Wolf Moon, Antler Moon

by A. C. Wise

Genres: Occult & Supernatural; Horror

Synopsis

In one small town, the delicate balance between predator and prey is threatened when five girls are murdered on prom night.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Release date: January 13, 2025

Publisher: Tor Publishing Group

Print pages: 49

Sample

Prom Night, Wolf Moon

She can’t stop seeing them—the doe-girl skins hanging from the wall, turned inside out,cut and changed so the girls could never find their way inside them again.

She can’t stop hearing the things left behind. Not girls or deeranymore. Peeled, glistening raw and red under the spinning lights.Gleaming muscle and white fat.Terrible,thin legs poised to shatter as they blunderedacross the dance floor, filling the room with the panicked clatter of hooves and piteous, bleating screams.

The last song the DJ cued up before he fled thumped bass under the chaos and panic. Then came the first flat crack, the muzzleflash as someone—more than one someone—finally took it upon themselves to do what was needful. Shots—one, two, three, four, five—putting the prom court out of their misery because there was no coming back from what had been done.

Coach Stevens held one of the rifles, Principal Gibbons another. Maybe there were others; Merrow never saw in the chaos. Theguns must have come from theLodge’s security office, protection against wolves reclaiming the land after the resort shut down. But who had been first tofetch them? How much time elapsed before the first trigger pull?

Not enough time to ask,Is this right?A split-second choice bornout of grief and fear. But who made the call? She can’t imagine Coach Stevens picking up a gun, only having one shoved into his arms. What about Principal Gibbons? Did he tremble as he raised the stock to his shoulder? Was there a tear in his eye as he sighted along the barrel?

Neither of them were hunters before the night began. And now? What have they become?

Not murderers, because the girls were already worse than dead when they stumbled—were released—back into the hall. The thud of bullets hitting meat, the thud of bodies hitting the floor, that was just batting cleanup.

Merrow runs, sucking in cold mountain air.There’sneverenough to satisfy her lungs.She runs, leaving behind the Lodge that isn’t a Lodge anymore,an in-between thing waiting to be torn down for a new multi-million-dollar resort to be built instead.She runs under the wolf moon painting the treessilver, the perfect round of an animal with its tail tucked over its nose, not yet woken from its winter nap.

A stitch burns alongher side. Her breath stutters, and shechokes on almost-tears.Not because thedoe-girls were her friends, but because they’re dead, all of them dead, and nothing will ever be the same again.

Everyone scatteredwhen they burst from the Lodge. She runs alone. She lost track of Shep, his father.She lost track of the prom court as well, ...