Cresent Prophecy

form for more than a few hours. If I was right, then he’d been a fox for two days. The longer he was an animal, the harder it would be for him to change back. His wild instincts would take over, and he’d… No, it wouldn’t come to that.
I carved a path through the forest, listening and searching for signs he’d been this way. I didn’t know a single thing about tracking animals, but Boone wasn’t an animal. Not yet, anyway.
The shrill cry of a fox broke through the air, and my head shot up. Boone.
I ran blindly toward the sound, desperate to catch him before he vanished. If he crossed the boundary and something happened to him, I would never forgive myself.
I’d been so stupid. I should’ve seen what Alex was hiding… I should’ve known.
My foot caught on an exposed root, and I fell. My shoulder hit the ground, jarring against the earth, and I rolled. Over and over I tumbled, careening down a slope until I crashed to a stop at the bottom, my back colliding with a fallen tree trunk.
“Ow!” I exclaimed, curling in on myself.
Gritting my teeth, I waited for the throbbing pain in my body to subside before moving. Where was he?
“Boone…” I moaned, pushing myself up. “Ow… Shite, that hurts…”
A low growl hummed on the still air, and I glanced up to find a fox sitting before me. He was watching me with a lowered head, his eyes flashing in the darkness.
“Boone?” I asked, knowing full well it was him. No fox would sit like that unless it scented the blood from all the grazes I’d gotten rolling down that hill and intended to eat me.
Impulsively, I reached out and sank my fingers into the fur either side of his face. He didn’t run away or try to gnaw my hands off, so it was definitely him.
“Where have you been?” I asked. “Everyone’s worried about you. They’re already marking out territory for both of us.”
He pulled back, tugging against my hold.
“Al—” I stopped myself abruptly. “You were right about him. He was a fae.” My grip loosened, and I sat back on my heels. “I… I took care of it, but I think you already felt my magic this morning, didn’t you?”
Boone blinked but didn’t move.
“So, there’s irrefutable evidence that I’m stupid and need you more than ever.”
He blinked again.
“I’m frightened,” I went on. “Something’s coming. Something really bad, and I don’t know what to do.”
I grasped his fur in my hands and pressed my nose against his snout.
“If you don’t change back, I’m afraid you won’t remember how. Boone, you’ve gotta come back. Please.”
He growled and shook his head, breaking free. Taking a few steps back, he lowered his head and bared his teeth.
“I killed him,” I declared, tears pricking in my eyes. “I killed Alex with my magic. He just…melted away, and that was it.”
Some of the tension left Boone’s body.
“I love you, Boone,” I said with as much conviction as I could muster. “I’ve never loved anyone before you, do you hear me? It’s you. It’ll always be you.”
He began to whimper, then let out a low keening sound. Shaking his head, I heard the snap of bones, and gradually, he began to change.
His snout shrank, his fur began to recede, and his legs started to grow into human arms and legs. His spine shuddered and snapped, and his tail merged into the small of his back. Before long, Boone was before me, crouched on all fours, his head bowed.
He trembled, giving away that his change had been more painful than usual. Not able to hold my tears any longer, I sobbed and threw my arms around his neck, forcing him to kneel.
“Skye…” he murmured, grasping my waist.
Pulling back, I traced my hands over his face, then his arms and chest, making sure he wasn’t hurt…and verifying he was indeed real.
“Please, please, please,” I muttered. “You can’t leave me. I need you. It has nothing to do with magic or destiny or whatever. It’s always been about you and me. Boone…”
“Skye.”
He sighed, then tilted my chin up. The moment our eyes met, something passed between us. Some kind of unspoken pledge entwined our destinies, and then he kissed me.
His lips were firm against mine, his touch desperate as I clung to him. I didn’t care that he was completely naked or that we were kneeling in a ditch in the woods in the middle of the night.
When he finally pulled away, I whimpered in complaint, not willing to let him go.
“The wolf…” he began, clutching me tightly. “The first night I remember… I was runnin’ from wolves in me fox form. I’d done somethin’, but every time I try to remember, I can’t. Me head splits open with a terrible pain. The wolf that attacked you… Who I was before… Carman… You used your magic again.”
“Boone, slow down,” I pleaded. “You’re not making any sense.”
“I think I brought it here. Me past brought it here, and whoever I was… It might kill you. Who I was might kill you.”
“Brought what here? The craglorn was my fault… Alex… He was my fault, too. They’re trying to trick us. They know we’re nothing without each other.”
“Nay…” he said. “Nay, the wolf.”
“The…” Remembering the wolf that had attacked me right before I’d found out Boone was a shapeshifter, I tensed. “The wolf whose eye I poked out?”
“I think it was there for me. Me past. I…” He winced as the curse of his amnesia tore through his skull.
He was having trouble explaining his fears, but I understood without him putting all the words together. He was afraid whoever took his memories, and even what they contained, might come back and hurt me. That was why he was acting so weird. Alex showing up had just amplified everything.
My heart twisted, and I thrust my fingers through his hair. “Is that why you were so distant?”
“I… I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“I don’t care who you