There's no time to waste

"What's the plan?" The words drift past me, caught somewhere at the edge of my awareness. When I'm locked onto a hunt, everything else fades. It's like the world narrows to a single point and nothing else exists. Nothing can pull me away from it.

I leave the room without looking back. Alex and Carina remain behind with Sofia. I pass Eli and Lucas in the hallway, their faces painted with confusion, but I don't stop. I'm hardly conscious of the three lycans falling into step behind me as I move through the packhouse.

When I reach the entrance at the base of the building, I kick off my shoes and begin working with the spear. The weight of it, the balance, I need to know it intimately. I twirl it between my palms, send it spinning around my body. My thighs ache from weeks of disuse, so I stretch them out. My back cracks as I roll my shoulders. My neck pops when I tilt my head side to side. I'm preparing this body for what's coming.

I lift my face to the sky and let the wind find me. Every hair on my arms rises. I close my eyes and let the breeze tell me where the creature is coming from. When it washes across my face, I catch it. The stench of rotting flesh and decay. It's coming from the North. My mind latches onto that scent and holds tight.

My prey is out there.

I can feel it moving toward us. Fast. Relentless. The wolves have thrown everything they have at it, and still it comes.

I don't waste another second. I run.

My feet carry me past the open fields where I played as a child, chasing friends through tall grass without a care in the world. I fly past the clinic where I learned what it meant to heal, where I discovered the person I wanted to become. I race past the orphanage, that first place that welcomed me into this pack, the place that eventually led me to a family.

My speed is something else entirely. The ground blurs beneath me, and it almost feels like my feet aren't touching anything at all. The wind stings my eyes, but they adjust quickly. I can vaguely make out the heavy footsteps of the lycans behind me. They must have shifted into their beast forms to match my pace. The muscles in my legs scream as I push harder, faster.

We break into a clearing, and something makes me stop cold.

The silence is wrong. All wrong. I can't hear the wolves anymore. I can't feel the beast. Even the wind has died, leaving everything unnaturally still.

I crouch low and press my palm flat against the soil. The forest speaks to me through the dirt, through the roots that stretch beneath us. And then I feel it. The chaos heading our way.

In the distance, I catch the howls. Wolves calling for retreat, and they're heading straight for us.

Noah, a lycan I know well, positions himself between me and whatever is coming. His massive body blocks my view entirely. He doesn't understand that I'm the only one who can see this thing clearly. He doesn't realize that protecting me is the last thing he should be worried about. It's my job to protect him. To protect all of them.

I don't get a moment to appreciate his midnight fur before the first wolves appear.

They're running like hell itself is chasing them, sprinting toward the packhouse and the final line of defense. They bought everyone time to hide. They gave the lycans a chance to escape. The plan should have worked. But all of us, myself included, failed to understand what we were dealing with. I never imagined the beast could tear through our strongest warriors so quickly. Yet here it is, barely half a mile from the packhouse.

That won't happen again. I won't let it.

More wolves pour past us. In the distance, I watch trees bend and groan under an impossible weight. Then I see it. The beast. Walking toward the clearing where we stand.

I don't hesitate. I dart around Noah and charge straight at the creature, now fully visible to my eyes.

I was right the first time. This thing matches every description from the old stories. A chimera. The head of a lion. The torso of something almost human. A long tail whipping behind it. Hooves where feet should be. I curse myself for not paying better attention in those lessons when I was young. What were their weaknesses? How does someone kill something like this? Where do they even come from?

No time for those questions now. The beast has spotted me. It raises one enormous foot and tries to crush me, but I dodge it easily. Then comes its arm, swinging down to flatten me. I sidestep that too. Its face twists into a scowl. I'm becoming an irritation.

I use its arm, still pressed against the ground, as a ramp. I climb onto it, scrambling toward its face. My plan is simple. Blind it. If I can take out its eyes, we might stand a chance.

I launch myself forward, spear leading the way, and drive the weapon straight into its first eye. The blade sinks in without resistance. I can't help the smile that spreads across my face when the beast screams. This is good. This is the first victory.

But when I reach for the spear to pull it free, the creature thrashes wildly. The movement sends me flying. My back slams into a tree with a sickening crack. Pain explodes through me, and stars burst across my vision.

Noah is at my side in an instant, his huge form crouched low to help me up.

There's no time to waste. Not if we want to kill this thing before it kills all of us.

"The spear is stuck in its left eye! It'll show you and the others where to strike! Go!"

Noah races back to the clearing to spread the word. An attack is organized within moments. I force myself to my feet and follow. I need that spear back. But more than that, I need to figure out how we're actually going to kill this monster. The others attacking will buy me time to study it. At least, that's what I hope.

The beast shakes off its attackers and those white eyes sweep across the clearing. Searching. Looking for something. Looking for me.

It finds me. Our eyes lock. And then it charges, full speed, fury burning in its gaze.

Now I'm the one being hunted.