I ran like the ground behind me was falling apart.
My lungs burned by the second street. My vision blurred by the third. By the fourth, I could not even hear my own footsteps. All I heard was the neighbor screaming my name over and over, frantic and sharp.
Something was wrong.
Something was wrong in a way that made the world tilt and slide and buckle under each step.
When I turned onto my street, the sight stopped me so fast my boots skidded.
A crowd stood in front of my house.
Neighbors. Wolves. People I had known since childhood. All with their hands over their mouths. Pale. Stiff and terrified.
Leah reached me seconds later, panting hard. Her hair stuck to her face. Her eyes widened when she saw the crowd. “Oh no.”
Nathan came into view behind her, slower, leaning heavily on the
