A yelping howl stops the White Wolf in her tracks and that murderous glare of hers disappears. Her ears perk up as she glances down at the ground below. I follow her gaze and spot Justin fighting with a wolf boy. Except, this isn’t the Justin I know from art class. It’s the golden-brown wolf who saved me that horrible night. I watch, stunned. How did he turn so fast?

The golden chomps down hard on the wolf boy’s hind leg. His fangs draw blood and crunch bones. With a whimper, the wolf boy crawls away, dragging his shattered leg behind. Another one, a smoky, gray-furred wolf, backs away with his tail between his legs. Justin must have clawed him earlier, because blood drips from a gash under the wolf boy’s neck.

Letting out an angry bark, the White Wolf leaps from the cabin’s roof. Justin barely turns in time to face her. She crashes down on him and the two wolves tumble together across the clearing. They become a whirling, twirling mass of snapping fangs and slashing claws. I instantly think back to when Justin fought Killer Paw in the grocery store parking lot. Like then, this fight is complete chaos—violent and wild and terrifying. I want to look away but can’t.

Traitor! The White Wolf snarls. You betray your own kind for the humans?

The golden growls back at her. You’re not my kind.

Justin springs at her, fangs bared. He is all muscle and speed. But it doesn’t matter. Even wounded with blood painting her tangled fur, the White Wolf is too ferocious for him.

She slips away from Justin’s attack then dives at him, sinking her fangs into his hide, above the shoulder. The bite is deep enough to draw blood, but not deep enough to stop him. Justin rips himself away from her but doesn’t escape in time. Her claws flash in the moonlight as they cut through fur and flesh.

Now it’s Justin’s turn to let out a yelp, just like the wolf boys had. He slinks away from the White Wolf, leaving a trail of red on the dirt. She stalks towards him.

Gotta do something. I can’t let her kill Justin, not after he saved me.

Lunging, the White Wolf snaps at Justin’s throat. She misses by inches but forces Justin to scramble backwards. She rushes forward and claws him again and again. Justin does a clumsy somersault, his legs flopping around wildly. Then he rolls back up to his feet. He legs twitch. Blood splatters his golden fur. He growls at her, trying to look brave and strong. But it’s only a matter of time before she gets a hold of him and…

No! I can’t let that happen.

Frantically, I search the rooftop, desperate to find a weapon of some sort. But there’s nothing up here that’s of any use. Including me.

I’m useless.

That’s when I see my dim shadow cast down on the roof shingles. Craning my neck around, I spot the crescent moon high hanging there in an inky, cloudless sky. I gaze at my hand a moment, the veins bulging beneath my skin. Then I close my eyes and mumble something close to a prayer.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Come on. Come on. Please.

Pain suddenly surges through my body like a jolt of electricity. It’s a dull ache at first, then it stabs deep and quick all the way to my bones. I cringe and hunch over, feeling my teeth turn into knives. Feeling hair erupt from my flesh. My bones stretch and crack. My fingernails curve into claws. Throwing my head back, I let loose with a terrifying wolf’s howl.

Then I jump.

My wolf body cannonballs against the White Wolf’s back, sending her crashing face first into the ground. She lets out a harsh growl and rears up, throwing me off of her. I bounce and roll through the clearing, only coming to a stop when I smack against a tree stump. Justin drags his wounded body towards me. The smell of his salty blood mixes with the sweet lavender perfume.

The White Wolf prowls closer, an angry sneer on her lips. Congrats, young Kat. You’ve finally embraced your inner wolf. Unfortunately, it’s too little, too late. I’ve made a decision about your little sister. I’m not going to turn her into one of us. I’m going to turn her into dinner.

I want to scream “shut up” at the top of my lungs. But all that comes out is a sobbing growl.

Licking her lips, the White Wolf inches towards us a little more. And I won’t stop with your sister. Oh no. That whole little scout troop will soon be my buffet.

Her whispers send a tremor through my whole body. I don’t know how, but I need to stop her. Somehow, I need to…

I catch sight of something behind her, an object shining in the darkness. My eyes flick to Justin. Even wounded and exhausted, he notices it too. He gives me a silent nod and hunches low, coiling his leg muscles beneath him. If flexing like this hurts him, he doesn’t show it. I follow his lead, feeling my claws sink into the rough earth.

The White Wolf continues her rant, like this is her moment. Like Justin and I are nothing. Your mom, your best friend… They’re all going to die. And it’s all your fault.

Her words are meant to rip my heart out. She wants me to cry… to beg. But that’s not happening.

Justin and I let out one last growl and spring at her. The White Wolf rears up to meet us, fangs gleaming in the moonlight.

We don’t go for her throat. We drop our heads and smash into her with the hard bones of our shoulders. Alone, neither of us could move her an inch. But together, we slam into her like pair of flying cinderblocks. Those coal black eyes open real wide and the White Wolf topples over, falling backwards.

For the rest of my life, I’ll remember that horrible crunch sound. I’ll remember the White Wolf’s howling wail too. Sad and angry and desperate all at the same time. Like she can’t believe this is happening to her.

Her body thrashes violently then trembles all over. A few seconds later, the White Wolf goes quiet and her body slumps over. My dad’s silver basketball trophy sticks out of her back, blood dripping from its base.

I can’t take my eyes off of her. Any moment, I expect the wolf to transform back into my art teacher Miss Chaney. That’s what happens in the movies, right? But this isn’t a movie. There are no last-minute special effects to wow a theater audience. The White Wolf just lies there, all the life drained out of those once fearsome eyes.

A low growl breaks me out of my daze. It’s Justin, the fur on his back all spiked and prickly. The wolf boys creep towards us, there eyes narrow and hard. I’m too exhausted to run away, so I bare my fangs hoping to scare them off. It doesn’t work.

Closer and closer, they creep. Justin does his best to look intimidating. But after the White Wolf thrashed him around, I know he doesn’t have much more fight left in him.

It doesn’t look good for us.

But then the wolf boys do the unexpected. They stop a few feet from us and droop low, eyeing the ground and bowing their heads to us.

Maybe I saw it once on YouTube. Or maybe it’s some primal wolf instinct deep inside of me. Either way, I somehow know that the wolf boys are giving up.

Justin gathers whatever strength he has left and strides towards the wolf boys. When he is standing among them, he tips his bloody head back a lets out a howl that echoes through the whole forest.

One by one, the wolf boys throw their heads back and join him. And so do I.