We were trapped. We had nowhere to run. The cloaked man stepped forward, one hand outstretched in a show of surrender, of mercy.

Scarlett had slapped me on the cheeks until I woke up, the pain in my shoulder threatening to take me under with each breath I took. She was shaking uncontrollably as the man approached us, casting a cold shadow over where Scarlett rested on her knees beside me, with the dead wolf on my other side.

I was covered in its blood. I could feel ...