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You look awful.Let s talk about this, beloved. 70SAM C.LEONHARDThe growl became louder.His nails dug little cuts into his palms;by morning, they d be gone, but right now, it hurt.Betrayal.Enemy.Danger.Come to me!The same voice that had ordered him to hurt Aleksei, back in theclub.And still, he couldn t form words into sensible questions.He very nearly jumped on Aleksei, toppling him over and bitinghis neck, showing his dominance as well as his hate.Only at the lastmoment did he turn and flee, because that was what he always didwhen in trouble: he ran away, leaving the problem and the personcausing it behind and starting a new life without either.He didn t needtrouble.He didn t need people.He just needed to run.The door was in the way, but Gabriel shouldered it open as if itwere made of cardboard, and jumped into the street, breathing in thenight air in deep gulps.Come to me!The voice was strong, and anyway, Aleksei had betrayed him.Planting bugs in the house and not telling him about it and lying on topof it, claiming he had told him.It had to be betrayal.The wind tore at his hair, the cold bit his cheeks, and his fingersmoved.They did that every now and then when he d had a bit too muchto drink or a nasty dream or, apparently, when he was creating newrunes.Right now, they suggested he should open a portal and get into aworld with less concrete and a lot more trees.Running.Breathing.The streets were empty, the world bereft ofnoise.Just the blowing wind and the sound of his feet hitting theasphalt.It felt good.And it would feel even better if he were barefoot, ifhis feet could get into direct contact with the ground, so he stopped andpulled off shoes and socks, threw them into the night, and went onrunning at an even faster speed.A glass shard cut his foot and he swore.This world was bad and itstank.It was too bright and too loud and too warm.Sweat broke on hisbrow.He didn t like it here. 71TAINTED SOULBefore him, golden light glowed.Had he opened the portalalready? Must have.No one else was around.Kyril s world, then.Thecentaurs world.There was enough wood to satisfy the wolf in him,there were no cars, and he was too fast to be caught by the centaurs.Besides, they knew he belonged to&.No.He didn t belong to anyone.With a long leap, Gabriel jumped through the portal.Maybe it felta bit strange; maybe it hurt.But it didn t matter.He had left everythingbad behind, and now he could run until he was too tired to set one footbefore the other and fell asleep on the spot.No nightmares.No strangethoughts upon awaking.No one asking odd questions or looking at himas if he d done something really, really stupid.Grass under his feet and autumn leaves.The golden glow wasgone, but with it also the pavement and the noise and the streetlampshurting his eyes.He stretched, feeling his muscles adjust to running faster than heusually did.The leaves under his feet crunched and crumpled to dust.The forest smelled great, all trees and moss and earth.Above himwere the stars, but he didn t have eyes for them the darkness wascolorful in itself, dozens of shades of gray, and then there were thevarious fragrances of rabbits and deer and the occasional fox.No otherwolves were around.Had he always been able to run this fast? And his clothes jeansand shirts weren t good for running, restricting his movement andclinging to his skin once they were soaked with sweat.Clothes were anuisance, so he shed them, and then he stretched again and growled, hisbody aching for movement, his mind at peace for once.He was no longer sweating.He wasn t naked, either, although hewasn t wearing clothes.Somewhere behind him, along with his jeansand shirt, he d also discarded his human body.Now, he wore furinstead of skin and had paws instead of hands and feet.He hadn t known he could turn into a wolf.He hadn t evenimagined it would feel so good.He was warm, and he could feel thewind in his fur and snow under his paws. 72SAM C.LEONHARDNot human anymore.Not fully wolf, either, because he was stillable to think.Both? It didn t matter, for he was still running, on allfours now, with his snout telling him which way to go and his eyessearching for prey.A young deer crossed his way and stood, transfixed, when hejumped at it, burying it under his weight.Bones cracked.Could a deerscream?Blood on his snout and between his fangs.Blood running downhis throat and the taste of fresh, hot flesh.He was hungry, ravenous, asif he d never eaten in his life.Nothing was more important than the kill,nothing.Devouring his kill, the wolf didn t pay much attention to hissurroundings.Nothing could distract him from the deer lying slashedand bleeding in the snow.Gobbling down flesh and bones occupied hismind.He didn t yet notice the faint rotten smell wafting through thewinter night.He didn t notice the dark, dangerous shadow lurking inthe darkness.Before the wolf would have been lost for good, his survivalinstincts kicked in.He raised his snout from the deer; the hairs on hisback rose, and he growled, protecting his catch and making it clear hewas not prey.Another wolf would have thought twice before attackinghim.He was larger than average, he radiated aggression, and his eyesspoke of hidden intelligence.Now he flinched at the creature s rotten smell wafting towardhim.The wolf jumped backward, abandoning what was left of the deaddeer in favor of surviving another minute or two.The creatureapproaching him was dangerous.It stank, and it wanted him dead.The wolf shivered.Whatever this was, it was too large for a wolf to deal with.A wolfcouldn t fight that thing, so he howled, calling for help, calling for hismate, only to realize he was alone in this world and the one chasinghim was closer than ever before.He couldn t see it yet.He could smellit and feel it, though, which was bad enough. 73TAINTED SOULHe turned and ran.Again.Home! he thought, and he continuedrunning, although the creature s voice, deathly real in this winter world,turned into a scream of rage and thundering command
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