Page 54 of Mate Night Snack
22
EMMETT
The howl shattered the midnight quiet like glass breaking in church.
Emmett bolted upright in bed, every instinct screaming as the sound echoed through the forest and straight into his bones. Not the familiar call of local wolves or the distant song of coyotes hunting in the high country. This was something else entirely. The kind of howl that spoke of challenge and claim and blood spilled under moonlight.
Beside him, Katniss stirred against the quilts, her dark curls spilled across the pillow like ink. She'd fallen asleep curled against his side after they'd returned from the Council gathering, still glowing with the magic of her formal acceptance. The Heartstone's power had settled into her like she'd been waiting for it her whole life, and watching her step into that role had filled him with pride and something deeper. Something that felt like hope for a future he'd stopped believing in.
But this howl killed that hope like frost killing spring flowers.
His wolf rose beneath his skin, hackles raised, recognizing the voice that had haunted too many nightmares. Ashwin.Close enough to breach Hollow Oak's protective barriers. Close enough to make his presence known.
Close enough to take what he wanted.
"Emmett?" Katniss's voice was thick with sleep, but her hand found his arm with unerring accuracy. "What's wrong?"
"Stay here," he said, already rolling out of bed and reaching for his jeans. The denim was cold against his skin, reality crashing back with brutal efficiency. "Lock the door behind me. Don't open it for anyone but me or Maeve."
She sat up, suddenly alert, the sheet pooling around her waist. Her hazel eyes were sharp with awareness, already processing the tension radiating from him. "That wasn't a normal wolf, was it?"
"No." He pulled on his thermal shirt, the fabric stretching across his shoulders as his muscles coiled with readiness. "It wasn't."
His phone buzzed on the nightstand. A text from Maeve:Meet me at the Fang. Now.
"I have to go," he said, leaning down to press a hard kiss to Katniss's forehead. "Promise me you'll stay here. Promise me you won't try to follow."
Her jaw set in that stubborn line he'd learned to recognize. "Emmett, if this is about me, about what happened at the Council tonight, then I should be involved."
"If this is about you, then you need to be as far away from it as possible." He caught her face between his hands, thumbs brushing over her cheekbones. "I can't protect you if I'm worried about where you are."
"And I can't help if I'm locked away like some fairy tale princess." But her voice softened as she covered his hands with hers. "Just... be careful, okay? And come back to me."
"Always," he promised, sealing it with another kiss before forcing himself to pull away.
The night air hit him like a slap as he stepped outside, sharp with the promise of frost and thick with the scent of distant rain. But underneath the familiar mountain smells was something else, something that made his wolf pace restlessly behind his ribs. The metallic tang of old blood. The sour smell of pack bonds twisted into something ugly.
He shifted into his wolf form between one stride and the next, bones flowing like water, muscles expanding as his other half took control. Four legs ate up the ground faster than two, and he needed speed tonight. Needed to reach the Silver Fang before whatever message Ashwin had left could fester in the night air.
The forest blurred past in shades of silver and shadow, his enhanced senses picking up every detail. A raccoon family foraging near the creek. An owl hunting from the old pine. The fading scent trail of a deer that had passed through hours ago. All normal. All peaceful.
All wrong, because underneath it all was the smell of intruders. Multiple wolves, moving with purpose, leaving just enough scent to be noticed by those who knew how to look.
The Silver Fang Tavern sat at the heart of Hollow Oak like a beacon, its windows glowing warm against the night. But as Emmett approached, he could see Maeve pacing in front of the building like a caged predator, her short black hair gleaming under the porch lights. She was still in human form, but her movements held the fluid grace of her lioness, all coiled power and barely contained violence.
He shifted back to human form as he reached her, accepting the spare clothes she tossed him without question. Maeve always came prepared.
"How long ago?" he asked, pulling on the flannel she'd brought.
"Twenty minutes, maybe less." Her voice was tight with controlled fury. "I was doing a perimeter check when I heard it. By the time I got here, they were already gone."
"They?"
"At least three, maybe four. Hard to tell with the way they laid the scent trails." Maeve jerked her head toward the massive oak that shaded the tavern's front porch. "But they left us a love letter."
Emmett followed her gaze and felt his blood turn to ice water.
Burned into the ancient bark, still smoking faintly in the night air, were words carved with claws and sealed with fire. The letters were crude but readable, each one a brand seared deep enough to scar the heartwood.
