Chapter 16

Riley’s POV

My scream sounded remarkably like that wheezy car alarm my neighbor installed last year, and I skidded backward toward the stairs, arms flailing as if I’d just discovered spiders in my cereal. Through the sliding glass door, I watched a human body hurtle out of the shadows beside the giant wolf—no, Rowan, I reminded myself—hands waving wildly, body totally naked. I blinked. Yep, 100 percent guy. Apparently, naked guys do a lot of sprinting after moonrise.

Relief washed over me in an icy wave the instant I recognized Asher Smiley’s familiar cropped hair and suspicious lack of clothing. “It’s Rowan!” he bellowed from behind the door, voice pitched like a teenage boy about to miss the bus. “The wolf is Rowan!” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder toward the hulking furball on my porch. “We shift at night a lot. Lock your doors, and Noah will chill the hell out!”

I exhaled so hard I nearly farted. Nodding jerkily, I bolted up the stairs, two at a time