Page 46 of Who Let The Wolves Out?

“I waited for her, I swear!” Zak babbles behind me. “She said she just had to pee, I thought she was behind us, I didn’t think she?—”

“Stop.” My voice is a growl. “Youlefther.”

He goes quiet, finally.

I tear off my hoodie and toss it aside. The heat from my body is already spiking. My skin prickles. I can feel the wolf scratching just beneath my ribs, begging for release under the full moon haze.

But I won’t shift. Not yet. Not until I know she’s safe.

Because if Mira sees me like that... I don’t know if I could forgive myself.

And if someone else does—someone like Aisla?

They’ll never let me near these kids again.

I crash into the woods, alone.

Mira’s scent is faint—sweet and briny like low tide, mixed with moss and sunscreen.

Mercreatures aren’t made for hiking. She hates dry trails. I’ve seen her stumble down gravel paths like a baby deer, tripping over her own feet, apologizing every time.

Sheshouldn’thave been alone.

Sheshouldn’thave been out here with someone who didn’t know her pace, her needs.

I push through the branches, ducking under vines, scanning for prints. Anything.

“Mira!” I shout, voice echoing through the pines. “It’s Jason!”

No response.

A gust of wind tears through the trees and the sky cracks again, loud and close.

The storm’s rolling in fast now.

Thunder shakes the dirt under my boots. The humidity is choking. The trees are starting to sway like they know something I don’t.

I move faster.

“MIRA!”

Nothing.

And then—a bootprint.

Sort of.

Wobbly. Dragged.

She’s been here. Slipping. Struggling.

My heart hammers.

“C’mon, peanut, gimme something.”

My claws want out. My muscles twitch. Iacheto shift, to run wild, to let instinct take over and sniff her out.

But I don’t.

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