Excerpt: Wings in Exile

He stood up and turned around. The terrace was deserted, save for a few late night stragglers who walked quickly through the open area between the water and the back of the Union. The terrace looked cold and unfriendly with the leaves fallen from the trees, and he started walking quickly toward the stairs which led up from the shore of the lake. As he passed by, a shadow detached itself from the dark corner of the stairs by the wall and stood in front of him. “Neill?” said the dark voice of a man.
He started back a step. “Yes?” he said cautiously. “What do you want?”
“You were with a young woman today, is that correct?”
There was something terrible about the voice, something he could not define. He saw that the person wore a hood which concealed his face. “Yes; why? Who are you?”
He heard a low laugh like a gurgling growl, and the figure took a step toward him. As it emerged further from the shadow, the dim light from the sky fell on it. Neill’s blood froze in his veins. Under the hood he could see the shaggy, dripping muzzle of a wolf, the lips pulled back into a savage smile, revealing long yellow fangs. “You do not need to know who I am, human— only that without realizing it, you have waited your whole life for me.” Red eyes blazed, and claws flashed from the long sleeves as the hooded figure leaped upon Neill with a loud snarl.
They tumbled down the stairs, a twisting knot of fur and teeth and fists, their shouts and growls echoing across the terrace. The werewolf was trying to tear into Neill’s throat, his foul smelling mouth mere inches from Neill’s face. He struggled to force him back, but the creature was fantastically strong and it was all that he could do to keep the snapping jaws from ripping his head from his neck. Neill managed to call for help through the flurry of fangs and gasping breaths, but the beast taunted him with a laugh. “There is no one to help you, human. I do not exist for these others. I am a phantom, invisible as the wind.” It lunged forward again, pinning Neill down and biting deep into his shoulder...