I don’t move. I don’t breathe. I don’t even blink. If Medusa was a living, breathing creature standing directly in front of me instead of this wolf, I’d say she turned me to stone. Turning to stone would be far less painful than being torn limb from limb and devoured, that’s for sure.

Once I return to my senses and catch my breath, the gears in my mind start cranking at full speed.

What do I do? I gotta do something! Get yourself together, Zara, and get out of here!

Listening to the urgent voice in my head, I look around as I carefully step away from the creek and deeper into the woods. Slowly, for fear of making a noise and giving away my position, I make my way through the heavy undergrowth, and all the while looking over my shoulder repeatedly to make sure there are no wolves behind me.

A rustle in the brush sucks the air from my lungs as I freeze. The faint noise sounds like it's on my right as I look back at the creek behind me.

Was that Cody? Or the other wolf?

Sucking in air, I whirl around as my eyes hurriedly take in my surroundings. I can’t see anything beyond the trees and the ferns, but I hear something.

Whispers, high and soft like a woman’s and low and deep like a man’s, murmur somewhere to my right where I heard the rustling.

I can’t help but gasp in both exhilaration and horror.

Oh no! What if the wolf hears them?

My feet break out into a sprint before my mind has decided what to do. Running toward them with the sole intent of warning them, I forget about my own safety and yell, “Wolf! There’s a wolf!”

A root catches my left foot. Stumbling into the adjacent tree, I let out a hiss after cursing loudly as sharp pain sears my ankle.

Of course I would trip over a root. Fate has had it in for me since I wound up in this godforsaken forest.

There’s no way I can get away from that wolf now with a twisted ankle. But there's no reason why those other people have to die with me.

“Run! Get out of here!” I shout.

Short howls and yips force me to spin around and press my back against the tree for support. Snapping twigs and rustling foliage amplify the multiple bodies coming closer toward me at an alarming rate—too quickly to be human.

Then silence, like the calm before the storm, and all I can hear is my blood pulsing through my head.

With trembling lips, I call out, “Cody?”

I know it’s not him before me and around me. I can feel their eyes studying me, with hunger in their bellies and a thirst for my blood on their lips.

A wolf jumps out of the bushes with a snarl.

There’s no time to respond. There’s no time to even scream.

There is only death and my flesh ripping between his jagged teeth as my world goes black.

Instead of pain, there is only more snarling.

I realize I’ve got my eyes clenched tightly shut.

Despite being terrified to see a wolf foaming at the mouth in front of me, I open my eyes and see Cody growling and snapping his jaws at the trees around me.

I can’t even wrap my tongue around the fact that he’s here and protecting me. I just stare at him with my mouth hanging open as a huge wolf, mostly copper in color with some black mixed in, steps out from the trees.

He is substantially larger and pure muscle compared to Cody.

As much as I want to cheer Cody on, I can tell he stands no chance against this wolf. This wolf is far superior in every way.

My hopes are immediately dashed as I watch the standoff unravel in front of me.

The copper wolf’s black lips pull back, exposing his large white teeth. He holds himself high over Cody in a dominant pose as I cower in fear against the tree trunk.

Cody stands his ground. He is unflinching as he growls, snarls, and snaps at the threats made by the larger one.

I have no idea what’s transpiring between these two, but after a few tense minutes, the copper wolf backs off with a snort.

He steps back into the trees and I hear the others fall back as well. Slowly, they disappear and silence falls over Cody and I.

Cody is huffing, his ears flattened and his lips still pulled back menacingly.

As my own heart rate starts to slow down, I reach out with a shaky hand before I draw it back to me. “Th-Thank you.”

His ears turn toward my voice before he looks at me from the corner of his eye. The look is stern and I cringe at my own powerlessness.

I really am dependant on him out here—and I hate it. But I’m eternally grateful for his presence. I’d be dead by now, if it weren’t for him.

Still, my pitifulness makes me hang my head, and I wonder why Cody would protect me from those other wolves.