The two lycans growled. It was a low sound and it went through the floor, and Jessica felt it come up through the soles of her feet.
She took a step back. Then another. She had the paring knife out in front of her and her hand would not stop shaking. Her heart was pounding so hard she could feel it in her temples, in her fingertips, in the hollow of her throat.
"Stay back," Jessica warned, her voice cracking. "Don't come any closer, I'm warning you."
But before either of them could lunge, another sound came from the kitchen window. It was a heavy thud, followed by a snarl that was somehow even deeper than the others. The thud shook the cupboards, and a third lycan came out of that doorway at a flat run.
This one was different. Its fur was black-grey, matted with blood along one side, and its eyes burned with a fury that was not trained on the women but on the two creatures standing in the living room.
It went straight for the nearest of the black ones.
