The sky was only just beginning to turn an ominous gray in the east as I drove north of Pemkowet along the river. The maple trees were yellow and gold, glowing unnaturally bright underneath the lowering clouds, and the narrow, serrated leaves of the staghorn sumac were turning a brilliant crimson, complementing the conical clusters of their unlikely fuzzy-looking scarlet fruits. I passed the entrance to Sedgewick Estate, making a mental note to call my mother later, and drove deeper into the countryside until I reached Cody’s house.

It was quiet, but the front door was standing open. That didn’t seem right, not at seven-something on a rainy autumn morning.

“Cody?” I called softly. There was no answer. Trying the screen door, I found it unlatched and let myself into the house, closing the front door behind me.

Traces of pine needles and dirt led from the tidy little bachelor kitchen into the living room beyond. I followed them and found Cody Fairfax curled in a pile of blankets on the floor of his living room. The blankets were a hunter green plaid wool and Cody was stark naked beneath them, grime under his fingernails and pine twigs caught in his disheveled bronze-colored hair. Well, he wasn’t exactly lying beneath the blankets. It was more like he’d nestled into them the way a dog would. Or, apparently, a wolf.

I drew a short, sharp breath. I’d never seen Cody like this—implicitly dangerous, yet at his most vulnerable. It stirred a complicated mix of emotions in me. I wanted to ease the twigs from his tangled hair. I wanted to stand guard over his sleep. I wanted to curl up behind him and bite his earlobe to wake him. He was lying on his side, and beneath his skin I could see the oblique muscles of his rib cage expand and contract with his slow, steady breathing. While I watched, a muscle in the hollow of his bare flank jumped and twitched in a restless dream.

A sound escaped me. It may have been, “Eep!”

The next part happened fast. Cody’s eyes snapped open, phosphorescent green behind the amber. Baring his teeth, too many teeth, he lunged from his nest of woolen blankets and took me down, all naked skin, lean muscle, and werewolf speed.

I hit the floor hard, the impact driving the breath from my lungs. Thank God for shag carpeting. Cody pinned me, then snarled in pain and raised his torso as dauda-dagr’s hilt seared his bare skin. His face hovered above mine, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled my scent. I saw recognition dawn in his eyes.

“Daisy,” he growled, his fingers digging into my biceps. “You shouldn’t be here. Not now.”

“Why not?” I whispered.