The wind howled like a wounded animal, whipping ice crystals against Jessica's face. She pulled her thermal jacket tighter, squinting into the white-out conditions. Behind her, Salina trudged through the deep snow, while Frankie moved with preternatural grace despite the harsh conditions.

  The moonlight filtered weakly through the dense forest canopy, but Jessica's enhanced werewolf vision cut through the darkness easily. Beside her, Frankie's vampire sight was equally sharp, her eyes taking on a slight red gleam as they scanned the treeline.

  "The scent's getting stronger," Jessica murmured, her nostrils flaring as she caught another whiff of the creature's distinct odor–ancient ice and primal fury.

  Salina huddled deeper into her coat, her teeth chattering. "I hope we're not too late. How much further to the ice cave?"

  "Maybe another mile," Frankie replied, gesturing up the snow-covered trail that wound through the trees. "The terrain gets steeper from here."

  Jessica's muscles tensed as she caught a fresh scent on the wind–wild, feral, approaching fast. Her werewolf instincts hummed beneath her skin, a constant reminder of the beast beneath her cheerleading exterior.

  Without warning, a massive white wolf burst from the undergrowth, fangs bared in a snarl. Its fur was the color of fresh cream, its eyes impossibly sharp. Salina gasped, stumbling backward into Frankie.

  Jessica stepped forward, meeting the wolf's gaze. Something primal stirred inside her–ancient instincts awakening. She let out a low growl, not a human sound but something deeper, more threatening-the language of predators.

  The wolf's ears flattened. Its hackles rose. For a moment, everything froze. The wind seemed to hold its breath.

  Then the wolf backed away, melting into the white landscape as quickly as it had appeared.

  Salina's eyes were wide. "Did that just... happen?"

  Frankie let out a low whistle. "Remind me never to get on your bad side, Jessica."

  Jessica tried to play it cool, but her heart was racing. She hadn't known she could do that—communicate with another wolf, intimidate it into submission. Another layer of her supernatural identity was revealing itself, piece by mysterious piece.

  "We should keep moving," she said casually. "Mia's still out there."

  They continued up the trail, the mysterious wolf's encounter hanging in the air like an unspoken question. The creature's scent grew stronger with each step, leading them higher into the mountains where ancient ice held secrets they were about to uncover.

  *****

  The entrance to the ice cave loomed before them, a gaping maw of crystalline darkness carved into the mountainside. Massive icicles framed the opening like ancient teeth, their surfaces reflecting the wan moonlight. Jessica's enhanced vision penetrated the gloom, revealing a tunnel that descended deep into the mountain's heart.

  "This is it," Jessica whispered, her breath forming clouds in the frigid air. "Stay close."

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  Salina pulled her coat tighter, shivering. "How can you be sure this is the right cave?"

  "The scent's strongest here," Jessica confirmed, her nostrils alert. "And I totally remember this entrance after I had escaped.”

  They entered the cave cautiously, their footsteps crunching on the frost-covered ground. The temperature dropped even further, and the wind's howl faded to an eerie whisper. Jessica led the way, following both the creature's scent and her instincts through the twisting ice tunnels.

  "I've never seen this part before," Jessica murmured as they reached a previously undiscovered passage. The walls here were smoother, almost polished, with strange symbols etched into the ice. Large cracks had spread across the symbols, damaging them. "It must go deeper into the mountain."

  Frankie traced one symbol with a finger. "These markings look old. Really old."

  "They must be the protection wards," Salina observed, her witch's knowledge coming into play. "Similar to the symbols on those wooden statues Dong gave us."

  “You did this, Jessica?” Frankie asked.

  Jessica shook her head. “No. I remember falling and blacking out after I hit the cave floor. Then I woke up and saw the frozen Snowman before he burst out from his prison.”

  “Maybe there was some seismic activity here,” Salina suggested. “I heard it happens sometimes on this mountain.”

  “Then I totally guess Dong should have changed the wards every year.”

  The tunnel opened into a vast network of caverns, each chamber more spectacular than the last. Crystalline formations sparkled like diamonds, and sheets of ancient ice created natural windows that filtered the scarce light into ethereal blue patterns.

  "It's like a maze down here," Salina whispered, her voice echoing slightly. "How will we find—"

  "Shh!" Jessica held up her hand. "I hear something."

  They followed the sound through another chamber, and suddenly Jessica stopped dead in her tracks. There, laid out on a raised block of ice like some macabre display, was Mia. She was still in her bikini from the hot spring, her skin pale as the surrounding ice.

  "Oh god," Salina gasped.

  They rushed forward, their footsteps echoing in the chamber. Mia looked like a sleeping princess in some twisted fairy tale, frost crystallizing in her dark hair. Jessica reached for her hand but hesitated, afraid of what she might find.

  Salina pushed past her, pressing fingers against Mia's neck. After a moment that felt like an eternity, she nodded. "She's alive. Pulse is slow but steady. She's just unconscious–probably hypothermia."

  "We need to get her out of here fast," Frankie said, already shrugging off her jacket to wrap around Mia's nearly naked form. "Before she freezes to death."

  Jessica and Frankie carefully lifted Mia between them while Salina gathered their supplies. They had just reached the chamber's entrance when a deep rumble shook the cavern, causing small ice shards to rain down from above.

  A massive shadow filled the passage ahead.

  The creature emerged slowly, deliberately, its white fur reflecting the blue cave light. It stood nearly nine feet tall, with shoulders as broad as a car and hands that ended in wicked claws. Its face was a nightmare mixture of bear and ape, with intelligent eyes that glowed with an inner fire.

  "Don't move," Jessica breathed, though her friends had already frozen in place.

  The Abominable Snowman–Mahkah–regarded them with those burning blue eyes. Steam curled from its nostrils in the freezing air.

  Jessica took a careful step forward, keeping her voice steady. "Mahkah... we know who you are. What happened to you. We're not here to hurt you–we just want to save our friend."

  The creature's response was a roar that shook the entire cavern, sending more ice raining down around them. The sound contained centuries of pain, rage, and loneliness.

  "Jessica..." Salina's voice was tense. "The wards..."

  "No time," Jessica replied, her muscles tensing as she prepared for what she knew was coming. She could feel her wolf nature surging forward, responding to the immediate threat. "We have to fight this thing.”

  The creature took a thundering step forward, blocking their only escape route. Its claws scraped against the ice with a sound like knives on glass.

  Jessica's eyes met the monster's, and at that moment, she knew there would be no reason with it. Whatever human part of Mahkah might still exist was buried too deep beneath centuries of curse-driven fury. There was only one way this could end.

  She would have to fight.