Turn Darkly by Heather McVea

pressed to her. “I was beginning to worry.”
    Leaning back, Lily cupped Regan’s cheek with her hand. “Thank you for waiting.” She pressed her lips to Regan’s. The fullness and warmth of Lily’s mouth flooded Regan’s senses as she struggled to maintain her balance.
    A quiet moan escaped Regan as the tip of Lily’s tongue ran across her lower lip. “Clearly I made the right choice not to leave.”
    The two women stood, their foreheads pressed together and their arms around each other’s waists. Lily took a tentative step back. “Can we walk?”
    Regan hoped her legs would carry her. The adrenaline and desire coursing through her made the phrase “weak in the knees” all too real. “It’s getting dark.” Regan looked up at the sky. The sun had set behind the mountains, and the quarter moon was just above the eastern horizon.
    “It’ll be fine.” Lily took Regan’s hand, and pulled her toward the trail.
    Regan stopped. “Wait. What about -” She looked over at the moon.
    Lily’s eyes widened. “That’s one of the things I want to talk to you about.”
    Regan’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t want to be suspicious of Lily, but there were too many unknowns. “Why don’t you start by explaining why you’re not currently furry and on all fours?”
    Lily snapped her fingers, a mischievous grin on her face. “Right. That.” She stepped around Regan, and focused her attention on the moon. “I can control the turning during every phase except full.” She looked at Regan. “That’s why you found me in that cage.”
    Regan nodded as if she understood. The reality was she had no point of reference, and her scientific mind was telling her none of this was possible. The moon was simply a massive rock orbiting the Earth, and had nothing to do with turning people into wolves. Then again, Regan knew the very notion of a person transforming into an animal was ludicrous, regardless of the moon’s involvement.
    “Are you -” Regan wasn’t sure how to ask the question without offending Lily, but she needed to know. “Are you able to reason? Are you still you?”
    Lily turned toward Regan. Her face was cast in shadows, and Regan couldn’t see her eyes clearly as she spoke. “Less and less as the full moon approaches, and then not at all.”
    Regan’s breath caught. The idea of losing herself, of forgetting who she was and the people that mattered to her was terrifying. “It was you that night - by the road.”
    Lily hesitated before responding. “Yes. Trent and his boys were out hunting, and thought they would have some fun.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t have forgiven him if they had hurt you.” She gently rubbed Regan’s forearm.
    Regan was trying desperately to pace the barrage of questions that flooded her mind. But in spite of her best efforts, every one of Lily’s answers spurred more inquiries. “Can a human be turned? Ah, like in the movies?”
    Lily chuckled. “No. It runs in the family, so to speak.”
    “What does it feel like?” The idea of a human being folding, shaping, and transforming into a wolf was beyond Regan’s understanding. Every fiber of her being told her it was impossible, but she had seen enough to know there was clearly more to the world than even science could fathom, much less explain.
    Cocking her head to the side, Lily looked up out of the corner of her eye. “Hmm, it’s like when you wake up in the morning, and you have your first really great stretch. Your breath gets caught, and all the blood pushes into your muscles.” She looked back at Regan. “Like that, I guess.”
    Regan was relieved the change wasn’t painful for the woman. She assumed her life was made complicated enough without the added burden of pain. Looking at Lily, Regan caught a worried expression cross her beautiful face. She sensed there was something the woman wasn’t telling her. She suspected, though, that any attempt to rush Lily’s disclosures would only agitate her. Taking