Scout ran as fast as he could towards the house, his heart pounding in his chest. Onyx and Creek had headed back to the car and promised to meet him back at his house, and Scout had sprinted off through a shortcut, knowing he’d get there faster.

Even though his muscles burned as he made his ways through the trees, he kept running—he had to get to Rayven.

When the roof of his house finally came into view, Scout charged ahead through the snow like an animal. He jumped over the boundary hedge and crashed through the door, his only rational thought being that he had to make sure Rayven was okay.

The scene that greeted him was the coffee table of the living room smashed to pieces and Kala holding Rayven against the wall with one hand around her throat.

Kala’s eyes were yellow and glowing.

“Shit,” he murmured to himself. He hadn’t wanted to believe it. He hadn’t wanted to believe that Kala—the only other person who knew about the butane canisters, and only because she had read his mind to find that information—was the extractor. That she was not only an extractor, but the Crescents’ extractor.

A deep growl escaped his throat.

“Oh, look!” Kala cried when she saw him. “Your boyfriend has arrived!” She let Rayven drop to the floor and turned her attention to Scout. “Come and get me, alpha. Show me that you’re as tough as you think you are!”

A wave of heat passed through Scout’s body, starting at his back and spreading throughout his limbs until he had transformed into a majestic wolf. He bared his teeth at Kala, growling again.

Kala shook her head. “You know this isn’t going to amount to anything.”

“She can’t use her ability when she’s a wolf!” Rayven called out from her place on the floor, her voice hoarse and breathless.

“Shut up!” Kala snarled. She kicked Rayven, silencing her.

Scout leaped towards her, but Kala quickly transformed into a charcoal grey wolf, smacking him away with her front paws. Scout landed on the ground and pounced on her before she could pin him down. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rayven scrambling to her feet, and he desperately wished that she would get the hell out of the house and as far away from Kala as possible.

Scout heard the familiar howls of Creek and Onyx signaling that they were close, and he went for Kala’s neck, sinking his teeth into her flesh. Kala yelped out in pain and threw him off her. The taste of her blood was bitter in Scout’s mouth, and he heaved a few times. He started to feel slightly lightheaded as the world spun and blurred around him.

“Scout!” Creek’s voice came from somewhere behind him. “Scout, spit out her blood! It’s toxic!”

Scout shook his head, trying to focus his eyes properly. He heaved a few more times and spat out Kala’s blood on the floor in front of him. Kala made a run for the door, and just as Scout was about to go after her, he saw Onyx, fully shifted into a wolf, follow her.

“Remember her blood is toxic!” Creek yelled after him. “Watch out!”

Scout felt his wolf form slipping away from his control, and he was left naked on the floor of his wrecked living room. Creek was by his side immediately, offering him clothes to put on. It didn’t take him long, but he still felt a bit woozy.

“What the hell is in her blood?” Scout asked, turning to look at Creek.

“It’s a certain type of endorphin that only extractors have. It acts like a sedative to any wolf who bites them and can be fatal in large doses,” Creek answered.

“How do you know this?” Scout asked.

Creek’s jaw clenched momentarily. Then he said, “Because my blood does the same.”

Scout’s eyes widened, and he unconsciously backed away from him. He didn’t know if he would be able to stand two of the people he held closest to him betraying him in the same day, let alone within the same hour.

“I’m not one of them!” Creek hurriedly added. “I mean, I’m not a Crescent. I’m our pack’s extractor.”

“Why didn’t I know about this?” Scout questioned.

Creek lowered his gaze. “Some things are just best kept secret.”

There was a loud growl and a thud coming from the basement, and Scout scrambled to his feet. Rayven was gone, and Onyx had gone after Kala. They probably needed all the help they could get.

As he and Creek ran down the hallway, Scout asked, “Seeing as you and Kala are the same, any ideas how to kill her?”

“I need her pinned down in her human form,” Creek instructed him. “I’ll do the rest!”

Down in the basement, Scout glanced in horror as Kala, who had shifted back into a human, had the twins pinned against the wall, each hand wrapped around each of their throats.

“How is she even doing that?” Scout asked.

Kala glanced at Scout over her shoulder and laughed wickedly. “The mighty Scout at last comes back to play! And you call yourself an alpha? Here, catch!”

She threw Rayven effortlessly towards Scout, who lunged forward to catch her. To his surprise, Rayven turned around mid-air and landed on the ground in a crouched position, the only sign of her pain a discomforted groan.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Rayven mumbled. “We have to get Onyx away from her.”

“Get your hands off him!” Creek snarled. He ran towards Kala, but she deterred him by scratching him across the chest. Creek wasn’t stopped for long, though, and he threw a powerful punch that sent both Onyx and Kala to the ground. Onyx quickly scrambled to his feet, and he, Creek, Rayven, and Scout cornered Kala.

Her eyes flashed viciously. “You can’t kill me.”

Rayven reached out and grabbed Kala by the hair to hold her in place while Creek helped her to force Kala into a kneeling position.

“I’m sick of playing your games!” Rayven growled. “You killed my parents, but you’re not going to kill me or my brother or anyone else again!”

“Is that any way to talk to your aunt, Rayven?” Kala snarled. Scout immediately looked at Onyx, who stared back at him with the same expression of confusion on Scout’s face. “Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag now.”

“How can that be?” Onyx asked.

“Tell Rayven to let me go,” Kala muttered, “and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Shut up!” Rayven cried.

“Rayven, how is she our aunt?” Onyx demanded.

“It doesn’t matter!” Rayven snapped. “She killed Mom! She tortured you and Dad! She’s a Crescent, Onyx!”

Rayven and Onyx were too focused on their argument that they lost their focus on Kala. None of them, including Scout and Creek, noticed the way Rayven’s grip on Kala loosened slightly.

Kala broke herself free from Rayven’s and Creek’s grasp, and her hand shot out towards Onyx’s neck as she pushed everyone else away from them, sending them spiraling to the basement floor. Scout’s vision went blurry again, and the only thing he could see was Kala holding Onyx in the air as if he were no heavier than a stuffed animal.

“Onyx!” he heard Rayven scream from somewhere next to him. “Don’t look at her eyes!”

Onyx grappled under Kala’s grip, struggling to free himself, but his efforts were all in vain. Kala was just too strong for him, overpowering him completely.

Scout shakily pushed himself up to his knees. He looked over at Rayven and reached out his hand to her. Before he could say anything, though, Rayven let out a furious howl unlike anything Scout had ever seen before, and she transformed in front of his very eyes.

He had been completely wrong about what her wolf form would look like. Her fur was as white as snow, and there was a black patch on her flank that somehow resembled a bird in flight. A raven.

Even though he knew that he and Creek had to do something, Scout was unable to tear his eyes away from her. It was only until Creek rushed to his side and helped him get to his feet that he came back to himself. They had to get Onyx before Kala extracted his ability and killed him.

“Are you ready?” Scout asked Creek.

“I was born ready,” Creek answered.

As they rushed towards Kala, a yellow glow emanating from her eyes illuminated the whole basement.