It’d been a while, but I could do this. I took a breath. Calming down was key, but Donovan’s panic, pain, and fear beat against me, making it nearly impossible to focus. I put the car in gear and tried the key again.

The car lurched forward for a second before stalling.

Okay. One more time.

I went through Max’s lessons in my head and then hit the gas as I shifted into gear. The car jerked—not a pretty gear shift—but it didn’t stall. Good enough. Now how in the hell did I get to town?

I couldn’t really speak to Donovan when he was in wolf form, and I couldn’t see through his eyes, but if I really focused on our bond, I could feel how far away he was.

The only problem was that I kept trying to go the shortest distance to him, but kept running into meadows and stone fences. The car couldn’t handle that. I had to backtrack a few times, but I got closer to him with every turn.

A wave of pain came through the bond. He was hurt. Donovan was hurt.

I sped up, pushing the tiny car as fast as it would go down a dirt road when suddenly all I could see in front of me was black. It took me a second to realize the blackness was a thing and it was moving toward me. Fast.

I slammed on the brake, nearly slipping a gear as I downshifted.

“Fuck. Fuck. What the hell is that?”

It roared and all the hairs on my arms rose up.

Whatever it was, it was bad news. I needed to get the hell out of the way. Right now.

I tried to put the car back in gear, but it stalled.

Shit. I was so screwed.

I tried again as the dark mass got closer.

The beast turned, and moonlight glinted off its two shiny black horns. A wolf raced up next to the beast, but it batted the wolf away with arms so massive its claws gouged the dirt road as it closed the distance between us.

More wolves chased the thing, but they weren’t making headway. Any who got close were swatted away like flies.

It was going to run straight into me and nothing was going to stop it.

I thought about getting out of the car but didn’t have enough time. I rolled myself into a ball in my seat and hoped for the best.

I covered my face with my hands, but couldn’t help watching through the cracks in my fingers as the thing got closer. The ground shook underneath the car.

I closed my eyes, bracing for impact.

And then there was nothing. No more shaking. Everything was still and quiet.