Strange eyes peer at me from the shadows. The eyes… of animals. A raccoon, a bird in the rafters, a rabbit—
My breath leaves me as I’m knocked face first onto the ground.It caught me.I scramble, desperately trying to cover my face with my arms. A giant paw digs into my shoulder, pinning me to the ground, and the other cuts across my arms.
A row of sharp teeth shines as it snarls at me. The smell of burning wood fills the air. It opens its maw wide.
And the only thought in my mind is at least death by a monstrous wolf is a bit more awesome than falling off the bookstore stool. And it’s certainly better than drowning. A cold chill creeps over me, and I wonder if getting eaten by a wolf will feel like drowning: icy until your whole body burns.
A different rumbling snarl fills the air.
The deafening howl of pain explodes in my ears as a new set of jaws clamp around the neck of the reddish-brown wolf above me. Another wolf is here, this one twice the size of the first. The larger wolf slams its jaws shut and lifts the brown wolf away from me with terrifying force. The smaller beast sails through the air in a flurry of fur and blood, yelping until it crashes into the stone wall and lands with a sickening thud.
As the larger wolf advances, paralyzing fear clings to me. Shimmering shards of ice adorn its body and a mesmerizing blue glow embellishes its white fur in a swirling pattern.
The brown wolf across from us heaves itself up from the ground, red blood dripping from the wound on its neck. Its eyes still fixate on me, and it snarls. Saliva splatters on the floor.
The white wolf takes one step, then another, until it’s covering me with its massive body. It crouches low enough I could touch the soft underbelly of white fur.
A faint hint of wet snow clings to the air, a chill growing in my lungs like the first breath of winter.
The white wolf opens its mouth and howls.
The sound reverberates down to my bones and shudders through the entire castle, quaking the stone. Even the briars shiver away.
If I thought my heart couldn’t take anymore, I was wrong. Because two other massive shapes dash into the entrance hall.
Oh my god, it’s more fucking wolves. They leap in front of the white wolf and advance toward the brown wolf. These two are slightly bigger than the brown one, but not as big as the white wolf.
One’s dark gray, almost black, and he growls low, locking his gaze with the brown one. A show of dominance. The monstrous black wolf has thick fur that is mottled with the bones of small animals: I spot bird skulls and tangled antlers. Pops of brightly colored fungi and moss grow atop its back and legs. The wolf’s yellow eyes glow brilliantly in the dark, and it bares its gnarled teeth.
The brown one gives a yip of annoyance but doesn’t back down.
All the while, the heavy breath of the white wolf surges over me. It’s crouched, ready to spring. I eye the stairs between its massive paws, and it gives a growl of annoyance, as if it knows I’m thinking about running.
Now, the fourth wolf leaps. Rotten seaweed tangles through its golden fur. Coral and sea stars are stuck along its legs. Shells and sea glass rim its eyes and maw. It clamps down on the back of the brown wolf’s neck.
The brown wolf whines, but the golden wolf places a massive paw over its back and forces it down to submission. Finally, the brown wolf gives a final yip and closes its eyes.
A satisfied growl emits from the black wolf, and the golden wolf releases his jaws from the brown one’s neck but keeps its paw there. Both of them turn to look at the white wolf.
The super-giant icy white wolf that is still above me.
Oh no, I’m not sure what is happening here, but I really hope it isn’t some wolfy battle to see who gets to eat me. I have to get out of here. I scramble out from beneath the white wolf, a terrified scream on my lips. “Keldarion! Help!”
In a smooth movement, the white wolf steps to block my escape route. It’s so fucking huge, the head right in front of me. Glowing blue lines swirl around its face—but it’s the eyes I’m stuck on. Ice-blue and light as a frozen lake.
“It’s you…” I breathe out.
I turn to the other wolves. If the brown wolf was the boy from the tower, then…
The golden wolf with coral and seagrass stuck to it… I know that gold. I’d seen it on the head of the fae prince from the hot springs. And the black wolf whose fur shimmers gray in the torchlight, like the masked fae’s armor…
Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. The four fae princes.
“You’re beasts,” I gasp. “You’re all beasts.”
A rumble sounds from the white wolf and all the remaining heat leeches from the air. Then Keldarion, the fae Prince of Winter, turns his icy gaze on me and opens his massive jaws.
Holy fucking shit, maybe I am here to be a wolfy meal after all. He scoops me up in his mouth. My initial panic fades as no teeth pierce into me. He’s carrying me through the castle.