For a moment, nobody moved.
Peter stood completely still, Jasper perched on his shoulder.
The little robin wasn’t chirping playfully anymore.
His tiny claws gripped Peter’s hoodie tightly as he stared towards the far end of the car park.
“What do you mean…” Jace asked quietly.
“…they were waiting?” Peter didn’t answer straight away.
He tilted his head slightly, listening.
Jasper chirped three short bursts before fluttering into the air.
Instead of flying away, he circled above them.
Another robin joined him.
Then another.
Lilah frowned.
“They’ve never done that before.” Peter slowly shook his head.
“No, they haven’t.” The robins darted low over the car park before circling back.
Jasper landed again.
He chirped urgently.
Peter’s face lost what little colour it had left.
“They’re saying…” He swallowed.
“…they are wolves.” Tony’s smile disappeared.
“Wolves?” “Not shifted.” Peter listened again.
“They’re hiding.” “Where?” Jace asked.
Peter looked across the rows of parked cars.
“The birds can’t see all of them, but…”He looked straight at Jace.
“They know they’re hunting.” Silence settled over the group.
Tony immediately took charge.
“Right don’t panic.” He lowered his voice.
“We walk calmly back to the minibus, no running no shouting.
If they’re watching us, we don’t let them know we’ve noticed.
“Everyone nodded.
Even Peter.
Jasper flew into the air again, disappearing onto the roof of a nearby greenhouse.
“Good luck,” Peter whispered.
The five of them began walking towards the exit.
To anyone watching…They looked completely normal.
Tony pushed the trolley.
Jace and Peter chatted quietly.
Nelly carried the shopping bags.
Lilah walked beside her.
Inside…Every single one of them was tense.
Lilah’s heartbeat rose inside.
She glanced around casually.
Families were still loading plants into their cars.
Children laughed.
Someone was struggling to fit a huge olive tree into the back of a tiny hatchback.
Everything looked…Normal.
Maybe Peter had misunderstood.
Maybe the birds had.
I can’t go back there, not after tasting freedom, i won’t, i’d rather die.
The thought of being back in that room.
I grabbed nelly hand.
“Don’t let them take me”.
The fear in her eyes made Nelly’s feel chills.
“You are staying with us”, Nelly said fiercely.
Halfway across the car park…Jasper suddenly dived from the sky.
He flew straight towards Peter’s face.
Peter instinctively ducked.
The robin screeched.
Not chirped.
Screeched.
“DOWN!” Peter shouted.
A deafening crack echoed across the car park.
The rear window of the minibus exploded into thousands of pieces.
People screamed.
Another gunshot rang out.
“Everyone behind the van!” Tony roared.
Chaos erupted.
Families scattered in every direction.
Children cried.
Car alarms began blaring.
Jace grabbed Lilah’s wrist.
“Move!” They sprinted behind the minibus just as another bullet slammed into the tarmac where they’d been standing seconds earlier.
“Who are they?” Nelly shouted.
Jace carefully peered around the side of the vehicle.
His face hardened.
“I know them.” Lilah looked at him.
“They’re my father’s wolves.” Almost as if on cue…A black SUV accelerated around the corner of the car park.
Its tyres screeched against the tarmac.
The passenger door burst open before the vehicle had even stopped.
Jack Greyson jumped out.
His eyes immediately found Jace.
For just a split second…The two brothers simply stared at one another.
Neither spoke.
Neither moved.
Then everything exploded into motion.
“Don’t shoot!” Jack shouted.
“I want them alive!” Three armed wolves spread out across the parked cars.
One of them ignored him.
He raised his rifle.
Jace saw it.
“Lilah!” He shoved her sideways.
The gun fired.
Pain exploded through Jace’s shoulder.
He hit the ground hard.
She dropped beside him.
“Jace!” He gritted his teeth.
“I’m alright.” “You’ve been shot!” “I know.” Blood soaked through his hoodie.
Tony was already dragging open the driver’s door of the minibus.
“Everyone in!” “What are you doing?”, Screamed Jack.
He was staring at the man with the rifle.
Horror filled his face.
“I told you…”He shouted.”…NO WOLFSBANE BULLETS!” The gunman didn’t even flinch.
“You think I’m disobeying Alpha Derrick?” “You’ve hit Jace!” “I know exactly who I hit.” Jack strode towards him furiously.
“You idiot!
You’ve just ruined everything!” The wolf rounded on him.
“No.” “You did that when you lost the Crystal.
“Jack froze.
The words hit him like a punch.” The wolf stepped closer.
“I follow Alpha Derrick, not you.” Jack clenched his fists.
“You could kill him.” The wolf shrugged.
“Then maybe your brother shouldn’t have betrayed his family.” Jack looked towards Jace.
His younger brother was being helped into the minibus by Tony and Peter.
Blood covered his shoulder.
The wolf aimed the rifle, just as he shot jack wacked the end of the gun.
“Stop”, Jack shouted, “he needs Lilah alive you idiot”.
Lilah gritted her teeth as a burning pain tore through her upper arm.
The force spun her sideways.
She stumbled but somehow managed to stay on her feet.
Her entire arm felt as though it had been set on fire.
Before she could even understand what had happened, another gunshot echoed across the car park.
“Lilah!” Peter shouted.
He sprinted towards her just as another of Derrick’s wolves stepped out from behind a parked car, raising his rifle.
Everything seemed to slow.
Peter’s heart hammered.
No.
Not her.
Not after everything she’d been through.
He threw himself in front of Lilah, spreading his arms as if his own body could somehow shield her from the bullets.
“I won’t let you hurt her!” he yelled.
A strange warmth spread through his body.
At first he thought it was adrenaline.
Then the warmth became heat.
Real heat.
It rushed through every muscle, every bone.
He gasped.
“What…?” His hands began to shake violently.
Bones cracked.
His knees buckled.
Pain shot through his entire body.
“Peter!” Lilah cried.
His fingers stretched.
Dark claws burst from the ends of them.
His heartbeat thundered inside his chest.
“What is happening to me?” he gasped.
Jace looked over despite the pain flooding through his shoulder.
His eyes widened.
“No way…” Peter let out a cry as his body continued to change.
pure white fur exploded across his skin.
His arms thickened.
His shoulders broadened.
Within seconds, he towered above everyone in the car park.
The rifleman stumbled backwards.
“What the—” Standing where Peter had been only moments before…Was an enormous polar bear.
Pure white.
Powerfully built.
Towering over every person nearby.
The bear let out a deafening roar that echoed around the entire garden centre.
Windows rattled.
Birds exploded into the sky.
Even Derrick’s wolves instinctively stepped backwards.
The enormous bear planted itself firmly between Lilah and the attackers.
Its lips curled back, revealing huge ivory teeth.
Another roar shook the air.
“No one…”Lilah whispered in amazement.”…has ever done that before.” Jace stared in disbelief.
“He’s a friggin Polar bear.” The bear glanced back at Lilah.
His bright green eyes…Were unmistakably Peter’s.
For a brief second…Lilah forgot about the pain in her arm.
She smiled.
“Peter…” The bear gently nudged her backwards with his enormous head, urging her towards the minibus.
Then he turned back towards the wolves.
The rifleman lifted his weapon with shaking hands.
“I-I’m not fighting that!” Jack stood frozen.
He looked from the bear…To Lilah…Then quietly whispered, “Father was wrong…””There’s more than one of them.”