Page 18 of Only Human in Strangeville

It growled, a sound that vibrated through my bones and rattled my eardrums.

I whimpered, stomach clenching in fear.

Wolves howled in the distance as the creature leaped, teeth aimed for Davin’s throat.

I screamed.

A gray streak blurred past us, slamming into the thing’s side and throwing it off course, so it crashed into the front of the truck instead. Metal pinged as the thing’s claws rent the steel. It screeched and I covered my ears, hoping they weren’t bleeding.

The new creature tumbled into shadows along with the nightmare attacking us.

“Fuck!” Davin exclaimed.

“Are you okay?” I looked around for the creature. “What is that thing?”

“A shade,” Davin answered tersely as he stared into the shadows, ready for another attack.

I wanted to ask him to explain, but the creature slipped back out of the shadows and stalked toward us.

Nimbus’s frantic scrabble of claws against the window and his high-pitched barking intensified. I stared at the six-legged, shadowy dog-looking creature and took a step back. The metal door of the pickup was cold against my back. I tried to reach behind me for the door latch but couldn’t get it without turning, and I did not want to take my eyes off the thing in front of us.

Davin kept himself between me and the being, but I could see the gleaming white teeth it licked with an impossibly long tongue.

This time a gray streak and a brown streak dove into the shade.

Davin grabbed me around the waist, tugged open the door and shoved me inside the truck with Nimbus. The little floof crawled into my lap and bared his teeth at the scene outside. I buried my fingers in his fur and winced when Davin slammed the truck door.

The new creatures turned out to be huge wolves, and two more, a golden-colored one and a brown wolf had joined the first. The shade shrieked again, tail lashing cat-like as it weaved back and forth. The movement reminded me of videos I’d seen of cobras.

The golden wolf lunged forward, and the creature turned and vanished into the shadow. The three wolves remained, swarming Davin, rubbing against him.

That was crazy. This whole thing was crazy. Hell, this town was freaking nuts. Clearly the rumors I’d read online barely brushed the surface.

I didn’t realize tears were running down my face until Nimbus licked my cheek.

“Hey, buddy. I’m okay.” He tucked his muzzle under my chin and rooed softly, lessening my fear a little.

As crazy as this was, I was probably still safer than I had been with the traffickers.

After a few minutes of quiet conversation with the wolves, Davin came over and opened the truck door.

“If you want to meet the local pack, they’re friendly.”

“How is that possible?”

Davin tightened his lips for a moment before shrugging. “How about this. Let’s get through the rest of the day, chat with Katsuro, and I’ll answer any questions you have tomorrow.”

“Not now?”

“Not now. I promise, they’re friendly, though.”

I glanced at Nimbus, and he licked my cheek again. So far, he’d seemed to have pretty good instincts, so I set him on the truck seat and let Davin help me exit the vehicle.

“Do I hold out my hand?”

“If you want. You can touch them if they come over to you.”

The golden wolf came right up to me and pressed its head under my hand. I gave him? Her? A few scratches before the gray one came over and I repeated the gesture. The brown one huffed and trotted off into the woods. I didn’t take offense, though.

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