A sharp lance of pain ripped through my head. Chris and Rico cried out as the wards flickered and snapped as if electrified.
Far behind us, in the town through the trees, I heard shouts of warning. They sounded alarmed. Frightened.
Gregory gritted his teeth, flexing his fingers as his tattoos burned brightly. Sweat trickled down his brow as the wolves began to roil around him, snapping their jaws in our direction.
“Oh shit,” I breathed.
And my mother said, “Run.”
We did.
As the wards splintered apart behind us, we ran.
We hit the tree line as the first ward broke, shattering like so much glass.
One of their wolves howled.
A song of war.
my mother/soap bubble
By the time we hit the paved road, gunfire was steadily erupting from in town. The wards had broken almost completely, and the wolves would soon be coming.
Chris and Tanner and Rico shifted, their clothes tearing as their paws hit the earth. They stood before me as I pulled little blinking lights from my pocket. I put one light against the inside of one of their ears and a magnet on the other side, holding it in place. I did the same for Dominique before she broke off from the group and headed toward the bunker. She growled over her shoulder at Jessie, and in my head, I heard her song of safe safe LoveJessieBeautiful stay safe stay before she was gone through the trees.
Mom turned her face toward the star-filled sky, the sliver of the moon shining down upon her. Her eyes flashed as she dropped to the ground, her shawl fluttering in the wind. When she looked back up, she was the wolf mother, fangs bared. She nosed my hand before growling at Jessie, who affixed the same blinking light in my mother’s ear. She did the same for the large brown wolf who stood next to my mother. He licked the back of her hand.
Jessie looked to me. Her eyes were bright in the dark. She had a twisted smile on her face, and I knew she was ready to hunt. She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, lips smacking. “We can do this. It’s time to end it.”
“And we’ll be free,” I told her.
“Damn right we will.”
She followed my mother and uncle into the woods, running full tilt, arms pumping. Chris and Tanner and Rico crossed the road and entered the woods on the other side. The last I saw of them was their tails before they too were gone.
Gavin stood beside me on the empty road.
Behind us, the wolves howled.
In front of us, the people of Green Creek showed why no one fucked with our town.
Gavin said, “You and me.”
I looked at him. “You and me.”
His eyes were orange. “Mates.”
I kissed him. “Mates,” I mumbled against his mouth. He was smiling. I could taste it.
He pulled away, gripping my arms. “Stay by my side.”
“Always.”
“Don’t leave me.”
“Never.”
And he said, “I love you. I know it’s hard. This. Us. Wolf brain and human brain are still together. But I love you. For a long time. Even when I was wolf.”