Wolf Among Us

13 Bloodhounds

13 Bloodhounds

Avery felt the animal’s paws on her back, just before slamming onto the floor. She registered the pain, but her brain was a rollercoaster. Sensing the wolf sail over her, Avery rolled to her side and hurried to her feet, rushing back to her apartment.

She slammed the door shut, feeling as he lunged against the door. “Crap, crap, crap,” she swore, pressing against the door but nearly falling every time the wolf threw itself at it.

“Shit.” Avery rushed across her wrecked room. Daring to glance at the shaking door, Avery skidded across the floor as she tried to pull up her overthrown armchair. She gritted her teeth, slowly shoving the heavy chair against the door.

“Now what?” she asked herself, frustrated. She sagged onto the ground, her heart racing ahead of her.

The door held within its frame, but she could see the wood crack each time as the animal lashed out against it. Avery was trapped, and it wouldn’t be long until there was no door to protect her.

She grabbed onto her bed and pulled herself up, her teeth chattering as nerves took hold on her. She looked around her apartment desperately, just short of a baseball bat. Whoever that shifter was he had torn right through her room; clothing thrown from her closet, couch on its side, blankets ripped, desk overturned and spilling out its contents.

“Wolfsbane,” she muttered, quickly hurrying to her thrown desk. She was sure she might still have a syringe left. Her hands picked through the mess urgently, the shifter nearly taking her door to splinters. “Gotcha,” she breathed, unzipping the small pouch and finding her savior.

Thrilled, Avery got to her feet and spun around, thinking. Whatever waited on the other side of this door was only one wolf, those shifters out in the woods were another problem.

She walked across her room and peered out the window. She couldn’t see anything, she could barely hear anything above the snarling, but she could almost feel the air vibrate with menace. Looking towards her door, she groaned. One of the hinges was gone.

“Fine then,” she spat, sliding her window open.

The freezing air slapped her face and nearly shoved her back inside the room. She could hear the wolves in the forest, a vicious orchestra hidden just out of eyesight. Holding onto the syringe, Avery carefully put both legs over the sill, looking down at the ground.

Forgetting the pain, Avery pushed herself off into the air, the scream nearly leaving her body. The ground slammed up her feet, nearly staggering her and throwing her to the ground. “Ouch, shit.” She spat out a curse, her legs searing with shock.

From above she heard the daunting boom of her door being ripped apart. The shifter pounced, a second of stillness before letting out a terrorizing roar. Her heart spluttered, seeing the shadow streak through her window.

Avery bolted, shaking her legs awake, and spun the corner onto the street. The animal bounded after her, paws pulling him closer and closer until he was on top of her. Avery finally did scream when its body collided into her like a rocket, picking her off her feet and sent her flying.

For a split second she felt adrift, soaring easily. Then he whirled around after her, both flying through the glass window and rolling into the café. Pinpricks ran up and down her body, her head throbbing madly.

Wild eyes and snapping teeth, the shifter skidded across the broken glass, tossing furniture aside. Avery rolled onto her back, struggling to get away as he came after her. She looked to her hand, blood covering her palm with pieces of glass; the wolfsbane now coating her skin uselessly.