Lupine

Prologue

Night enveloped the forest, the darkness so deep that not a creature dared to disturb it. The overcast sky hid the glow of a full moon and the wind whispered of changes soon to pass.

The beast waited in a clearing before the edge of the dark wood. The gray scruff stood on end as magic crept across their fur and glowing eyes scanned the trees, listening to the distant sound of the highway as it waited.

For what though?

A branch cracked like a snap of thunder in the silence and the creature coiled, alert. Two eyes peered from the darkness and the two creatures stared each other down. The new beast stepped into the clearing, slightly taller and filled with a power like the first had never seen. It was new and felt sharp against their spine and sour against their tongue. It felt wrong.

The new creature appeared to be a wolf too but it cocked its head to the side, considering the smaller wolf in the clearing with a growing canine filled grin. Yes, it knew it was different.

The magic in the forest swelled and with an easy stride into the clearing it changed to a man. He held the same grin as the dark creature had as his eyes continued to glint in the dark. His tall and bare form screamed of power. Light seemed to flicked beneath his skin like the wolf was barely contained beneath the surface.

They didn't like the shift. Growls released involuntarily with shudders overtaking their entire form. The man laughed at them, a harsh sound in the still silent woods.

"I felt you from the other side of the state." His voice was slippery, begging to be obeyed then forgot. "Then you ask me here."

They growled harder in response. It was a mistake to invite him, whatever he truly was, into this territory. He took a few more relaxed steps forward into their space.

"I've met a few like us, the wolf who turned me and her family. A mate. Oh, how they were filled with magic, but yours... I can almost taste how long you've lived. I came because I have to know how. Will you tell me?"

This wasn't a request.

Their power swelled, pushing against his until another human stood there. Their form was both male and female with eyes the same gray as their fur and the wolf also ebbing just below the surface of their skin.

With a voice like a whisper, they hissed, "What are you?"

He grinned. "A shifter like you, my friend. You may call me Rafael. And you?"

"You are not one of mine."

"Yours?" His dark brows raised as silence enveloped them before he barked out another laugh in realization. There was nothing friendly in that sound. "Tell me. If I kill the First and feast on your bones, will I take your power like I took hers?"

They leapt back, canines shifting in their mouth while their human form crouched low. A mistake, this was all a mistake. The man's posture never changed as he strode forward to dominate the space.

Never had he expected the powerful energy he sensed to come from something so ancient and now he had this creature where he wanted them. Mere feet away was the biggest prize he could dream of with no real way to flee into the forest behind him and a highway to the rear—this was almost too easy, but the high of his catch and their own stupidity as using their magic to call him here was enough.

With a roar that shook the trees and sent all the hidden animals fleeing for safety, he shifted back into the hulking wolf. The First matched his shift in an instance before they dove together in gnashing teeth and claws.

Far across the region, a howl of pain and anger echoed across the packs. This was a call for war.