Hati simply lifts her fingers to her lips and whistles again. This time the whole pack turns on us. I’m knocked down and it hurts. Teeth scrape my face and claws dig through my onesie into my skin, but it’s worse for Mitch. The wolves bite at her tail, making her yell with pain. She reaches for one of the bottles around her neck, but it’s no use. The wolves soon have her pinned down too. Now there’s no one to help Rose.

I can barely breathe with the wolf pressing down on my chest, but I manage to shout, “Rose, get angry. Show her who you are!”

Hati puts her foot on Rose’s curled-up back and gives her a kick. “Get up,” she says.

Rose stays where she is.

“Listen to me, Rose.” Mitch’s voice is loud and clear. “That girl needs to hear you roar.” The wolves pant over us and I can hear the thud of Crowky’s feet as he runs toward us. “Let her have it!”

Then Rose nods. It’s a tiny movement and Hati doesn’t see it.

Hati grabs Rose’s hair, just like she grabs hold of the wolves’ fur, and she shakes her from side to side. “Didn’t you hear me? I said, GET UP!”

“No.” Rose’s voice is so quiet I wonder if I imagined hearing it.

Hati pulls Rose’s face close to hers. “What did you say?”

“I said, no.”

Hati sucks in her breath and I feel the wolves loosen their grip on me. “This is your last chance!” Hati practically spits the words out, furious now. “GET UP AND COME WITH ME!”

“No,” says Rose, wincing with pain. “And you’ve got it all wrong. This is your last chance!”

Then I see something incredible happen to my sister’s face. Her look of pain turns to one of rage. With a yell Rose grabs hold of Hati’s ankle and pulls her down. Then she jumps to her feet and stands over her. “You are mean to your wolves, you are rude, you shout, and you wear WAY TOO MANY STUPID TASSELS!”

Hati responds by wrapping her arms around Rose’s legs and trying to drag her down.

“Feeling angry?” shouts Rose. “Me too!”

And then they are tumbling around and around on the ice, arms and legs flying. The wolves lift their paws off me and Mitch. They step away from Win, who wriggles toward us. Mitch reaches for a vial, but I shake my head. “She doesn’t need magic,” I say. “Look at her!”

Rose has grabbed hold of Hati’s hands and is pinning them down. Hati shoots a desperate look at her wolves and manages a whistle. They growl, low and deep, but they don’t move. Maybe Hati senses she’s losing them because suddenly she stops struggling and instead she lies back on the ice and howls with rage.