Chapter 13: Sawyer

Elodie shot up from the ground and bolted.

"Hey!" It was all I could manage when the wolf pressed so close to the surface.

She didn't slow, just continued to run as if the devil himself were right behind. Straight in the direction of the blood source.

I took off after her, viciously suppressing the urge to howl at the chase, at the hunt. She was fast, leaping and dodging brush and fallen limbs with the agility of a deer. Fast enough to be like me?

The wolf rose just enough to let me catch her. I started to call her name, to reach out and stop her before she stumbled headlong into what was probably going to be a nightmare. But my mouth was crowded with extra teeth, and I had to fight my own reaction to the rising scent of fresh blood.

So it was Elodie who broke the tree line first. Elodie who stumbled and fell. Elodie who screamed.

I leapt after her, not caring at that moment that I was seconds from shifting, needing only to get between her and whatever had frightened her.