Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 122: Grace: Monster in Her Skin

The sky goes dark so fast I think I’m imagining it. One second, the kids are shrieking over hide-and-seek. The next—it’s like the sun gets yanked right out of the sky. Clouds roll in thick and gray, swallowing up the blue like it never existed.

Sara’s nose is pressed to the RV window, her breath fogging the glass. "What’s happening?"

She hasn’t moved since the thunder started.

Caine would probably be upset the blinds are open, but Fenris would know if someone’s out there watching us. It should be okay.

Jer bounces between couch cushions. "Maybe aliens. Maybe the apocalypse. Maybe the dinosaurs are reincarnating—"

"Maybe it’s just a storm, Jer," Ron cuts in. He definitely has less patience for the younger boy than he does Sara or Bun, probably because Jer never stops talking.

Every time I touch something, I get shocked. Static electricity is strong in the air, but none of the kids mention it. Maybe it’s just me.

Something about this storm feels... off, though. Wrong. Not like normal rain.

The older girl turns toward me, eyes wide as she asks, "Is it gonna lightning? I want to see lightning."

"Probably." I check the solar display, already worried. With the sun in hiding, it means the panels aren’t getting anything in, right?

The display flickers. Numbers drop. Then they spike. The overhead lights flicker and the air conditioner stops abruptly.

A second later, the lights are back, and so is our air.

"Oh, no. Is our power going to go out?" Jer asks, craning his neck to stare at the light above him like it’s going to give him answers.

"It shouldn’t... We have batteries, too." But everything flicked out for a second when it shouldn’t, which doesn’t really make me confident in my answer. The microwave clock reads 12:00, blinking obnoxiously to let me know it reset.

Rain hits the camper—not in drops, but in sheets, a solid wall of water slamming against the fiberglass encasing the camper.

The entire trailer shudders, before settling into a new rhythm of noise.

Sara squeals with delight, once again glued to the window. "I love rain! I love it so much. I hope it lightnings more!"

"Maybe we shouldn’t stand near the windows during a—" My warning dies as lightning forks across the sky, illuminating Sara’s face.

"Look!" she shrieks, bouncing on her toes on the couch even as her nose stays pressed against the glass. "It was a big one!"

Thunder reverberates, as if to agree.

Within seconds, we’re all crowded around the windows—even Ron, though he pretends it’s just to keep the little ones in check. Jer holds Bun reluctantly, her tiny fists gripping his shirt as she stares wide-eyed at the deluge.

lightness into my voice, "this is perfect weather for a movie. I’ve got snacks

"Rabbit food," Jer mumbles.

healthy food doesn’t have the same

whole solar issue. If I run the TV and a movie, with

and thunder come with alarming frequency. Sara flinches at one

Jer yells. "That was

Bun cries.

face into nonchalance, like she wasn’t as scared as the younger

time. The camper lights dim completely

each crash of thunder. Something about this storm feels... personal. Targeted. I shake my head at the

Jer’s arms, her crying

little nose twitches once, twice. She sniffs the air hard, like she’s caught something

step forward just as her body

the playful rumble we hear sometimes when she’s being stubborn. It’s

until almost no iris remains, and

her, but

vicious claws. Not the kind you’d see on a housecat. These are built for rending flesh, for hunting. They catch Jer across the cheek as he falls backward with a shocked yelp, blood spattering across the

Shit.

thunder. Jer drops Bun as he falls,

faster than

across his skin. His gorilla form is massive in the confined space of the camper, hunched and powerful, yet his movements are controlled as he lunges for

Bun isn’t

this? This is a baby

teeth bared in a snarl that belongs on a mountain lion. Her body’s half-shifted, enough

screams again. Ron’s massive gorilla hands catch Bun mid-air as the older girl scrambles out of the way,

stop!" I rush forward, trying to

jerk back, blood welling

right. This isn’t Bun. Her eyes are completely wrong—blown black and feral, foam gathering at the corners of her mouth.

trying to restrain her without hurting her, but she’s like liquid fury, twisting out of his grasp to cause new

only been seconds and already feels like a long

Sara and Jer behind me. "Bedroom,

the room with us. There’s something else inside of her,

Which is crazy.

the one who goes nuts over tanghulu and crushes strawberries all over the floor. The same baby who woke up in the middle of the night to crawl

"But—" Jer starts.

the front of the camper. "Lock the

I turn back to the chaos.

from their wrestling or the wind. It’s hard to tell. The air conditioner dies with a pathetic whine, and the

going to kill Ron. A sweet little toddler is going to hurt the person she loves