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

His hand brushed over his lover’s wounded leg,eliciting a gasp of pain.Brance’s fingers felt their way over the familiar curve of knee and length of thigh.“Caleb?I’m back.Talk to me.”


A hand grabbed his ankle as Caleb pulled himself up from the bushes.He blinked,owlish,and yawned—Brance could’ve laughed at the innocent sleepiness in those pale blue-green eyes.Then reality set in;Brance saw pain flicker in those eyes as Caleb winced and drew his leg up to inspect the wound where the snare had cut into his skin.“Shit,”he muttered,voice thick with slumber.“I was sort of hoping it’d go away.”


Brance dug a blanket out of the haversack.Draping it over Caleb’s shoulders,he hugged his lover close,large hands rubbing warmth into the thin body beneath the coarse fabric.“It’ll heal,”he said.“You just won’t be able to run on it for a while.”


Chapter 12