Page 84 of The Ashpaw: Part One

Claws tore through the back of her dress.

She pitched forward hard enough to skin both palms on the ground, pain exploding through her knees.

Before she could rise, a massive weight slammed down ahead of her.

Harland, or what remained of him inside his beast.

Moonlight gleamed across enormous black fur, and saliva dripped from jaws large enough to crush her throat in a single bite. His ears were pinned forward and his eyes burned molten gold as he paced toward her.

He was toying with her, even now.

Fern scrambled backward desperately, shaking so hard her teeth chattered, and the wolf stalked closer.

Please…

Then Harland lunged, and something inside Fern finally broke, the world splitting apart in blinding sensation.

Her spine arched violently and heat tore through every limb, her dress ripping at the seams as bones twisted beneath flesh. Her scream collapsed into a sharp animal cry as instinct flooded her body so completely it drowned all her thoughts.

Her wolf surged forward at last, fur bursting across her skin, and the forest exploded with scent.

Earth, moss, moonlight, blood…

Wolf.

Harland skidded to a halt only feet away, shock flashing across his monstrous face as Fern stood on trembling legs.

Not as a woman, but a wolf.

Small compared to him, but still a wolf.

Her golden fur bristled high as fear and instinct collided violently inside her chest.

And then came a word. Just one. A word that explained everything and yet nothing at all.

A word Harland and her wolf knew the second he said it, piercing her mind like an arrow.

Omega…

Chapter 21

Fern

Fern watched through her wolf’s eyes, unable to do anything as Harland stepped forward.

Omega… he said again.

What does that mean? she asked her wolf, but her wolf only growled at Harland, refusing to answer.

She snapped her jaws, warning him to back off, but he wasn’t at all intimidated. He sniffed the air instead, circling around her, feinting lunges to test out her reactions.

Fern could feel her wolf’s terror.

Is he going to kill us? Fern asked.

Her wolf snarled. Worse.

What could possibly be worse than that?