had just learned what laughter was, and like an addict, I wanted to do it again. I thought about the surprise that must have been on my face when I saw that naked stranger and giggled. Then I imagined how funny I must have looked running with that branch and laughed again, even louder. Thankfully it had plenty of leaves, I thought to myself, wiping away a tear of laughter as I walked to the door to answer it.

My heart skipped a beat and my grin instantly disappeared from my face when I saw who was there.

"Hi." It was the naked stranger from the forest. Only now he wasn't naked. Up close it was much more obvious he was about my age. It was a lot easier to look him up and down now that he had clothes on. His face was handsome and clean-shaven, although his hair was disheveled. It was still a little damp but was drying into a wavy mess. His button-up flannel shirt and blue jeans smelled like an odd mix of summer wheat and clean linen fresh from the dryer and he wore sandals that exposed his toes to the dirt of the forest. Proof I hadn't imagined where we'd just met. The most striking of all his features though were his amber eyes.

Just like mine. My jaw dropped. "How did you find me?" I was half inclined to shut the door and hide, but for whatever reason I didn't. A spark of electricity hummed inside me. He felt so familiar.

"I followed your scent," he answered, as if it were obvious.

I had a strong sense of smell, but I'd never followed someone. My only conclusion was that he had followed me some other way and was just messing with me, "That's absurd. Anyway, I still don't want to join your nudist cult."

He laughed so hard he buckled over. It was infectious, causing my lips to turn up in a coy smile.

"You weren't trying to get me to join a nudist cult, were you?" I asked, somewhat embarrassed for misconstruing his intentions.

"I mean, maybe? But no, not really," he grinned, his smile beautiful and full of life. "I realize why you might think that, but I was just taking a dip in the river," he shrugged.

"Well, it's not every day you stumble into a naked guy in the forest," I clarified, coolly playing down my reaction.

"Maybe not for you," he quipped.

"Well, I sleepwalk. What's your excuse? Nudist," I teased, feeling a smile quiver more broadly across my lips.

"Sleepwalk? Is that what you think happened?" His eyes tightened, "Can I come in? I think we should talk."

I struggled to tell myself to be alarmed. He was a stranger, after all. He had appeared mysteriously at my door. Now he was asking to come inside my home. But the unease never came. "My mom isn't awake yet and I'm not allowed to let strangers into my house," but as I said it, my hand relaxed on the door.

"I hardly count as a stranger anymore. We've seen each other naked," his sly smile and flirting eyes caught me off guard.

The image of him standing naked in the forest dripping wet replayed in my mind. I bit into my lip and sighed a little too deeply. Holy crap. I think I just swooned. I mentally shook my head. No, I'm just flustered and it's perfectly normal. He was handsome. The guilt I was expecting didn't come. I stood up straighter and tried to look unfazed by him, "I'm definitely not letting some naked stranger I just met come inside."

His eyes flashed with a devilish grin, and I found myself turning beet red. He shook his head. "Fine," he shifted his stance uneasily. "Then I guess I'll have to tell you from right here." He braced himself before blurting out, "It seems like you might not be aware, but you're a werewolf." He paused, searching my face before explaining, "And if you're alone then the humans in this town are in danger 'cause without a pack you'll get aggressive. You could end up lashing out and hurting someone. Which is why I'm here. I can take you to meet my pack. I can help you."

My eyebrows had been raised so long they were beginning to ache. "Really? Wow, is this like a pickup line or something? I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a naked guy in the forest would also be crazy." I rolled my eyes.

His eyes narrowed in concern, "I could tell you didn't know. You don't have to believe me. You'll start to remember the turns more and more. I've been able to turn for two years now but I wasn't fully awake for it until a few months after it started. I was raised in the pack though, so I knew it was coming. Let me guess, you turned sixteen recently?"

I crossed my arms, offended, "Eighteen, a few months ago actually."

He shook his head, "That's impossible."

It was clear he was taking this werewolf thing too seriously. He was attractive and familiar, but he was also obviously crazy. "Werewolves don't exist. I don't know who you are, but you can go find some other naked girl in the forest to play wolves with." I slammed the door in his face, and it felt like the string around my heart angrily cut into me in protest.

"Listen, I get it. It's not exactly an easy thing to hear, but I won't let you go through this by yourself," he called through the door. I could hear the scribbling noise of a pencil. "You can call me when you wanna learn more about who you are." He slipped a small note through the mail slot, and I watched it fall to the floor.

His words lingered in my head. I didn't know anything about who I was or who I wanted to be. I had planned a life with Ethan and now living hadn't felt right without him. I couldn't even go to college. I had naively thought I'd wanted to be a nurse, until I watched Maeve die and was unable to do anything about it. And I didn't have a chance in hell of ever finding the killers. My most promising plan now was to travel the world. Run away from my life. Run away from all my loved ones dying. I could live blissfully unaware, and everyone would be immortal in my eyes. That would be my new plan.

The stairs behind me creaked with the weight of my mother coming down. "What's with the door slamming?" She asked through a yawn.

My eyes fixed on the little slip of paper on the floor. "Sorry, I was practicing my handshake with the doorknob."

"Very funny," she rubbed her tired eyes. "What were you really doing slamming the door this early in the morning?"

"I thought I saw the newspaper outside," I lied, "but I think the neighbor's dog just pooped on our lawn." I faked a grimace in disgust.

She mimicked the grimace but lit up with excitement as she took in my appearance. "It looks like you're ready to go somewhere," she pointed to the fact I was wearing something other than pajamas. "That's a wonderful change, sweetie." She hugged me tight and pecked my forehead with a kiss.

"Yeah, I was sorta inspired by the sunshine," I lied again.

Her face filled with hope. "Can I make you some coffee?"

"Actually, I already made a pot."

"Fantastic!" She clapped her hands together and headed into the kitchen.

The second she turned away, I bent down and picked up the slip of paper, tucking it into my pocket. The intrigue winning over the skepticism. The boy was clearly near my age, but I'd never seen him around anywhere. He had to live somewhere nearby so that he could change his clothes and follow me home so quickly. And his eyes. No one had eyes like mine around here.

Before my mother and I moved to Soundless Cove, we had lived with my father in New Mexico. There was only one time I had ever seen people with eyes like mine. They came to our door one night after my father had been arrested, claiming they could help us. We moved less than a week later.

I followed my mother into the kitchen and tried to shake the resurfacing memories from my head.

"I'm going to Jim's house for dinner tonight. Savvy's going to be thrilled you're feeling better. Maybe you could come along?" My mother loaded two slices of bread into the toaster. "She's got a lot to talk about now that she's in kindergarten."

"Yeah, maybe. Has she forgotten about her pet dog?" I had distanced myself after Maeve's death and neglected my duty to care for Savannah. I wasn't sure if I was actually ready to see her. She may have been the complete opposite of Ethan, but she was still a painful reminder.

"Red? Are you kidding me? That girl loves this imaginary dog so much we got her a stuffed red dog just to keep her company when Red isn't around," she laughed delicately.

Something caught my attention, "Who's we?"

"Oh, I mean Jim. Jim went and got her a stuffed dog to play with. Well, I suggested it to him, and he went and got it. That's all." The smile on my mother's face wavered and she sipped at her coffee.

"Oh." I thought about what that could mean. I wasn't blind to the fact that she was avoiding something, but I couldn't imagine it was what I thought it was.

"Did you sleep okay last night?" She asked.

Her effort to change the subject reminded me that I had quite the story to tell. "I went sleepwalking again last night, and woke up in the forest this morning," I started.

"Oh my gosh, sweetie! Are you okay?" She placed her hand over mine.

"I'm here aren't I," I teased. "It was really crazy though — and it gets crazier. When I woke up, there was this guy – about my age – in the forest with me."

My mother shot her hands up to her mouth, "Don't tell me you were naked again!"

"Yes," I exclaimed. "But it gets crazier still. He was naked too!"

I watched my mother's face go from astonishment to worry, "Oh my god, Lyric. Did he hurt you? Was there anyone else around? He doesn't know where you live does he?"

Her paranoia escalated. I couldn't tell her he had followed me home. It would only cause her more panic. I decided to answer her questions with caution, "No, mom. I'm fine. He said he was going for a swim and his family was camping nearby, but I didn't stick around to find out where they were." In a round-about-way that was true. "And I didn't invite him over to have breakfast or anything." He invited himself over.

She hugged me and then squeezed my face between her hands, "I'm just glad he wasn't a naked axe murderer."

"There was absolutely no axe, I checked." I winked, nudging her arm.

She rolled her eyes and relaxed, continuing to sip her coffee.

I was tempted to ask her about my amber eyes. It was such a strange coincidence that he had them too. It had always seemed odd to me that my eyes would be gold. Her eyes were a dull gray blue and my father's were a dark earthy green. High school biology had taught me that was hardly the combination to create amber. Though maybe I hadn't been the best student. "I'll be up in my room if you need me." I kissed her on the forehead and went upstairs. If I couldn't ask my mother, I would ask the internet.

A search for "amber eyes" pulled up descriptions and pictures. Further reading led me to the conclusion that some eye colors are even more rare than the honey-yellow of mine. It put me at ease knowing it wasn't unheard of. But then I spotted the phrase "wolf eyes" jumping out at me from one of the many websites my search had generated. I hovered over the link not sure if I wanted to read on. It's just a simple saying, I reminded myself. A wolf isn't the only animal with amber eyes. There are owls and cats too. Reading an article about it won't do me any harm. I used to like it when Ethan teased me about my eyes, now I feared a website article about them.

My hand flinched and I involuntarily clicked the link. Scanning the page, I expected to see some sort of free-spirited description of the eye colors representing spirit animals. Instead, I found a warning.

"The werewolf is an unstable creature. Do not be fooled by their human appearance. While many of their features may help them blend, one indicator sets them apart, their amber eyes. The pure golden color has been a defining trait in the werewolf genome since the mutation of their race was discovered. Unfortunately, due to their ability to blend into the human populace, their breeding with us has caused the amber eyes to be passed on to generations without the ability to shapeshift. To be clear, these people are descendants of the werewolf genome but are not werewolves themselves. There is also a mainstream fad of wearing contacts and many humans can buy contacts of the amber color. Vis versa, werewolves are now able to buy contacts to further blend into the human populace. Detecting werewolves can be dangerous. They may look like us at times, but we are nothing alike. Werewolves are ferocious and easily triggered. If one feels threatened, they will not hesitate to lash out and kill humans. If you suspect a werewolf may be living in your area, contact us immediately so that we can safely confirm your suspicions and eradicate the beast."

Below the warning was a link to an email address. Whoever posted the website also wrote an article on vampires. Although it intrigued me at first, it was clear this person was just another fiction writer. For someone making up a story about a dangerous animal, there really wasn't that much detail on the creature. The connection between my eye color and werewolves still sent shivers down my spine.

Werewolf. If only that were true. Maybe it would be easier to run away if it were. That boy had said that I would eventually hurt humans. Little did he know, humans were hurting me.

I shut off my laptop and crawled into bed. It was still morning. What was it that had gotten me so excited for today? I blushed as I recalled the stranger flipping water from his hair as it dripped down his naked body. My body was overheating. Guilty pleasures. Not worth the pain. I wrestled with the covers before giving up and going over to my window, opening it to cool off. The wind was strong today. It rustled the papers on my desk behind me. From my window I had the perfect view of the unending and merciless ocean.