The world tilted sideways. Jessica's head throbbed, a dull ache radiating from her temple where it had struck something hard during her snowboard crash. Cold seeped through her ski jacket, the bone-deep chill that whispered of danger. Even with her werewolf metabolism running hot, the temperature in this ice cave felt wrong—an ancient, preserved cold that seemed to reach beyond mere physics.

  She blinked, forcing her vision to focus. Massive walls of blue-white ice surrounded her, refracting what little light penetrated the cave. Spider-webbed cracks spread across the walls like intricate crystal veins, catching and splitting the dim light into a thousand sharp edges. The effect was both beautiful and disorienting, creating shifting patterns that made her dizzy when she tried to focus on any single point for too long.

  Jessica pushed herself up, wincing as pain shot through her right shoulder. Her snowboard lay a few feet away, partially buried in a drift of powdery snow, its bright yellow base a stark contrast against the ethereal blues and whites of the cave. How far had she fallen? The last thing she remembered was the race with Frankie, the wild rush of wind, and then—nothing. Looking up, she could make out a jagged hole in the cave's ceiling, maybe thirty feet above. Streams of moonlight filtered through, carrying dancing motes of ice crystals that sparkled like diamond dust.

  Her enhanced hearing picked up the subtle sounds of the cave: the slow drip of melting ice, the distant whisper of wind, and something else—a deep, rhythmic pulse that seemed to emanate from the very walls themselves. Like a heartbeat, but impossibly slow and powerful.

  A movement caught her eye.

  Directly ahead, embedded in the cave wall, stood a massive block of ice. Not just ice—something was inside. Jessica squinted, her breath creating small clouds in the frigid air. A shape. Huge. Definitely not natural. The ice surrounding it differed from the rest of the cave, darker and denser, as if deliberately formed around whatever was trapped within.

  She inched closer, curiosity overriding her initial fear. The creature inside was massive, easily eight feet tall. An ape-like silhouette, muscular and menacing even while frozen. Layers of frost obscured its features, but something about its posture suggested incredible strength. One massive arm was outstretched, fingers spread as if reaching for something—or someone—just beyond its grasp. The fingers themselves ended in curved claws that looked sharp enough to tear through steel.

  "What the hell?" Jessica muttered, her voice sounding small and hollow in the vast chamber.

  As she studied the creature more closely, details emerged through the layers of ice. Its skin was a mottled gray-blue, covered in what appeared to be thick, coarse white fur. The face, while partially obscured, bore a striking resemblance to ancient cave paintings she'd seen of the Yeti in books—but this was no myth or artist's interpretation. This was real, preserved in perfect detail by the ice.

  The creature's barrel-shaped chest suggested it has tremendous lung capacity. Its legs were thick and powerful, built for traversing harsh mountain terrain. But it was the head that truly captured her attention—larger than a human's by half, with a sloped forehead and pronounced brow ridges that shadowed its eyes.

  Jessica's phone was in her pocket, and she pulled it out with trembling fingers. The screen was cracked from the fall, but it still worked. She needed to document this. As she raised the phone to take a picture, something changed.

  The ice around the creature cracked.

  Not subtle hairline fractures. Major fissures that spread like lightning, sharp sounds of splitting ice echoing through the cave. Jessica took an instinctive step backward, her werewolf-enhanced senses screaming a warning. The temperature in the cave seemed to drop even further, and the rhythmic pulsing she'd felt earlier grew stronger, more insistent.

  Something was waking up.

  The first massive crack split the ice block from top to bottom, the sound like a gunshot in the enclosed space. A cloud of crystalline dust exploded outward, forcing Jessica to shield her eyes. When she lowered her arm, the creature was moving.

  Slowly. Deliberately. Like something ancient awakening from a centuries-long sleep. Ice fell away from its form in chunks, crashing to the cave floor. Steam rose from its body as it moved, the heat of its awakening form meeting the frigid air.

  Blue eyes—impossibly bright and intelligent—locked onto her. They glowed with an inner light that spoke of predatory intelligence, of hunger, of something that had waited in the dark for far too long. Those eyes held wisdom, but also a savage wildness that made Jessica's wolf spirit whimper and try to retreat.

  Jessica's heart raced. All her cheerleading training, all her werewolf strength, suddenly felt insignificant in the face of this primordial force. This wasn't a frozen prehistoric creature—this was something else entirely, something that shared more with legend than science.

  The creature took one thunderous step forward, its massive foot crushing the ice beneath it to powder. Its movement was surprisingly fluid for something that had been frozen for who knew how long. Another step, and Jessica could hear its joints cracking, its muscles flexing as it tested its freedom.

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  The beast threw back its head and released a roar that shook loose ice from the cave ceiling. The sound was unlike anything Jessica had ever heard—part bear, part tiger, but with harmonics that seemed to resonate with something deep in her DNA, something that recognized this creature as an apex predator from a time when humans were not at the top of the food chain.

  Jessica's fight-or-flight response kicked in, and flight won decisively. She turned and ran, abandoning her snowboard. Behind her, she could hear the creature's powerful strides as it gave chase, its movements becoming faster and more coordinated with each step.

  The cave tunnel twisted upward, and Jessica could see moonlight ahead. Her werewolf speed gave her an advantage, but she could hear the creature gaining. Its breath came in deep, rhythmic huffs that seemed to fill the entire passage.

  She burst out of the cave entrance into the night, the snow-covered slope of Ice Rock Mountain Resort spreading out below her. In the distance, she could see the ski lifts moving, carrying oblivious tourists up the mountain. The resort's main lodge sat at the base, its Christmas lights twinkling green, red, and blue.

  The ground shook as the creature emerged behind her. Jessica risked a glance over her shoulder and saw it silhouetted against the cave entrance, its massive form even more terrifying in daylight. Steam rose from its body in clouds, and its blue eyes seemed to burn even brighter than the moon.

  Without hesitation, the creature bounded past her and headed down the slope, moving with surprising speed and agility. It was heading straight for the resort.

  Jessica pulled out her phone, her fingers trembled as she dialed the resort's security number. They had to evacuate everyone. Now.

  "Come on, come on," she muttered as the phone rang. Below, she could see the creature disappearing into the tree line, moving like a shadow through the snow-covered pines. "Pick up! You have no idea what's coming.”

  *****

  Jessica jabbed the "end call" button on her phone with trembling fingers, her third attempt to reach the resort's emergency line meeting nothing but endless ringing. The wind whipped her blonde hair across her face as she sprinted through the knee-deep snow, her enhanced werewolf strength the only thing keeping her moving at this altitude. Her boots crunched through the crystalline surface, each step sending small avalanches of powder cascading down the slope.

  "Salina!" she shouted, voice carrying across the pristine mountainside. The group turned toward her, their casual poses around their ski gear shifting as they registered the panic in her voice. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across their faces, making them look like characters in a horror movie. "Everyone, we have a serious problem."

  "Where the hell were you?" Salina asked, dropping her ski poles as Jessica skidded to a stop. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

  Jessica doubled over, more from adrenaline than actual exhaustion. Her werewolf stamina meant she barely noticed the thin mountain air that had the others taking shallow breaths. The familiar tingling sensation of an impending transformation tickled along her spine, her wolf nature responding to the threat she'd encountered. "I found something in the ice cave and it escaped. Something… totally freaky."

  "What did you see?" Frankie adjusted her snowboard, green eyes sparkling with curiosity.

  Jessica moaned, one of her wolf habits she rarely slipped. The sound echoed off the surrounding peaks, causing small clusters of snow to shift and slide. "Something big and furry. Probably very, very totally old."

  Salina stepped forward, her dark eyeliner stark against her pale skin. She pulled out her ever-present notebook, the pages already filled with sketches and notes about their previous supernatural encounters. "Describe it," she demanded, crossing her arms like a serious school teacher. How dramatic of her.

  "Huge. Like, bigger than any human. Covered in white fur." Jessica's hands trembled as she gestured to show the creature's size. "The fur was matted with ice crystals, like it had been frozen for centuries."

  Ted snorted, adjusting his designer ski goggles. His expensive winter gear marked him as the group's resident rich kid, though his experiences with them had humbled him somewhat. "You sound like a dude smoking too many joints."

  "Shut it, Ted," Dee Dee Matthews snapped and turned to Jessica. Her practical winter gear and no-nonsense attitude reflected her role as the group's voice of reason. "Go on."

  "It was preserved in the ice until it broke free," Jessica continued, her hands moving as she tried to describe what she'd seen. The memory of those ancient, intelligent eyes meeting hers sent shivers down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold. "It chased me through the cave until it just roamed down the slope. Maybe it didn't see me."

  "Could it have been a bear?" Ted suggested, but his tone was uncertain. After a previous encounter with a vampire pirate, even he couldn't completely dismiss Jessica's story. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, expensive boots sinking deeper into the snow.

  Jessica shook her head, sending crystalline droplets flying from her hair. "No way. The proportions were all wrong. It was bipedal, massive shoulders, arms longer than any human's. And the face..." She shuddered. "It totally looked like King Kong with white fur."

  "And it chased you?" Salina pressed, her pen scratching rapidly across her notebook. The sound seemed unnaturally loud in the mountain silence. "Out of the cave?"

  "Yes—" Jessica broke off as a distant roar echoed from below, causing everyone to freeze. The sound was like nothing they'd ever heard before–part gorilla, part wolf, but with an ancient quality that spoke of eons spent in ice.

  Frankie's smile vanished. "What. Was. That."

  Another roar echoed across the mountain, closer this time. Not a wolf. Not a bear. Something *else*. The sound seemed to reverberate in Jessica's bones, triggering something primal in her werewolf nature that made her want to either fight or flee. Her canines lengthened slightly, a reflexive response to the threat.

  "That's what I was trying to totally tell you," Jessica said urgently. "I tried calling the resort, but no one's picking up. We need to do something before—"

  "Dong mentioned a legend," Salina interrupted, flipping through her notebook to a page filled with Asian mythology. "The Abominable Snowman. Maybe it is the same creature his ancestors fought on this mountain."

  "Some legends are bogus," Ted muttered, but his bravado had a brittle edge. He shifted his weight, unconsciously moving closer to the group. His expensive ski jacket rustled with each nervous movement.

  Dee Dee glared at him, her practical nature asserting itself. "Bogus or not, we know many people said they saw strange monkey men around mountains and forests in different parts of the world. BigFoot, Yeti, Sasquatch, you know it."

  "But how did it break free?" Salina rubbed her chin, her researcher's mind already at work. "Seismic activity, or—"

  "Dudes?" Ted interrupted, pointing toward the ice caves. His gloved hand trembled slightly. "Look."

  Below their feet laid large footprints, bigger than any human foot known. All leading from the cave entrance. The impressions were deep enough to show massive weight, and the pattern suggested a bipedal gait. Small ice crystals glittered within each print, as if the creature's ancient frozen prison still clung to its fur.

  Jessica felt a familiar prickle at the base of her skull, her enhanced senses screaming danger. The wind carried a musty odor, like wet fur and ancient ice. "We need to track it. There are hundreds of people at the resort."

  Frankie nodded, her usual playful demeanor replaced by vampire intensity. Her green eyes took on a predatory gleam. "Agreed. This thing can't get anywhere near the resort. If it's as big as Jessica says..."

  "Wait," Ted interrupted, his voice cracking slightly. "Are we seriously discussing hunting down some mythical snow monster? Shouldn't we, I don't know, call the authorities or something?"

  "And tell them what?" Dee Dee countered. "That we found Bigfoot's cousin? They'd never believe us, and by the time we convinced them, it might be too late. We can handle this."

  "Can we?" Ted challenged. "This isn't like the time we fought vampires and evil mermaids. This is something else entirely."

  "All the more reason to stop it now," Jessica insisted. "I can track it. Werewolf senses."

  "Good, let's go catch Mr. BigFeet," said Dee Dee with a little sense of humor in her tone, though her eyes remained serious as she surveyed the deepening shadows on the mountainside.