Page 13 of Primal Snow

“He’s…gone,” the words finally escape me, foreign on my tongue, as if they don’t even belong to me. “It… got him.”

But they don’t believe me.

“Nice try,” Derek grumbles, raising a beer in a mock salute. “You two aren’t scaring us with some lame-ass prank. You’ve been acting sus since the moose thing.”

“It’s true,” I whisper, my voice cracking, but my words are drowned out by their laughter. They don’t seefresh tears overflowing my eyes, the way I’m shaking, the way my knees buckle as I collapse onto the floor.

Vicky kneels beside me, her warm hands on my shoulders, her stare drilling into me. “Emma, calm down. What’s going on?”

My fingers dig into her arms as I finally manage to whisper, “Something’s out there. It killed him. It… it killed Chase.”

Her expression shifts, annoyance melting into fear as her hazel eyes widen. Is she putting the puzzle pieces together?

Are the town legends real?

Jay slams his beer down on the coffee table, the bottles rattling from the impact. He stands, towering and steady despite the alcohol coursing through his veins. “Alright, enough of this bullshit.”

He strides across the room toward the patio door.

“Jay, no,” I croak, scrambling to my feet. My legs are weak, barely able to hold me up, but I stagger toward him, desperate to stop him.

He waves me off, his expression hard, as he bypasses me with ease. “Look, there he is!” he shouts, pressing his face to the frosted glass.

I follow his gaze from the distance. Chase—or what’s left of him—lies in the snow, perfectly in view, illuminated by the fairy lights. That thing is smart—it carefully placed him there, hiding his wounds, as bait to lure us out.

Or to luremeout.

“You can’t! He’s—” My voice breaks as the memory of Chase’s insides hitting the water with big splashesflashes through my mind. “Jay, please. Don’t go out there.”

“Emma, you’re freaked out, I get it. But Chase probably slipped or something.” Jay chuckles, the sound low and cocky, as grabs his jacket from the back of the couch. “Relax. I’ll be fine. Have you seen me? Whatever’s out there, it’s not gonna mess with this hunk of meat.”

“You don’t understand,” I plead, grabbing his flexing arm. My hands shake as I look up at him. “It’s not— It’s not human, Jay. Please, don’t go. It isn’t safe out there.”

Derek rolls his eyes from the couch, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Oh, come on, Emma. Let it go already.”

Jay shrugs me off gently but firmly, heading for the door. “I’ll check it out and be back in two minutes. Tops.”

Vicky stares at him, her face pale. “Jay, maybe just… don’t? If Emma’s this scared—”

“I’ll be fine,” he says again, flashing her a grin that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Besides, if Chase is hurt, someone’s gotta help him. He might have a concussion, I’ve seen it on the field.”

The door slides open with a creak, icy air rushing in like death’s breath. I tug nervously at my wet, sticky hair, watching helplessly as Jay steps out into the night. The sound of the door shutting feels like a coffin lid closing.

The room falls silent except for the crackling of the fireplace. No one speaks, their earlier drunken bravado evaporating as tension coils around us.

I press my face to the window, my uneven breath fogging the glass as I watch Jay disappear into the snow.Before he reaches Chase, the fairy lights flicker, then cut off completely, and that sinking feeling settles in my gut like a rock.

“Jay!” I call, my voice muffled by the pane. He doesn’t turn back. I can’t even make out his silhouette in the dark anymore. The wind howls, rattling the windows, and I swear I hear something else beneath it. A low, guttural sound, almost like breathing.

Seconds stretch into eternity, and none of us dares to move.

“He’s fine,” Derek says, trying to sound reassuring, but even he doesn’t sound convinced.

Then it happens.

A scream.

Not Jay’s usual confident yell, but something raw, terrified. It rips through the night, making my blood run cold.

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