There was no warning. The last drumbeat in my head faded away with the end of the word, and then the darkness I was staring at faded, congealing into two circles.
One yellow-orange. The other cold, furious blue.
The wolf was on us. It snapped the tree-thing’s arm from its body, ripping its fingers from me. They pulled out-not with blood but dark shadow dripping from the tips. The shadow flowed back into me.
I screamed as something in my mind burned bright and clear for just a quarter second.
“Hey!”
Twin cords of steel wrapped around me, binding me tightly and holding me in place as I screamed and thrashed.
“Sylvie! Sylvie, it’s okay. It’s me. It’s Lincoln. You’re awake now.”
I cried out and flailed for another second or two while Lincoln held me tightly, not letting go.
“You were having a nightmare,” he said. “Your screaming woke me up, but it’s okay. It’s over now. I’m here. I’ve got you.”
I met his eyes. “Don’t let them get me, Linc. Please. Don’t let them get me. They want me. They want me.”
“I know,” he said, pulling me into him. “But they won’t get you. They can’t have you. I told you once. I will protect you. I meant it. You can be mad at me, you can hate me, but Sylvie, I willnever let any of them hurt you. Ever. I won’t abandon you. I promise. Do you understand?”
I curled into a ball. “We have to go.”
“Go? Go where?”
Dawn’s first light appeared on the wall behind him, lighting his face and showing his surprise.
“Don’t you get it?” I whispered. “They’re coming for me.
It’s coming for me. We have to get to the heart before it’s too late. We have to stop them.”
“It’s too late,” Lincoln said, attention now solely focused out the window. “They’re already here.”
The light on the wall behind him flickered like flame. It wasn’t dawn yet, I realized in horror.
The den was burning.
Lincoln
“Stay here,” I ordered, dashing from the room faster than she could follow. There was no time to talk, no time for discussion.
My people needed me. The enemy had come tomy home, to attackmy family, and I wasnot going to let that happen.
I was in wolf form before I left the front steps, looking up at the sky and letting loose with a long, soulful cry to the moon high above. I couldn’t see for the trees and the clouds of the storm, but her presence was there, and I drew upon it, drinking in the cold cool energy and confidence.
I was alpha. I was death.
Eyes burning, I stalked forward into the night to find my prey.
Elsewhere, the cry went up as my people awakened from slumber, alerted to the presence of danger by the howl of our people. Our pack.
The first shadow creature that crossed my path didn’t have time to react. Muscles twitched as it fell to the ground withouta head. I opened my jaws, letting the skull fall to the ground with a soft squelch as it hit blood-soaked grass. Then I was gone, flitting from shadow to shadow and leaving a trail of blood and death in my path.
Resistance was building. The far side of the den was under full attack, but doors were opening, and wolves were howling nonstop, announcing the murderous intent of my pack. Only destruction would be found here.
Shapes moved in the darkness with me now. We didn’t slink. We strode. Each paw reclaiming territory from those who thought they could attack us. Who thought they could harmus.
My group slammed into a thick knot of twisted, mutated forest creatures, many with extra limbs, some with double or triple the amount of eyes, and all of them sprouting growth that was anything but natural.
Fangs flashed and claws tore darkened flesh asunder in perfect silence. The creatures fell back, leaving half their number behind. In pieces. We pursued. There was no surrender. No mercy.
Only blood and death. This was our land. Our home. Howdare they try to desecrate it with their filth?
We were a wave, building in strength of fur and fang, rushing forward, tearing apart resistance where we encountered it, driving back the enemy with ease. The shadows fell before us, routing on all fronts, and we drove them back with unceasing coldness in our every step. There was no squabbling now, no fractures. We were one people. One pack. A sea of giant forms in the night, charging at our sworn enemy.
Then they hit back.
Out from between two houses, a massive beast charged into our midst, tossing wolves left and right. I skidded to a halt,staring in a mix of anger and fear. If the thing I had fought in the heart of the forest was a young elk, this was its full-grown brother. Bigger than a moose, it towered above us, glaring balefully with violet, pupil-less eyes. Antlers lined with razor-sharp edges had split and cracked until they looked more like horns.
My people scattered, but not fast enough. They underestimated the speed of the thing. They hadn’t seen it like I had. The double-hinged jaw split open wide and the tongue lined with suckers flicked out, latching on to the flank of one wolf and ripping a huge strip free that it promptly swallowed.
One of my people recovered faster and darted in to rip at its hind legs. Standard tactical practice for dealing with larger prey.
No! I snapped, but it was too late.
Faster than should be possible for a creature of this size, the moose-monster donkey-kicked. The tawny-covered wolf seemed to freeze in midair as its momentum was stopped, and then it flew backward through the side of a house. I didn’t bother to look inside. I had seen what the hoof did to the skull of my pack member.
From the sides. It’s faster than you think, and that tail is barbed!
I barked the commands, and my people flowed around the beast like a parting sea. Canines flashed as white, black, gray, and brown-furred wolves nipped at its heels. Each bite took a tiny bit of flesh with it only, but there were a greatmany bites.
And as its attention turned, the rest of us hit it from the front. In and out, teeth drawing blood, tearing hide. The moose turned unexpectedly, and its antlers sliced through the air. A horrific cry went up as a wolf was impaled, blood spraying from its hide as the razor-sharp antlers pierced it fully through.
The monster lifted its head, bellowing in triumph as it shook the body like a rag doll, spraying us all with the blood of our fellow shifter.
Which is when I ripped its throat out. At the same time, other wolves tore hamstrings or calves from the legs. The beast wobbled and fell, but it wasn’t dead. Its tail came whipping around, smashing the forelegs of one hard-charging wolf into dozens of pieces. I watched that wolf die too. The front of their body came down, no longer supported, and the hind leg of the moose repeated its earlier feat to the head.
But it was over, and the enemy knew it. I turned and ran on, leaving a cohort of people behind to ensure the beast stayed down. These things were tough to kill, and they could heal impossibly fast. I wanted it beheaded and burned. Fire was the only way to ensure it wouldn’t get back up.
Elsewhere, knots of wolves dealt with similar creatures, with about the same amount of success. But overall we were winning. I snarled, filled with pride at the fight left in my people. They had been scared and unwilling to strike, and I had doubted them.
But when the enemy came to their home, they fought back with all the tenacity I could expect. The Chained would pay a dreadful price this night.
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