There is a wolf sniffing around the graveyard.
Emma will soon learn just how real her demons are on a fateful walk past the gravestones which have become her solace. A wolf is hunting her, and he brings with him the world she has been hiding from...
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"Luna," I call her, and she runs to my side at once.
The wolf takes a single step away from us. As if that could lessen the threat that his presence is. "I won't hurt you," he says.
I take another step back till I am standing on the threshold of my house. Luna wisely follows my lead, keeping strictly at my side. The wards of the house surround us with an invisible shield. The wolf wouldn't be able to touch us now, can't enter unless I wish him to.
Still, the hand at my side clenches into a fist and my fingernails dig into my skin. The pain forces my mind to refocus.
Keen dark eyes track each of my movements.
"I'll ask again, who sent you?" I say through clenched teeth.
He remains silent while he watches me. A deep masculine darkness seems to be wrapped around him. It causes my heart to race for his presence is heavy and very much felt.
Finally, he answers me. "Witches."
I can't hide the surprise from my face. I have not interacted with witches since I was a child. Sure here and there I could sense some with magic running through their veins, however, I had always done well with keeping a distance. Everyone who has ever known me from that life no longer roams the living realm. They are all gone.
The wolf's head snaps to the side just as someone easily jumps over the fence. The fairy's movements border on flying with his gift of manipulating air.
"This guy bothering you?" Preston's voice cuts between us once his feet land on solid ground.
The stranger turns his entire body towards Preston, bending his knees slightly as if preparing for a fight. The energy surrounding him shifts, becoming even more menacing.
Who is this guy?
"You really should choose better company, Emma," he says to me while keeping his eyes on Preston.
"What exactly is your issue with my kind?" Preston asks, tilting his head to the side with a dangerous curiosity.
"The same issue she should be having," he says lowly while one of his hands casually moves into his pocket.
The hair on my neck stands on its ends. Whatever is in his pocket, it's dangerous. An ominous fear settles deep in my bones. I am about to warn Preston, but he acts before I ever get the chance.
Preston's hand shoots out before him at the same time that the wolf pulls something small from his pocket. A gust of wind rushes around the yard and the stranger is slammed into the ground by it. Shifting gray eyes find Preston and he shoots towards him, only to be blown back. Claws grow from his fingertips, canines elongate as he growls in effort, trying to fight the air around him which is no longer controlled by nature.
Terror keeps my feet rooted to the ground, preventing me from running. Never have I seen a wolf partially shift. It is a rare ability. Usually, they only ever went one way or the other, wolf or human. To remain suspended in a mixture of both was not common. Only the most skilled were capable of it.
