Seeds of Autumn: A Dark Shapeshifter Urban Fantasy (Echoes of the Past Book 1)

by H B Lyne

  'Get out,' Fortune snarled in his ear. 'Run. Find the others. Stay safe. Look after them.'

  There was a thud nearby and Eyes gasped in horror as he saw Stone's lifeless eyes staring at him, blood spattered over her face and hair.

  Fortune leapt up, dragging Eyes with him, and heaved him out through the back door. Eyes went skidding across the gravel in the yard and crashed against the wooden fence. He jumped to his feet, suppressing a roar of fury. He looked back at the building; it was engulfed in flames. Fortune filled the doorway and two huge pairs of bestial hands grabbed him and dragged him back inside. It would take at least two of them to take the Alpha down.

  Eyes' body shook with rage, he wanted to run back into the fray and fight but the words of his Alpha echoed in his mind, and with a snarl of frustration he sprung across the narrow back street and crouched in the shadow of the building opposite. He huddled in the darkness, watching half of his pack burn and feeling every blow of the fight. The thoughts and feelings of his pack mates swirled inside his mind; pain, fear and blind rage. He knew he had to leave to find the others, but he was riveted to the spot.

  Then there was nothing. They were all gone, the connection severed.

  'No!' he yelled, though it came out as a distorted growl. He clamped his clawed hand across his muzzle and shrank down into the shadows. Grins-Too-Widely was dead. That was all he knew for certain, and he tried to convince himself that Fortune and Shadow were still fighting, but the cold, sick feeling in his gut lingered and some other sense told him that Stone and Grins-Too-Widely were not the only ones to perish.

  He kept still, his mind working furiously to formulate a plan. He had to get clear of the area, whoever did this meant to destroy the whole pack, he needed to get somewhere safe and he needed to find the others.

  With his mind made up he shifted from Agrius into his wolf form and set off at a sprint for the petrol station, to find Flames and Wind Talker. They couldn't have got far before the betting shop was attacked, but perhaps they had continued to the fallback position. He would start there and gather the rest as soon as he could. He was nearly there when a huge explosion rent the air, the shock wave knocked him to the ground. Hide, a voice inside screamed. Eyes found himself truly afraid for the first time in his life and he leapt over a wall to find cover. He looked into the darkening sky and saw the vast plume of smoke billowing into the air where the petrol station stood. No one could have survived that explosion and he felt the truth settle on him; his fellow youngsters may have survived, he would have to find them, just as Fortune instructed, but their elders were all gone. They were alone now, and all the odds were stacked against them.

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