He had known better than to go riding under the full moon. His wife had tried to stop him, but he had not listened. The new boots were due the next day, and he feared for his business if they were late. Her face at the window had broken his heart.

Two wolves feasted on his horse. He lay at the side of the road, ribs cracked, leg broke. One stood over him. He thought its face looked sad.

The wolf yawned wide, until it didn’t look so much like a wolf as a person in a wolf’s skin. He saw a woman’s face in its jaws, as if she were wearing a mask at carnival. Thick tears cut paths on her face through streaks of blood.

“Jessica?” he whispered, “I don’t understand.”

“I pleaded with you, didn’t I?” She sobbed. “I begged you. Now they will rip the guts from your belly and suck the marrow from your bones. Oh William. You fool, you fool.”

She was a wolf again. He could still hear her voice.

“I can save you the worst of it, my love.”

He felt wet teeth on his neck.

“I’m sorry, you won’t see me in Heaven.”