Shattered Wolf

3

With bated breath, I put the phone to my ear and made my way to the couch. Just as I reached the edge, a shrill ringtone echoed. Vomit burned my throat.

His phone was here.

Black dots blocked the corners of my vision.

Dad had told me that my biggest strength was my ability to think differently from the rest of the pack. I came up with solutions outside of the norm, and I had a sinking suspicion I needed that talent now.

Lifting the gray blanket off the hardwood floor, I uncovered PawPaw’s cell phone. Something had definitely gone down, and the tipsy sensation I’d felt from the wolfsbane-laced drinks became a distant memory.

“This isn’t good,” Heather squeaked.

No, it wasn’t. Something had happened, and I didn’t know what to do. I plopped down onto the couch, trying to wrap my head around everything and confusing myself further. How the hell were humans involved? They didn’t even know we existed.

Heather rushed past me, grabbed the remote from the end table, and unmuted the TV.

Watching television was the last thing on my mind. I opened my mouth to ask what she was doing but froze when I read the headline scrolling at the bottom of the screen.

Supernaturals are REAL.

“We have confirmation that supernaturals are real, and they are living among us!” the middle-aged reporter said. “Watch the footage that has sent the entire world into a spiral, taken just a few short days ago.”

The image changed to a gorgeous angel with purple-tinted hair and dark wings. She flew out of the trees where she must have been attempting to hide. Though I’d known angels existed, I’d never seen one…until now.

Pale, unhealthy-looking humans faced her from across a clearing.

A group of wolves inched out of the tree line, and the bright silver fur of Darrell, my pack’s acting beta, caught my eye. His blood orange eyes were unmistakable.

I inhaled sharply and blinked a few times.

Why were the silver wolves there? Mom had told me that we were integrating back into society, but I didn’t think that meant revealing ourselves to the entire world. My eyes focused on Cyrus, who was in human form, and what had to be Sterlyn in wolf form. The twins were now alpha and beta of the silver wolf pack.

The day I met Cyrus was also the day I’d left the pack to come and visit PawPaw and Nana here. Mom had spewed so much hatred toward Cyrus over her pain, and I couldn’t be around her and deal with my own grief.

Sterlyn’s hair was pure silver and Cyrus’s a shade darker, similar to Dad’s. The silver tones were the trademark of the silver wolf alpha bloodline. In human form, all the other silver wolves had ordinary hair colors, but when we shifted, our coats were the same silver shade as Sterlyn’s hair.

Their iridescent eyes were strained—I could see it from where I sat. Something terrible had happened, and when they glanced at the camera, their faces twisted in fear.

The wolves hadn’t known the humans would be there. But how was that possible? They should’ve been able to sense them.

It was fine. There were ways we could cover up this error. Blame it on cosplay, hallucinations, and the list went on and on. The damage wasn’t irreversible.

The shot moved to another image, and I froze. The most delectable man I’d ever seen was standing in front of a quaint brick building in what looked like a downtown area. Dark chocolate eyes stared into the camera, and a chill ran down my spine. I tensed, squirming and feeling as if my soul had been bared to him…which was silly. He couldn’t actually see me.

He cleared his throat and held up a microphone to his full lips, his bicep bulging under his olive green long-sleeved shirt. A breeze ruffled his short cappuccino hair, and he inhaled, emphasizing his athletic build.

For a moment, all I could do was stare. The urge to walk across the room and caress the screen overwhelmed me. I’d leaned forward, ready to do just that, when he said in a deep, sensuous voice, “It’s true. Supernaturals are real, but we aren’t a threat to any of you.”

My breath stalled in my lungs. What was he doing? He had to be insane, or maybe he was using this opportunity to be in the spotlight. Not that he would’ve had trouble attracting attention—there was no way anyone wouldn’t notice him. As delicious as he looked, it made sense that he’d be narcissistic.

“Think about it.” He placed a hand in his jeans pocket and leaned toward the camera. “We’ve been here the entire time, coexisting with humans. We’re just like you.”

The desire to reach through the screen and strangle him raced through me. He had to be an i***t. Keeping our existence secret was a core belief for every supernatural race, and this handsome butthead had destroyed that in seconds.

The screen flickered, and a guy in his mid-twenties appeared. He was hunched over, his eyes jerking around as if he were frantically examining the room. His chest heaved, and he grimaced. “There’s no way it was an illusion. My girlfriend was ripped out of my hands by something invisible. Someone was laughing maniacally as she was dragged away, screaming for help.”

The woman holding the camera asked, “Why didn’t you go after her?”

“I…I tried.” He shivered. “But something grabbed my arm and held me back. I…I still can’t find her.”

Clip after clip presented similar stories. They all originated from Shadow Ridge and Shadow Terrace, the towns that bordered and protected Shadow City—the place where silver wolves had been created and then forced by murderous angels to flee and go into hiding for hundreds of years.

The camera panned over walls that circled a city built on an island in the middle of a vast river. A city that even I, who’d never seen it in person, knew was supposed to be concealed from human eyes. A long suspension bridge that reminded me of the Golden Gate Bridge in California connected the island to the mainland.

Shadow City.

Tales of the legendary city had stood the test of time in our pack, and the descriptions hadn’t done it justice. Gold buildings glittered in the light, outshining even all the paintings I’d seen of Heaven. The sparkling buildings made the city look like Mount Olympus.

“And that appeared out of nowhere,” a man said, gesturing wildly at the city as if viewers might not understand what he meant.

The same handsome man reappeared and opened his stupid, sexy mouth. That was when I’d had enough. I snatched the remote from Heather and slammed the power button to turn off the TV.

I couldn’t handle hearing anything else he had to say. He’d already done more damage than could be undone.

Silence descended, and I had to force my lungs to breathe. Dead Sexy had ruined everything.

“That must be what my parents were talking about earlier today.” Heather shook her head as she dropped onto the loveseat, barely missing Nana’s crochet needles.

My family had been tense the past day, but I’d thought it was because Mom had mentioned us heading home. My grandparents hadn’t been able to visit us before because we’d always kept the location of the silver wolf settlement secret, so the only time they had gotten to see us was when we’d visited them, which had been rare because of Mom’s ex. She truly thought he’d follow through on his threat even after all these years, and I wondered why she’d been willing to commit to the man in the first place.

“How long has this been on the news?” I tended to avoid television and spent most of my time running in the woods in wolf form, hiking in human form, or reading stories about strong women who found love along their journeys. In books, I’d read about creatures that I had yet to encounter, like dragons, and magical realms. I figured most fantasy stories were based on truth, like human stories of shifters, vampires, angels, and witches. During my time here, I’d even heard murmurings that dragon shifters were alive and experiencing a resurgence.