As Luna walked back towards her neighbourhood, her Wolf called out to her, reminding her that she’d long since asked to be set free.

It was only midnight, so people were still milling about London’s streets, which meant she’d need to find somewhere isolated from humans if she was going to have a proper run.

There was only one place that she knew of where she could be free to roam alone without concern about running into humans. She’d heard that Hyde Park closed its gates to London’s population around eleven p.m., so presumably it was sitting empty by now. The massive green space was the perfect hiding spot for a Wolf shifter on the prowl.

She was glad that Silver wasn’t with her. He probably would have tried to convince her not to break her way into a locked park. Lately he lacked the energy or motivation to do much of anything, but the one trait he hadn’t lost was his unwavering protective instinct.

Even if he hadn’t insisted on joining her, in all likelihood he would have wanted to know where she was going, when she’d be back. But the truth was that she had no answers. All she knew was that she wanted—needed—to be free for a little, to empty her mind of worry and enjoy the feeling of the night air on her copper fur, to dart through the grass, to forget everything that weighed on her.

Other shifters might be out on the prowl as well; Wolves were nocturnal, after all. Now that London had been emptied of the Lapsed and the Forsaken who’d once roamed its streets, the night had begun once again to belong to their kind. Wolves could tear about uninhibited, so long as they stayed more or less out of sight.

Once she’d squeezed her way through the gate that led into the south end of Hyde Park, she advanced until she was away from any overhead street lamps, and shifted into the form of her sleek red Wolf. The rain had let up, the clouds cleared away, and her fur shone copper under the moonlight as she sprinted over a vast field of grass, euphoric for a moment with the potent drug that had flooded her system.

This was the pure joy that came with shifting. The ultimate sensation of being one with the air around her, of all of her senses kicking in at once. She could see, hear, smell everything in the world, and it felt so bloody good.

To make things even better, for now she found herself alone under the moon. Alone with her thoughts, with her confusion about Kirith, about Ripper, about the future. Her Wolf ran hard and fast, hoping to leave her concerns behind for a little. With every step she tried to recall the days before heaviness weighed on her. Before Silver had retreated into the shadows; before Kirith had become a dark legend.

After a time she came to a small, wooded area. A strangely familiar scent hit her nose, and she slowed her pace, pressing her Wolf’s nose to the ground. Strange. Kirith, it seemed, had also been in Hyde Park that evening.

Her Wolf wanted to hunt him as she’d done in her younger years; to seek him out and stare at him. No deep instinct told her to run and hide, not this time. So she followed his trail along the grass until she reached the edge of a small lake. Reeds jutted up from its edge, far higher than her déor’s back. Luna looked around, cocking her head in confusion. This made no sense. Had the Dragon shifter walked over here and gone for a swim?

She proceeded to trot around the lake, maintaining her position, head bent to the ground.

She froze when a quick gust of wind brought another scent to her nose. This one was more fresh, more present. The scent of a Wolf shifter—though it wasn’t any that she’d ever met.

The nearby sound of a twig snapping met Luna’ ears, and a sick feeling invaded her gut. Whether the shifter was hostile or friendly, she didn’t know. But something told her that it was time to get away from this place, in case the other explorer had deemed it his own territory for the night.

Turning to look behind her, she saw nothing at first. Heard nothing, though the scent still lingered strong on the air.

But after a few seconds, a dark shadow moved out from behind the reeds that she’d just been sniffing. The shifter was still in human form, it seemed. She could see the reflection in his light eyes as he watched her.

Something about the man made her nervous. He was too inquisitive. Too interested in her. So she wasted no time in taking off at a sprint, darting towards a stand of trees in the distance. A Wolf could beat a human in a foot race any day. The only danger would come if and when the man shifted.

Wait, she asked herself, why exactly I running from a Wolf?

The man hadn’t threatened her or made any sudden moves towards her, yet here she was, breathing hard, her déor’s mind telling her to flee. Why now? Why hadn’t she run when she’d met Kirith in the pub? Surely he was far more dangerous than any Wolf shifter.

When she’d reached a thick clump of trees and shrubs she stopped, her sides heaving as she panted, turning her head to look back. The man was still back there, moving quickly towards her.

Anger began to overtake Luna. Bastard, she thought. I played by the rules. If he’s going to be this idiotic, maybe I’ll have some fun with him. Some shifters were more stupid than others, and this one was looking for trouble.

Instead of continuing on her way she pivoted her body around, waiting for the figure to come closer. She may not have been an Alpha or a cold-blooded killer, but she could fight.

When the man was about ten feet off, Luna’s Wolf let out a low growl of warning. For a second he paused, but then he proceeded as though nothing had happened. It wasn’t until he was but a few feet away that Luna saw something glinting in his hand. Was that…a blade? Why the hell would a Wolf shifter have a knife on him?

Part of her wanted to lunge at him, to sink her teeth into his arm and free him of his weapon. But if he was a member of a Pack, she’d do well not to attack him without clear provocation. There would be swift and severe repercussions for any such act; if not from her own Alpha, then from whatever Alpha was responsible for the knife-wielding idiot.

So she turned tail and ran. Whatever reason the wanker had to torment another Wolf, she had no interest in playing his sick games.

She darted towards a distant structure, hoping to find shelter. But as she approached she could see that it was just some sort of arching bridge over a small lake. She lunged across it as fast as her long legs would carry her. When she’d sprinted a half mile or so she stopped again, looking around to see if the bastard was anywhere near.

He’d disappeared, thankfully, but her nose was picking up confusing signals now; multiple scents, coming from all around her. As she stood panting in exhaustion and apprehension, shadows began to emerge from every direction. She felt suddenly like she was in a horror film.

The stupid girl who goes into the basement, even though everyone knows that’s the absolute worst thing to do.

She could run, but by now she’d lost all sense of how to get out of the park. Chances were that no matter which way she went, she’d run into one of her would-be assailants.

Best, perhaps, to be rational. To figure out what they were up to, and tell them that she meant no harm. As she watched the figures close in on her from all sides, Luna shifted into human form and pulled her raincoat’s hood over her hair. Standing small and lithe before the gathering group, she felt more helpless than she ever had in her life.

“Who are you?” she called out, trying and failing to sound menacing.

At first no one answered. There must have been ten of them all cloaked in black, their eyes set intently on her own as she looked around to take them all in.

“Are you here to defend the Guild?” she asked, recalling the scent of Dragon shifter from near the pond.

“Fuck no,” a man called out from somewhere behind her. She spun around to look at him. His hair was dark, slicked back like Ripper’s always was. His face was marred by a scar that accented a high set of cheekbones.

“So who are you, then? What are you doing here?”

The man stepped forward, a nasty expression curling his lips into a thin smile. “Isn’t it obvious?” he asked. “We’re here to play with you.” He held his hand out, and another man handed over the blade that Luna had seen glinting in the darkness.

His cruelty sent shivers up Luna’s spine. This was a pretty bloody strange way to play. Unless the game was Terrify the Living Hell out of the Young Woman.

“I’m not interested in playing,” Luna retorted. “You should leave now. My Alpha wouldn’t be pleased if he knew what you were up to.”

“Yeah, well,” said the man, looking about with a smirk adhered to his mischievous face, “your Alpha ain’t here, is he?”

“Let me leave the park, and you can have it to yourselves for the night,” Luna said, trying a new tactic since the first had failed so miserably. “Just…let me go.”

The man moved to the side and thrust a hand out as if to say, “On your way, then.” Her heart thumping in her chest, Luna strode forward and walked by him.

“Thank you very much,” she said, her tone haughty and confident. But the moment she was clear of the group, she heard the men chuckling behind her.

Just keep walking. Don’t look back.

She shifted, her Wolf trotting away casually, trying not to let them see her fear.

A moment later, a howl sounded behind her. One of the men had shifted. Perhaps it was innocent. They were just going to wander around in Wolf form now that she was leaving. Maybe they were just communicating with others in their Pack.

Well, whatever it was, she wanted no part of it.

She made her way towards one end of the park, doing her best to move in a straight line so that she wouldn’t miss a possible exit. For a minute or so, she began to think she might even make it out without further incident.

But then came more howls. They were all around her now, still playing, still relishing their torment.

Fucking hell, she thought, picking up her pace to a run.

Somewhere behind her, the Wolves were in hot pursuit. She could feel them catching up, hear their breath on the air. Worse than that, she could smell them. They were excited, pleased. They were on a hunt, and she was the prey.

When a tall iron fence revealed itself against the shadows, Luna asked her legs for everything they had, charging ahead. But when she reached it, she realized that it was a good eight feet tall, and there was no gate to be seen.

She turned around, backing against the fence’s iron bars as a dozen or so Wolves formed a semi-circle around her. She’d become a literal animal, trapped in a cage.

She pressed her back to a stone divider that supported the fence, breathing hard as the menacing figures moved towards her. If she could only get home, she told herself, she’d never wander alone again.

If only her Dragon were close by…

Stupid woman, the Dragon isn’t yours. He isn’t your friend. He hates you as much as these sodding Wolves do.

As she stared out at the eyes that glinted back at her in the moonlight, Luna felt more alone in the world than she’d ever felt before.