Comparing the capital to Aryal was a habit Selena had fallen into recently. It wasn't a conscious thing, but the farthest she had ever ventured out of her home city had been to some of the valleys of the surrounding Silver Mountains. It was only natural for the young woman to compare the only two cities she had ever seen. This morning Selena walked Yerushalmi by foot, as opposed to her entrance on horseback, and was able to spot a few more differences, such as the complete lack of the Ancient Language. Aryal was the only city in Yakir that utilized the magical tongue as its default mode of communication. The rest of the country spoke the common tongue of Yakir. It was a language similar to the one spoken in Alagaesia, where Selena's parents were from, but not similar enough to be sisters. Most likely, the two languages shared a common ancestor, but were divided when the Council of Seven established the official borders of Yakir. It makes sense. Selena thought as she stopped at one of the few fruit carts with fresh produce and inspected an apple. Common shares many more roots with Sylvan than it does with Alagaesian. Selena supposed the vampires had done that on purpose. Mixing their language with the one of the land had created the common spoken today, and let the relationship between the Council and the people of Yakir flourish.

It was warm today, as it usually was in the South, and the cloudless sky was illuminated with a blazing, Southern sun. The elvish youth pulled at the hunting shirt that clung to her sweaty body. Growing up in the most Northern city in the country, Selena had always been practically immune to the cold. Heat, she had discovered, was a different story. The moist air of Yerushalmi beat down unforgivingly on her, and had it not been for the magical anti-sweat soap she had brought from home, Selena was sure her pit sweat would've soaked right through her shirt. The thought terrified her. It was one of the first times she had ever used the soup. Selena had accepted that she had to clean up her act if she was going to be with Jonathan romantically. One can only imagine the panic that drove her legs back to her room earlier that morning when she had forgotten to wash her mouth out in her haste to see him. Thinking of the Prince brought a smile to the young elf's face. She had never considered how rewarding it could be to be with someone, but last night had enlightened her. However, anxiety also began to form in the pits of her stomach. Not so much at messing things up with Jonathan, but more about the progression of their relationship. One moment they had been flirting, albeit quite blatantly, and the next they were rolling around on the floor of the sparring yard, each grabbing and fondling and trying to stick his or her tongue down the other's throat. Now, Selena wasn't very experienced with courtship, but she did get the feeling that things had gone a little fast. She had stayed up all night trying to decide whether to slow things down or not.

When she reached the cleverly named Western Gate Selena paused, realizing that she did not actually know how to exit. Jonathan was waiting for her at the Royal Stables outside the city, but a person needed a permit to exit through the gate alone.

"Lady Selena! Lady Selena, over here!" Selena looked toward the sound of the call. The guard in charge of overseeing passage in and out of the city was waving her over.

"Uh, hello." She told the middle aged man as she approached.

"Good morning! Prince Jonathan told me you would be coming, and ordered me to let you outside the city. At first I was worried that I wouldn't be able to distinguish you from the rest of the crowd, but it seems the Prince was correct in his description of your unmatched beauty, my lady." A slight blush came over the young woman's cheeks as she listened. It flattered Selena to learn how her Prince spoke of her.

"Uh, I'm not a lady." She responded awkwardly. The guard's eyes widened.

"Of course, of course, I've forgotten my courtesies. My deepest apologies, your grace." He bowed low.

"You grace?" How exactly did Jonathan described our relationship to this random gate guard? She panicked.

"Of course, your grace. The Princess of the elves deserves no less." Selena's panic lessened, and started becoming replaced with irritation.

"Ah ok, well I'm not too anal about those sort of things."

The guard looked confused. "So then… how should I address you… uh…" he was baffled, "y-your grace?"

"People usually call other people by their name." Selena replied as she pushed past the man to the road. "But seeing as we're never going to interact again, it doesn't really matter." She left the man dazed and confused, which amused her greatly.

The gate opened to Crowstown, one of the poverty-stricken townships that were dotted outside the walls of the city. They were where the worst thieves, vagabonds, and murderers of Yerushalmi lived and the most dangerous sections of the city. But the "Princess" wasn't afraid. She had her loaded pistol and steel dagger strapped to her right thigh and waist. And she was an elf. The only people capable of mugging an elf were members of other enhanced races, of which Yerushalmi had very little.

Selena walked along the periphery of the town, just as Jonathan had told her to, but was still able to smell the mixture of rotten wood, piss, and shit that created the atmosphere of Crowstown. She covered her nose and joined up with the main road after clearing the rancid township.

The Royal Stables were so grand that they were closer to an actual horse farm. All the important people of Yakir boarded their horses here, where they were fed, cleaned, and eloquently looked after by the land's finest grooms. Jonathan had instructed Selena to meet him in the main barn, which she assumed was the massive red building that could be seen from half a mile a away. After entering through the fence gate, Selena managed to make it halfway across the field to the barn before she noticed Jonathan off to her left side, brushing a magnificent chestnut stallion. As she approached, the Prince greeted her. "Good morning." Selena could tell he was smiling as he said it, even though his back was to her.

"Uh, morning…" She responded timidly. You passionately kissed him three times last night, just do it! Selena thought to herself. But her fear of being judged, a fear she had never experienced until she had met Jonathan, held her in place like a bear trap.

"You know I couldn't sleep last night? I was too excited, kept thinking about you." He said. Before he could continue, Selena swallowed her fear, grabbed his hand to turn his side toward her, stood on her tiptoes, and planted a brief kiss on his left cheek. When she retreated she saw that Jonathan was surprised. "That… was adorable." He chuckled with a smile. Then he pulled her body against his, put his right hand on the small of her back, and brought his face close to hers. "You're adorable." Then they kissed. It was short, with no tongue. Their lips touched for a second or two and then broke apart. It was not the passionate kind of kiss they had shared the night before; it was the sweet, caring kind. Somehow, in that moment, Selena preferred it.

"I am not adorable." She teased, pointing a finger at his nose. "I am a fierce, half-elven half-human warrior, as ferocious as lioness."

"Oh trust me, I know." Jonathan replied, breaking apart from her fully to continue grooming his horse. "You showed me that more than once last night." A smile grew on Selena's face as memories of the previous night rushed into her mind.

"Last night was pretty fun." She added a hint of wickedness to her voice in an attempt to sound sexy.

"Yeah, it was. We should do it again some time." Selena laughed, clearly and crisply. It was the first time in a couple of months. "Whoa," Jonathan turned to her, surprise again on his face. "Just realized that was the first time I've heard you really laugh. Very pretty." He finished with a smile.

Selena smiled back and walked up next to him. "This is a beautiful horse." She commented, stroking the stallion's side. "What's his name?"

"Roach."

Selena's face contorted. "Roach? What a gross name."

"Yeah, I know." The Prince responded, rubbing Roach's head. "It's a Scornhold family tradition that the horse of the King be named Roach. Goes all the way back to the very first Scornhold, Gerald the Trivial. Ever heard of him?" Selena shook her head. "Gerald was a mere blacksmith. From a little Northern village that eventually became Nahan. Yakir hadn't been established as a country yet, so every group of people elected someone to lead them. This village elected Gerald, who was strong and caring. When the war with the Red Wolf broke out, the Council urged all the men of the land to answer their call to arms. Gerald was no fighter, but he was determined to protect his family. So he took a simple iron hammer from his forge, rallied the seventy-three able bodied men of his village and joined the fray."

"What Gerald lacked in skill, he made up for in ferocity and cunning. He rose through the ranks of the Council's forces quickly and eventually became the right hand of Lady Praigma herself. The people took to calling him 'Stronghammer.'" Jonathan turned and smiled at Selena.

"My uncle was named after an Alagaesian legend." She said with a raised eyebrow.

"And who do you think your 'Alagaesian legend' was named after? Anyway, Gerald was with Praigma when the vampires stormed Ran's last keep, called 'the Scornhold.'" Selena inclined her head when she heard that to show that she had learned something new. "When the battle was won, the Council decided it was high time to establish a proper country and parliament. Once that was in order, all that remained was to name a king. Well, Gerald 'Stronghammer's' courage and ability to lead was known throughout the land by that point. When the command came down to elect not only a King, but a bloodline to rule, the people's decision was basically unanimous. And so Lady Praigma crowned him 'Gerald Scornhold the First' at the steps of the then-new Royal Palace. That day, Gerald road through the streets of Yerushalmi atop the horse he had owned since he was seventeen: Roach."

"Very cool story. Just one question." Selena crossed her arms sassily.

"And what would that be?" Said the Prince, who had finished brushing Roach's hair and had moved on to securing his saddle.

"Why is he called "Gerald the Trivial," and not "Stronghammer," like the people of the time knew him."

"To remind the Royal bloodline of their humble roots." The Prince turned to Selena and offered her his hand, which she took in hers with a smile. The two began walking toward the main barn, slightly swinging their joined hands in the middle. "When my father uh… left us, Roach passed into my possession. Which means that today you will be riding my old horse, Paul."

"Paul?" Selena was confused.

"Yes, Paul."

"What kind of a horse's name is 'Paul?" She laughed.

"The ironic kind, which made my eleven year old self laugh when I named him."

"Sounds like you were a special eleven year old." Selena teased.

"Well, there's gotta be something special there if you chose me." He replied cheekily.

The girl felt her face flair up with blush. "Shut up! Gods, you've made me blush more times in the last sixteen hours than the whole rest of the world's managed to my entire life." She playfully slapped his arm.

"Just like I said," Jonathan said as he opened the door to the barn. "Adorable." Selena and her boy walked over to the black-coated Paul.

"How's it going, Paul?" Selena took a carrot from the nearby bucket and offered it to the stallion. However, Paul reared back and neighed in fright. "Hey now buddy, I'm not gonna hurt you." Selena told Paul in the Ancient Language. Paul looked at her for a moment with understanding, then slowly inched his way forward before gently beginning to nibble on the carrot. "Atta boy." She pet Paul's head as he took the rest of the carrot from her hand.

"Whoa. That was cool." Jonathan said with fascination. "That was the Ancient Language."

"Yeah. Know much about it?" Selena turned to him.

He shrugged his shoulders in response. "Only that it's Aryal's spoken language, your native language, and the way that a wizard controls magic."

Selena smiled warmly at him. "Very good. Most Yakirians know next to nothing about the Ancient Language. Though you are the Prince, so I guess you should know a bit more than the average peasant."

"Why'd it calm Paul down when you spoke to him?" Selena could hear the excitement and curiosity rising in his voice, which made her giddy with happiness.

"Well, magic is… the fabric of the universe. It's energy in its purest form. That means that, for all intents and purposes, The Ancient Language is magic. Therefore, it's impossible to lie while speaking it."

"Because it makes up everything in the universe. And since the Ancient Language is magic, and magic makes up everything, the Ancient Language is always correct." Jonathan galnced at her excitedly, to which she responded with an encouraging nod. "So since fire is, as is everything else, basely made of magic, and therefore the Ancient Language, it can't be anything else in the Ancient Language. Because it isn't anything else in reality. It's fire. And reality is magic. Just as magic is the Ancient Language. Which means… reality is the Ancient Language. To lie in the Ancient Language would be to change reality itself. Which, of course, is impossible."

Selena gawked at the Prince. She was genuinely impressed at how quickly he had grasped the concept. "Clever, clever boy." She fed Paul another carrot. "Every being, from man to mouse to tree, inherently knows that things uttered in the Ancient Language are absolute and never wrong. So, all I had to tell Paul was that I wasn't going to hurt him and he believed me. Because there was no possible way that what I said was wrong. Because if it was wrong-"

"You'd be changing reality itself." The Prince finished.

"Wow… you're not completely stupid." She teased. "Who'da thunk?"

"One of my many admirable qualities." That made Selena giggle. "Come," he continued. "Let's get you some gear."

!

Being located in the valley of a mountain in the coldest part of the country meant the landscape surrounding Aryal consisted of one thing: water, in some shape or form. There were a few interesting valleys and other such mountainess sights to see, but it took a while to get to them without a dragon. Because of this, Selena wasn't really used to going on little day trips outside of the city. But Yerushalmi was on the edge of the Caetz Forest, near the shore, so there were many more spots a person could ride out to for the day. Of course, it was never a good idea to venture too far into the Caetz without proper protection, and no one ever roamed off road, but travelling a little ways in was safe enough. Which is why Selena had had to ask Jonathan if he was kidding when he told her of their destination.

"An hour long ride along the Narr, are you joking?" She had exclaimed.

"Not at all." He had responded nonchalantly. "Why do you sound so scared?"

"Scared? Jonathan, I'm terrified. You can't go that deep into the Caetz, there are monsters and Buroks and werewolves! We'll die!"

"Selena, we are surrounded by wolf hunters right now. They can defend us from a small dragon, if need be." Jonathan gestured to the five hunters that were escorting them.

"And an average sized pack of Grove wolves can take down a large dragon." When the Prince waved her complaints away, she continued. "Jonathan, I really am not comfortable with this. I mean, how many times have you done it?"

He looked at Roach for a moment before responding. "My mother would take me out to the springs everyday in the summer. Till I was twelve." Jonathan looked back up at Selena. She saw the pain in his eyes and sighed with defeat. If they went everyday…

"Fine, I trust you. You're right, anyway. I forgot that werewolves don't hunt with the entire pack."

"Four or five at most, nothing Amos can't handle."

Selena turned to the pale hunter. "Ain't never met met a wolf I couldn't down, m'lady." Amos said in his Eirish accent. He tipped his black, wide-brimmed hat toward her. Selena didn't doubt the skills of his group, who the common folk called "the Spoons." Amos was one of the oldest wolf hunters alive, right up there with Shango Montelli and Sylvia Sterkenmayer. For the past four hundred years, every member of the Kingsguard had been part of the Spoons. Only the position of Lord Commander was given to an outsider, because Amos was "too simple a man" for such titles and responsibilities. Despite that, he was acting captain with Selena's uncle Murtagh on temporary suspension.

They had been riding for about an hour by the time the Narr came into view. It was the longest river in Yakir and the second widest, beaten only by the Bas-Yag. It ran almost perfectly vertical through the Caetz, from the Silver Pond to the beaches of the ocean in the South. As they rode along its length, Selena became more and more at ease. The trail was small and far away from the main road, but very used. It had been beaten down over the years by the apparently large amount of people that travelled it. Selena had grown up hearing horror stories about the Caetz forest, and specifically the werewolves the dwelt within it, but according to Jonathan, people of the South weren't afraid at all. "Werewolves are the only real threat and they barely come this far South in large numbers. Tree branches kill more people a year than random wolf attacks." He explained.

"In the South, maybe." Selena responded.

"Well that ain't fair, m'lady." Amos jumped in. "Your Northern wolves are coldern' ours, more vicious. Game's harder to come by up there, so they're much more desperate. It's pathetic, really."

"Just one wolf, Amos." The young elf said. "And trust me, Silverback is anything but 'pathetic.'"

"Almost sounds like you admire the bastard." Said Erie, the female hunter to Selena's left. She was the only one that Selena disliked.

"Admire… no. Respect? Absolutely."

"Respect?" Erie did not try to hide the disgust in her voice.

"Mhm. I'd think a hunter of all people would know to respect a werewolf, especially a silver like Silverback."

"I don't respect wolves, my lady. I kill them. That fukcer's killed hundreds, how can you have anything but hate for him?"

"Language." Amos said, almost as if by instinct.

"You're right, he has killed hundreds. But that's been over decades." Selena said. It irked her that Erie was still going on.

"So?" The hunter retorted. The way she spat out the word my Selena cringe.

"So, my father and his thousand dragons obviously have him contained. Silverback is a silver wolf, leading a pack of exclusively silver wolves. That's a phenomenon. If we didn't have the Corps in the North, he would've destroyed it long ago."

To her annoyance, Erie scoffed. "Please, little girl, everyone knows the Silver Wolf Theory is bullshit."

"Language." Said Amos.

"And why is that?" Selena asked innocently.

"You know why."

"Let's pretend for a moment I don't." The young elf hid amusement as Erie became more flustered.

"I've been a lieutenant in his majesty's wolf hunters for the past sixty years, girl. Tenth division. Don't patronize me."

"Indulge her, Erie." Jonathan said. Selena looked at him and saw he was smiling. He's enjoying this little argument. She realized.

"Your grace, with all do respect-"

"A Zayad talking back to her King?" Jonathan asked with feigned astonishment. "Please do remember that Selena here is my Lady, and should be treated with just as much respect as me." He winked at Selena as he finished. The Prince's defending her, while not needed, was very flattering.

"As you command, your grace." Erie obeyed through gritted teeth. "You want to know why silver wolves don't exist, my lady? Because there is a set scale. Black to white. Weakest to strongest. The Silver Wolf Theory states that some wolves, over time, become so powerful that their coats can no longer get any whiter and so turn silver. Of course, the only evidence to support the theory are two shaky accounts that have both been disproven by a multitude of historians."

"My father has seen Silverback with his own two eyes, and so has my brother. Are you calling the two most powerful dragon riders in the country liars?"

"I'm sure they think they saw a silver coat, my lady. But wolves are much faster than riders. What they saw was moonlight reflecting off of a grey wolf's fur." Anger flared inside of the young woman as Erie blatantly insulted her family. It was obvious that she had crossed a line, as Selena heard both Jonathan and Amos inhale to reprimand the hunter, but she beat them to it.

"And I suppose you would be able to tell, Erie? Even though my father knows more about werewolves than you do?"

"Hunters learn everything there is to learn about werewolves. In the past five hundred years alone we have more than tripled our total knowledge-"

"And why do you think your information has grown so quickly in such a short time, Erie?" The two women locked eyes.

"Your father was not responsible for all the research-"

"No, just ninety percent of it." Selena knew she had won when Erie stared back at her wordlessly, unable to do anything but ride and grind her teeth.

"I believe what my eyes tell me." She finally said. "And I've never seen a wolf out of the spectrum."

"Then I guess Ran the Red Wolf is a myth, then." Tension filled the air. Selena knew Amos and many of the Spoons had fought in the war against the Red Pack. They had most likely lost many friends. Looking around at their faces, she was upset to see that they no longer seemed kind and inviting, but rather looked ahead with hard stares. The only person who seemed to be in a good mood was Jonathan, who gave her a thumbs up when their eyes met.

"The Red Wolf Ran," Erie began, "was the father of all werewolves. His was a coat of red, because he was the first."

"And the most powerful." Selena added. "By a huge margin, if the books are right. Red isn't on the power spectrum, and neither was Ran." Erie had nothing to say to that. Selena regretted making the other wolf hunters uncomfortable, but it was worth it to shut Erie up.

By the time the group had arrived at their destination, the tension had lifted. Erie was the only one who stayed silent. Selena had been telling Jonathan about the Goat Men of the Melek Mountains when Amos announced their arrival. She looked and saw two short pillars made of flat stones that had been piled up on top of one another. In between them a path led up a hill.

"My mother and I built those pillars." The Prince explained. "The first time every summer we came, we would add a rock to each. The right one's mine." Selena noted that the right one was taller than its counterpart. "We walk the rest of the way." Jonathan said, jumping down from his horse. Selena followed suit and gladly accepted his arm when he offered.

"And they say chivalry is dead." She chirped.

"Stand guard. Don't disturb us unless absolutely necessary." Jonathan commanded.

"Of course, your grace." Amos bowed in his saddle and made a gesture to the Spoons, who began moving into their respective positions. The sternness with which Jonathan had uttered the command was very different to his usual easy going demeanor. It was attractive.

As they passed through the two pillars, Selena counted the amount of stones the left one had. Thirteen. Strange. One more than I expected.

"Are you familiar with the code of chivalry?" Jonathan asked.

"Nope. It's not practiced in Aryal."

"Lucky you. It's stupid and extremely dated, and I hate that it still applies in Yakir. My father tried to get rid of it, but apparently forcing an entire country to change is hard." Selena giggled at his sarcasm. "Well, I've studied all twelve volumes."

"Oh yeah?" Selena said, staring at his perfect face.

"Mhm. Wanna know how many lines are devoted to women?"

"How many?"

"Three. Women are a frail and weak sex. A chivalrous man is thereby honor-bound to protect and defend them, at any cost. They're also not allowed to read, because I said so. I'm paraphrasing of course, but you get my meaning."

"It actually says women aren't allowed to learn how to read?" Selena was dumbfounded.

The Prince nodded his head. "Mhm. Expressly forbids it, in fact. It's two out of the three lines."

"And people still follow it?" Selena looked away from him to absorb the nature around them. It was mostly trees and bark, but you could see the occasional squirrel or bird if you tried.

"Well, it's not law anymore. That ended a long time ago. But still, some people cling to tradition like it's their first born son."

"It's all some people have." Selena didn't really finish her sentence. They had walked into a large clearing, where in the middle were dozens of hot springs steaming with heat. She let go of Jonathan's arm and stared in amazement. "This is beautiful." She said. "But… I didn't know springs could exist in the middle of the forest."

"Nobody did." Jonathan said as he began walking toward the springs. "This is the only place of it's kind. Mother always used to say magic heated the springs."

"What, you don't know?" Selena began to follow him.

"Never checked. This is a special place, I didn't want wizards and other people sniffing around."

"Wait." Selena stopped in her tracks. "How many other people have seen this place?"

Jonathan turned to her with a smile. "Besides me and my mother? Only you." He turned back around and started whistling as he walked toward the springs.

This is his special place. He doesn't bring anyone here. Selena began to feel overwhelmed. This is going too fast, she thought, why would he bring me here so soon? Suddenly, Selena's eyes widened with a theory. He wouldn't… But the more she thought about it the more sense it made.

Selena found Jonathan sitting down with his bare feet in one of the springs. "Take your shoes off and join me, it's nice." He smiled up at her. However, it quickly went away when he saw her face. "Is everything ok, Selena?' The Prince stood up and took her hands.

"Why'd you bring me here, Jonathan?" Selena asked, looking at the ground. He didn't speak for a moment.

"I… what do you mean?" Look how innocent he is! You're confusing the poor boy! She screamed internally. Buy still, she had to make sure.

"Selena this… this is my special place. I wanted to share it with you… because… well, you're… special." He looked away for a moment. "Ok, that sounded… stupid and… kind of creepy. Listen, if sharing this place with you is too much I apologize. I can see if you think it's too fast, but I wanted to show you, you know? To share this place with you."

"You only wanted me to see this place?" Selena looked up into his eyes. "Nothing else?" Jonathan was confused.
"What else would I-" And just like that the realization hit him. Like a wall. For the first time, Selena saw his face turn bright red and he backed away from her quickly. "Gods above, Selena I am so sorry! I… I… I didn't even realize…. Didn't even think! Oh my gods, you must think I'm such an asshole…. I didn't even." He stuttered and stumbled over his words, losing all the confidence and charisma he had. His reaction proved to Selena that his intentions were innocent, and so she simply sighed with relief and found his hands again.

"Shh shhh shhhhh." She quited him. "It's my fault. I read the situation wrong." She cupped his face with her hand. "I thought that you brought me here to go swimming. To see me naked."

The Prince's eyes widened with fear. "No, no! Definitely not! I've never been in the springs myself! I would just come and sit with my feet in the water with her, like I was doing just now! I would never-"

"Shhhh. Hush, my Prince." Selena put her finger against his lips. "Like I said, my fault." She stood on her tiptoes and put her lips against his. Selena heard Jonathan sigh with relief and slowly wrap his arms around her body. But when Selena's tongue entered his mouth he pulled away.

"What's wrong?" She asked with surprise. He looked extremely uncomfortable.

"M-maybe this wasn't such a good place to bring you…" The Prince backed away from her.

"Why, what's the-" Oh no.

"Oh…" She said quietly.

"Fuck…" The Prince spun halfway around in frustration. "Gods, I'm sorry Selena I fucked it up. Today was supposed to be nice, and I didn't think or even realize how weird it would be…"

"Oh, no no it's fine. It's my fault. I… I shouldn't have kissed you. This… this was your special place with your mom… I… we shouldn't, uh… ruin that." They stood there in awkward silence for a moment, neither looking at the other.

Finally, their eyes met. "Let's just… sit. With our feet in the water. Like you used to. No funny business, just… relax." Selena suggested.

Jonathan smiled at her. "Maybe a little snuggling?" A held his forefinger and thumb close to each other. And just like that, things were fine again. Selena removed her boots and socks, rolled her pants up to her knees, and sat down next to him. They began to talk about the Goat Men again, and soon enough Selena put her head on his shoulder. And there the two sat, the awkward moment all but forgotten, talking as easily to one another as ever.

"So what percent goat would you say they are?" Jonathan asked.

"I'd say the Ezen are… eighty percent goat." Selena responded.

"Yeah, that's usually what I think the ratio is with most Beastmen. Are they super hairy?"

"Oh yeah, goat hair covers their entire body. And the older ones even have it growing out of their ears-" A loud crack rang through the clearing. Both Selena and Jonathan's heads immediately shot toward the sound. Perhaps fifteen yards to their right, an eight-and-a-half foot tall, white werewolf stalked out of the trees.

Fear paralyzed the couple. They sat there, staring into the wolf's red eyes as it walked toward them, growling with it's teeth bared. Then about ten yards off it stopped. More and more wolves began entering the clearing then, each one mimicking the first in speed and mannerisms. The majority of them were very dark shades and smaller than the first by almost a foot, but Selena spotted a few dark greys and even a light grey among them. Slowly but surely, they kept coming, until thirty fully grown, hungry werewolves surrounded them on all sides.

Selena slowly reached for the wolfsbane pistol at her side, but before she could reach it she heard Jonathan inhale and scream, "Amos!"

And then the pack lunged.