Chapter 29 · The Thing Behind the Door

The door didn't just open. It exploded.

Metal screamed. The frame tore away from concrete in chunks. Something massive hit the basement floor and I didn't think. I moved.

Backward. Fast. Shotgun up.

The thing that came through wasn't a wolf.

It was too big. Too wrong. Its front half was wolf but the back legs bent the other way, joints snapping with every step. Its jaw unhinged like a snake's. The eyes were human. Terrified. Pleading.

And it was coming right at me.

"See?" Derek's voice cracked. He was pressed against the far wall, hand still on the switch panel. "You're not special, Layla. You're just another animal I caught."

The thing lunged.

I fired.

The blast caught it in the shoulder. It twisted mid-air, slammed into the concrete pillar beside me. Blood sprayed. Black, thick, wrong. The smell hit me and my wolf surged up, snarling inside my skull.

Not pack. Not prey. Wrong wrong wrong.

"She was a waitress," Derek said. He was talking fast now, words tumbling over each other. "Samantha. Sam. She thought I was cute. Gave me her number on a napkin. I dosed her drink on the third date."

The creature scrambled upright.