Moon Rise (Twilight Shifters Book 2) by Kate Danley Read Free Book Online

through the forest will only slow us down and honestly, not going to provide us shelter.  If you haven't noticed, we're wearing this."  She banged on her metal breastplate.  "Lord Arnkell doesn't need to send any spies.  He can probably hear us coming with all this clanking armor."
    Finn was not dissuaded and kept running back and forth to the tree line.
    "What on earth has gotten into him?" asked Lars, leaning forward on his saddle.  "It is as if he has gone mad."
    Aein followed Finn's gaze to the top of one of the trees and squinted.  "Is that the same hawk?"
    Finn went wild barking and snapping.  Aein again pulled out her bow and arrow, but again, before she could even notch it, the hawk took off.  But he did not fly away completely.  He circled and then came back, landing in a tree some distance ahead.  There, he sat and watched them.
    "Is that creature following us?" Aein wondered out loud.  As soon as she said the words, Finn calmed.  "That is what was going on, wasn't it?" asked Aein.
    Finn barked in affirmation.
    Lars wiped his face with his hand and stared off at the bird.  "What can we do about this?" he mused.
    Aein put her bow and arrow within easy reach.  "We keep an eye on the sky and if it comes close, we kill it."
    "But why is it tracking us?" said Lars.  "Who sent it?  And what knowledge could they glean from a bird?  It can't talk.  It can't tell anyone what it sees."
    "Unless they are able to see what it sees.  Or..." Aein looked from Lars to Finn and back again.  "Or if the bird is a human, someone capable of shifting into an animal other than a wolf."
    Lars clenched his jaw, the muscles bunching at the corners.  "Then perhaps it is best if we wait until sunset and see if our friend is still with us when the dark comes."

Chapter Six
    T he horses grazed as Aein, Finn, and Lars sat beneath the trees, watching the bird and waiting.  An hour before the sun hit the horizon, the hawk flew off.
    Lars was picking apart a piece of grass and threw it on the ground.  "It must need to get back to its master before the change."
    "How far can a hawk fly in an hour?" Aein wondered out loud.
    "Far."
    "Spies everywhere," said Aein, shivering.  She rose to her feet.  "We should travel as far as we can while the hawk is gone," she replied.
    They climbed onto their horses and clicked their heels, spurring them into a gallop to take advantage of the last of the light.
    As the horses pounded beneath them, Lars shouted, "We aren't going to make the border anytime soon if we can only move the hour before and after the sun!"
    "Stop cheering me up!" said Aein.
    Lars laughed and let out a whoop.  "We'll never arrive at this rate!" 
    They rode as hard and as fast as they could until the sun was moments from touching the treetops.  They slowed their horses to a walk and dismounted.
    Finn began to shift.  His furry body disappeared and he reappeared as a clothed man, crouched upon the ground.  He stood and stretched.
    "Thanks for the alert on the hawk," said Lars, handing him the horse's reins.
    "Someone has to pull his weight around here," joked Finn before becoming serious.  "You can smell the shifter.  It is like a person, but overhead.  Probably why the horses are never afraid of us werewolves.  We smell just like people."
    Lars folded his arms and ran his thumb thoughtfully across his lower lip.  "I'll keep a watch."
    "If the hawk comes back," said Aein, "Do we go on or wait?"
    Finn rubbed his hands over his shorn, blonde hair.  "We'll need to sleep at some point," he said.  "My vote is to go until it shows up, then make camp.  Preferably next to a crossroad.  We won't be able to lose it unless there is cover overhead from the trees, but maybe we'll get lucky."
    Aein nodded.  There was nothing more to say, for at that moment, the sun dipped below the horizon and Lars began to change.  His face became heartbreakingly sad as he watched his hands fade into paws and his limbs replaced.  When