Page 43 of Before the Bond
The black wolf stood with its back to me. Its sides heaved. It did not move from the position between me and the trees.
Finally, it turned.
I saw what I thought I’d never see again.
Red eyes.
I stood still. I breathed.
The wolf growled. I flinched. I expected it to attack me. Instead, its growl turned into a whimper. It shook violently.
I watched as its fur quivered. Its body bent. What little moonlight there was showed me a horror I didn’t think I could fathom. Bone and mass and fur rearranged itself. The large creature narrowed. The fur retracted.
In the place of the wolf, there was a man with the same red eyes.
I knew who it was.
“Caleb?”
The oldest Ashwood brother stood in front of me — bare chested, blood on his hands and shoulder. His red eyes flickered back to their original color.
Chapter 9
Caleb
Aforeign scent sat wrong along the eastern perimeter. I tracked it without thinking, the tension pressing against our territory staying with me as I moved.
I picked up Olivia’s scent in the distance. Stella said she’d be at The Tap. I didn’t think twice.
But then her scent changed.
Something I grew accustomed to over the years were the different fragments of Olivia’s scent. I could pick out her anger, her frustration, any unease or anxiety she felt.
Tonight, however, it was different. It was sharp — andwrong.
My heart sank.
I closed the distance as fast as I could. What was half a mile became nothing at all in a matter of seconds.
I didn't need to think about where I was going — I only needed to follow the pull of the bond.
I heard the impact. Metal. Tires losing the road.
My chest tightened.
I scanned the roads frantically.
In my wolf form, it was easy to make out shapes in the darkness. I could narrow my focus, zoom in through trees, and determine movement from other living creatures.
A brighter patch of light came from the slope below. I could see Olivia’s car flickering by a tree stump. The headlights died out as quickly as they’d come on.
In the distance, I could hear her running.
Olivia’s scream cut through me. That’s when I saw three more shadows move after her. I closed in. I hopped from the edges of the mountain and pursued the group on the ground.
They saw me. They sneered, then moved faster ahead.
The wolf inside me tensed. It had no desire to stay still any longer. After that, it blurred.
