An absolutely enormous wolf.
Its shaggy fur was dripping with rain, and its lips were pulled back just enough for Aria to see long, sharp teeth. And, as if to add to how impossible the sight already was, two more wolves followed along after it. The second one was smaller, with rust-colored fur and a limp, but the third was almost as huge as the first.
Three wolves. There shouldn’t have been any at all. What was going on? Had they escaped from some rich guy’s private zoo?
She had to tell the park rangers about this. Hopefully, they could capture the wolves and release them into a sanctuary that could actually accommodate them.
She knew intellectually that wolves weren’t always dangerous to humans, and she had photographed plenty when she’d been working up in the Arctic, but there was a difference between going looking for them and stumbling on them by accident. She knew she probably didn’t have to be afraid, but she still felt paralyzed by fear.
Almost paralyzed, anyway. Her hands were operating of their own accord, quietly unzipping her camera bag.
No nature photographer in her right mind would turn down a surprise wolf-sighting. Besides, she’d need documentation if she wanted to convince the park officials that, yes, they really did have wolves roaming around their supposedly safe, family-friendly preserve.
She snapped a few pictures, being careful to leave the flash off. The wolves didn’t have the color perception to see how bright her poncho was, and her smell would be blurred by the sheer amount of human foot traffic this place saw on a regular basis. With no big explosions of light, she should be safe enough.
Okay. Done.
Aria started walking away as quietly as she could, but she couldn’t resist looking back over her shoulder with every other step.
Which was how she saw the lead wolf suddenly flex into an impossible shape, its body lengthening a
nd its fur smoothing out into skin.
Where there had been a wolf, there was now a man.
And his now-human eyes would spot her poncho a mile away. As fast as she could, Aria ducked behind a tree. She just had to pray he hadn’t seen her.
Wolf, her shocked mind pointed out. Wolf! Then human!
She had thrown herself behind the tree too late. When she peeked around the trunk, she could see him stalking towards her.
He moved with an inhuman quickness, his gait liquid and graceful. Up close, he had that same wet dog smell. He was naked, but he didn’t even seem to notice that.
There were tiny flecks of yellow in his eyes. They glittered with malice.
He was tall and hard-looking, with features that looked like they’d been carved into his face with the blade of a hatchet. His smile seemed to have too many teeth in it, and his hair was thick and as shaggy as his wolf pelt. None of it made for a pretty picture, but it was the eyes that really freaked her out.
“You’re in my territory,” the werewolf said.
Aria swallowed. She made herself say, “It’s a public park.”
She didn’t have a gun. She didn’t have a knife. She didn’t have the magical ability to turn into an apex predator.
But she had to ignore the man’s toothy, unfriendly smile and think. What did she have?
Enough experience to find her way out of the woods. She could lead this guy on a merry chase if he chose to follow her—as long as he didn’t change back into a wolf.
She had a heavy, waterproof camera in a heavy, hard-shelled camera bag. The bag had a long strap. She could swing it and maybe clock him on the side of the head.
Anything else?
She had leg muscles honed by years of difficult hiking. Maybe she would never bench press twice her weight or feel confident in a bikini, but she had some faith that her body would take care of her.
Oh, and she had three deviled eggs in her backpack. Maybe the werewolf could eat them instead of her.
She had to stay calm, even though he was looking at her like she was the mint on his pillow.
The first thing to do was to convince him that she hadn’t seen his transformation. She had to leave him believing that she didn’t know any of his secrets.