“You push. You hear me? You push as hard as you can. And when you’re through, we close the door—”
A loud roar came from behind him.
The other Mark, the Omega, had burst out of the ground, the hands that had been trying to drag him down sinking into the earth.
He was caught in his shift, back rippling as the wolf came forward, face elongating, spittle dripping into the grass beneath him. His body shook as hair sprouted along bare skin, as his fangs sank into his lips, causing blood to spill.
He looked up at us.
His eyes glowed violet.
He roared again.
And began to run.
“The door!” I screamed. “Get through the door!”
I pulled on the doorknob, the metal burning into my hand as I pulled with all my strength. Mark threw himself against it from the other side, and I could hear the feral wolf getting closer and closer and—
The door flew open, knocking me to the side.
Mark burst through, sliding in the grass.
The Omega howled in triumph.
I kicked out against the door, and it slammed shut just as the feral wolf crashed into it. The wards pulsed as the door seemed to bend, and a nauseous feeling bowled through me, like I could feel the infection my father had caused.
But the door held.
Even as the feral wolf charged at it again and again and again, it held.
Mark collapsed beside me, both of us on our backs, breathing heavily.
I took his hand in mine.
Or I tried to.
It didn’t work.
Because I didn’t have a hand anymore.
He gripped my forearm instead, turning his head toward me.
He said—
“GORDO.”
I opened my eyes.
I was in the clearing.
The air was cold.
The sky was bright with stars.
“Gordo.”
I blinked.