AMBER

“There are reports that yet another area has been discovered where magic simply does not work. Jan Compton is on the ground with the most recent update. Over to you, Jan,” the reporter said, her face a serious picture of concern. 

Amber tied off her braid and snorted. “Unable to use magic? What a tragedy,” she muttered as she snatched up the remote and shut off the television.

Witches and Elves and all the rest of them were so dependent on magic. As a human, she had no problem getting by without it. She didn’t hate it or anything, but the panic over three little spots where magic didn’t work had gotten old real fast. They had probably always been there, and it just so happened that someone had finally stumbled across them.

She grabbed her leather jacket and pulled it on, running her fingers over the material that was soft from regular use. When the weather was cool enough, she wore it every day. And in Portland, it was almost always cool enough in the evenings to want a light jacket.

Amber patted her pockets. Keys. Wallet. Mace. With a nod, she slipped out of her studio apartment and locked the door behind her.

Her neighbor, Mrs. Huntington, was just coming in. She narrowed her eyes at Amber, then hurried into her own apartment. That woman was nosy as hell and a pain in the ass. Last week she had reported Amber for “coming back too late” and “slamming her door.” The woman had As the Witch Burns blaring out of her television twenty-four seven. There’s no way she heard anyone doing anything.

Amber was tempted to kick her door as she walked past, but she shook off the pettiness. Tonight wasn’t about crappy neighbors. It was supposed to be fun…whatever that was.

There was a free concert in the park with some new local bands, and a few older ones whose popularity had fizzled as their fan base had grown up. The Troll Bangs was going to be on stage around eleven that night. Since that was the only band she was interested in seeing, she had skipped the first few hours of the concert.

Her twin, Dylan, had loved The Troll Bangs to an almost embarrassing extent. He had dragged her to three of their concerts in high school one summer. Amber hadn’t hated them, but Dylan had taken his fanboying to a whole new level. She pulled out her keys to unlock the ugly, old red truck she drove, shaking her head at the memory. Watching the band without him would be bittersweet.

The truck didn’t have keyless entry or elf-spelled air conditioning like a new model would. She had rebuilt it with her dad as a graduation gift, one of the few things she ever did with him one-on-one. It still ran, but only thanks to her constant maintenance. Maybe in a year or two she’d be able to afford something new.

In order to avoid the traffic of downtown Portland, she took the long way to the concert. The Market had appeared there a couple of weeks ago, and for the next two weeks it was going to remain a pain in her ass to get to work.

Despite her annoyance with the traffic, she was glad The Market had popped up nearby. She hadn’t been in years, not since it showed up in Texas a few months before she moved away. The Market was old and made up of so much magic that no one knew how it worked anymore. It disappeared and reappeared every new moon, always in a different location, and always completely unpredictable. The only things that were sure about The Market were that it liked populated areas and that it somehow always made room for itself no matter where it landed.

The merchants who traveled with it had to sign an unbreakable contract that lasted for at least one year. Openings were hard to come by, though; merchants who got a spot never seemed to want to leave.

The narrow streets that led to the concert were lined with vehicles. She parked her truck at the first open spot. There was no point in driving around for thirty minutes, hoping for something closer, when she didn’t mind the walk.

A group of elves clambered out of a car that had parked a few spaces ahead of her. They wore flower crowns that shimmered with magic. Fluorescent butterflies fluttered around their heads every few seconds. They must have been to The Market before coming there.

A pixie flew out of the bushes and chased one of the butterflies around an elven girl’s head, trying to eat the magical illusion. She shrieked and batted it away, knocking her crown askew. The pixie jabbered its displeasure, then landed on a car and watched them walk away sullenly. Pixies were odd, gray little creatures with wide mouths like a frog and wings like a bat. They’d eat almost anything, but preferred metal and bugs. Amber’s dad had always been chasing them out of the garage when they got into the screws.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and the custom ringtone, an engine revving, rumbled loudly. She hesitated, then pulled out her phone. Her oldest brother, Derek, would just call over and over until she picked up. He was persistent like that.

“Hey, big brother. Grandma Kelly didn’t kick the bucket, did she?”

Derek chuckled. “You’re so morbid. And no. She does have a date tomorrow, though.”

She grimaced. “I didn’t need to know that.”

“Neither did I,” Derek said. She could hear the shudder of horror through the phone. “Anyhow, that’s not why I called.”

“Well, I’m waiting,” she said when he didn’t immediately continue.

Derek sighed. “Dad got in a wreck this afternoon.” 

“What?” She stopped in her tracks. “And you’re just now calling me?”

“He’s fine. No one got hurt,” Derek said quickly. “The only reason I called is because Mom—because I just thought you should know. It’s a problem with his eyesight. We’ve been trying to get him to go to the doctor for months, but it took this to get him to make a damn appointment.”

Amber sighed. She got her stubbornness from him. They all did. But he was in a category all by himself.

“Thanks for letting me know. It’s probably going to take another wreck to get him to actually do what the doctors tell him, though,” she grumbled, kicking at a rock as she started walking again.

“Tell me about it. He was still trying to argue he was fine in the ambulance.”

“Hard-headed idiot,” she said, shaking her head. She hesitated before she asked her next question. She wanted to know…and she didn’t. “How is Mom doing?”

Derek stayed silent for a beat. “You have her number, Amber. Just call her.”

“She has mine, too, and you don’t see her calling me. She doesn’t want to talk to me, Derek.”

“You don’t know that—”

“Yeah, actually I do.” She was tired of this old argument. Derek refused to believe her. “I know that because she told me when she kicked me out of the house.”

“That was almost six years ago,” Derek argued.

“We’ll talk again when she invites me back,” she said, her tone making it clear she was done talking about it. She took a deep breath to ease the knot of guilt in her chest. “Thanks for calling, okay? I appreciate it.”

“Yeah, of course,” Derek replied, his words clipped. “I’ll keep you updated.”

“Thanks, bro. Talk to you again soon.”

“Sure. Bye,” Derek said, ending the call.

She lowered the phone from her ear and shoved it in her pocket. It was never good news when family called. She used to be close with all her brothers, but so long away from home and the relationships had just…fizzled.

The sound of familiar music drifted toward her. A sense of nostalgia warmed her, and she picked up the pace. The main parking lot was packed. She wove through the cars, passing a few people that were leaving the concert already.

A growl cut through the sounds of the concert and chatter.

She frowned. That was odd. Shifters didn’t normally run around shifted in public. One of them was probably messing with a friend.

She scanned the area as she walked toward the pavilion. She didn’t see any wolves or bears roaming around trying to startle people, but she couldn’t quite shake the unsettled feeling the growl had given her.

She stepped out from between two cars. A loud scream rattled her eardrums, and a girl with pink hair crashed into her. A growl made all the hair on her arms stand on end. It was a lot closer this time.

Amber shoved the girl behind her and faced the source of the growling. Bright yellow eyes locked onto hers, and a huge black wolf bared its teeth. Saliva dripped from fangs as long as her hand. The wolf took a step forward, and Amber reached for the mace in her pocket.

She was too slow.

GENEVIEVE

The woman that Genevieve ran into had an arm stretched out in front of her. Like that could stop the werewolf. Genevieve took a step back, trying to decide if she could run fast enough to get away from the crazy-ass wolf. There was something in its eyes that made it seem wild. It looked insane.

Her heel slipped on a large chunk of gravel. She gasped and tipped backward, her hand flying out to grab the woman’s leather jacket, but her fingers slipped.

The wolf lunged at them with a snarl, and the woman’s body slammed into Genevieve, driving them both to the ground.

Sharp claws cut into her side, and gravel dug into her bare arms. She screamed, trying to cover her head with her arms, but she couldn’t move with the weight of the woman and the wolf pressing down on her. The woman was fighting back and shouting, but her words were lost among the growls. Genevieve couldn’t tell if it was aimed at her or the beast.

Teeth clamped around her thigh. She screamed and slapped at whatever had her. The dull pain grew sharp as her leg was wrenched from side to side with vicious shakes. Her hands hit fur and teeth. The pain kept her from taking a full breath. 

The woman had her arm wrapped around the wolf’s throat as though she were trying to strangle it, but she couldn’t pull it away. Genevieve lifted her other foot and drove her heel into the wolf’s face in a frantic stomping motion.

A rock bounced off the side of the wolf’s head, and the creature turned toward whoever had thrown it with an enraged growl. In an instant, the weight was gone, and so was the woman. Genevieve forced herself upright, frantically looking around for somewhere safe to run to.

A teenager with a shocked look on his face stood right in the path of the charging creature. He threw another rock, hitting it right in the face, but it would take a whole hell of a lot more than that to stop two-hundred pounds of muscles and rage.

The wolf barreled into him, latching onto his shoulder, and he went down with a yell. The red-headed woman that had tried to help Genevieve jumped on the back of the wolf with a crazed shout. It turned, locked its jaws around her arm, and shook her like a rag doll. The woman slammed into the ground, still trying to fight back.

Before she had time to regret it, Genevieve jumped to her feet. Her leg almost gave out on her, and pain shot all the way up to her hip, but she gritted her teeth against it. Her foot hit the same stupid rock she had tripped over. If she could distract the creature for just a moment…maybe they could get away.

She picked the rock up and flung it at the wolf. 

It hit the wolf’s neck. The creature paused in its attack, dropping the woman’s arm, and turned its freaky, yellow gaze on her. The red-headed woman grabbed something from her pocket with her uninjured arm, and a stream of liquid hit the wolf in the eyes.

It yelped and flinched back, shaking its head back and forth, pawing at its face. The woman jumped up and kicked it square in the chin. The wolf turned and ran, snaking the through the cars until it disappeared.

Genevieve looked down. Her dress was ripped, and blood dripped from a deep bite on her thigh. 

“Well, fuck.”

TOMMY

No. No no no.

Tommy lay in the dirt with his hand clutched to the ragged bite on his shoulder. He choked back tears of pain and struggled to sit up. He should have just run. He shouldn’t have gotten involved.

A woman in a leather jacket stood over him with a can of mace in her hand, panting. Everyone else that had been in the parking lot had fled. He doubted anyone had even bothered to call the police.

“Shit, kid, are you okay?” she asked, extending her uninjured arm to help him up. Her other arm was smeared with blood that dripped down from the bite. 

He took it and let her pull him to his feet. “I just—shit. I’ve been bit.” The implications of what had happened sunk in. 

“I’ve been bit,” he repeated uselessly. This couldn’t be happening. He took a step back and looked up to the sky. It was a full moon.

The woman followed his gaze. “Yeah, this is not great,” she said.

The girl with the pink hair she had been protecting walked up behind her. Blood was streaming down her leg. “Did we all get bit?” she asked, her voice shaking.

“Unfortunately,” the woman said, looking back at her. “What’s your name?”

“Genevieve,” she replied.

“I’m Amber,” the woman in the leather jacket replied with a nod. Amber turned back to him. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Don’t call me that,” Tommy snapped. His whole body shook, but not just with adrenaline. He could already feel some freaky magic shit starting inside of him. This couldn’t be happening. His life was already hell. He couldn’t deal with this on top of it.

He took a step away from the women. Amber watched him, worried. She held out a hand like she might try to grab him.

“Look, calm down, okay?” she said, stepping closer.

“I just got bit by a werewolf on the full moon and you want me to calm down?” he shouted at her, taking another step back. “Are you kidding me?” 

She grit her teeth. “I get it. I’m freaking out too. Just don’t—”

Tommy turned and fled. He had to get away. He couldn’t stay around people and let someone trap him. He had to run.

AMBER

“Shit,” Amber said as the nameless kid took off at a run. He could hurt somebody. Hell, so could she.

“Are we going to change?” Genevieve asked.

She turned to face her. “Yeah. Assuming we don’t die.”

Her hands shook and her insides churned with guilt and fear as memories she desperately wanted to forget rose to the surface. Dylan screaming. His body twisted in pain as his bones broke, but couldn’t reform. His eyes as the magic tortured him and stole his life.

A thump of something other beat inside Amber’s chest. “We need to get to the woods,” she said, her voice edged with a growl.

She grabbed Genevieve’s arm and dragged her toward the dark line of trees. It looked like safety. She had to get Genevieve there, and she had to find the boy. The drive to do so overwhelmed the fear and guilt.

Genevieve struggled against her grip. “What are you doing?”

Amber stopped in her tracks. “Can’t you feel it?” she asked, looking straight at Genevieve. “Do you want to be standing next to some stranger when the change happens?”

Genevieve shook her head and she dropped her arm.

“Just follow me. Please.”

Genevieve nodded, biting her lip uncertainly, and Amber turned back to the tree line. She would follow or she wouldn’t.

Footsteps crunched in the gravel behind her, and Amber breathed a sigh of relief. 

“How long do we have?” Genevieve asked, jogging a little to catch up and walk beside her.

“I don’t know exactly,” she said. “It varies from person to person. Not long, though.”

Genevieve was silent for a moment, then asked, “How bad is it going to hurt?”

“It won’t hurt if your body can take the magic,” she said, closing her eyes against the memory of the alternative.

“And if it doesn’t?” Genevieve pressed.

Amber stopped and whipped around to face her. “Then you die a painful and bloody death.”

Genevieve stared at her with wide eyes. “Shit.”

“That about sums it up,” she agreed, continuing into the forest. Something inside her relaxed as they passed under the cover of the trees.

“Do you know a shifter or something?” Genevieve asked.

“No,” she said tersely. “I knew someone that didn’t survive the change.”

“Oh,” Genevieve replied, her voice much quieter.

A strange warmth curled through her limbs. She stopped and looked up at the sky, her breaths coming a little faster. Something woke up inside of her, opening its eyes for the first time. They stared up through the leaves as her muscles twitched.

The shift rippled along Amber’s skin. She watched as claws extended from her fingertips and fur prickled down her arm. Grief warred with the foreign elation inside of her. Why? Dylan had been the one they chose. Why did this kill him and not her? Why did she have to be the one to survive?

TOMMY

Tommy fell to the ground as a panic attack stole his breath and blurred his vision. His muscles trembled, and he wheezed as claws pushed painlessly from his fingertips, digging into the soft dirt. It didn’t hurt. He thought it would.

Barely able to process what was happening, he forced himself upright and pulled off his shirt. It felt like it was suffocating him. He tried to pull off his jeans, but they got hung up on his shoes.

He fell backward and blinked up at the sky. The moon peeked through the trees, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from its bright face. It was brighter than he had ever seen before. It sang to him, and something inside of him sang back.

With a sickening snap, his bones began to shift. Fur rolled over his skin and his feet fell out of his shoes as they narrowed into paws. His face lengthened into a snout, and his teeth morphed into sharp fangs. Light his human eyes couldn’t process now illuminated the dark forest. He could see every branch and every leaf perfectly.

He lifted his hand toward the moon, but a paw attached to a long leg was what moved instead. With a yelp, he twisted and tried to stand. Four wobbly legs scrambled against the dirt underneath him. He stood, panting and shaking.

Tommy was afraid, but there was something else in his mind, and it was not scared at all. It was exultant. The wolf yipped in excitement, turning in a circle and sniffing at the clothes that lay in a pile where he had changed. He picked them up gently and stuck them by a tree, nosing leaves over the top of them. They were poorly hidden, but the wolf seemed pleased.

With an approving huff, the wolf turned and sprinted deeper into the forest. Human feelings warred with the wolf’s instincts, but Tommy’s worry couldn’t overcome the joy of the wolf. It was a full moon. It was a night for running and hunting, not thinking. The wolf lifted its head and howled as it ran.

The forest was silent for a moment, then an answering howl echoed through the trees. He slid to a halt. Another howl joined it.

Pack. Family. Home. He turned and ran toward the other wolves.

GENEVIEVE

Genevieve stared at the ruddy wolf across from her. She shifted on her paws, muscles tensed and ready to flee. The wolf watched her with yellow eyes that glinted in the bright moonlight, then took a step forward.

Genevieve hunched down. Something about this other wolf made her want to show her belly. She didn’t like the feeling. It was unnatural. To her at least. The wolf inside of her was practically purring; it wanted to submit.

Amber made a rumbling noise in the back of her throat, then turned away. She looked back over her shoulder as though she was asking her to follow.

Genevieve took a careful step forward, and Amber took off at a run. A thrill ran through her and she raced after the larger wolf.

Her new body sang with emotions she didn’t recognize. Curiosity at every scent. Delight at her speed. A fierce desire to win the race. Genevieve hated competition of any kind, but the new presence inside of her loved it. She dug in and pushed her strange new legs to go faster. Though she was smaller than the reddish wolf, she was gaining on her.

A howl cut through the night. Amber stopped short and Genevieve slid in the leaves, bouncing off the other wolf’s flank. She shook her head to clear it and waited, tense, to make sure she hadn’t pissed Amber off.

Amber was looking through the trees, ears standing straight up. She tilted her head back and howled in return. The sound did something to Genevieve. To the wolf inside of her. It coursed through her with a mixture of longing and a desire to prove herself.

She lifted her snout toward the moon and joined her howl with Amber’s. After a moment, Amber stopped and waited for a response, but the forest was silent. She took off in the direction it had originally come from.

Genevieve raced after her, determined to beat her this time. She had to show the other wolf she was fast and strong. The creature inside of her knew she wasn’t just some submissive puppy. Her muscles strained against their limits, and slowly, Genevieve gained on Amber. She willed her legs to go faster and she began to pass the larger wolf.

A bitter scent distracted her. The wolf inside of her growled in anger. Human. Intruders. This was her pack’s territory now.

Trespasser.

She snarled in anger and veered away from Amber, racing toward the smell of unwashed human. Fury coursed through Genevieve’s body. It wasn’t her emotion, it was pouring out of the creature that now shared her mind. She couldn’t think. Instinct took over, driving her forward. Protect. Kill.

Genevieve could see the human now. He was laying under a tree in an old sleeping bag. She lunged toward him, but teeth closed around her leg and jerked her to the ground. She yelped and turned on whatever stopped her, teeth snapping as she growled her displeasure.

The ruddy wolf growled right back and leaped toward her, wrapping her jaws around the back of Genevieve’s neck. Amber’s teeth didn’t break the skin, but Genevieve knew they could. Her body went limp. She twisted, showing her vulnerable belly to her alpha.

Alpha. The word felt right to her and the wolf inside of her.

But Amber wasn’t letting go. Her teeth tightened on Genevieve’s neck, and a growl vibrated in her mouth. Genevieve twisted farther and whimpered. Her alpha was rejecting her.

A branch cracked behind them, and Amber whipped around, dragging Genevieve with her. A gray wolf stood a few feet away, watching them anxiously. He shifted from paw to paw, then lowered down to his belly. 

He slunk forward, staying low to the ground, his eyes never leaving Amber. He slid up beside Genevieve and lay his snout over her neck. Tommy looked up into Amber’s eyes and whined, the sound pleading.

Amber huffed around her mouthful of skin and fur. Something changed. Amber’s teeth broke through her skin but it didn’t hurt. A new magic flooded through Genevieve. Warm. Bright. Comforting.

Amber dropped her and gently wrapped her jaws around the back of Tommy’s neck. Genevieve felt the moment Tommy accepted Amber as alpha.

For a brief moment, golden threads shimmered between them, connecting them all. Amber’s eyes flared bright red. The golden threads disappeared, but the new bond did not. They were a pack.

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