Brance Brenneman is used to harsh conditions -- the eldest son of a stern Amish preacher, Brance was bit by a werecat as a young boy, and managed to keep his secret from his family until he was old enough to leave them and their religion behind. Years later, when the nation is divided by the American Civil War, Brance finds himself enlisted in the Union army. By sheer chance, he meets Caleb Chilson, a Confederate soldier who bears his same shapeshifting burden.<br><br>Together they leave the war behind to forge a new life in the wilderness of Pennsylvania. But trappers near their camp are hunting bobcats, and they don't much care if Brance and Caleb are only in the fur part of the time. Brance finds his peaceful existence shattered, and he has to fight to defend the life -- and the bobcat, the man -- he's come to love.

Beneath a Yankee Sky

In the morning Brance found himself curled around Caleb in their tent.Beforehe opened his eyes,he knew he was human again—his heartbeat was no longer the racing muscle that pounded in his chest as a cat.Fingers,not paws,twined through Caleb’s shaggy hair,and one long leg bent at the knee to drape over his lover’s hip.


Beyond the confines of the small tent they shared,the noises of the forest were gone,replaced with a calm quiet Brance knew to be deceiving.Somewhere out there three men cleaned their guns,waiting for nightfall.Brance wasn’tsure what to do about that—Caleb’s suggestion of talking to the men was laughable,at best,but should they pack up and plunge deeper into the mountains?How much distance could they put behind them in one day’s time?Or should they stay put,lay low,wait a few days until their time of the monthpassed and the men moved on?


Chapter 6