“Sebastian,” I whisper.
I remember being in Callum’s chambers, a silver letter opener in my hand, his hand rough and warm around mine.
Go for the throat, he told me.
In a sudden movement, I grab the knife. Before I can sink it through his pale flesh, he grabs my wrist. His other hand curls up into my hair, gripping tight.
I shriek—releasing the wildness in my soul—as I struggle against him. I try to push the blade against his neck. My scalp screams as Sebastian pulls my hair, and his fingers tighten around my wrist painfully.
He laughs. The sound is cold and dark, and his eyes flash with danger.
“Grew some teeth while you were with the Wolves, did you?” He bares my throat to him. He bends my wrist, hard, and the knife flies from my hand. “Not to worry. I’ve tamed many wild creatures in my time. I don’t like to be teased, Aurora. Especially not by little sluts like you. How about you show me what else you learned while you were being a whore to that Highfell beast?”
“Fuck you,” I hiss.
“Get on your knees.”
Fear and bile roll over me. The carriage blurs. I’m cold. Frozen.
“I said, get on your—”
Something hurtles into the side of the carriage, and the two of us are flung across the space. My shoulder slams painfully into the side as Sebastian’s body crashes into mine. For a moment, we’re a tangle of limbs and shattered glass and splintered wood. My head bashes against the ceiling, then the walls, as the carriage rolls.
It shudders to a halt on its side.
Everything is still.
I fight the adrenaline that’s making everything seem far away. I taste blood. My shoulder is crushed against one of the windows, and the carriage door is now above us. Long grass and jagged rocks splinter the glass. Sebastian stirs beside me, and there’s a crunching sound.
The knife has pierced the wood on the other side of his body. It glints in the moonlight that streams down. My pulse rages.
I lurch for it, shoving my knee into his crotch. He hisses, his eyelids flickering open.
Go for the throat.
In a swift movement, I slide the blade across Sebastian’s neck.
His eyes widen. He reaches for the wound as hot, red blood spills between his fingers.
“That is what I learned while being the whore to the Highfell Beast,” I snarl.
I expect to see horror on his face. Instead, his lips curve into a smile that mimics the slit across his throat.
“You. . . stupid. . . bitch. . .” he rasps as I lean over him. “Now you’ll. . . never know. . . the truth. Night. . . is . . . spreading. It will. . . take you all.”
A manic laugh bubbles from his lips with his last breath.
And then his body is still. Empty. Nothing but a grotesque and bloody statue of the monster he once was.
Disbelief crashes over me. I killed him. He’s really dead.
Shaking, I shove the door above me, and it flings open. I pull myself out of it, wood splintering my skin. Glass sprinkles off my dress when I stand. I think I am in shock, because everything feels far away. Cold adrenaline pumps through me, even though the danger has passed.
I stagger over the grass, almost tripping over the dismembered wheel of the carriage.
I’m in a clearing. The horses are gone. The man who was driving lies dead on the hill we rolled down. I’m alone.
The moon shines down on me, and the air has never tasted so sweet. It tastes like freedom. It tastes like a future I never dared to imagine. It tastes like hope.
I have just killed someone, and I’m sure I will feel something about that later. And yet, right now, I smile.
Until a growl rumbles through the night behind me.
I spin around.
A large brown wolf with markings on his legs stalks toward me, his muscles rippling with each thud of his paws. He bares his teeth.
I sigh, realizing what caused the carriage to roll over.
“James?” I say softly, soothingly. “It’s okay. It’s over. I killed him.”
His eyes flash with menace. I step back, frowning.
“James, what are you doing? You said. . .”
I sense the danger that emanates from him.
He is bigger, even, than Callum. The ground rumbles with every step he takes.
I do not know if he is angry I have robbed him of his kill, whether he wants to take something from Sebastian even after his death, or whether the wolf within him has taken over and just wants blood.
But his eyes promise death.
I release a half-laugh, almost manic, as hysteria bubbles inside me. I shake my head.
“No. You can’t do this. This cannot be the end.” My hand curls around the hilt of the bloody knife. “It can’t be.”
He growls, and I feel it vibrating through my soul.
“No.”
Yes, he seems to say.
I turn.
I run.
James crashes on top of me and the knife flies out of my grip. I scream as his teeth sink into my waist. He rolls me over, and hot blood pours from my body and paints his mouth crimson.
And I’m on fire. There is nothing but pain. Violence.
He snarls. He opens his jaw, exposing his sharp teeth.
I try to push him off me, but my body is heavy. So heavy. The life is draining out of me.
My vision blurs and I think of my mother. I wonder if I’ll see her again in the afterlife.
James is ripped from my body.
I blink as cold air bites into me. I can breathe again, but it hurts. Goddess, it hurts. A wolf snarls. I force my head to the side so I can see.
A large wolf, almost as big as James, is facing his king. His fur is tawny, and I catch the glint of forest-green in his eyes as the moon hits them.
“Callum,” I rasp.
The two Wolves growl as they circle one another.
Callum attacks.
He is as fierce, and feral, and vicious as I knew he could be. He tears into his brother’s throat, hurling him across the clearing as though he is a stuffed toy. James skids to a halt, unearthing grass and creating tracks in the mud.
The two launch through the air. They’re a blur of muscle and teeth. I cannot tell who is winning. I can barely see anything at all. Dots dance in front of my eyes and blood pools around me.
James slams Callum to the ground and sinks his teeth into Callum’s neck. Callum whimpers and the sound punctures my heart.
No.
The wind stirs around me.
No.
My body is weak, but I push myself up. I grip my side, and I force myself to stand. My legs tremble.
I move toward them and every step feels like I am pushing through syrup. My skin is clammy, and my hair sticks to my face. Blood pumps hot through my fingers.
I can’t let him kill Callum. My knees buckle and I fall, hard.
My eyes burn and Callum whines again.
I extend my arm, knowing I cannot reach him. Goddess, please.
There’s a flash of black fur.
The moon disappears behind the rolling Northlands clouds, plunging the land into darkness. When the black wolf crashes into James, the two of them shift into men and hurtle across the grass.
Callum shifts back too, and stumbles to his feet, his neck already healing. He turns to Blake, who has his hand curled around James’s neck. The scars on his muscular back are vivid even in the darkness.
“Get her out of here!” roars Blake. “Now!”
Callum bolts toward me.