PROLOGUE ONE
The man stumbled down the street, his breath smelling bitterly of alcohol. He was drunk, too drunk to notice the bicyclers cursing at him as they veered to avoid a collision or the cars that screeched and honked as he wandered into the streets. He was giggling with the buzz and ignoring the police officers who only shouted warnings and did nothing else. He laughed again at the thought of losing his job, his reluctance to go home and let his wife know. She'd beat him again, for sure, and maybe even in front of the girls this time. Don't upset Mommy, they pleaded over and over. Don't upset Mommy.
"Don't upset Mommy!" he sang, whooping and jumping in a circle. He threw his arms out, smacking a woman in the face with his clenched fist. She screeched as blood ran from her nose. The nearest twenty guys jumped on him, beating him as well as they could while two of them held his arms behind his back. He felt his nose break in two different spots, felt a tooth chip, another one dislodge from his gum and cut the inside of his lip. But he didn't feel the pain, and laughed, choking on blood. Finally his assailants dragged him into an alley and dumped him on a pile of garbage bags, leaving him to laugh at the world and gargle his own life sap. He stopped, though, at a sound no one in the city of New York ever expects to hear: the heavy growling of a large predator.
He looked up, seeing a pair of glowing gold fireflies.
No, not fireflies.
Eyes. Golden, feral, canine eyes.
He sobered immediately, trying to scream as the creature crept up to him, but his voice seemed caught in his throat. He knew he wasn't going to be able to flee before it had taken his life. The wolf was blacker than the night sky above them, his lips pulled back in a snarl; clear saliva dripped from large fangs. Five thickly furred tails were ramrod straight behind him. His breath hitched, his chest puffing in and out quickly as he hyperventilated. The man had no time to scream before the wolf attacked.