The wolf was behind her. She could feel it, even if it was as quiet as the breeze through the leaves. Faye was running, her feet thudding against the soft earth as she held up her arms to push away the branches. The further she ran, the denser the forest became. Huge tree trunks crowded in on her, like a wall that she couldn’t break through. The wolf was on her heels, its breath against her back. Soon she would feel its paws, its claws, its teeth—

Faye opened her eyes with a start, her heart thumping painfully. For a second she didn’t know where she was. Then she remembered – Liz’s bedroom. Faye had slept over with her friend – something they had planned to do as soon as they’d heard about Lucas’s party. Even though Faye had passed her driving test a few weeks before, she wasn’t confident about driving at night – but Liz had been fine to drive them both. At breakfast, though, neither of them felt as happy as they had expected to. This wasn’t how they’d planned to start the summer – with one of their friends potentially missing.

Usually the girls would lie about in bed, chatting. But today, both of them wanted to get up straight away. Faye tried Lucas’s number as soon as she woke, but there was no answer. Their questions to Aunt Pam the night before had been designed not to alarm her, but she obviously hadn’t heard from Lucas, and assumed he’d been with them at the party.

The two girls ate their breakfast in silence, the sun streaming across the table, too bright for their eyes.

‘Everything all right this morning?’ Faye looked up to see Sergeant Mitch Wilson, Liz’s dad, standing in the doorway, holding a cup of coffee. ‘You both seem very quiet. I thought you’d be happy to be out of school. Wasn’t the party any good?’

Faye saw Liz force a bright smile and tried to do the same.

‘We’re just tired,’ Liz said, obviously not wanting to lie to her dad, but not wanting to tell him about Lucas, either. It wasn’t so long ago that Mitch Wilson had been under Mercy Morrow’s spell. He was fine now, but he hated to be reminded of that time. He didn’t remember much about it, which probably made it even worse. Liz had told Faye that her dad didn’t really like her to spend time with Lucas, either, although Lucas was slowly winning him over.

The two girls had talked the night before and decided that he would probably say the same as Finn – that Lucas wasn’t missing, but had just taken off on his new bike. Faye still didn’t believe it, but until they found out more she knew it was probably too early to involve the police.

‘Really? You didn’t seem to be out too late,’ said Sergeant Wilson, tipping the dregs of his coffee into the sink and pulling on his police jacket. ‘Anyway, I’ll see you later. Be good.’

After he had left, the two girls went up to Liz’s room and sat cross-legged on the bed. For Faye, saying that she was tired hadn’t been a lie at all – she really was. She’d had the dream again, even more vividly this time. She glanced at Liz, wondering whether to tell her about it.

Liz caught her eye and frowned. ‘What’s the matter?’

Faye shook her head. ‘Nothing much . . . I just had that dream again last night.’

‘What – with the wolf? What happened this time?’

‘The same. It’s always the same, over and over. It hunts me, again and again.’

‘Have you told Finn?’

Faye shook her head. ‘I tried to, but the fight kind of interrupted the conversation.’ She sighed. ‘You’re going to say I’m crazy, but I can’t help thinking it’s all connected.’

Liz frowned. ‘What is?’

‘Lucas going missing . . . the dreams . . . even the fight between the Black Dogs. It just seems like it’s all part of something.’

‘Part of what, exactly?’

‘I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.’

‘You’ve been having the dreams for a few weeks, though, right? How can they be connected?’ Liz looked as if she was about to say something else, but then her phone rang. She picked it up, looking at the screen with a frown. ‘It’s Jimmy’s mom,’ she said as she clicked the button to answer. ‘Mrs Paulson, hi. How are you?’

Faye watched Liz’s face change as the woman on the other end of the phone said something.

‘Oh my God!’ said Liz. ‘Is he OK? Where is he? Should I . . . Yes! Sure. I’ll be there straight away.’

‘What’s happened?’ Faye asked with a frown when her friend rang off.

‘Jimmy’s broken his leg,’ said Liz, sliding off the bed and hunting for her shoes. ‘He came off the bike this morning. He lost his phone and he’s only just got back from the hospital.’

‘Oh no, poor Jimmy!’

‘I’ve got to go up and see him, right now,’ Liz said. ‘Do you want to come?’

Faye shook her head. ‘I’m sorry – tell him I’ll come and see him later, would you? Those men are due to come back at about midday to see the bikers about that job. Finn’s worried that the men who wanted to leave will change their minds. I want to be there for him.’

 

Finn squeezed Faye’s hand. ‘I love that you wanted to be here,’ he said. ‘But I wish you were safe, at home. I have no idea what’s going to happen.’

Faye tightened her fingers around his. They were taking a back route through the woods, heading for the bikers’ camp. Finn hadn’t told the Black Dogs that he’d be watching when the men returned for their answer – he didn’t want the pack to think he didn’t trust them, but he wanted to see for himself who these people were. It didn’t make sense to him: they had turned up out of nowhere to offer a group of men they didn’t know a job. For a start, how did they find the pack in the first place? People with GPS had trouble finding Winter Mill, let alone a clearing in the woods surrounding the little town.

‘I wasn’t going to let you do this alone,’ Faye told him quietly. ‘That’s what being together means, doesn’t it? Being there for each other, no matter what.’

Finn paused for a second, looking down at her with a serious expression on his face. ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘It does. Look, Faye . . . about Lucas—’

She shook her head, cutting him off. ‘Let’s not talk about that now. One thing at a time . . .’

Finn nodded, smiling. ‘You’re right. As usual. But later, we’ll talk, OK? I don’t want anything to come between us. Especially not my little brother.’

Faye smiled at him. ‘OK.’

They found a spot behind a large red cedar, set in a partial clearing. The tree stood on a slight incline that overlooked the camp. Faye watched Finn’s face as he observed the men moving about below. She could see that he was worried, and wondered what he was thinking. That he should rejoin them, maybe? That they should get back out on the road? Faye hoped that wouldn’t happen, and felt guilty for thinking that way. Finn had a life to live, after all. But so did she. She wanted to finish school and then go to college . . . And however much she tried, Faye couldn’t work out a way to do that if she followed the Black Dogs out on the road, if they decided to take off again.

‘Something’s happening.’ Finn’s harsh whisper interrupted her thoughts. A noise reached them – the rumble of a truck as it backed into the clearing. Below, the bikers gathered in a loose semicircle around it as the doors opened.

Faye watched as two men got out. She shivered, suddenly feeling as if something cold were sliding down her spine. The men looked strange: they were thin and pale, and their arms and legs seemed oddly long. Their fingers were crooked, and their cheeks sunken in their faces, beneath eyes that seemed just a little too big and a little too dark. They moved strangely too – as if they were finding it difficult to control their long limbs. They jerked forward towards the bikers, stopping in front of Arbequina and Harris, who had moved to the front of the pack.

Faye glanced at Finn, and was shocked to see that the colour had seeped out of his face. She placed a hand on his arm and realized that he was shaking. He didn’t look at her; all his focus was on the two men and what was happening in the clearing. She looked down, and realized that all the bikers were having the same reaction – they looked pale and shaky. Are they all sick? Faye wondered. Or is it something else?

‘Well,’ she heard one of the strange men say. His voice was rough and hoarse, as if he had trouble getting the words out. ‘What’s your decision?’

Arbequina looked at Harris. The second biker jerked his chin towards the strangers, giving the Mexican permission to speak on his behalf.

‘We’re staying here,’ Arbequina said shortly. ‘Thanks for the offer, but we’re bikers, not labourers. We stay’ – he cast an eye briefly around the pack – ‘together.’

The stranger curled his lip. ‘That is a very unwise decision.’

Faye saw Arbequina cross his arms, taking a threatening step towards the visitor. She drew in a sharp breath, suddenly sure that things were about to go very, very wrong.

‘Finn,’ she whispered. ‘Finn, I think—’

Before she could say any more, there was a shout from below. Faye saw the two strangers grab hold of the big Mexican biker. Their frail appearance obviously belied a huge and hideous strength. They picked Arbequina up as if he weighed nothing, throwing him hard against the rear of the truck and then wrenching his arms back. Arbequina bellowed in fury, kicking out as the rest of the bikers leaped into action. Suddenly the back door of the truck burst open, and four more of the weird-looking men appeared. One of them dragged Arbequina into the truck, while the others grabbed Harris and another biker that Faye recognized as a man called Johnson.

Finn scrambled up. ‘Stay here,’ he yelled at Faye.

‘Wait!’

She watched as Finn plunged down the hillside, wading into the pitched battle that had erupted between the bikers and their attackers. The strange men had now pushed both Harris and Johnson into the back of their truck, and were trying to grab the other bikers.

Faye watched as Finn joined the fight, trying to help Cutter, who was being dragged towards the truck. Finn aimed a hard punch into the man’s solar plexus, knocking the breath from his lungs and making him let go. Faye saw the stranger open his mouth to howl in pain as he bent double, crumpling to the ground. Finn turned away to help Cutter, who was bleeding from a wound above his eye.

But the man he’d punched wasn’t done. He suddenly sprang back to his feet, right behind Finn. Faye saw something in his hand – a flash of silver. It was a knife.

‘Finn!’ Faye screamed, unheard over the violent sounds of battle. ‘Look out – look out!’

The stranger lunged at Finn. It took no more than a second. For a moment Faye thought the knife must have missed.

Then she saw Finn collapse.