The forest had never felt so empty.
Brandy shoved through the undergrowth, branches snapping back against his arms, but he did not care. His chest burned, not from running, but from the words still echoing between his ribs.
"You do not trust anyone, do you?"
"Maybe I do not need anyone."
The fight with Alisa replayed again and again, sour and bitter. He hated himself for it. She had done nothing but help him, yet he had thrown her kindness back in her face. But pride, thick and heavy, chained his legs from turning back. If he went now, what would he even say? Sorry I bit your head off? Sorry I'm cursed, and I might rip you apart one night?
The truth clawed at him: he was afraid. Afraid of her seeing him for what he was.
"Half monster".
He staggered deeper until the hut was far behind. His breath slowed, but something else rose inside him, crawling under his skin. The air was heavier here, thick with the smell of moss and wet bark. And underneath it faint, but sharp, something coppery. Blood.
Brandy froze. His ears rang, not with silence, but with a sound almost beneath hearing. A low growl.
Then the howl came again. Closer.
***
Alisa jolted upright where she sat curled against the hut wall. The sound had cut through her chest like a blade. Wolves howled all the time in these woods, but this, this was different. It was not the lonely call of a pack. It was a hunting cry.
Her heart raced. She pressed her palms against her ears, but the echo throbbed inside her head anyway. And in the pit of her stomach, something tightened, like a string pulled taut.
He's in danger.
The thought wasn't hers, but it rang as true as the blood in her veins. She cursed under her breath, angry at herself. He had all but told her to leave him alone. He didn't want her. He didn't trust her.
But still, she found herself on her feet, running toward the sound.
Brandy saw it before he smelled it.
Eyes. Yellow, gleaming between the trees. Low to the ground, slinking closer with every heartbeat.
The wolf was bigger than anything natural.. its shoulders nearly to his chest, fur ragged like smoke, teeth bared in a grin that wasn't human, wasn't animal, but something twisted between.
Brandy staggered back. "Stay away," he warned, though his voice cracked.
The wolf didn't obey. It prowled in a slow circle, growl rumbling like thunder under the ground. Then, to his horror, it spoke.
"So it is true…" The voice was gravel dragged over stone. "The half breed lives."
Brandy's blood turned cold. "What?"
The beast's grin widened. "Damian will be pleased to know Eloise's mistake was not buried after all."
Eloise. The name slammed into him like a fist. He didn't know why, but it lit something raw in his chest. Mother? He had never known a mother other than the woman who raised him. Yet hearing it now… the name burned.
Rage rose, unhidden. His vision blurred, his skin shivered, and his nails split into claws before he realized what was happening. His teeth ached as fangs tore through his gums.
The wolf lunged.
Brandy roared back, not human, not wolf, something caught between. They collided, claws and fists and teeth, crashing through the underbrush.
Alisa skidded to a halt when she saw them. Her breath caught. Brandy, no, it was Brandy, but not, he was half shifted, his body trembling with unnatural strength, his face contorted with fangs and glowing eyes.
The wolf slammed him into a tree, snapping bark like bone. Brandy gasped, trying to rise.
For a heartbeat, Alisa froze. She should have run. Every part of her screamed to flee. But that same pull inside her chest roared louder. She could not leave him.
"Hey!" she shouted, snatching a branch from the fire pit near the hut, the tip still glowing faintly. She hurled it at the beast. It struck its shoulder, sparking embers. The wolf snarled, spinning toward her.
Brandy staggered up, fury twisting his face. "Alisa, run!"
But she did not. She grabbed another branch, swinging it wide, her hands shaking. The beast's eyes flicked between her and Brandy, confused, then narrowed.
"You reek of her too…" it hissed. "Not human. Not wolf. What are you, girl?"
Alisa's throat went dry. She did not understand but the words sent a chill to her bones.
The rogue lunged at her.
Brandy did not think. His claws tore deeper, muscles burning, as he slammed into the wolf's side. They tumbled into the dirt, snarling, biting, clawing. Pain ripped through Brandy's shoulder, but he forced his half-formed strength to push harder. Finally, with a guttural roar, he slashed across the wolf's muzzle.
The beast yelped, staggering back. Its eyes burned with fury but then it threw back its head and howled.
The sound echoed across the mountains, endless, terrible.
Alisa's knees buckled under the weight of it. Brandy's ears rang, his chest pounding.
The wolf backed away, eyes fixed on him. "Damian will know. You cannot hide, half breed. Not from him."
Then it vanished into the shadows.
Silence, broken only by Brandy's ragged breathing. He collapsed to his knees, claws retreating, skin trembling as his human face returned. He clutched his bleeding shoulder, sweat dripping down his temple.
Alisa stood frozen, the branch slipping from her fingers. She stared at him, at the boy who had snapped at her, pushed her away, called her nosy. The boy who was not fully boy at all.
Her lips trembled. "Brandy… what are you?"
He looked up, eyes still faintly glowing, pain and shame written across his face. He opened his mouth to answer then, from the distance, came another sound.
Howls, not one but many. A chorus rising from the mountains, answering the rogue's call.
Brandy's heart stopped.
Damian knew.