Lara Adrian - Shades of Midnight

Prologue

U nder a winter-dark Alaskan sky, a wolf song carried clear and majestic into the night. The howl stretched long, a thing of pure, wild beauty that reached through the dense spruce of the boreal forest and climbed the jagged, snow-covered walls of rock that rose up along the icy banks of the Koyukuk River. When the wolf sent up his haunting call again, it was met by a discordant hoot of laughter, then a drunken voice that answered from across the flames of a small campfire.

Ow-ow-owwoooo! Owwoooo! One of the three guys in the group whod come out to party tonight on this remote stretch of land cupped his gloved hands to his mouth and yowled another ear-grating reply to the wolf, which had since gone silent in the distance. Hear that? Were having ourselves a little communication right there. He grabbed for the bottle of whiskey as it came around the small gathering to him. I ever tell you Im fluent in wolf, Annabeth?

Across the campfire, a soft laugh blew out on a cloud of steam from within the deep hood of the girls parka. Sounded to me more like youre fluent in stuck pig.

Ooh, thats harsh, sweetheart. Seriously harsh. He took a swig from the bottle and passed the Jack Daniels to the next person in line. Maybe you want I should give you a little demonstration of my oral skills sometime. I promise you, Im extremely gifted.

You are such an asshole, Chad Bishop.

She was right, but her tone said she didnt mean it. She laughed again, a warmly flirtatious, feminine sound that made Teddy Tomss crotch go all tight and hot. He shifted on the cold rock hed claimed for a seat, trying not to make his interest obvious as Chad announced he had to take a piss and Annabeth and the other girl with her began to chat together.

A sharp elbow jabbed Teddy in the right side of his rib cage. You gonna sit there and drool all night? Get off your chickenshit ass and talk to her, for crissake.

Teddy swung a look at the tall, skinny guy sitting next to him on the rock and shook his head.

Come on, dont be such a pussy. You know you want to. She aint gonna bite you. Well, not unless you want her to, that is. Skeeter Arnold had been the one who brought Teddy to this gathering. Hed also been the one who supplied the whiskey, something Teddy, at the age of nineteen, had only sampled once in his life.

Alcohol was outlawed in his fathers houseoutlawed in the whole six-person settlement where he lived, in fact. Tonight Teddyd had the bottle to his lips more than ten times already. He didnt see the harm in it. In fact, he kind of liked the way it made him feel, all warm and loose inside. Grown up, like a man.

A man who wanted more than anything to stand up and tell Annabeth Jablonsky how he felt about her.

Skeeter handed Teddy the nearly empty bottle and watched him drink the last swallow. I think I got something else youre gonna like, my man. He pulled off his gloves and reached into the pocket of his parka.

Teddy wasnt sure what he had, and didnt much care at the moment. He was mesmerized by Annabeth, who had taken off her hood to show her friend some of the new piercings that tracked all the way up the delicate shell of her ear. Her hair was dyed polar white except for a streak of bright pink, even though Teddy recalled that she was naturally brunette. He knew, because hed seen her dance last spring at a strip club in Fairbanks, where Annabeth Jablonsky had been better known as Amber Joy. Teddys cheeks flamed at the thought, and the hard-on hed been trying to ignore was now in full bloom.

Here, Skeeter said, giving him something else to think about as Annabeth and her friend got up from the campfire and walked down to the frozen edge of the river. Take a drag on this, my man.

Teddy took the small metal pipe and held its smoldering bowl up near his nose. A nugget of something pale and chalky burned in the bowl, emitting a foul chemical stink that wormed its way up his nostrils. He winced, sliding a doubtful look at Skeeter. W-w-what is it?

Skeeter grinned, his thin lips peeling back off his crooked teeth. Just a little dose of courage. Go ahead, take a hit. Youll like it.

Teddy brought the pipe to his mouth and sucked in the bittersweet smoke. He coughed only a little, so he exhaled and took another drag on the pipe.