THE HOWLING DARK

ng closer now, like a pack of animals closing in. Her breath came in quick, shallow bursts,

hind her was empty. The howls continued, each one louder and more desperate than the last. They seemed t

h she hadn't realized she was holding. The warmth of the pub wrapped around her like a blanket, but the unease she'd felt outside didn't

as Emma entered, her eyes flickering briefly with concern

shake the feeling that something was wrong. "

t time someone had mentioned the howls. "It's just the wolves," Ruth said quietly, as if the answer wer

es? That didn't sound like

oor behind the bar and opened it, calling over her shoulder, "W

azed by her earlier reaction. They went about their business in quiet murmurs, not even acknowledging the unsettling noise that had

turned shortly with a mug of hot cider, setting it in front of E

the darkness outside. She could still hear the faintest echoes of the howls, but they were distant now,

ered to a near-whisper. "You'll get used to it. The howls. Th

d. "What do you mean, t

ass as if the conversation had never happened. "It's noth

a look that silenced her. It wasn't a warning, exactly.

r, but the questions swirling in her mind refused to settle. *What had she heard out there?* The howls had sounded so...