In an instant, three Skivoks burst from the brush, their skeletal bodies low to the ground as they scrambled through the forest with twitching limbs and snapping jaws. They didn't seem to notice Liam or Charlotte immediately. Their multiple eyes were wide and unfocused, their nostrils flaring rapidly as though trying to escape something behind them.
Then one of them saw Smoke.
It shrieked immediately, causing the others to turn.
For a heartbeat, instinct overwhelmed fear, and the next moment, they lunged.
Before Liam could make a move, Charlotte did.
She blurred forward, not fully transformed, but with enough beast-like speed that her claws flashed through the air before the first Skivok could complete its leap. Its head twisted unnaturally as her strike tore through its throat.
Smoke took the second.
The shadow wolf slammed into it from the side, crushing it against a tree before tearing through its core with one swift bite.
