“Torn clothing littered the ground, more hung from bushes. Nick held up half a pair of white panties and grinned at me."Wild dogs? Or just Clayton?""Oh God," I muttered under my breath.I walked over to snatch the underwear from him, but he held it over his head, grinning like a schoolboy."I see Paris, I see France, I see Elena's underpants," he chanted."Everyone's already seen much more than that," Jeremy said. "I think we can safely resume the search."Peter plucked Clay's shirt from a low-hanging branch and held it up, peering through a hole in the middle. "You guys can really do some damage. Where's the hidden video when you need it?""So this--uh--wasn't done by wild dogs?" one of the searchers said.Peter grinned and tossed the shirt to the ground. "Nope. Just wild hormones.”

“Got something!" one of the men yelled."Is it Mike?" another called, rushing from our sides.As everyone converged on the scene, Nick's voice rang out, choked with barely containedlaughter. "Forget it. It's—uh—nothing important.""What the hell do you mean?" the first man said. "Maybe this is all a joke to you, son, but. . ."The rest of the sentence trailed off as we burst into the clearing to find one of the searchersbending over a ripped shirt. Torn clothing littered the ground, more hung from bushes. Nick heldup half a pair of white panties and grinned at me."Wild dogs? Or just Clayton?""Oh God," I muttered under my breath.I walked over to snatch the underwear from him, but he held it over his head, grinning like aschoolboy."I seeParis , I seeFrance , I see Elena's underpants," he chanted."Everyone's already seen much more than that," Jeremy said. "I think we can safely resume thesearch."Peter plucked Clay's shirt from a low-hanging branch and held it up, peering through a hole inthe middle. "You guys can really do some damage. Where's the hidden video when you need it?""So this—uh—wasn't done by wild dogs?" one of the searchers said.Peter grinned and tossed the shirt to the ground. "Nope. Just wild hormones.”

“I know you like me, Ara. You don't have to pretend, just because you think it's improper to fall for someone at first sight.” His eyes lit up, shimmering green like a glass marble held up to the sun. “I can see that you feel the same way I do.”Oh, my God! Is this the point where I can jump off the swing and fall into his waiting arms? No. Don't do that. Don't read into it too much. I looked away from his gleaming, white-toothed grin, and clutched the ropes of the swing tighter.”

“Xavier leaned forward. "Sarcasm aside, you don't need a guy like that, Elena. Maybe you think you do - only female werewolf and all that - but hell, I've seen what you can do - tied to a chair, up against a male werewolf. You can do that, you don't need some fucking psychopath like Clayton Danvers-"He stopped, noticing my gaze."He's standing right behind me, isn't he?" Xavier muttered."Uh-huh."Xaview tilted his head back, saw Clay, and disappeared. He reappeared on the opposite bench, pressed up against me. I looked over at him, eyebrow raised. He swore under his breath and teleported to the far end of the other bench. Then he stood and turned to Clay."You must be-""The fucking psychopath," Clay said."Er, right, but I meant that in the most respectful way. Believe me, I have the utmost regard for, uh...""Raging lunatics," I said.Xavier shot me a glare."Oh sit down," I said. "He didn't bring his chain saw.”

“Idiot," I said, before grinning broadly and crushing his mouth to mine. "We need to pick new pet names for each other," he muttered as I hefted myself up from the ground.”

“I first became aware of death when my father held me up to see the view from the top of the Empire State Building. I thought that if he moved me just one foot over, I would die. But I trusted him to hold me tight. I wouldn’t fall over, and he would place me down safely.”