The Boy and His Wolf by Sean Thomas Page A

egging my predator on.
    The black wolf snapped and charged. His head bent low, aiming for my legs, and turned sideways. Air pumped into my lungs and propelled the Banshee up through the air. He easily curled his body out of reach, the blade barely grazing his mane.
    I could see Jack in my head, rolling his eyes. “You didn’t anticipate his moves. Always predict where he’ll move.”
    “ Oh, shut up, Jack.” I blinked him out of mind, knowing full well what I didn’t do.
    Then I saw Dash. His sleek gray fur streaked over the grass towards us. My heart dove for him, thumping painfully against my chest cavity, and just like that my anger towards him evaporated. The need to bury my face in his soft fur trounced every other sense. I wanted his scent surrounding me and the grainy texture of his facial scruff lining my jaw.
    His eyes burned yellow against the shadows, two suns bounding through the night.
    My hand reached out as I shouted. “I’ve got this, Dash.”
    But my wolf swept his gaze to our common enemy and bared his red stained teeth. I watched helplessly as both wolves crashed into each other, two primal forces thrashing against the ground. Dash tearing out mouthfuls of flesh with every bite as the black wolf bit deeper into his neck, refusing to let go.
    And then it all happened in slow motion. The black wolf, on his back, shook his head furiously into the red coating of Dash’s fur. Dash’s body tensed, as if struck by a current of electricity, and the cry that shot out of him like an arrow pierced my very core. The black wolf kicked backwards, flinging Dash’s beautiful body as if he weighed nothing. I watched as he hit the earth with bone crushing sounds and then lay still.

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    I was screaming and I was running. Tears blinded me and I was unraveling.
    “ No, no, no, no.” The words wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t breathe and then I was pinned to the ground, my arms behind me.
    “ Get off of me.” I was screaming like a mad man, flailing and spitting. “Get off me. Dash!”
    He wasn’t moving. Please, no.
    “ Well, damn.” Frat boy spoke slowly and calmly in my ear. “I never wanted your wolf to fall. He was always my favorite.”
    “ Nooo.” I couldn’t move my body, even if I wasn’t pinned to the ground. My eyes wouldn’t leave Dash’s line of sight. I begged him, with everything I had in me, to move. Just one inch.
    “ Please.” My forehead dropped to the cold grass below me.
    “ Now we’ll see who else dies.” Frat boy spoke with a confidence and an assurance that ignited a rage unlike anything I had ever felt before. My breath quickened and I was clenching my jaw so hard my teeth were about to shatter.
    “ This is your fault.” The tone of my voice would have given any wolf’s growl a run for its money. Frat boy, the black wolf, just made his last kill. He and his rogue pack would never take another life again and if that meant I gave mine to ensure it, then so be it.
    Invincible strength surged through me and I knew what it felt like to be supernatural, to be more than a man. My brain was clearer than it had ever been. Once you no longer care about your own life, you would be surprised at the strength you can muster.
    Every muscle trembled before I pushed myself from the ground. My head smacked into his face and my brain split down the middle. I ignored it. He careened off my back and now the tables were turned, with me on top of him, and my fist, a scythe of death, pounding into his face. Over and over and over, I punched, until my brain registered the pain. When I did stop he was unrecognizable. Blood sputtered from his mouth to reveal missing teeth.
    “ S’that all?” he slurred the words out.
    My body shook from fury and blood lust. No, it wasn’t all. I was far from done with him. The Banshee was in my hand again, my grip welding it to my body.
    “ Grawrgh.” A brown wolf charged towards me, swift and determined.
    The wolf leapt as I rose to my feet.