Free Briar Rose by Jana Oliver Page A

going to have to sleep on the streets if she didn’t find help soon.
    ‘And I thought Bliss was bad,’ she muttered. She picked a house at random, but pounding on the door got her no reply. She tried the next place, then the next, her panic rising.
    What are they afraid of?
    As if in answer to her question, a tormented howl filled the air. Briar had heard coyotes before, but this sounded different.
Dogs?
A pack of them could do a lot of damage. Maybe they
were the reason why the guy was in such a hurry to get off the streets.
    The first howls were soon joined by another, then even more. The hair on the back of Briar’s neck rose.
    ‘Wolves? No, it can’t be.’
    Some primitive reflex urged her forward and Briar jogged back down the way she’d come. Perhaps if she kept moving she’d find someone who would take her in for the night. Or
she’d wake up from this nightmare and be in her own bed, safe and sound.
    ‘Yeah, that’s it. I’m going to wake up now and it’ll all be fine,’ she said.
    The scene didn’t change, and instead the howls grew closer. When Briar took a quick look over her shoulder she saw them. They were wolves and somehow their eyes glowed unnaturally in the
twilight.
    ‘Oh, crap!’
    Panicking, Briar took off at full speed, trying to avoid the muddy holes and the piles of manure. For a couple of streets she stayed ahead of them, but they slowly gained on her. Knowing she
couldn’t outrun them, she raced up to the nearest house and pounded on the door. ‘Help! Let me in!’
    ‘Go away!’ someone shouted from within.
    ‘But there are wolves!’ she cried.
    ‘You broke curfew – it’s your fate,’ was the stone-cold response.
    Briar whirled to find the beasts trotting round the corner. One was sniffing the ground, tracking her. She took off at a run again, barrelling down a side street, only to find it a dead end.
Judging the height of the stone wall that blocked her way, she tried to find hand and footholds to climb it, but slid back to the ground and landed on her butt.
    A throaty growl shot icicles into her blood.
    The wolves lined up in front of her now, one in front – the leader – and four behind. She could better see their unnatural sparkling eyes, as if they were lit from within by some
nefarious magic. Their fur was patchy, and where it was missing metal had replaced it, cutting deep into their flesh. Perhaps that was why their howls sounded so tormented.
    What are these things?
    The leader’s growl grew in intensity as it took a step forward. Heeding the warning, Briar flung herself at the wall again, digging with her fingers, trying to find some handhold. Her
boots slid against the stones. She nearly cheered when her hand managed to reach the top, but she couldn’t gain any purchase with her feet. Reena would already be over this thing, racing
away, but Briar had never been great in gym class. Now that was going to cost her everything.
    With a snarl, the lead wolf leaped forward, its teeth catching hold of the bottom of her dress, trying to drag her down. Briar yelped in fear just as the fabric ripped, setting her free, and she
frantically clawed her way higher on the wall, scraping her palms in desperation.
    A hand clamped on to hers and tugged. Gasping in surprise, she pushed harder with her feet against the stones, trying to help. When she didn’t budge, another hand grabbed hers and she was
pulled on to the top of the wall. See-sawing on her belly against the rough stones, she tried to focus on her rescuer, but it was too dark to make out the face clearly.
    ‘Quickly, over the top!’ His voice was male and he was short of breath, like he’d been running.
    With tremendous effort, she went over the stones, landing directly in her rescuer’s arms. Claws ripped against stone on the other side of the wall as the wolves tried to climb the
barrier.
    ‘We must run,’ the man said, dragging her up on to her feet. ‘They will scale it soon. Hurry!’
    Briar