We did—without question, without discussion—forming up as if we’d trained for this our entire lives. Griff shifted his stance slightly, shoulders rolling back in preparation. Bishop stepped a pace ahead of us. Nox moved to my right, eyes scanning the edge of the forest. Eamon stayed behind us, but he was ready to fight, too.
Elias stood in front of me, ever the leader.
The feral wolf crept closer, claws scraping softly over dried leaves. It crossed fully into the moonlight now, the glow outlining ribs that jutted too sharply beneath its hide. It circled, pacing, muscles bunching and releasing in jerky, uneven rhythms.
Then another stepped up beside it.
Then another.
They gathered at the edge of the yard, a loose, shifting line of broken bodies and burning eyes, the forest behind them alive with movement. Branches shook. Leaves rustled.
My grip tightened on my knife.
And then, another sound cut through the night.
Boots.
Human boots.
From behind us.
I looked over my shoulder to see figures emerge from the compound buildings and side corridors, silhouettes coming into focus as they stepped into the moonlight.
Clara Hines came first, medical badge still pinned crookedly to her vest, rifle braced against her shoulder with hands steadier than I’d ever seen them. Beside her was Corporal James Rowe, hand bandaged, eyes hard with resolve. Another followed, then another, all men and women who had stayed when Dane walked out.
“We heard the howls,” Clara called. “Figured you might need the help.”
Relief surged through me.
They fanned out instinctively, forming a rough second line behind us.
They just kept coming.
Out of doorways and shadowed corridors, from half-collapsed buildings and side yards I hadn’t even noticed before. Men and women stepped into the moonlight in ones and twos at first, then in clusters, then in a steady stream that made my pulse start to race for an entirely different reason.
I counted without meaning to. Twenty. Thirty. Fifty. And then the numbers stopped mattering, because the yard behind us filled until it felt like the night itself had taken shape and stood at our backs. Nearly a hundred souls, breathing together, lining up shoulder to shoulder behind wolves they’d once been taught to hate.
The feral at the edge of the forest snarled, pacing faster now.
The night held its breath.
And so did we.
CHAPTER 10
Tamsin
My heart pounded in my chest. Everyone beside me stood rigid, ready for the attack to come.
My fingers tightened around my knife until the leather wrap creaked.
And then the line broke and the first feral surged forward.
It hit the moonlit yard at a full sprint and for a split second my body wanted to recoil, but I didn’t move.
I waited.
Elias’s hand snapped down. “Now!”
