We run straight through the forest. We don’t bother with hiking paths. Instead, we crash through bushes and leap over fallen branches. As if I’m not freaked out enough, the sun begins to dip behind the mountains, and the thick trees start throwing long, creepy shadows. I want to peek behind me. But Justin doesn’t look back, so I don’t either.

“You don’t need to look,” says Justin. “They’re still behind us.”

I speak between gasps for breath. “Maybe we should circle back to town. My dad’s the sheriff. Maybe he could…”

Justin cuts me off. “Does your dad have silver bullets for his gun? Because if he doesn’t, Killer Paw will turn him into hamburger.”

Just the thought of Killer Paw getting his claws on my dad makes my heart feel like a lump of ice. “Then what are we going to do?”

“Keep running,” says Justin. “The woods are full of animal smells. There's even a real wolf pack out here. Killer Paw has our scent now, but maybe we can confuse him. If he loses our sent, we can get away.”

“And go where?” I ask.

Justin has a werewolf’s heightened sense of hearing, so I know he heard me. But he still doesn’t answer.

Because he doesn’t have an answer.

Even if we escape today, Killer Paw will catch us eventually. And when he does… I imagine terrifying snarls and sharp gnashing fangs. I imagine ripping flesh and bloody claws. I imagine screams of pain as the last of my blood leaks out of me.

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No. I push those thoughts from my mind and push on.

More than anything, I want to go home. I want to see my mom and dad, even my annoying sister. I want to curl up in bed with my pup Bizbee. But as long as Killer Paw chases me, that will never happen.

That’s when the thought hits me. I grab Justin’s wrist and stop running.

“I have an idea,” I say.

***

Killer Paw finds me waiting alone in the dark. I stand in the clearing among knee high grass near the old mine shaft entrance. The moon above isn’t full, but it’s big and bright. I can see the wicked smile on his lips as he slinks out of the tree line and struts towards me. The wolf boys in their grubby, ragged clothes hang back in the shadows of the tree. I can almost see the drool dripping from their grinning mouths.

“What’re you gonna do girl?” asks Killer Paw. “You gonna hide in that cave again? You think that’ll save you?”

“It worked last time, didn’t it?” I say, backing away from him. “Why didn’t one of you chase me in there? You big bad werewolves scared of the dark?”

Killer Paw’s smile grows wider, but he ignores my question. He squints, scanning the clearing. “Where did our buddy Justin go?”

My heart hammers away in my chest. “He abandoned me.”

“Funny,” says Killer Paw. “That doesn’t sound like something he’d do.”

“Well, he did,” I tell him. “He said I was slowing him down.”

Killer paw stops and sniffs the air. There is something unnatural about the way he cranes his head back and lifts his nose. A breeze swirls his long hair around like a waving black flag. “You’re lying. I can smell that little traitor. He’s close.” Killer Paw unbuttons his shirt. “And I’m going to find him.”

Right before my eyes, Killer Paw changes. His back arches. His clothes rip. His bones twist at impossible angles, making horrible cracking sounds. Long hair sprouts out from every inch of his flesh. His transformation is much quicker than mine had been. But it doesn’t look any less painful. First, Killer Paw laughs at the pain like some kind of psychopath. Then he screams in agony.

The scream turns into a savage howl.

The teenager is gone… replaced by a big, black wolf.