Page 35 of Bad Moon Rising

My arm goes back as I take aim with my stake, aiming for the wolf’s belly, just as it pounces.

I know as soon as the heavy weight hits me that I’ve made a mistake.

I thought the wolf was going for Lily, and I was aiming my stake at the place where its belly would be exposed. But it had turned to come at me, its huge paws grabbing my shoulders and slamming me into the ground.

I hit hard. The breath leaves my lungs. I gasp for air as the wolf pins me, its claws digging into the flesh of my shoulders. I fight through the pain to lift my arm, but my stake is gone. I grab its throat with my hand instead, digging my fingers into its fur, pushing into its windpipe.

The wolf howls and thrashes its head, trying to shake me off. Instead, I’m able to gain a little ground, rolling my other shoulder out of his grip. I use that arm to push myself to a sitting position, even though the pain is so bad that red spots appear in front of my eyes. From here, I try to angle the wolf’s head toward my brother’s.

Brooks bears down on us, his features twisted in triumph as he swings his stake over his head and—

“What are you doing?” Lily cries, grabbing Brooks’s arm just as he starts to stab. Desperate, frightened tears leak from her gold-flecked eyes. “That’s Chase!”

“He’s not Chase anymore.” Brooks tears his arm from Lily’s grasp, but the unintentional distraction lost us our shot. The wolf claws at my arm, carving deep gashes in my skin. My fingers are slick with blood, and I’m losing my grip on the wolf’s fur. With a growl, it twists its head and frees itself from me, then slams its paw into my chest, knocking the stake from Brooks’s hand as he lunges again, forcing my back against the wall.

Its mouth bears down on me, those sharp teeth ready to pierce my skin.

The wolf’s fetid breath blasts my face. Its eyes glow with malice as it moves in for the kill.

I don’t know where I find the strength, but I fling up my arms and grab it by the ears, yanking its snout back just as its jaws snap shut. The wolf gets a bite of air instead of my beautiful face, but now all that’s saving me is my rather precarious hold on its ears and the fact that I can see Brooks scrambling to pick up the dropped stake while Orion tries to sneak around the other side.

“Becka! Get Lily out of here! Now!” Brooks roars. I’m dimly aware of Becka tugging on Lily’s wrist and dragging her out of the room. Daisy struggles futilely for a few moments, screaming our names, but Becka says something to her that has her face leaching of color. With one last desperate glance at the three of us, she races out of the room in tears with Becka close behind.

Thank fuck. Now that Lily is safe, now that we’re no longer distracted by her presence, we can end Chase once and for all.

My grip on the werewolf is wavering. Any second now, it’s going to overpower me and—

The wolf’s growl becomes a whimper. It drops its grip on me and turns its head slowly, painfully, toward my brother.

Not Brooks. Orion. My twin stands over the wolf, his hands bloody and trembling, his face white with terror. In front of him, the silver-tipped stake sticks out of the wolf’s back like a porcupine quill.

“Jackson, are…you…” Orion stutters. The wolf howls in pain and rolls over onto its side, kicking its paws in a desperate effort to pull out the stake.

“I’m fine.” I crawl out from under the wolf’s legs. Brooks holds out a hand and helps me to my feet, and I move toward my brother. “Thanks to you. I can’t believe you—”

“No!” Brooks cries.

In a last, desperate effort, the dying wolf hurls itself at my twin and slams him into the wall. Orion’s eyes go glassy, and he doesn’t move.

“Orion,” I yell, but I’m too far away. All I can do is watch as the wolf’s teeth sink into my brother’s neck.

14

BROOKS

“Orion, fuck.” I cradle my baby brother in my arms, pressing my hand into the wound. His blood burbles through my fingers.

No.

This can’t be happening.

Moments of our life flash before my eyes.

Me putting bandaids on Orion’s scraped knee.

Attending parent/teacher conferences and listening to his art teachers gush about his work.

Orion’s face lighting up every time Lily jumped the fence between our years and ran over to join our games, her bright daisy sundress flapping in the breeze.