Free Werewolf Suspense (Book 1): Outage by T.W. Piperbrook Page A

The beast tore at the fabric, and she could feel the tips of its nails digging into her skin. Suddenly she was free, and she ignored the pain and pushed herself off the carpet.
    She began to crawl.  
    She tried to forget the creature behind her, concentrating instead on gaining distance from it. At any moment it would pounce on her, but right now, at this second , she was free. If she could maneuver her way to the door, maybe she could escape. Even though the logistics were against her, Abby's brain kept her moving.
    Before long, wet snowflakes kissed her skin. She was outside.  
    The cold around her intensified, but she pressed on. Blood trickled down her cheeks. Her head must've been cut open when the thing slammed her head against the ground. But that didn't matter. She might be injured, but she was alive. If she could just keep moving—
    The beast took hold of her legs and ripped her backward, as if she were little more than its plaything. She slid over the threshold of the house and back inside, her stomach scraping against the snow and carpet.  
    "No!" she shrieked.  
    But her words were weak and unheeded. Her leg exploded in pain as something tore into it.
    Abby had been foolish to think she could escape the beast. It was faster. Stronger. Inhuman. Any advantage she'd had had been given up when she'd been spotted. Without weapons, she was as good as dead.  
    The thing tugged her again, and Abby slid sideways like a wet mop, her bloodied leg sliding across the floor. The room was starting to spin. The beast had her in its grasp, and she was powerless to stop it. She speared the floor with her fingernails, but they scraped uselessly against the hardwood, and she was unable to find traction.
    Her eyes flitted from corner to corner. Searching for something— anything —that could help her.  
    Then she spotted the gun.
    It was little more than a glint in the darkness, but she could make it out across the foyer. The creature shook her back and forth, trying to shake the fight out of her, but she kept her eyes focused on it.
    The gun was ten feet away. Butted against the far wall. If she could reach it…
    The beast lifted her by the leg, intent on flipping her over, but Abby lashed out and kicked it in the chest. The thing lost its grasp, and she started to move. It grabbed onto her boot, but Abby slid her foot free.
    All of a sudden she was crawling on hands and knees, faster than she'd ever crawled before. Her clothes hung in tatters, threatening to slow her down. But Abby held fast to her mission. She kept her eyes fixed on the gun, her mind on what she needed to do. Before she knew it, the piece was in her hands.  
    Abby turned and squeezed the trigger.  
    The shot was deafening, ripping through the foyer of the house and echoing up the stairs. She heard a yelp—not the snarl of a predator but the cry of outwitted prey—and the creature fell to the floor. The storm howled, throwing a gust of wind through the open doorway.
    Was it dead?
    Abby didn't wait to find out. She grabbed her missing boot and ran into the night.  

    The snow had stopped. She slipped on her boot, heart still pounding, and trudged across a neighborhood that now resembled a wilderness.
    Abby kept on, despite the gnawing ache in her leg and the pain in her skull. Several times she looked behind her, expecting to find the creature in pursuit, but all she could see was the pink trail of blood from her leg, dripping like a slow leak from a rusty hose.
    She needed help. She needed medical attention, and she needed the police.  
    The snow was now about eight inches deep, and she trudged through it with all the speed she could muster. Her sweatpants and shirt were ripped; her coat was gone. The cold bit at her exposed skin. She passed by her house, then by the stranded Civic. The puddle of her husband's blood was covered over in white, the vehicle a monument to his existence.  
    She was hit with a sudden thought, and she paused and tugged at