“Sugar makes her too hyper,” her mother adds, a bit frantic.
Realization hits me like a hammer. “There must be something in the punch. I don’t think they went berserk willingly.”
“You mean they were drugged?” Bea’s father asks.
“Something like that.”
“Well, we have to dosomething,” Val says, growing desperate. “Or else they’re going to kill us.”
The wood cracks, a split forming before my eyes. Val is right.
This table won’t last much longer.
Neither will we.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINEEDITH
Nils and I wrestle each other, all snarls and teeth.
He swipes out, his claws slicing my shoulder. I bellow in pain, sending spittle flying across his face. He’s going to regret that. Pushing his paws back, I find flesh, and sink my teeth into his chest. Blood fills my mouth, the coppery taste giving me a primal satisfaction.
Nils tears himself free. He lashes out at me, claws whistling through the air.
Those long arms of his make it hard to get close.
My gaze shifts to his shoulder as I recall Amund’s lessons. If I can sever muscle, I’ll be able to get an opening. When Nils swipes at me again, I catch his arm with my teeth. I bite down. Hard. He howls in agony, clawing my skull with his other paw.
But I don’t let go. Snarling, I bite until I feel bone crunch.
Blood curtains my vision.
Everything turns red.
My nose twitches, and I blow out a powerful snort, trying to clear the overpowering scent of blood. The searing pain in my skull. WhileI’m distracted, Nils sends me flying across the room. I slam into the wall, my head smacking stone.
I collapse, ears ringing from the impact.
As I look down, I see my mom’s hands instead of my own paws. She catches herself as she falls to the floor of her bedroom, my dad standing over her. I can’t tell if the stabbing pain in my skull is mine or hers from when she hit the dresser. My forehead is wet with the same blood that dripped down her face.
My neck aches as I look up at Nils. At my dad. At every man who ever hit a woman to make himself feel powerful. Emilía and my mom and so many others who had to fight for their lives. My entire body trembles with repressed rage.
The vision clears away.
I still have my mother’s claws.
A guttural growl climbs my throat. Something deep and ancient and primal reverberates through my body. Every hair stands on end, my hackles raised. My lips peel back. I am all teeth and claws. I am rage.
We wrestle for control, snarling and snapping at each other.
My teeth find fur. Flesh.
Vicious, I bite and rip and tear at him like the lamb I ate for dinner. Hunger consumes me. The smell of blood saturates the air, and I want more, more,more. I won’t stop until I’ve torn him limb from limb.
I overpower Nils, bringing him to the ground. My claws sink into his back, shredding any flesh I can find. I barely notice him start to change beneath me.
Bones snap back into place, fur retreats.
Soon the werewolf is nothing but a boy.
