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He slapped me.
“Is that all you have?”
He put his knife to my cheek. “I think your smart mouth will be the first thing I slice off. Too bad, because it’s such a pretty mouth.”
I shivered and turned away from him. I prayed Billy Bob would show up. Or, if not him, at least some kind of cavalry. At least, Sunny was out.Please, Sunny, find yourself a big hole and hide. This guy’s partner was out there somewhere, and I hoped my friend wasn’t running straight into his arms.
You are strong, child. You are mine.
I don’t know why I felt relieved hearing Brother Wolf, but I did. It wasn’t like he could do anything for me, but it was nice not being alone.
I heard a truck engine. His partner? They had to kill me before the full moon. Hadn’t he said that? I curled my legs up under me to take pressure off my wrists.
Another vehicle roared to a stop then another and another. I cast a glance at my captor. “I think you’re in trouble now, bud.”
He stood up from his squat and stalked to the window. The skins covering him made a hissing-like noise when they moved, that made them seem alive. “Son of a bitch!” He turned on me, his hand shaking as he waved his blade. “I told you to come alone.”
“And I did.” Idiot.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “No. This has to happen. Has to. I can’t wait.” He was rambling now. He took a deep breath and sharpened his focus on me. “I can’t wait,” he said with an eerie calm.
He pulled a vial filled with a brown liquid from beneath his skin cloak and shook it at me. The oil substance dribbled down my face, choking me with the scent of sassafras. He began to chant as he raised his hands, curved blade up, and slowly walked toward me.
A tingle of pleasure rippled along my skin. I was turning. Oh, shit. He was calling my animal! Which meant, he planned to kill me now.
“Brother Wolf!” I cried out.
Reach for me, sister, he answered. I rose up so I could reach my pocket and yanked the eight-point star from where it rested and squeezed it tight. It pulsed with power against my skin. I stretched my mind, searching with my thoughts, until I could not only hear Brother Wolf’s howl, I could see him.
The killer caught me, yanking me to him. Suddenly, the colors of the world around me exploded as if I were in some fairy realm. It was so much like theaetherwhere Brother Wolf existed, only I was still in Sunny’s green and chocolate brown kitchen.
Weirdly, I could smell the pungent earthiness of the nearby woods. The rising moon called to me, and it felt incredible. I could not only smell everything, but I could also detect and sort each scent. I imagined what was happening to me was like a software upgrade, only without all the glitches. The cuffs holding me burst apart. I looked down at my paws. They were huge and…black, the color of pitch.
Brother Wolf? What’s happening?
You are becoming.
Great. Becoming what?
It didn’t matter now. Saving myself before this bastard could turn me into sushi was the most important task. Which, it turned out, was less a problem than I imagined. I must have looked pretty effing scary, because, by the time I’d completed the shift, he’d ran out the back door.
About that same time, Billy Bob burst through the front. He took one look at me, his eyes wide and his mouth grim. Unfettered fury vibrated along his skin. He had a gun in his hand, and I watched as he raised it in my direction. I turned my head to see if the killer had come back.
Nope.
Billy Bob was pointing the gun at me! Holy crap.
“Don’t shoot!” I said. Then snapped my muzzle shut. What should have come out of my mouth was a series of whines and barks, but instead, I was speaking like a human. “Doc,” I said. “It’s me, Chavvah. Put the gun down.”
Why wasn’t I turning back?Brother Wolf?
He didn’t answer.Great time to check out! Ugh.
Behind Billy Bob, Babe came running in, along with Sheriff Taylor, Farraday, Thompson, and Connelly, Dominic Tartan, Chance Lowry, Willy Boden, and Hans Fisk.
“Whoa!” Willy threw up her hands. “What in the hell is that thing?”
“Oh, Jesus,” I muttered.
