Free Wolf in Shadow-eARC by John Lambshead

perfumes intermingled, but the aroma grew stronger and more alkaloid until it irritated her nostrils. She shook her head and pulled at the posy, but it was stuck fast. Another wave of warmth flowed over her and she forgot the minor annoyance. Her fingers and toes tingled as if she was pleasantly drunk.
    The couple walked towards her. She had almost forgotten them, so distracted was she by the waves of pleasure curling gently backwards and forwards through her body, but now she could see them clearly. They glowed with vitality, tall, slim, and achingly beautiful. The man wore a dark, tailored suit set off by a striking cream shirt and pink tie. The woman was draped in a long blue gown that clung tightly to her body in all the places a gown should cling. They were more than just beautiful; they were elegant, sophisticated.
    A small, still rational part of her mind wondered why a man and woman dressed for the opera or a club Up West should be walking under a road in East London, but euphoria submerged the thought.
    Something stirred deep inside her, something uneasy at events, something immune to the enchantment of beauty, something indifferent to charisma, something predatory.
    The woman was raven-haired with astonishing purple-tinged eyes that shone in the gloom. Her face was perfectly symmetrical, her skin flawless, her teeth as even and white as a Californian game-show hostess. Her companion was also dark with knowing grey eyes. These people were so perfect, so metropolitan, that Rhian felt unfit to share the same world. She felt cheap, dingy, and malformed in comparison. Rhian knew she was spoiled goods, shop-worn and stained.
    The man beckoned her so she focused on him, drinking in his masculinity. He summoned her into his glowing presence, a prince showing kindness to the scullery maid. They understood, these beautiful people, and accepted her despite the grossness of her imperfections. She stretched out her arms walking into their embrace.
    The posy in her coat lapel caught fire, burning with a fierce green intensity that flung stinging vapour into her face. She inhaled in surprise and fumes seared her lungs. Rhian turned away, coughing fiercely, unable to catch her breath. The burning sensation spread through her body like nerve toxin—and the world twisted and changed around her.
    The man and woman were still beautiful, but their beauty was terrible. They no longer looked entirely human. Their bodies were too thin, too tall, like cocaine-fueled supermodels. Their arms and legs were too long, their skin impossibly white, and the woman’s eyes shone with a lilac intensity that could not possibly be natural. They gazed at her hungrily, without a trace of human compassion or sympathy.
    Alarmed, she backed away. The man’s face twisted. He made a curious gesture with his left hand and Rhian froze like a bug in amber. Her mind disconnected from her body. In her head she struggled, but her limbs refused to obey. The couple smiled cruelly and moved ever so slowly towards her, the woman reaching out to touch.
    A wolf howl rang in Rhian’s head, reverberating through her mind, drowning out the world. Brutal power welled from within, freeing her. She slapped the woman’s hand away and aimed a kick at her knee. The woman grimaced angrily and made a twisting motion with her hand. Something invisible, something magic, picked Rhian up, slamming her against the wall and knocking the breath from her body.
    The woman laughed viciously. “This one is strong. Can you imagine how well she will taste?”
    “After you, my love,” the man said.
    The woman leaned towards Rhian with a wide smile of anticipation. Rhian gasped for air, trying to fend her off with an outstretched arm.
    There was a flash. The air in the tunnel thumped against Rhian’s chest like a car tire had exploded. Rhian swallowed, trying to clear her ears. She smelt fireworks, and an irrelevant thought curled around the edge of her mind that someone had let off a Guy