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Lurking in the shadows

Author: Leyla McKenzie
last update Last Updated: 2024-11-05 22:58:51

Malia

My lungs burned, my legs ached, and my mind raced with only one thought: *Run.*

The growls behind me were growing louder, and I could feel the ground practically vibrating beneath my feet as the hybrid wolves gained on me. Seven of them. They were faster, stronger, and far more ruthless than anything I’d ever faced. I knew that any moment now, they’d be on me, and I’d have no chance of escape. But I pushed myself to keep going, even as a small voice in my head whispered that I was just prolonging the inevitable.

I didn’t dare glance over my shoulder; I could already picture the hybrids—slender and dark-furred, their bodies shifting seamlessly between wolf and human shapes as they pursued me. They moved like shadows in the night, and I was the only thing standing between them and the kill they wanted. My heart pounded, my pulse racing as I pushed myself to run faster, darting between trees, skidding over patches of damp ground, trying to gain even a few extra seconds of life.

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