CROWNED BY CLAWS

ed in mist, its wooden cottages huddled close together as if seeking warmth against the creeping cold of night. Inside a mod

silver fur of a colossal wolf standing atop a jagged rock. The beast's golden eyes locked onto him-piercing, knowing. Then

t pounded like war drums, his breath coming in rag

ing in his chest. The wooden floor beneath his feet creaked, the only sound in the otherwise silent hut. Outside,

e life among them, yet he had never felt like one of them. His senses were too sharp, his instincts too strange. He could smell a storm before it arrived, hear whisper

rs

t this hour? Frowning, Eamon grabbe

beneath the moonlight. Strands of silver hair had escaped her

e," she whis

matics. If she was alarmed, there was reason to be.

shuttered windows. A heavy tension hung over Black Hollow, the k

is this abo

orches burned low, casting flickering shadows on the ground. In the center, two men lay dead. Their bodies wer

of blood fi

wed hard. "W

him. "That's what

ead into the eastern woods. Deep ones. Whatever did this walked on two legs before shifting to four

odd chill craw

e to track

e the best hunter we have. If

agers had always looked at him differently, as if sensing something unnatural about

in his gut, he knew this attack was connected to hi

he turned toward

find

, no night birds calling, no distant howl of wolves.

an any normal wolf's, yet with the distinct pattern of a creature walking upright before shifting t

nt was

scent of damp soil after rain, but something deeper. It stirr

he hea

rea

. C

form wreathed in shadow. Claws slashed through the air, missing his throat by inches

gleamed in t

no, not

ere

d with unnatural muscle, its fur black as midnight. Yet some

s belt, knowing it would be useless against a creature like thi

th

esit

ognition crossed

familiar in its scent, the beast

ent, neit

f attack, but of warning. It turned and vanished into the night,

arn

to prey. Not

arn

eath his fear, Eamon

ing an

waiting