Chapter 12

Chapter

Twelve

Destin

T he world shifted. Not physically, but emotionally. The air hummed with a sudden tension, a ripple of wrongness. Lana had just asked me a question, but I couldn't focus. There was no scent, no rustle in the leaves. Just the gnawing pull of instincts that had kept me alive for years. Something was coming. I knew it like I knew my own heartbeat.

The sensation peaked in front of me, and I crouched, launching myself toward Lana. Her head whipped around, eyes wide with shock, but before she could move, I was airborne. My body twisted mid-leap, bones snapping, sinew reshaping in a blur of heat and motion. My clothes shredded, left behind as my paws hit the ground with a thud.

The fur along my spine bristled as I collided with something that slipped out of the shadows like a nightmare made real. Gaunt and skeletal, its bone-white skin stretched tight over impossibly long limbs. Its eyes burned a sickly red, glowing with hunger, and its mouth opened in a silent, snarling grin.

A Bone Stalker. The kind of creature you heard about as a pup, tucked in by the fire, tales spun to keep you close to the den and out of the woods. I used to think those stories were bullshit. Just something the old wolves made up to scare us.

Until I'd seen one in the woods for myself.

I slashed at its chest with my claws, but the thing didn't bleed. It moved like a broken puppet—fluid and wrong all at once, its joints creaking as it twisted out of reach. I snapped my jaws at its neck, but it jerked away, limbs bending at angles that shouldn't exist.

Where the hell had this thing come from? My mind raced even as my instincts kept me moving, dodging and striking, but it was relentless. The damn thing moved like water, fluid and silent, slipping between my attacks without a pause. No hesitation. No pain. Just endless hunger.

I couldn't tell Lana to get out of there. Couldn't do anything but keep the stalker at bay. Fire. That was all I could remember about my research back then. Fire could kill them. Not helpful in the least.

The creature lunged again, and this time, I was ready. I shifted my weight at the last second, slamming my shoulder hard into its ribs. The brittle creak of bone reverberated through my chest, and the thing staggered back a step but didn't fall. Damn it.

I flicked my gaze toward Lana. She was scrambling in the dirt, her hands reaching for the dagger. After the incident with the birds from hell, Lana was sure she understood what these creatures were after, and I couldn't argue. But to protect the dagger, she couldn't shift. She couldn't protect herself.

A growl rumbled low in my throat. No way in hell was I letting this thing get anywhere near her. With a savage snarl, I launched myself at the Bone Stalker, claws gleaming under the thin sliver of moonlight that slipped through the trees.

Lana clenched the dagger, her knuckles white, and then another Bone Stalker burst into the clearing. It moved with the same eerie silence, its eyes locked onto her. It swayed back and forth, its bony limbs twitching, then lunged. Lana's reflexes kicked in, and she pivoted on her heel, bringing the dagger up just in time. The blade sank into the creature's side, and for a split second, it seemed to hang in midair. Then it howled, a sound that was more vibration than noise, and recoiled just as my stalker attacked again.

We weren't going to win this fight. Not with Lana forced to stay in human form. She could spar, but not with creatures like this. I wouldn't chance a fight without my wolf.

I had to get a message to her. As terrified as I was about what would happen with the stone, she needed to activate it. If the ground tried to swallow us up like it had the last time I was here, so be it. Maybe it would take the bone stalkers with us.

My jaws clamped around the first Bone Stalker's throat as it tore toward my belly. I shook it like a rag doll, and tossed it toward the rock face. With a sickening crunch, the creature went limp. It wouldn't last long.

I bolted toward Lana, knocking the stalker back, then growling and tossing my head toward the stone.

Lana understood instantly. She didn't hesitate, just dragged the dagger over her palm, wincing as the blade bit into her skin. Blood welled up, and she smeared it across the surface of the stone.

The second stalker was on me, and the first was lifting to its feet. I fought. My jaws snapped, but I was tiring fast.

At first, nothing happened, but then the stone began to pulse with a soft, inner light. The air around us grew thick and heavy, like the atmosphere before a storm.

The Bone Stalker growled, lashing out, its movements jerky and desperate. Something was happening. It lunged with ferocity toward Lana, and I threw my body in front of it as the light from the stone grew brighter, tendrils of light beginning to curl and twist, reaching out like living things.

I didn't have time to admire it. I lunged, crashing into the Bone Stalker on my left. The creature screeched, its bony claws scraping against my fur, but I didn't back down. He was not getting to Lana.

Then pure energy surged through me. The bone stalkers screeched in unison, their bone-white forms blurring as they lunged. But it was too late. Lana's hand was on my back, and I was being dragged back toward her.

My vision blurred, the air around me thickening like I was falling through honey. Darkness swirled, punctuated by flashes of light. This was it. We were being swallowed up.

But it felt nothing like the first time. The ground wasn't shaking, instead it seemed to disappear entirely. My stomach lurched as if I were plummeting off a cliff. I wanted to cry out, to search for Lana, but even the sound of my breath was swallowed by the void. There was nothing but the rush of air and the strange, otherworldly glow.

Then, as suddenly as it began, it was over. My feet hit solid ground. Feet, not paws. The world snapped into focus, and I blinked, my eyes adjusting.

Everything was quiet. Too quiet. I spun, my heart still racing, and realized we were no longer in the clearing. Or at least, not in the same clearing. The trees around us were the same, but there was a quality to the air, a softness to the light that made everything seem ethereal. Like we were in a dream.

"What is this place?" Lana's voice was a whisper.

I whirled to face her. We were both human again, but not the same. Lana wore a dress that looked like it belonged in a museum. The fabric was soft and flowing, with intricate lace detailing. A corset cinched her waist, and the sleeves puffed out at her shoulders before tapering down to her wrists. It was beautiful, but by the scowl on her face, she wasn't a fan.

I couldn't blame her. It was completely impractical. I glanced down and saw I was magically clothed. I wore a waistcoat over a crisp white shirt, with dark trousers and polished boots. I frowned, running a hand through my hair. "This is... I don't know what this is."

This was insane. It had to be some kind of hallucination. Maybe we'd hit our heads on the way down. We were dead and didn't even know it.

We turned as one to look at the stone, and I sucked in a breath. The bone stalkers were still there, their skeletal forms prowling the clearing. But they seemed . . . confused. They sniffed the air, their glowing eyes scanning the area, but they didn't seem to notice us standing there.

It was like we were in a different dimension, watching a scene play out in front of us. My heart pounded in my chest.

What had we done?

Lana's eyes widened. "Destin, look."

I turned to where she was pointing. A bright light, glowing in the distance. It was the only thing in this strange, ethereal landscape that seemed solid. Real.

I took a step forward, and Lana followed. The bone stalkers continued their search, oblivious to our movement. As we approached the light, I felt a pull, like a magnet drawing us in.

Lana reached for my hand, and I laced my fingers through hers.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I didn't—you were supposed to leave. I don't know what this is, Destin. Maybe you can?—"

"I'm going with you."

She looked up at me, her eyes wary. "You're not responsible for me, remember?"

That was bullshit. And we both knew it.