Page 152 of Such Sharp Teeth

I hang my head to show I’m not a threat, stagger backward. I feel transcendently calm but precariously unsteady. I lean against a tree. I stare at my fur as it shines. I am pure silver.

“What the fuck . . . ?” He doesn’t sound afraid. More confused.

I sniff for his fear, but I catch another scent instead.

Another animal.

Another . . .

I hunch forward, adopting my predator posture.

“Shit,” Ian says.

My thoughts are mine, and it’s my word, but it’s not my voice that speaks it. It’s the wolf’s.

“Ruuuunnnnnn!”

A scathing howl echoes through the night. Only it isn’t coming from me.

A shape emerges in the mist, high on the hill, through an arch of mangled branches. A ravenous panting scares the woods silent. A crimson glow pierces the haze, and then the moon lolls forward, illuminating the threat.

“What the fuck!” He needs to run. Why hasn’t he started running?

It’s her. It’s Mia.

She creeps, body low, head high. Sharp, pointed ears, a long frothing snout, teeth like ivory daggers. Starving mad.

There’s a flit of fur, a sudden shuddering of branches.

Ian turns to me. It’s enough, the moonlight. Generous enough for me to see the brilliant blue of his eyes. And cruel enough for me to see.

It’s too late for him to run.

She’s on him.

A giant gnarl of fur. A spine curled too far over. A head rearing back. A luster, the sheen of teeth.

I push off my hind legs to cut between them, a growl burning my throat.

Mia lifts her head with a snarl. A sudden burst of pain blurs my vision. She’s got me. She’s eating me. Chewing my shoulder, chewing down to the bone. With her teeth, the strength of her jaws alone, she throws me into the air. I land facedown and she climbs onto my back, forcing me down into the snow, crushing me. I’m sustaining too much damage. She’s got my arm now. It’s pulled back at a frightening angle. She heaves into my ear, and I understand.

It’s eat or be eaten.

“Hey!” A rock whizzes overhead. “Hey!”

It’s Ian.

He’s okay.

At least for now.

Mia’s head swivels, and she’s after him.

I struggle to stand. I’m afraid I’m not strong enough. I’m afraid the silver has made me weak. That I am weak, and only the wolf is strong.

In the distance, I see them. They’re doused in moonlight. She chases him onto the road. She’s closing in.

A sound reigns over the night.