Novels by Brynn Zebold

When my vision finally shifted back into regular sight, the forest had already begun to thin. I stumbled, but only for a moment. With less to distract me, I ran even harder.More howls sprung up out of the night, but they were further away now and seemed to be veering north and away from us.Had our watcher led them away?I shook my head and focused on the slope ahead. Soon, we started up towards the towering ice spires. Boulder fields where in the spring marmots might have screamed at us gave way to steep slopes of unreliable frozen shale that bit into my paws.Occasionally, the shale would shift and send me sliding on my stomach several paces down the incline. As soon as we stopped moving, I got back up and continued on our way. It was no longer safe to run, but I trudged on as quickly as I dared.Finally, my weary paws met snow. At first, it was only a few inches, but as I walked, the snow grew deeper. I spread my toes, trying to stay atop the ice crust, but every few paces, one p

Skye opened his eyes and carefully lifted his head, peering around us into the night.“What's out there?” He asked in a whisper.“I don't know.” I replied. “The silence woke me. It could be anything. Mountain lion, one of the Shaded Paws Pack, even…” Icy dread seeped into my veins, and I shivered.“Even what?” Skye pressed closer to my side.“Lykaon.” The word crept from my thoughts as if even thinking about the cursed being would summon it from the shadows.Skye looked at me from the corner of his eye. “Like that king in mythology who served his son to the gods and was punished?”Now, it was my turn to look carefully at him. “You know about the curse?” Surprise colored my words.“Wait… what curse? I just took a mythology class once.”I suppressed a snort. Of course, there was some overlap. Hell, werewolves were mythology to most humans.“It's likely the same source. We can ask when we get home. All I know is that if we knowingly kill a member of our family, we get cursed to live in a

By the end of the next day, the mountain range loomed before us and my home was somewhere on the other side. Maybe some smell tickled the back of my mind or maybe the moon Mother was still guiding us. I wasn't sure how I knew where home was, but I knew. “That's going to be a bitch to get over.” I grumbled mentally. "Depending on how fast we cross and how much we eat beforehand," Skye jumped down off my back, reaching both arms up to crack his spine. "It shouldn't be too bad." He smiled and headed behind a maple tree to remove his clothes and don his fur in place of skin. I wondered briefly if he was self conscious of his scars or just shy and didn't want me to see him naked. I knew that humans likely had different views of nudity but I wasn't entirely sure what those views were. Maybe I'd ask Skye some time. While I waited for the Healer, I occupied myself by making a nest in the ferns, circling to trample them flat. I hoped we weren't too much farther from home. The longin

A startled deer bolted across my path and I gave chase, momentarily forgetting about Skye on my back. She swerved around trees and jumped fallen logs, nimble legs drumming pointed hooves into the dirt as she fled, but I was hot on her heels chasing the uplifted white flag of her tail. The deer was fast, but I was born for the hunt, designed by nature to pursue prey over vast miles, so it didn’t take long for me to snag an ankle and drag the doe to the ground. Soon I had my jaws clamped around her throat, hot blood filling my mouth, rich and full of life. It promised meat that would sedate the growing hunger in my belly. I could taste the doe's pulse fluttering on my tongue. She kicked frantically, trying to escape, trying to survive. But I was also trying to survive. With a quick twist of my head and a crunch of my jaws, I broke the doe's neck ending her life. She was a beautiful creature in the prime of her life. Strong and sleek with wide brown eyes that stared back at me in

A fearful yip tore from me as I felt Skye move but instead of falling away from me, he began to climb. Hand over hand he pulled himself up my body, his shoes digging uncomfortably into my ribs. I just had to hold on until he reached the top but the flailing limbs made the task exceedingly difficult. One foot landed in my eye making me yelp and then he was gone, rolling away from the edge. He had made it. I shed my fur and sunk my fingers into the ferns anchoring myself to the earth. I wasn't strong enough to pull myself up right now but I wasn't in danger of falling to my death for the time being. Behind me at the far side of the crevasse, yips and barks of terror filled the air as our persuitors clamored their way for the safety of solid ground. Fading howls told me that several had fallen. “Skye?” I called. I couldn't see him over the ferns I clung to. I couldn't see anything past the arching fronds. Had he left me? No, he wouldn't do that. Would he? “Skye!” “I'm here! I'

I found myself cradled to Skye's warm chest instead of falling to my doom as he shuffled along the fallen giant. The Healer kept his weight balanced and low, moving with slow deliberation so as to not stress the fracture that I had made. “What…?” Was all I could manage through the tears as I looked up at the taller male. “You carried me this far. I can carry you across one stupid ravine.” Skye's jaw was set in pain, and I didn't need his gift to know that his left arm was causing him tremendous pain with every subtle movement. Over his shoulder, the three pursuing wolves were gaining on us, and more had begun to clamber up the gnarled exposed root ball of the old Fir. We weren't going to reach the other side. “You have to leave me, Skye.” I begged, tugging on the front of his shirt like a child. “You can make it out of here, but not like this. Not with me weighing you down.” “Shut up.” Skye growled and clutched me tighter. “I'm not leaving you.” “But-” “God dammit, Ken