Chapter 15: Night Conversations
Brock Silver POV
"Get back!" I lunged forward, swinging a burning branch at the bone-faced wolves circling us.
The masked creatures hissed and retreated into the darkness, their red eyes glowing like embers. But they didn’t leave. They stayed just beyond the firelight, watching. Waiting.
"Why aren’t they attacking?" Lily whispered behind me.
I kept the flaming branch raised, my wounded ankle throbbing with each movement. "I don’t know. But I’m not whining."
The lead wolf with Emma’s bloody band around its neck tilted its skull-masked head. "We can wait, Alpha son. The storm traps you here with us. When your fire dies, the choice will be made."
Then, like smoke, they melted back into the darkness of the cave. Gone, but not really gone. I could still smell their wild scent and hear the soft click of claws on stone somewhere in the dark.
"Are they really gone?" Lily asked.
"No." I lowered the branch but kept it burning. "They’re still here. Waiting for us to get tired or let our guard down."
Lily fed more wood to our fire, making it burn higher. Smart. The bigger the fire, the more it would keep those things away.
"How long until dawn?" she asked.