Chapter 3

I stood frozen in terror.

Hiking was nothing new to me, so neither was the threat of wildlife. I knew it was always possible for a bear to wander out of the forest at a moment’s notice. But I never thought I’d find myself in the path of a snarling wolf. I could do nothing but suck in a rigid breath, paralyzed with fear.

Running was hopeless. No one alive could outrun a wolf. And this particular wolf was looking at me like I was already sliced up and served on a golden platter.

Its eyes were mesmerizing—like little drops of moon. I found myself unable to look away from them, and as a result, the wolf seemed hooked onto mine, too. It bowed its head, snarling low, and stepped forward.

My heart leapt into my throat. What was I supposed to do? I knew the proper steps to surviving a wildlife attack, but they were buried beneath fear. There was no way I could recall them now.

What about that guy? The hot, cocky one back on the trail. He was the closest person to me, and he was hiking fast, but not

fast. Surely, he was still close by. Would he hear me if I called for help? My throat closed, fear seizing all the muscles in my body. It took serious effort to open my mouth and unleash a tight, “

”

My voice echoed into the trees. A flock of birds took flight from a cluster of branches nearby. But no one responded.

Shit shit shit.

How did one fend off a wolf? I had the answer somewhere in my brain, I just couldn’t recall it. Make yourself small? No—the opposite. I had to make myself large.

I was trembling, breath barely moving through my body. I had to do

. A large branch laid on the ground beside me, just an arm’s reach away. If I could grab it, maybe I could scare off the wolf. I edged for it, feet sliding slow against the leaf bed.

Suddenly, the snarling grew louder. The wolf didn’t like the sudden movement. It had lowered its head nearly to the ground, and it was slinking slowly toward me, ready to pounce.

I froze again. Then a thought came to me.

Wolves usually traveled in packs, didn’t they? Was this one alone, or was I totally surrounded and just didn’t know it?

In that case, it was now or never.

I lunged for the stick, wielding it high above me and waving it around.

“Get out of here!” I shouted at the wolf. “Leave me alone!”

But the beast simply lowered, that deep, rumbling snarl it emitted from its chest growing louder. It watched me with its moon eyes, tail whipping furiously behind it. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Shit. It wasn’t working.

“Help!” I shouted into the distance. “Someone help!”

I swung the branch at the wolf, but as my weight shifted, something twinged in my ankle. I stumbled to the ground and before I could look up, a snarl ripped through the air. Then the wolf was lunging at me.

It happened so quickly, I couldn’t move. A scream tore from my chest as I shoved myself away in a panic, seeing only the fierce grin of the wolf as it flew toward me. I cringed into myself, waiting for the pain to come. But instead, there was a sudden yelp, and then the sound of something pelting the ground.

I looked up to see that another wolf had crashed into the first and sent it sprawling to the forest floor. I scrambled to my feet and watched as the darker wolf loomed over the lighter one, muzzle curled back and teeth bared. A snarl ripped through the air as they tangled into one another, a tussling, tumbling ball of black and blond fur.

The sounds of snarling and yelping echoed in the distance as the beasts twisted about, chomping and writhing on the earthy ground. Suddenly, they came to a stop. The darker wolf had pinned the blond one to the ground, a tuft of pale fur scattered about. It snarled lowly in the blond wolf’s face, and in response, the beast seemed to submit.

Slowly, the blond wolf rose to its feet and slunk off into the woods, shooting one last glance over its shoulder as it went.

The remaining wolf looked back at me, and my breath caught in my throat. It was beautiful—its eyes like a dream. Green as peridot in the sunlight. Something about it was strange, though.

Almost… humanlike.

The wolf was watching me with a peculiar glare. I feared that if it lingered any longer, I’d be watching my life flash before my eyes a second time. Realizing I still had the stick in my hand, I waved it wildly at the beast. “Get out of here!”

The wolf didn’t seem frightened by me. Nor did it seem threatening. Rather, it turned away from me calmly and trotted off into the trees without another glance.

It was as if all my muscles unfroze at once. I booked it down the trail and back toward my car, chucking the stick blindly as I ran, feet beating against the earth. Even once I was off the trail and back to the road, I didn’t stop running. I threw my car door open and tossed myself inside, slamming it closed while a desperate breathlessness took over my lungs. It felt like my heart was going to explode.

What the

was that back there? God, this had to be the worst day imaginable.

First my boyfriend—no, my

-boyfriend—cheated on me, then I found out my full-ride scholarship simply vanished into thin air. Then I nearly get mauled by a wolf while on a hike that was meant to make me feel better about it all.

The whole thing sounded insane. Was I? Had I somehow imagined all of it?

No, that had definitely happened. I’d never forget the color of that wolf’s eyes…

Hands still trembling with adrenaline, I snatched my phone to the sight of several missed calls from Nikki. I fumbled over the call button a few times before I could get my trembling fingers to focus, then I dialed her back.

On the third ring, she answered. “Hey, girl! Are you still on your hike?”

“No,” I panted, trying to ease my breathing so I didn’t sound like such a psycho. “I just got back to the car. I need to tell you what just happened to me.”

“What?” Nikki sounded concerned. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”

“You’re not going to believe it,” I began. “So, after all the shit I just went through this morning, I nearly got my head torn off by a freaking

”

Saying it out loud felt surreal. That had

just happened to me.

“What? A

?” Nikki asked. “Are you shitting me?”

“

I wish I were joking, Nik,” I said. “But the thing just popped out right in front of me on the hiking trail. I seriously thought I was going to die.”

“What the fuck? That’s insane!” Nikki said. “How’d you get away?”

I thought back to it. The dark wolf that had emerged from the forest—the way it plowed into the thing and left after scaring it off. Like it had appeared from the trees for the sole purpose of saving my ass and vanished once the job was done. What the hell was that?

“That’s the weird thing,” I explained. “A second wolf came out from the forest and totally kicked its ass. It scared it off, and… I don’t know. It just kinda left after that.”

“Oh my god,” said Nikki. “I’m so glad you’re okay. You are okay, right?”

“Yeah,” I assured her. “It was crazy scary, but I’m good. But…” I couldn’t help but think back to the wolf. Its eyes and how human they looked. I felt its gaze still crawling under my skin.

“What is it?” Nikki pressed.

I gave a half-hearted laugh. “I can’t explain. I’ll just sound crazy.”

“Crazier than what you’ve already told me?” Nikki asked.

“Somehow, yes.”

Nikki didn’t hesitate. “Well, I gotta hear it, then. Go on—say it.”

“The second wolf… the one that came to my rescue… I get this weird vibe that it wasn’t coincidental.”

“What do you mean?” Nikki asked.

I closed my eyes, trying to figure out how exactly to put the feeling I had had when the second wolf had appeared. The feeling I’d gotten when I’d looked into the wolf’s green eyes… I was going to sound crazy, but fuck it.

Maybe Nikki was right. I had to just say it and put it out there. Besides, Nikki was my best friend. She was stuck with me, crazy or not.

I took a deep breath. “I feel like somehow… Somehow, the wolf was protecting me on purpose.”