060 | A BOY AND A MAN

And then a wolf leapt at me.

It was a blur of pale fur against the snow, crouching low, well beneath my eye line. Before I could move to help the boy, a head butted into my chest and I was sent stumbling backwards.

I snarled; without thinking I dove back into the fray, knocking the pale wolf to its knees and taking a chunk out of its neck. It bared its teeth at me, but I couldn’t look past the dark patch on its neck.

Dark, like a slick oil spill. Dark, but not red. In the dusk-light everything was painted in shades of grey, and I was overwhelmed with panic for a split second that Ares was gone. That I was cursed to see the world in black and white again. That the colour in my life had faded, torn from me along with my heart.

But the sky was purple, and Ares was growling as he slashed at the two wolves circling him, and I had lost precious time to my worry.

The pale wolf took its chance, snapping its teeth and clipping my ear. I spun, disorientated, and it grabbed my throat between its