Moonlight washed over us, washed over Yi Fan and me.

A hushed silence permeated the forest. Giant trees surrounded us. Their rustling leaves whispered warnings in the warm breeze of the summer night. But we ignored them. We cared only about one another.

He was much taller than I was, and I had to bend my head back to gaze into his silver eyes. They were hypnotic, which should have calmed my racing heart but instead only made it speed up. Or maybe it was the nearness of his lips that sent my heart into a chaotic rhythm.

He took a step closer and I retreated, but a tree stopped me from going as far away as I wanted.

Was I ready for this? Was I ready for a kiss that would change my life? I knew that if he kissed me I’d never be the same again. That we would never be the same. That our relationship would

shift—

My mind stuttered with the enormity of such a simple word. Shift . It meant more to me now—

now that I understood.

Yi Fan was suddenly nearer. I hadn’t seen the movement. He was just there. He could move that quickly. My knees grew weak, and I was grateful that I had a sturdy tree to lean against. He lifted his arm and pressed his forearm against the bark over my head as though he, too, needed some sort of support.

The action brought him even closer. I felt the welcoming heat of his body reaching out to mine. Under normal circumstances he would have drawn me in for a comforting snuggle, but nothing about tonight was normal.

He was beautiful in the moonlight. Gorgeous, really. His thick, straight hair—light golden blonde shining under the moonlight.

I had this reckless urge to touch it, to touch him.

But I knew any movement on my part would be a signal to him, a signal that I was ready. And I wasn’t. I didn’t want what he was offering. Not tonight. Maybe not ever.

What was I afraid of? It was only a kiss. I’d kissed other guys. I’d kissed Yi Fan.

So why did the thought of a kiss from Yi Fan tonight terrify me? The answer was simple: I knew this kiss would bind us together forever.

His fingers gently brushed my hair back from my brow. He’d once told me the shade of it reminded him of a fox. He thought of everything in terms related to the forest. It suited him and his solitary ways.

Why was he so patient? Why didn’t he push? Did he feel it, too? Did he understand how momentous it would be if—

He dipped his head down. I didn’t move. I barely breathed. In spite of all my reservations, I desired this. I craved it. But still I fought against it.

His lips were almost touching mine. Almost.

“Ye Jin,” he murmured invitingly, and his warm breath caressed my cheek. “It’s time.”

Tears stung my eyes. I shook my head, refusing to acknowledge the truth of his words. “I’m not ready.”

I heard an ominous, throaty growl in the distance. He stiffened. I knew he’d heard it, too.

He shoved away from me and glanced over his shoulder. That’s when I saw them: a dozen wolves restlessly prowling the perimeter of the clearing.

Yi Fan looked back at me, disappointment reflected in his silver eyes. “Then pick another. But you can’t go through it alone.”

He turned his back on me and began striding with purpose toward the wolves.

“Wait!” I screamed after him.

But it was too late.

He started discarding his clothes with each quickening step. Then he was running. He leaped into the air—

By the time he hit the ground, he was a wolf. He’d transformed in the shimmering wink of time from boy to beast. He was as beautiful in wolf form as in human form.

He threw back his head and howled at the moon, the harbinger of change, the bringer of destiny.

The anguished sound reverberated through me, called to me. I wrestled against answering, but the wildness that resided deep inside me was too strong, too determined to have its way.

I started running toward him. . . .