A distant, guttural howl.
Liana froze. Her blood ran cold. This time it wasn’t the wind. That was surely a live animal. She turned sharply and scanned around her. The sound echoed again. This time it was closer, threading through the trees.
“Eddie?” she called out. Her voice cracked as panic took over. “Please!”
Nothing answered but the wind.
Her heart hammered against her chest so hard she could feel it all the way in to her fingertips. She stumbled forward, half running, half falling. She had to find the car. Had to find some kind of shelter. The snow blurred her vision, her lashes heavy with ice.
Shapes formed off in the distance. Her breath caught. The road. She was sure of it. She could see a faint dip in the landscape where the road must be buried.
And there was a darker shadow. The outline of something—her car! It had to be.
Relief flooded her so fast she almost sobbed.
“Yes,” she gasped. She dragged herself through the snow toward the car. “Finally!”
The howl came again.
Closer.
Terror gripped her. Liana didn’t dare look back. Every instinct screamed for her to move. She half ran, half crawled. The snow was up to her thighs now. Her ankle screamed, but she barely felt it. Her lungs burned. She didn’t care.
Her fingers, stiff and clumsy from the cold, brushed the frozen metal of the driver’s door. She could have cried.
She yanked on the handle. It didn’t budge. Ice crusted over the edges, sealing it tight.
“No, no, no.” She tugged harder, pounding her fist on the frame until pain shot up her arm. The handle finally gave a little, but it still wouldn’t open. The cold had welded it shut.
She leaned her forehead on the window. Herbreaths were coming in hard pants, and she fought the dizzying blur in her vision. Her reflection stared back at her. Her lips were dark, her lashes thick with ice, and there was nothing but fear in her eyes. She wasn’t going to die here. Not when she’d come this far.
Her head snapped up at a howl that was too close to comfort. Her breath fogged the glass as she peered through the frost. And then she saw it. A shape creeping through the storm. Dark fur, massive shoulders, eyes that caught what little light there was and gleamed like embers.
A wolf.
Huge and wild, and somehow it looked wrong.
Her body locked up, breath frozen in her chest. The thing was watching her. Studying her.
“No,” she whispered.
This had to be the feral wolf that Eddie had told her about. This was no ordinary wolf. It took another step in her direction. She fumbled for the door handle again. Her gloves slipped. She ripped them off and ignored the burn of the cold against her bare skin and yanked with everything she had. The door groaned, ice cracking around the seal, and finally gave.
She threw herself inside and slammed it shut behind her. She hit the lock, her hands shaking. The air inside the car was frigid. Her breath floated in the dim light like mist. She curled up in the seat, shivering and trying not to make a sound. The silence pressed in around her.
Then came the crunch of snow.
Liana turned her head slowly toward the windshield. Through the patch of glass not covered by snow, she could see it. The wolf. It stood in front of the car. Steam rose from its breath in the icy air. Its fur was dark, matted, and the shoulders rippled as it prowled. Its eyes were locked on her.
It stalked closer one step at a time. It circled the vehicle. It brushed the side, and the car shook slightly. It dragged its claws along the side of the car, damaging the metal.
Liana pressed back in the seat, every nerve screaming, her pulse pounding in her throat.
“Eddie,” she whispered.
The wolf stopped in front of the car. It lifted its head and howled.
The sound tore through the storm. It was wild, guttural, and tortuous.