then build up fast. I fall down hard, knees hitting the cold floor, trying to brea

tly again. This can't be rea

deep, so full of mad. One of those is Caleb. "She now morph

to my ears: "Let her just hurt

y own arms feel wrong. My skin now feels rough and odd. I glance down

. Just made up tales told. But my own form s

inks loud, the lock sounds weak. I'm stuck now. I can't just f

he stops. Every

g nails, but the dark fuzz goes. My skin feels real now. I touch my face, sweat.

ke a mime showing harmlessness. But strange faces shadowed him, faces unkn

r. "What hit you was the beast coming alive

ng the shaky thing. "Wolves aren't

e back. "Ethan is like us. His kid is like us. You

eels. "That's bonke

e. He stood inside my hall, smiling a blade smile once more. "No

rply. "I don't b

Gold and blank, like a wolf stares by night. "But you do now. You h

rough like an icy drin

lugging the doorframe. They mean to grab me.

lass f

ds, a dark blur that moves too quick to follow. It strikes Marcus, sending him soaring a

ha

green light. His fangs are way too pointy. His form seems too large, like he might burst a

stop watching Marcus. "Use the ba

here," I say, wit

e sounds changed now, rough and risky. "My gr

skin goes thick, becoming dark. He's turning to something else, a scary and huge thing. By the time his

tight. "Move now. W

om his grip. "Just tell me what'

tells me. He pulls

too, but much bigger than Marcus. His fur is dark red now, like fresh blood. His eyes st

to glimpse them. They wreck my flat, busting up chairs and

thers climb the steps, many of them. "Keep go

e go now?"

ged now. You are not just Lila these days. You're the strongest alph

macks my face. I hear Ethan and Marcus fighting inside my flat, wr

waits in the street, the engine on. A lady s

han then?"

up. "But you and the child matter now. T

dy drives very fast, out of the street and onto the

Vanessa: "You hid once, you know. Etha

s not good. Just being alive, holding Ethan

my, feel the kid move. This kid brought danger here. This

travel?" I as

ews his phone, reads the notes he gets.

t. "Where Marcus can't find you now

's that?" I sp

eyes. "The mom of all who come after

n lights grow tiny behind. And I know what may