Bitten as a teen, Caleb now suffers through a painful transformation from human to bobcat a few days each month. As a bobcat, he leaves behind his camp and fellow soldiers to explore the night. But a gunshot and the bright scent of fresh blood draws him to a clearing where he learns that he isn't the only one of his kind.<br><br>Wounded and hurt, Brance is a loner by nature, gruff and grumbling, who doesn't want anything to do with Caleb ... at first. The younger bobcat prevails, and starts to win Brance over, until they turn human again and find themselves on opposite sides of the American Civil War.

Under a Confederate Moon

He slept again;when he opened his eyes,the sunlight had shifted and he now huddled alone under a worsted blanket.Stretching awake,he turned to find Brance sitting nude on a dead stump not far away.The man looked coarse in the morning light,his hair disheveled,his beard a tangle of thick,russet curls.A haversack rested beside him,open—Caleb saw blue dungarees folded inside,and the familiar cans that contained army rations.In one hand,Brance held a dented coffee tin;in the other,a large cracker that he nibbled.When he noticed Caleb was awake,he grunted in greeting.


Chapter 6