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A deep howl tore through the night.

Night Mist

Ambient Realms

Completely out of breath, I came to a halt.

My heart stopped.

No...

With a sense of foreboding, I looked up through the bony branches of the still bare trees at the bloated-looking... full moon.

“Shit...”

In all my haste, I had forgotten that I wasn't even supposed to leave the estate today, because the pack was hunting in the endless forests of the island, driven by the full moon and an intoxicating hunting instinct that could turn anything with a heartbeat into potential prey.

Alarik had explained it to me, had asked me to close doors and windows on full-moon nights and not even walk in the hallway, because the younger Senseque and Omegas in particular were more subject to their instincts and quite a few of them displayed aggressive tendencies.

And suddenly I realized how reckless I had been.

It could be miles to the beach. What if I was running toward the downtown area? Or back to the estate? Or even worse... toward Fogs Forest?

Paralyzed, I stood in the middle of the dark thicket, feeling the cold creeping into my trousers.

Which direction had I come from? And since when was it so foggy here?

Another howl sounded.

I jerked my head around.

It had come from the direction I had wanted to run toward. At least, I thought that was the direction...

Despair overwhelmed me.

Another howl. Closer.

Crack.

I spun around again.

It had come from the bush over there...

Goosebumps crawled greedily over my body and I pulled my dark blue rain jacket even tighter around my waist, as if it could protect me from my own fear.

I wanted to run, but tears were still streaming from my eyes. And just before I could rush back to the car, a loud growl sounded from that very direction.

I backed away against one of the trees, listening to every little sound.

After a while, a mixture of tiredness and exhaustion overtook my body, overpowering the adrenaline, and I slid down the tree trunk onto the forest floor.

Shortly before I hadn't been able to stand it any longer on the estate, I had taken sleeping pills so that I could finally drift off into an endless sleep and bury the feeling in my chest and wrists – at least temporarily – under fatigue.

A goddamn mistake.

But what could I do? I couldn't leave here... What if I encountered one of them?

Emely had told me that most of the pack didn't usually attack humans, but Alarik's warnings weighed heavier.