La Moral Y La Etica

ANDREA CREMER

A

Novel

PHILOMEL BOOKS
AN IMPRINT OF PENGUIN GROUP (USA) INC.

PHILOMEL BOOKS
A division of Penguin Young Readers Group. Published by The Penguin Group. Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014, U.S.A. Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.). PenguinBooks Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England. Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd). Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd). Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India. Penguin Group (NZ), 67 ApolloDrive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd). Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa. Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England. Copyright © 2012 by Broken Foot Productions, Inc. Orion Constellation copyright © iStockphoto.com/peresanz. All rights reserved. This book,or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, Philomel Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. Philomel Books, Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal andpunishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content. Published simultaneously in Canada. Printed in the United Statesof America. Edited by Jill Santopolo. Interior book design, including the Lupus, Crux and Orion constellations by Amy Wu. Text set in 10.25-point Appoline Regular. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cremer, Andrea R. Bloodrose : a Nightshade novel / Andrea Cremer. p. cm. Summary: Calla Tor, the alpha member of her shapeshifting wolf pack, must decide if her illicit love for thehuman Shay is worth the ultimate sacrifice. [1. Wolves—Fiction. 2. Love—Fiction. 3. Supernatural—Fiction. 4. Shapeshifting—Fiction.] I. Title. PZ7.C86385Bl 2012 [Fic]—dc22 2010052004 1 3 ISBN 978-0-399-25612-7 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

For my parents

I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. —Thomas Hobbes

PA RT I

ONE

E
I COULD HEAR each heavy beat of my heart. Thesound
seemed to ebb from my veins out of my body, traveling across the empty space between the shimmering portal and the dark house. He was there. I had no doubt. Though I couldn’t see him or even catch the slightest hint of his warm, smoky scent, I knew he was there. Waiting for me. But why? Why would Ren come to this lonely place? My gaze traveled over the shadows that twisted as clouds slid overthe moon, reminding me too much of wraiths. I stared at the sky so I didn’t have to look at the houses, or the skeletal frames of those left unfinished. Time had been frozen here. The mountain slope, cleared of trees to make way for a cul-de-sac and ring of houses, whispered of a past unreachable. The sprawling Haldis Compound— or what would have become the Haldis Compound—lay before me, composed ofluxury homes built exclusively for the pack Ren and I would have led together. Our pack’s den. Our home. I turned to face Adne, trying to hide my shivering. “Stay out of sight. You’ll hear me if there’s a problem, and if I come running, you’d better open a door fast. No matter what, don’t come looking for me.” “Deal,” she said, already backing toward the forest. “Thank you, Calla.” I nodded...