Greg awoke to the sound of rain and his finding his cold and naked body covered by a cloth he didn't recognise. He sat up, looking around as he realised he was outside. The smoke was thick and could barely see a thing around him.

Terror struck through him as he got to his feet and looked around in panic. His head hurt from the hit and his body was freezing. Scrambling with the cloth, he wrapped it around his torso in an attempt to hide himself. He grinded his teeth from the icy weather, feeling disoriented and afraid.

Hesitantly, he allowed himself to transition into his wolf finally. His human form could not cope in the cold air and part of him hoped he'd be better off as a wolf. Blankly, he looked down at his torn clothes that lay soaking wet on the grass.

He walked on his paws through the smoke, his entire body on edge. Being outside was dangerous enough without the knowledge of where he was going. Slowly, he began to recall the events that led up to him being in that situation.

He remembered Freya being taken away followed by the swift blow he'd received by one of the wolves before he lost consciousness. He thought about the window that they'd broken and the fact that the house didn't seem to protect them at all like the previous one had. They must have messed something up, he thought to himself.

Suddenly, Greg heard something move through the woods. He stopped, listening carefully to any sounds he could hear.

Looking to his left, he saw a figure move or at least that's what he thought he saw. It appeared as a dark shadow almost, moving too quickly for his mind to grasp.

He smelled the air and realised what was in front of him, his senses on high alert by now. Taking a step back, he stepped on a twig by mistake and instantly regretted it as the figure began to approach closer.

Greg turned around and ran, his legs powerfully pushing on the ground. He made it past the trees, unsure of where he was going. He needed to get out of there and escape whatever was following him. The panic seemed to roar in his ears, his surroundings blurring behind him as he ran.

He could feel the presence of the infected in the forest, watching him, stalking him. Finally, when he felt like his lungs would burst, he made his way into a clearing but something made him stop.

A man stood dressed in a long black winter coat and polished shoes. He had a well groomed short beard and dark eyes.

The stranger turned to look at Greg. He had no expression on his face as he finally looked away from him and then at the infected who had walked into the clearing, too.

The man's eyes shone with a dim grey glow as he lifted his hand. Greg suddenly attempted to run away but he found that he couldn't move. 

In horror, he looked behind himself at the infected who seemed able to move swiftly towards him. Finding no other way, he howled loudly in desperation in the hope that someone heard him.

"Fayem mayekh tu fayem," the man spoke before suddenly vanishing.

Greg found that he could move now and after stumbling, managed to run again. All of a sudden in the distance, he could see a strange light emerge and float in mid air, capturing his attention. But it started to move away as Greg ran towards it. Was it leading him somewhere, he wondered. 

Without questioning it, Greg followed it, in hope that it meant something. The infected weren't too far behind as he cut into the woods, running as fast as his legs would allow.

It's surprising how strong one becomes when your life depends on it.

The light stopped and disappeared, leaving Greg to look around at his surroundings. He slowed down, taking it all in. Not far from him was a cabin and he squinted to focus on it.

In the doorway of the small cabin, stood a man. He signaled Greg to run towards the cabin and Greg didn't have to think twice about it.

•

Tristan was angry. He wasn't just angry, he was fuming by the time they reached the given destination.

After an hour of searching and driving in what seemed like a circle, he leaned against the trunk of the car and took Jade's cigarette from her hand.

"Hey," she said.

He ignored her and took a smoke.

"Do you think the witch lied to us?" she asked after a while, letting it slide.

"I don't know," he said.

"Maybe whoever was here knew we were coming," Jade said.

"Maybe."

"I say we go pay the bitch a visit."

"No," Tristan sighed.

"Why not? She thinks she can trick us and we won't do anything about it?"

Billy threw his empty beer bottle out of his car and on to the ground before stepping out in his military boots. He slammed the door and walked towards Jade and Tristan. Ian followed him out of the car.

"I agree with Jade, the witch wasted our time, man."

"Why would she give us the wrong address?"

Nobody answered.

Billy sighed loudly. "Bitch wasted our time and we've got zero leads. We've got time before the smoke sets in, let's go to the coven."

Tristan stared into empty space for a while. He'd put his mate into danger for literally nothing, he realised. He breathed deeply, disregarding the thought. Why do you suddenly care about her, he mentally reprimanded himself. It would never happen, he knew. So there wasn't anything to regret.

"What's that?" Jade asked, looking at the sky.

Everyone turned to look at what she was talking about. A fiery light shot vertically into the air not too far away but then suddenly disappeared. Tristan straightened himself up and gave Jade the cigarette back.

"That's where the coven is," Ian said.

Tristan then slowly looked at the moon which was full.

He frowned in thought before taking the keys out of his pocket. "Let's get out of here."

•