Howling Bonds

5

“Those werewolves are so out of touch,” Yorick spat. “Aemilius, the greatest of the greatest werewolf emperors, had a human consort and these fools won’t accept it.” His black eyes narrowed to slits as he sized me up.

“Don’t worry, my Wolf King,” he purred. “I’ll help you find that human girl.”

He gestured at me as he sauntered toward the ancient forest of our pack. His skin hung loose, and I smelled his rich aroma of exotic spices and fine silk. The air was heavy with apprehension. Yorick lit a bonfire beneath a special tree—legend said it had witnessed thousands of werewolf couples tying their hearts since the eighteenth century.

The fire burned bright, crackling branches and white smoke twisting in its wake. But no werewolves gathered around it on this night.

The shadows of the trees swayed in the night wind, like wandering ghosts or monsters come alive.

My hand tightened around my pendant as my heart sounded in my ears. I watched as the flames licked at the air above us and Yorick began chanting an incantation in a language I did not know. A gentle purple mist danced across the air, wrapping around me like a blanket. Yorick gestured for me to step forward into the circle of fire and a power so great, it caused shivers down my spine, surged through me.

The next thing I knew, a transformation came over me. My body stretched and shimmered, my coat turning a silvery-white. Majestic and extraordinary.

Before I saw her, I felt her presence. My spirit called out for her, while anxiety coursed through me.

Then she appeared, the girl from my dreams, standing before me in all her glory. Her dark hair cascading down her back, eyes blazing with an inner fire, lighting up the bonfire. It felt like it suspended us in time and space—no one else existed except us.

A connection formed between us, something that ran deeper than words could ever describe. It seemed I’d known her for centuries; our bond was stronger than any other force upon this earth combined.

Yorick moved forward, his silver-white hair shimmering as he stepped closer. He whispered something into my ear I couldn’t understand, and then his left hand touched my shoulder and a strange sensation rushed through me—a sign, a spiritual connection blossoming on my skin as silver vines.

But confusion filled her face. “I know nothing about wolf tradition,” she said, shaking her head. “And besides, I don’t believe in fate.”

The silver-white vines began curling around us like a serpent, tightening and crushing, uniting us forever. Yorick’s incantation swirled faster and faster as the vines entwined me in their iron grip. The girl was gone, and a heat flowed through my veins, paralyzing me.

My gaze met his, hitting me like a stone. He had betrayed me. His lips thinned, jaw hardening.

“Is this for Faye?” Pain seared through me as the vines crushed my bones like road rollers and almost squeezed my lungs out of my throat. But I smiled—a tight smile—before saying, “That rogue wolf never left Tacoma. I can’t allow that.”

“Faye will bring our pack to greatness!” A wild glare flickered in Yorick’s eyes. “He allowed us to carry out our traditional way of predation, hunting humans. When Faye led us, we were invincible. And you, hairy boy… you are the chronic disease of our pack.”

Yorick continued his incantation as agony wracked my body, the vines digging deep into my bones and burning in my blood. Raising my face to the full moon, I let an angry howl escape my lips.

Yorick kept chanting as my body withered in agony, wracked by pain and fury that poured out with each howl at the full moon.

Leighton and Anne sprang from the shadows, fangs bared. We had been a team since we were kids—I had proposed our squad move up the ambush to catch them off-guard. It was dangerous but bold, just like all our plans.

Leighton pounced on Yorick’s back, claws sinking deep into his flesh. Anne raced to my side, cutting away at the silver threads with her bare hands and freeing me from their icy grasp.

I used the distraction, attacking Yorick from behind with powerful blows. My teeth sunk into his neck and he screamed in pain before falling limp on the ground.

His fur felt like hay beneath my tongue—like the soft grass in my dog’s backyard—and it tasted like iron and fear. I felt Yorick’s life leave his body as I ravaged him.

“Faye will be back,” shrieked Yorick, a bellow of darkness and death bulging in his chest like blazing flames. “All the West Coast will tremble for them, and they will be unstoppable.”

“Stupid,” I spat.

Yorick’s cackle died away, the sound of his last breath escaping from his lips, as his heart slowed to a stop. His eyes dimmed, leaving his fangs protruded.

The world, our pack, and the forest were all free of Yorick’s threats—we were safe now. Relief sank me to my knees. Now, the world seemed quiet. I could hear the rustling of leaves in the nearby trees, feel the wind’s gentle breeze blowing against my skin.

I stared up at the stars in surprise as Ann and Leighton stood still, their eyes fixed on Yorick’s fallen body.

“Damn traitors.” Leighton stared at the blood and dust on the ground. “Does anyone know what this Fevre Claw is?”

Anne paused before answering. “Someone knows—someone from the Escape Room store I work in.” Her voice sounded cold and dropped like iron. “Humans received werewolves’ bites and wrote their messages in blood. Someone witnessed it.”

“Probably some rogue wolf group—Fevre Claws causing chaos and destruction, exposing the wolves to humans.”

My fur bristled beneath her words. War was coming—of that much, I was sure. We had to prepare for what no one seemed to understand.

But first, I needed someone else—the girl from my dreams. A loyal companion to keep the pack together and separate from the Fevre Claw, and the idea behind Faye’s people. My mate was the key to our survival, and if I wanted to pull it off, I’d need a loyal companion by my side.