Thunder boomed overhead, and I expected rain to start falling any second. Had the clouds not darkened the sky, the world around us would have been much lighter with the coming dawn.

"Olivia, there's a cave over here. It isn't the best, but there's too many soldiers in this forest for us to try traveling during the day."

I sent Milly in the direction of Shane's voice. We pushed through the shrubs, eventually finding him against a rocky outcropping. As I got closer, I could see a narrow gap in the rocks.

"Can I borrow your flint? Rocks capable of making sparks are usually common around here, but I wasn't able to find any today."

"Sure." I quickly tethered Milly and located my flint striker as Shane shifted to his human shape and came to take it from me.

After unsaddling Milly, I carried my gear over to the cave. I eyed up the limited space and decided to put the saddlebags under a different ledge. It would be a tight fit for both of us in there, so I wasn't sure if Shane planned to squeeze in or take his chances in the rain.

"Don't wander too far," Shane said. "The underbrush in this spot is fairly dense, but once you go past it, you can see for quite some distance."

"Thanks, I'll keep close. Which section of bushes is best for bathroom breaks?"

He pointed to the side. "The ones against the cliff have a small opening in the middle."

The clearing lit up as lightning flashed overhead, followed by the tumultuous booming of thunder. A raindrop hit my cheek, and I pulled my hood up as I went to help Shane chop the roots and meat for the soup.

Rain sprinkled down around us as the soup cooked, and I wandered along the edge of the small clearing, eventually finding a fairly straight branch. I cut it free and took it back to the fire.

"Making another spear?" Shane asked, absently breaking twigs in half and flicking them into the fire.

I continued trimming the branches off. "It won't help against an archer, but it might come in handy if a bear tries to contest our ownership of the cave."

"You're sitting beside someone who can turn into a large canine, and you think your best defense against a bear is a stick?" he asked, a hint of humor lacing his words.

It surprised me that he was willing to joke about it, but I was open for a round of bantering. "Oh, it'll probably end up as firewood. Besides, I'm pretty sure if I threw it and suggested a game of fetch, you'd probably whack me over the head with it."

He snorted and dryly replied, "Indeed. And then I'd turn it into firewood."

I chuckled and put the bowls beside the fire since the soup was almost done.

"It's probably best if we camp here all day," he said. "Half the groups we slipped past would have seen us in daylight."

"That works for me. Some of those groups were much too close for comfort."

"I agree," he said as he checked the soup and poured it into the bowls. "The sun isn't far from rising. Since I can't make the necklace appear in wolf form, I'll leave it with you. I want to see if it'll let me shift once the sun rises."

"I assume you want me to stick it over your head like yesterday?"

"Yes. I'm hoping it works. If not, just put it in your belt pouch, regardless of how often it falls out. Don't wear it. I'm not sure if it would do anything, but it's probably better not to risk it."

I nodded seriously at the warning. "Do you think it'll let you shift?"

He glanced at the necklace around my neck. "I could still sense your necklace, so I'm hoping mine also works. I just can't summon mine in that form for some reason."

With a heavy sigh, he finished his soup and took off his necklace. The orange and green light reflected off the rain in tiny flashes. The large werewolf sitting beside me examined the necklace in his hand for a long time. The silver gleamed as if the full moon were still shining on it.

Then he held it out to me.

The pendant swung in the air as the orange gems glinted in the firelight, almost as if lit from within. The full reality of what I was looking at finally hit me. This necklace was linked to a powerful curse that had been cast during a sorceress's last breaths.

At the same time, it was a priceless treasure that let the man beside me take human form. For this necklace to be lost or damaged would be an unspeakable disaster for him.

And he was entrusting it to my care.

I slowly reached out to take it from his furry, claw-bedecked hand. The metal was slightly cool to the touch and heavier than I'd expected. I gently held it in both hands as I lowered my wrists to my knees.

He watched me for a long moment before rising to his feet and walking a short distance away. A shimmer of light outlined his form before it shrank down to reveal the wolf I'd seen the other day. I continued waiting, hoping the terrible convulsions wouldn't strike since he was already in wolf form.

He kept glancing back at me, as if checking on his necklace. During one check, his muscles shuddered for several seconds, then he gave a sigh of relief. He looked eastward, toward the hidden sun, then trotted over to me eagerly.

"The sun rose?" I asked, relieved he'd been spared that pain.

He nodded, although his eyes were locked onto his necklace.

I held it up so he could stick his muzzle through the opening. This necklace also seemed to stretch, although far more reluctantly. It took a lot of shimmying to move it even the smallest distance. Shane stood with remarkable patience as I folded his ears back and wiggled the chain over them.

Eventually, it slipped over his head and rested around his neck. I sat back on my heels just in case, but nothing happened. No familiar green and orange lights appeared. Shane's brown eyes bored into me, but he remained a wolf instead of changing into the human who normally wore the necklace.

"If it did anything, I can't see it," I told him quietly.

With a deep sigh of thwarted hope, his head lowered slightly. He might be able to shift freely at night, but he was locked into this form during the day.

"Sorry."

He turned his head to glare at the fire, and I decided he needed some time to himself, so I quietly washed the bowls. He paced around the campsite in an agitated fashion, occasionally shaking his fur out. As I finished washing the pot and turned it upside down by the fire, Shane came over and huffed quietly at me.

I turned my attention to him, and he lifted his front paw, swiping at his neck, roughly where the necklace chain would be hidden in his thick fur.

"Do you want me to take it off?" I asked dubiously, unsure of what else he could be asking for, but also unable to fathom him removing it until closer to sunset.

To my surprise, he nodded. I turned sideways on the rock to face him, and he lowered his head so I could reach it easier. My fingers ran though his thick fur as I searched for the chain, finally locating the thin band of metal.

"It's like it got tighter," I murmured. "Let me see if I can free up enough slack for my fingers to get under it."

My fingers traced the tight chain along his neck as I tried to find a loose section. I lifted the pendant and pushed the chain up, finally managing to get my fingers underneath. It was just as hard to get off as it had been to get it on, possibly even more so since I was going against his fur. We both sighed once the ordeal was over.

"Do you want me to put it in my belt pouch?"

He nodded reluctantly, his eyes lingering on the necklace in worry.

"Or do you want me to put it in a special hiding place in case bandits or soldiers catch up?"

Some of the tension left his muscles, and he nodded again. No one other than my parents and siblings knew about the treasure slots in my belt, but after how much Shane had trusted me, it was my turn to do the same. Feeling a bit self-conscious, I pulled off my belt and undid the hidden clasps, revealing the narrow slot and the gold coins neatly lined up in their little pockets.

There was no clasp on the necklace, so I carefully coiled the chain into a series of circles and wedged them into empty coin slots, with the pendant in a slot of its own. It formed a bulge in the supple leather, but most people would assume it was a bad sewing job near the buckle. And unless something went terribly wrong, no one should get close enough to examine the workmanship on my belt between now and sunset.

"Why don't we see if we can fit in that cave before we get completely soaked?"

He nodded, and we went to work out the logistics of the narrow fissure. Due to Shane's size, he had to go in first and get turned around so his head faced the opening. Then I was able to squeeze in, and with some work, managed to get into my bedroll. Even with my arm against the rock wall, I still ended up leaning against Shane's side.

He didn't protest, so I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to come.