Page 117 of Into the Isle

Then his body stiffened.

With a sharp intake of breath I’d never heard from the huge man, I pushed myself away from him, still holding onto his side, and glanced up.

Grim was peering up at the moon.

“Fuck,” he breathed.

The moon was full and white, blaring onto the academy grounds where we stood just outside the canopies of the trees, hidden from it until now.

Howling split the night, in the distance. Yipping from multiple directions. It gave me shivers.

“Grim?” I eked out. “Are you okay?”

He dropped his chin and stared down at me, then unceremoniously took my shoulders and separated me from him, holding me at arm’s length. His eyes were tinged a strange shade of red at the corners, though it wasn’t tears or sadness. His veins were distending along his thick neck, like he was fighting something back.

“I’m sorry, little sneak.”

He turned away, back into the woods, moving much faster than he usually did.

I took a step after him. “Grim!”

He started to run away, shouting, “Don’t follow me, Ravinica!”

As he ran through the woods, he shifted midstride, snapping and ripping the clothes on his body as he transformed into a huge polar bear.

Chapter 34

Ravinica

MY HEART HAMMERED AGAINST my ribs as I scanned the woods helplessly, drawing my spear because I felt abruptly unprotected and small.

Behind me, the darkness of the trees called, drawing me in. Ahead of me, open campus grounds, cobblestone roads leading down to the safety of my dormitory.

I clenched my teeth, palms growing sweaty around the haft of my spear. With a growl, I cursed, “Fuck it,” and then bounded into the woods after Grim, going against his demand not to follow him.

I wasn’t sure why I tailed the huge bear shifter. I didn’t fear for him, per se, but rather other people he might run into. That look in his red-rimmed eyes before stalking off had alarmed me, showing me his self-control was fraying.

It was a full moon, which I knew held strange powers over shifters. I’d seen it before at Selby Village, from the few shifters housed there.

I sprinted through the woods, passing his scraps of torn clothes that had exploded when his body expanded. His tracks were easy to follow—huge paw prints embedded deep into the dirt, mud, and grass.

Grim hadn’t run the way we had walked. He veered off west, and I sprinted to keep pace. I couldn’t see him, yet I could hear howling and growling coming from different pockets of the academy, eerie crooning lifting into the sky. It reminded me of the way hounds barked in unison at strange hours of sundown, as if their primal psyche was connected by some unseen force.

Grim’s tracks exited the woods at the western edge and continued toward Gharvold, and then the gates after the garrison.

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