Ravensong (Green Creek 2)

“Get inside,” Mark growled at me.

“Fuck you,” I retorted. “I’m not going to leave you—”

“If it’s like the others, it’ll come for you first. I can’t hold it off if I’m worried about—”

“I don’t need you to worry about—holy fuck!”

I tackled Mark to the side as the feral wolf launched itself at us. We fell into the snow, Mark hitting the ground first. I landed on top of him as the wolf sailed over us, teeth snapping, missing my neck by inches. Its hot breath stank, and I could almost feel the weight of it in the air above us.

“You just wanted to lay on top of me,” Mark said from beneath me.

“Seriously,” I snapped, pushing myself off him and standing. “Now is not the time.”

The wolf had landed near the Lighthouse, skidding in the snow but managing to stay upright. Its ears pricked toward the bar, and I knew it could hear probably dozens of heartbeats inside. Its eyes flickered violet, and it took a step toward the bar door, and—

“Hey!” I shouted at it, trying to get its attention. “Over here, you goddamn mutt!”

It slowly turned its head toward me.

I swallowed thickly.

It really was a big werewolf.

Mark was at my side, half-shifted, and before I could chew him out for that, the timber wolf crouched low, ready to attack.

Screams came from inside the bar.

We all hesitated.

And then Carter burst out of the Lighthouse, the door slamming against the wall, the wood splintering. He, too, was half-shifted, and it hit me then that the people inside the bar had seen it, but before I could even begin to process this monumental fuckup, he’d tackled the timber wolf from behind.

It went down hard, slipping in the snow. Carter’s face elongated, hair sprouting along his cheeks, and he was snarling at the wolf beneath him. The timber wolf pushed itself up quickly, knocking Carter off its back and into the snow.

He landed, orange eyes wide, exhaling heavily.

The timber wolf rose slowly above him, lips pulled back, teeth bared.

I touched the rune on my arm, ready to light the motherfucker on fire, and Elizabeth stood in the doorway, eyes blazing, ready to attack whatever was going after her son, and Ox and Joe roared from inside the Lighthouse, their Alpha song bowling over us because one of their pack was in danger, one of their pack was about to—

The timber wolf stopped snarling.

Its eyes narrowed.

As the wolf lowered its head, Carter raised his claws, ready to swipe at it, to gouge its eyes out just as he’d been trained to do, but—

It didn’t happen.

The timber wolf just… sniffed him.

Its eyes were violet, and its hackles were raised, but it put its snout against Carter’s chest and inhaled.

“Um,” Carter said, lisping through a mouthful of fangs. “Guys? What the hell is going on?”

“Carter,” Elizabeth said. “I need you to—”

Joe and Ox appeared behind him, ignoring the cacophony of voices rising behind them. Their eyes were red, and when Joe saw his brother on the ground with a strange wolf above him, he tried to push past his mother. The timber wolf heard him coming and turned its back on Carter, snarling at Joe. It began to back away slowly, crowding Carter until he was forced

to scoot back in the snow.