I looked away, shuffling my feet, peering over the edge where death was a mere misstep away. The adrenaline surge from the near disaster hadn't faded as Beth's lips continued to meet Wade's. It was like watching an unexpected flame spark to life in the middle of a hurricane.
"This would be nice if we weren't actually chasing someone," I muttered under my breath, half to myself, half hoping they'd snap out of it.
Daniel cleared his throat, a low, rumbling sound that seemed to echo off the cliffside. "Hello," he said bluntly, his green eyes darting from the couple to the wilderness around us.
Beth and Wade jumped apart, like two magnets suddenly repelling each other. "Sorry," Beth mumbled, cheeks flushed.
Wade ran a hand through his hair, looking anywhere but at us.
"Daniel, where now?" I asked. The fall had jolted us all, and my whole body throbbed in complaint.
"Stay close," he commanded, his eyes scanning the treacherous terrain.
We edged along the cliffside, Daniel's large frame leading the way. Each step was cautious, deliberate. His hand occasionally swept back to ensure we were still in line—his protective nature on full display despite the urgency of our pursuit.
"Here," he finally said, pointing toward a narrow path that cut away from the sheer drop. It looked like it might be our ticket out of this mess.
"Looks good," I acknowledged, eager to put distance between us and the jagged rocks hugging our every step.
We headed down the trail, away from the rocky edge. The trees crowded in around us, and the moonlight peeked in and out from behind the clouds up ahead, giving an eerie feeling to the woods around us.
"Shh!" Beth hissed suddenly, freezing mid-step.
A low growl rolled through the underbrush, stopping us cold. We weren't alone. The trees rustled, and then he was there—a werewolf, its fur bristling, its eyes a pair of glowing coals fixed on us.
I’d never seen a werewolf before, but I never imagined anything like this. It was bigger than a human on all fours, bigger and made of pure muscle. Stringy, unhealthy-looking hair spilled off of it, and its head seemed abnormally big compared to the rest of its body, with tall ears, big eyes, and huge teeth. Everything about it was unnatural, wrong, not like the supernatural creatures I’d met before this.
I was terrified to move. Terrified to breathe. The thought of one bite from that thing changing one of us into a werewolf forever was like a nightmare brought to life.
"Damn it," Wade whispered. "We can’t catch a break."
"Back off slowly," Daniel instructed, his voice a calm contrast to the spike of fear that shot through me.
The werewolf stepped forward, muscles tensing, lips pulling back further to reveal lethal canines. It was all teeth and anger, a snarling warning that we were in its territory now.
"There’s no way any of us can take that thing,” I whispered.
"Not true,” Daniel said softly in front of me.
"Daniel!" I shouted. But my voice was drowned out by the sound of bones cracking, flesh reshaping. Daniel's body contorted, expanding in a flurry of reddish-brown fur as he shifted into a bear.
His roar filled the air, a deep, rumbling challenge to the werewolf's snarl. The two beasts stood there, growling, sizing each other up. My heart hammered against my ribs; fear gripped me like icy claws. Daniel might have been bigger, but this thing was built for pain, and its bite held a curse none of us wanted.
"Daniel, what if it bites you?" I managed to gasp out, struggling to keep my voice steady. Images of Daniel hurt, possibly infected, flashed through my mind.
He couldn't answer, his lips now too busy baring teeth as a bear than forming words as a man. His green eyes, once crinkling with laughter, were now wild, focused solely on the threat before us.
"Will he be okay?" I asked.
Wade's dark blue eyes met mine, his face grim. "If it bites him, Daniel gets infected. Werewolf bites are nasty, even for a shifter."
"Infected? But he's already—" My words faltered as the reality of the situation sank in. We didn't have time to ponder the what-ifs; we needed action.
Maybe Beth had a spell or a potion she could use. Or, mermaids have powers, don’t they? And I… I’m Karma. Except, I can’t… or can I?
"Wait," I said, stepping forward. The werewolf was still human somewhere deep inside, and that meant I could reach him. My powers, they had to work.
"Wait—" Wade warned, but I was already focusing on the task at hand.
