Chapter 17

17

On a dirt road a couple of miles from the freeway, the rumble of traffic having faded, Duncan stopped his van. He rolled down the window and sniffed into the night air. Hoping to catch the whiff of interesting animals to hunt?

Though I doubted I’d detect any animal scents while in human form, I rolled down my own window. The smell of loamy earth, decaying leaves, water from a nearby creek, and a promise of rain filled the air. If the musky odors of any animals lingered, I couldn’t pick them up.

Duncan inhaled deeply. “Invigorating, isn’t it?”

“It is.” I remembered him touching his ribs and asked, “How are your wounds doing? They won’t slow you down during a hunt, will they?”

“Certainly not. As I told you, I heal quickly.” Duncan opened his door and slid out. “I was especially fortunate to have the tender ministrations of a beautiful lady to help along the process.”

“I didn’t know my half-ass cleaning of your wound and handing you the bandage to wrap it yourself counted as tender.” I would have done more if we hadn’t been interrupted, but he’d seemed experienced at performing first-aid on himself.

“I refer to the gentle way you stroked me after the battle.”

“You remember that, huh?”

“I do. It was delightful.”

“Well, your fur was… lush.”

“As we’ve established.” Duncan drew his shirt over his head, tossed it onto his seat, then bent to tug off his shoes.

It made sense to disrobe, so your clothes didn’t disappear in the magic of the change, but I caught myself watching him instead of getting out of the van and doing the same. His powerful shoulder and back muscles shifted and flexed as he tugged off his shoes and socks. I’d thought I was long past caring that much about men or being interested in sex, but his appealing physique made me speculate about touching him.

Duncan looked up, catching me observing him.

Cheeks warming, I looked away.

“I can go into the woods to change and wait for you if you want privacy,” he said, not commenting on my gaze. “Or do you think it might take a while? I… can’t imagine not changing for decades. Or taking a drug to keep the call from coming over me.”

“Yeah.” I couldn’t disagree that it was an unusual choice for a werewolf. “It’s possible that after all this time, I won’t even be able to do it. Or there may be enough potion lingering in me to stop it.” I shrugged, but I believed I’d be able to turn into the wolf. These last couple of days, it had tried to surge up in me a number of times.

“I can bring you back some choice morsels from a fresh kill if you’re not able to hunt on your own.”

“Thoughtful.” I couldn’t imagine gnawing on a raw liver, or whatever he had in mind, in my human form.

“You’ve been kind enough to supply me with all those delicious squares of chocolate. ”

Once fully undressed, he padded off the road and into the woods. The moonlight shone on his pale butt cheeks, and I almost laughed.

The moonlight also shone through the windshield and onto my face. Its power made my skin tingle. The wolf magic bubbled within me, as if it had been waiting for ages for an opportunity to escape. Out here in the woods, with the moon beaming down on me, the wolf didn’t hesitate to make itself known. It wanted out. It wanted to hunt.

Afraid of losing my clothing, I hopped out of the van and hurried to remove my shoes, socks, sweatpants, hoodie, and T-shirt. I felt the cool autumn night air on my skin, the grit of the dirt road under my feet, and the caress of a breeze that raised gooseflesh. But the chill faded as my body flushed with heat—with magic —from the moon and from within. As I tugged off my undergarments, the scents of the forest grew much more vibrant, and I could pick out individual odors and knew what made them and what animals and people had passed this way. I smelled the wolf in the area—Duncan—and knew he hadn’t gone far.

When I looked into the trees, my eyes much sharper now, I picked him out of the shadows. He sat on his haunches, watching the road, his pointed ears rotating now and then at noises in the forest.

My skin pricked and a delicious stretching sensation filled me as I changed, body morphing, fur sprouting, and magic rippling through me. The world shifted, and I dropped to all fours. For the first time in twenty-six years, I was a wolf.

And, for the first time in twenty-six years, I caught the scents of wild animals, of ducks in a nearby pond, of squirrels bedded down in the branches of a pine, and of… ah, deer. Several of them. That was prey suitable for a wolf, and I salivated at the thought of taking one down, of consuming it.

When I’d been human, I hadn’t been hungry, but the wolf was always hungry. It longed to feast, to feed the body and the magic, enough to last until the next full moon, the next hunt.

Letting my nose lead me, I loped off in the direction of the deer. With my senses heightened, I wasn’t surprised when another wolf joined me, running at my side. He wasn’t family, not of the pack, but his tongue lolled out, and he regarded me in a friendly manner. I knew him from the other life, didn’t I? Yes. He would be an ally on the hunt.

Side-by-side, we ran through a gully where grass had grown verdant and high over the summer. In the past, the native trees had been logged by humans, enough to allow moonlight down to bathe the ground. A stream meandered through the center of the gully. With food and drink for the deer, it was an ideal place for them.

We passed a few mushrooms that, to my lupine eyes, glowed in the dark. They were magical. As a wolf, it was not only my eyes and ears that were keener, but I could detect otherworldly elements that were invisible to humans.

A memory flashed in my mind. An ivory case with a wolf engraved on the lid. Like the mushrooms, it also had magic, powerful magic.

A case made by a two-legs was a strange thing for a predator on the hunt to think about, and confusion trickled through me, but I vowed to remember the moment later. A certainty spread, pushing aside the confusion, that I would find the case enlightening to examine when I was in my wolf form.

I glimpsed a deer, and more important thoughts surged to the forefront of my mind.

Like the squirrels, the herd was bedded down for the night. We approached from downwind, trying to mask our scents. In the end, the deer would notice us, and we would have to run, as we enjoyed doing, but we had to get close first. These animals had long legs and were as fast as we, sometimes faster .

The other wolf left me to approach their resting place from the far side of the gully. Yes, we would flank them, making it harder for them to escape. I slowed from a lope to a stalk, padding silently through the grass, using bushes and old logs to hide my approach.

One deer stood near the stream, watching for threats as the rest of its herd slept. It was a buck of three or four years, and it would be a challenge to catch him off-guard and bring him down. If winter had been deep, and I’d been hungrier, I would have targeted the old deer, those easier to catch, but my blood sang under the silvery moonlight, and I wanted a challenge.

The buck’s head rose high, nostrils in the air. Had he caught our scent?

He waved his short tail and blew forcibly through his nostrils, a whoosh, whoosh . Yes, he sensed danger. Others in the herd stirred, rising from their grassy beds. Soon, they would bolt.

A faint rustle from the far side of the gully reached my ears. The other wolf. He’d given up stealth to sprint at the deer. The buck snorted and stomped to warn the others, then turned to run.

I also abandoned stealth and charged after them. No, after the buck. My chosen prey.

Powerful muscles flexing, I ran, covering ground fast, heading straight for that buck. The other wolf angled in, also running fast. He was as strong as I and headed toward a slower doe that had seen many years, but he noticed my target and, tongue lolling out again, he altered his course. Together, we sprinted after the buck.

It ran fast, springing over mossy logs and boulders, but we closed on it. We parted enough to flank it, me on the left and the other wolf on the right. He sprang first, going for one of its forelimbs to bring it down. The buck lurched sideways, trying to escape the crush of lupine jaws. It veered right into me. I leaped for its throat, tearing deep, landing the blow that would end its life. It crumpled, giving itself so two wolves could feast, as the call of the moon commanded them to do .

The exhilaration of the hunt flowed through me, invigorating, and the world all about was sharp and real as we dined. The moon shone upon our backs, our thick fur gleaming in the light. All seemed right and natural. When we were sated, we padded away, leaving the rest for the scavengers in the forest, those birds and animals who lacked the power of wolves.

Across the stream, we settled among ferns to rest and digest. Eventually, I dozed and dreamed, not in color as I did as a human but in the silver of moonlight. I ran through the forest and came to a clearing, and that case lay in the middle, glowing faintly in invitation.