Free Gray Moon Rising: Seasons of the Moon by S M Reine

the lights hit the werewolves, they plunged into the forest again. Stripes took a hard left to follow.
    “There’s a car,” Jakob reported.
    Yasir frowned. “Repeat that.”
    “There’s a car parked in a thicket north of your location. Shattered windshield. No sign of people.”
    Seth glimpsed it as they drove past in pursuit of the werewolves. It was a silver Ford sedan. There was blood on the hood of the car.
    “I’m on their tails,” Stripes said. “Turning us around.”
    The SUV whipped around, cutting off his view of the abandoned car. Seth lost his balance and sprawled against the side door in time to see the pack of werewolves cut off by the other vehicle. All four of them were pinned between the two SUVs.
    A cold realization shocked through Seth.
    Four wolves? There had only been three people.
    Eleanor and Yasir opened fire. Howls filled the air, and yips of pain followed. Something had been hit.
    Seth grabbed one of the handguns and wrenched open the side door. He waited until the SUV stopped before jumping out.
    “I didn’t give you permission to go,” Yasir said over the earpiece. “You’re in the line of fire!”
    “I saw something!”
    Curses filled the channel on the earpiece from all the team members. People shouting. More gunshots. Seth turned it off and dove through the trees.
    One of the wolves broke free. He saw white-gold fur and a slender body in the floodlights for an instant before she disappeared. Seth recognized that fur. It was almost identical to Rylie’s hair, but thicker and shaggier. She was still sleeker than the other werewolves.
    “Oh, no —”
    He chased the wolf, moving away from the rest of the team.
    His eyes didn’t have time to adjust to the darkness. All he saw was black. He clambered over a fallen log, between trees, over rocks, running mostly on adrenaline and instinct.
    His foot splashed in something wet. He paused for an instant—he had found a brook off the main river, and the water was as cold as ice—and then sloshed through. It only went to his ankles.
    Starlight shone through a gap in the trees. Gold fur sparkled on a ridge above him as a wolf jumped to the top.
    “Rylie!” he shouted.
    But she was already gone.
    He scrambled up the slope, digging his fingers into the rock and kicking off with his legs. He was strong and fast, but not as strong or as fast as the wolf. By the time he got to the top, there was no hint of her.
    But someone else was waiting for him.
    Seth’s eyes finally adjusted, and he could see the dark shape of a human standing back in the trees. The new person was tall and broad-shouldered.
    “Hey, bro,” Abel said. He stepped forward. His clothes were torn, he was carrying a gun, and mud was splattered all over him. Seth felt a surge of joy.
    “Abel!”
    His brother didn’t respond with the same smile. He looked angry and confused.
    Seth wanted to jump on him and hug him and punch him, but when he looked over his shoulder, he saw approaching floodlights. The Union was looking for a route up the mountain.
    “Run,” Seth said. “Run! Don’t lose her!”
    He didn’t have to say it again. Abel gave him a salute that was only half-ironic and ran after Rylie.
    Seth turned on his earpiece again.
    “One of them broke free,” he said. “I lost it.”
    “It’s fine. We killed two of them. We’ve got your position. See you in a minute,” Yasir said. He stood on top of the boulders, exposed to the chilly wind, and waited for the SUV to reach him. The commander hauled him into the back. “Do that again, and I’ll shoot you,” he said without releasing Seth’s arm. He smiled when he said it, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Understand?”
    “I couldn’t miss my chance,” he said.
    The commander caught the double meaning. His hand tightened. “Don’t do it again.”
    Jakob spoke from the other SUV. “There’s a girl! A human girl!”
    Fear gripped Seth, but he tried not to show it. There wasn’t enough time for