Free The Twilight Circus by Di Toft

a large rat, its eyes having been taken by whatever had killed it.
    Once out of the trees, their mood lifted and excitement returned, although it soon became clear there was no sport to be had. In a moment of madness, Crescent turned tail and made a split decision to head for the frozen streets, her small pack following, inquisitive to find out where she was taking them. Most of the streetlights were unlit these days in a bid to save resources, and they appeared to be headed toward another smell. This time it was gorgeous. It was
alive
. A rich, pungent animal scent filled their nostrils, egging them on, as their great paws flew swiftly across the dark pavements of Paris.
    The glorious smell was getting stronger, pulsing withpromise, and Crescent came to a skidding halt by ornate gates flanked by a high wall. A large sign outside said:
    PARC
ZOOLOGIQUE
    She had taken them to the zoo
! Otis hung back, sensing what Crescent had in mind. He bared his teeth at her, warning her not to go any farther. She snarled and trotted away toward the high perimeter wall, then paced up and down, measuring its height. Otis growled again.
Hang on a minute
, he thought, curling his lip and snarling,
this is bad. This isn’t my idea of not doing anything stupid. This isn’t my idea of not drawing attention to ourselves
.
    But Crescent had conveniently forgotten her own words of warning and was eager to break all the rules. Otis stalked her on his belly, licking his lips, tail between his legs, fully aware that Crescent was the alpha wolf. She ran at him, teeth fully bared, daring him to come any closer.Ramone and Salim fell in behind, showing her their full support, and Otis knew he had lost. They scaled the walls with their strong claws and leaped down easily to the other side, with Otis reluctantly bringing up the rear. By now, the captive animals had been alerted by the angry screeches of the monkeys, who had smelled the werewolves as the pack of four had loped through the gardens. Crescent took no notice as the big cats threw themselves against the bars of their cages, snarling and showing their teeth to ward off these strange intruders who smelled like death. She ignored the warning stamps of the giraffes and rhinos, having no interest in the larger caged animals. Strings of steaming saliva hung from her jaws as she savored the anticipation of the hunt.
    A delicious smorgasbord of tastes awaited them in the petting zoo, although their prey was disappointingly easy to catch. Crescent enjoyed three guinea pigs as an appetizer, a slightly gamey-tasting meerkat as her main course, but nothing for dessert—she was saving that for later. The boys had a number of fresh rabbits to start with, and played it safe by having a tasty medley of game birds for their main course. To round off the unexpected but welcomemeal, they ripped a vending machine full of chocolate bars from the wall of the café, and ate all of them still wrapped.
    At last, feeling satisfied and full, Crescent and the Howlers retreated back to the Twilight Circus as though they had just been for a bracing run in the park.

CHAPTER 10
P EOPLE W HO ARE D IFFERENT
    Nat’s increased appetite was one Wolven trait he couldn’t manage to hide from his mum. But most teenage boys were hungry all the time, so Jude wasn’t too surprised to see him stuff his face for the better part of an hour that evening.
    The food just kept on coming, from the succulent seafood starters (Woody’s favorite) to steaks that were cooked to carnivore perfection—hardly at all—so that the blood ran freely and got soaked up in the fries like red gravy. There were twenty-two different side dishes and profiteroles with six different types of chocolate sauce. The famous Spaghetti brothers and their team worked hard behind the scenes to create a feast Nat would never, ever forget. It was almost midnight by the time they had finished eating, and Nat had passed the point of tiredness