32

32
That was my cue, eyes scanning the bleachers in search of reactions. Aiden and Clyde’s were hidden easily between labored breaths, while Mrs. Lowell visibly shuddered at the noise. I even caught poor Toby grabbing his ears in the crowd, reassured soon after by Noah’s mom.

And then my eyes stopped on Trevor.

I hadn’t even seen him enter the building; he just sort of blended into the background, not making himself noticeable with signs or face paint. His seat was in a perfect spot in relation to mine, allowing him to see me from practically every conceivable angle.

And he’d just flinched as if someone had clapped cymbals next to his ears.

“Oh my God.” I hadn’t realized I stood upright until Laura let out a startled gasp. I couldn’t turn away, knowing full well he’d catch me staring. Our eyes locked at last, his growing wide and wild as realization settled in.

In seconds, he’d stumbled to his feet and vaulted over the railing, making a dash for one of the gym’s back doors.

“Aria!” I barely heard Laura as I took off after him. “Hey, wh-what’s wrong?”

I had no idea what I was doing. I should’ve stayed in place, let Noah give the signal and have the guys chase after him. But something inside pulled me after him, like if I wasn’t the one to stop him, something horrible would happen.

It was my turn to crash through the double doors, scanning the outside lot for any sign of Trevor. The hairs on the back of my neck stood upright as I suddenly took to the ground, the air above me whistling as sharp claws raked overhead. I managed to roll against my good side and push back upright, coming face to face with the silhouette of the same wolf from downtown. Only now, his face was completely exposed.

Trevor’s voice rumbled deep from his chest as he spoke. “I gotta admit, I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to come after me.”

“I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to come tonight,” I spat back. “What, missed the meeting where you all should’ve been out in the woods with your pack leader?”

“He is not my leader,” Trevor snarled, ears pointed upright as if insulted by the very sentence. “And I’m the only one who isn’t afraid to say it.”

He suddenly lunged forward, fangs glittering as they aimed to sink into my cast once more. Boy, was he surprised when a silver arrow whizzed past, grazing him before sticking straight in the ground as blood pooled from his cheek.

“Aria, I told you to stay out of this!” A loud clunk sounded from the dark as Dad stepped out, crossbow trained on Trevor with a fresh bolt loaded in. It was the scariest I’d ever seen him look, moving with a sort of lethality I’d never imagined possible for him to possess.

Trevor snapped his jaws in frustration, wiping the blood from his cheek as he sized up the new circumstances. “I knew you should’ve died the minute you stepped foot in our territory, hunter.”

Dad stepped in front of me protectively, crossbow aloft as I shouted from behind. “So, what’s the plan here, Trevor? Kill me and piss off the guy who professionally killed your kind for a living?”

A dark chuckle slipped out of Trevor’s throat as he straightened himself, easily towering over the top of the door. “Call it a means to an end. If I know this one, I know he wouldn’t let your murder stand.”

A second bolt shot forward, missing Trevor by mere inches. It stuck into the wall behind him, giving him time to charge forward and slam his fist into Dad’s side. All he could manage was a choked gasp before tumbling to the ground, crossbow scattering across the grass.

“Dad!” I let out my own pained cry as Trevor’s hands grabbed around my waist, pinning my arm to the side while digging into the cast. It felt like someone had set my entire body on fire, each throb sending a new wave of agony throughout. “S-so, what?” I gasped out. “You just w-wanna see the world burn?”

“I want to see the true leader run our pack!” Trevor snarled. “Clyde’s father was too weak; we needed fresh blood in control. And then those Northerners took over.”

His teeth snapped angrily as he tightened his grip around me seemingly without realizing it. Only when I let out another whimper did he come back to reality, staring through me with the eyes of a merciless predator.

“All I could do was wait for my moment. And then you moved in.” A terrible sneer cut its way across his face as he pulled me in, far too close for comfort. “If I were to try anything, I’d become an outcast. But if the unsteady trust of a hunter was suddenly broken…?”

The realization soured my stomach immediately. “You’d use my dad to cause infighting. Either he’d kill Aiden’s family off—”

“Or I could use the chaos to do it myself!” Trevor cackled. “And I admit, I thought you had me for a second back there. I thought some outsider had ruined years of planning and waiting.”

A horribly familiar snapping sound soon filled the air as his face began to stretch and fill with dark fur. Bones broke and reshaped beneath, creating a terrifying monstrosity I’d only seen once before. Trevor’s teeth grew twice as large, mouth stretching open with enough space to easily fit my head inside.

Which might’ve been the next step, had some huge shadow not slammed into his back.

Knocked off-balance, Trevor lost his grip on me, leaving me in brief seconds of freefall as a massive pair of black claws dug into his shoulder, yanking him back before slamming him into the ground. A flash of light raced behind me, my back hitting something far too soft to be the ground before carefully lifting me up against their chest.

“Aiden,” I gasped, recognizing the blondish fur without a second’s thought. “How—you guys are huge.”

He flicked his snout to the sky, and I just barely caught the full moon from behind the clouds. Seeing how powerful Trevor actually was made my body feel weightless, the realization of how bad this could’ve gotten finally settling in. Dad really took that hit well, then, all things considering.

“Oh, God, Dad.” I craned my neck around, catching him still wheezing on the ground. “Aiden, can you—”

I didn’t even have to finish before he went bounding across the ground. Briefly, I caught the skirmish between Trevor and Clyde, sickened by the amount of bloodied fur on the both of them. Clyde’s ear had a clean nick through it, but he hardly seemed bothered as his claws swiped across Trevor’s face.

“Aria!” Relief filled Dad’s voice as he weakly pushed himself upright. Aiden eased me into his embrace and Dad squeezed me tight, tears falling against my face as he just sat and held me.

But the moment didn’t last long; another shriek pulled us back to the fight, Clyde tumbling back as Trevor rammed his shoulder into his chest. Aiden sprang into action, catching Clyde’s back and pulling him to the side so Trevor stumbled forward. That same synchronicity I saw on the court was in full display here, each seemingly reading the other’s movements as they struck Trevor with everything they had.

Finally, Trevor collapsed to the ground, arms pinned by Clyde and Aiden. Blood streamed down his face as he weakly snapped at the pair, but whatever fight he had left vanished the minute the back door swung open again. Mrs. Lowell came striding out at an uncomfortably slow pace, each step causing a gradual change to her body. Her hair lightened beneath the moon’s light, growing into wild curls that soon overtook her body and ran down her spine. Nails delicately hardened into claws, hanging by her side as ears pulled into seamless points. As gruesome as I found transformations, there was something eerily beautiful about hers. Like watching a dancer perform their masterpiece.

Trevor shifted back just enough to regain his power of speech, but before he could even open his mouth, Mrs. Lowell’s hand struck across his face. The sound was deafening, maybe more so than anything else from the fight itself. She then gestured to Clyde to step forward, taking his spot and digging her nails deep into Trevor’s skin as he let out a pained whine. Everyone looked surprised by the act, Clyde included. But eventually, he found his footing and stepped forward.