Three
EMMA
I shriek, throwing myself against the leather seat of the truck. Instinctually, I cower into Carter’s side, because even though he’s a stranger who manhandled me into this vehicle, he’s a hell of a lot better thanthat.
The monster stands at the bottom of the porch steps, illuminated by the headlights. It’s holding an armful of firewood, its wolfish head turned in our direction. Its tail twitches, a wag that stills when I scream again. The monster’s ears perk up, then it drops the firewood onto the porch steps and stalks toward the truck.
“No,” I gasp, “no, no! Help! Drive!” I smack the back of my hand hard on Troy’s chest. “What are you waiting for?”
“Ah,shit,” Troy says softly.
Carter, the fucking idiot, throws open the door on his side and jumps from the truck, rounding the front to intercept the monster.
“Noooo,” I moan, unable to tear my gaze away. He’s about to die, ripped apart by those white teeth glinting in the brightheadlights. “What’s he doing? Please, Troy,please, we have to go—we have to help him—God, why?”
I’m babbling, but my body unfreezes enough for me to find my phone in my purse. I don’t have any illusions about being able to hurt that monster with my little pocketknife, so I don’t even reach for it. Instead, I swipe the screen to open up my camera app and point it toward the monster.
If I die, at least the world will know what killed me.
But before I can so much as focus the camera on the monster, Troy’s big hand comes up. He cups the phone and my hand and gently brings them down to my lap.
“Wait,” he says. “Watch.”
A sob tears itself from my throat as Carter stops in front of the monster and puts a hand to its furry shoulder. He speaks to it in a low tone, and the monster—the wolf man, because that’s what he must be—jerks to attention, then squints against the headlights as if he’s trying to see into the cabin.
I cower down and lean against Troy. He puts his arm around my shoulders and draws me into his warmth, and some of my fear dissipates. Whatever is going on, he’s not afraid. Concerned, maybe, judging by his reaction earlier. But not scared in any way a rational human would be when confronted with a monster.
The wolf man leans into Carter now and drags his snout over his neck. I bite my lip, so sure he’s about to rip Carter’s throat out with his teeth, but instead, he just grins, his wolfish features lighting up. Behind him, his tail wags in earnest, swiping left to right.
It registers then that the monster is wearing sweatpants. Black sweatpants with an elastic waistband. His hands and bare feet are more human than wolf, despite the claws.
This evening is getting weirder by the minute.
The wolf man puts his clawed hands on Carter’s shoulders and hangs his head as if he’s winded. His entire body shudders.Then the tail disappears, his claws retract, and when he lifts his head, a handsome human face appears beneath a shock of messy, curly brown hair.
“What—?” My words freeze in my throat.
Troy tightens his hold on me. He presses his lips to the top of my head and breathes me in, then murmurs, “That’s Sebastian.”
Sebastian. As in?—
“Your roommate?” I breathe.
“Yep,” Troy says. “He’s the third member of our pack.”
Theirpack. I glance up at him to find his blue eyes focused on me.
“So you’re all…?”
I don’t finish the sentence, but then I don’t have to. He knows what I mean and simply inclines his head. And I don’t flinch away from him. Just a minute ago, I instinctively sought shelter in his arms at the sight of Sebastian’s monstrous form, so shying away from him now seems…ridiculous.
“We won’t hurt you, Emma,” he tells me. “We could never hurt you. Just as you couldn’t stab Carter or me.”
I don’t know what to make of that declaration. They don’t know me any more than I know them, so how can he be so sure of this?
Outside, Carter speaks softly to Sebastian, who flicks another glance in our direction, then takes off through the snow, barefoot, and bounds up the porch steps. Carter lets out a long breath that mists in the air in front of him. Then he returns to the passenger-side door and offers me his hand.
“Come on, let me help you down.”
