“Okay, shall we go and hand ourselves in?”
Legion shakes his head, amused. “Why not? Better to get it over and done with, right?”
He looks at us and kicks open the door. His dramatic effect is ruined because there is no one on the other side. We walk out onto the street, but the Beta’s Path pledges who had swarmed the street are suddenly gone. Vanished.
“I don’t like this at all,” Legion says uneasily.
The wind howls above us, and the world is cold and scarily empty. I take a step back, looking up at the carrion crows sitting on the side of the buildings watching us.
A growl grows in volume, harsh, wild, and savage.
My stomach flips. I turn around, and the Ravage Wolf is right there on the street, bigger than life, his eyes fixed on me.
“Oh, damn.”
Mordecai steps in front of me, glaring at the enormous monster. He looks worse now, with huge, bony protrusions poking through his forehead. They are weeping blood.
He snarls, showing all those huge teeth, his eyes glowing crimson. He looks completely insane.
“We should go!” Legion says and takes off.
We run, racing through the streets, but he’s too big and too fast, and when I go to jump inside a building, I find something terrifying.
The Beta’s Path pledges are inside, standing with swords pointed towards us.
The answer is clear; we need to run from the monster. There is nowhere else to go, nowhere to hide. Just a single street, us, and the wolf.
I turn around, hearing a scream.
The Ravage Wolf has Legion up against a wall, cutting off his escape. Mia screams at it and waves her arms, trying to distract it. It turns on her, but Legion jumps in front, and the blow the Ravage Wolf had aimed at her misses both of them.
It lets out an enraged roar, but I pick up a rock and throw it, hitting it in its forehead. It turns on me, abandoning its prey, darting towards me, snapping those wildly terrifying teeth. I dodge and sprint up the street, but it cuts me off.
Mordecai slams into its side, viciously shoving it into a brick wall, but it recovers quickly, too quickly.
I watch it with a feeling of intense unhappiness. This unstoppable wolf creature has been set loose on us, and I do not know how to make it stop. Can anything kill it?
“Cadel?”
“I can’t!” he shouts.
It ignores my alphas, coming for me again and again.
I stumble back and turn to run, but it gets in front and rakes its claws through the air, just missing me.
Jarek hits it hard enough to make it falter, but it ignores him. Cadel slams into it, and it stumbles, but it won’t stop.
Over and over, we spin and fight our way up the street, but it won’t give up on trying to kill me. I’m winded and just backing away now, stumbling back.
It throws off Mordecai, shakes off Jarek, and kicks Cadel, then it rears up, one huge paw with razor-sharp claws glinting in the air.
I stare up at my death.
He swings down. I forget to breathe, but nothing happens. I hear a grunt and find Mia standing there, her eyes wide open, mouth stretched in a pained circle.
“Mia!” I shriek and grab her, holding her as she collapses.
My alphas attack the wolf, driving it away, while Legion just stands there staring at her, looking lost.
