Chapter 21

21

As a wolf, my instincts drove me, and my human memories and concerns grew hazy. I forgot about Duncan’s betrayal, the stolen case, and the treachery of my cousin, and loped through the forest with the pack, moonlight brightening the way. As a wolf inhaling the night’s scents and hearing every sound in the forest around us, all I could think about was the joy of the hunt and the overriding desire to find game.

And find it, we did. We swept into the foothills of the mountains, with dense evergreens rising around us and a river cutting through the forest, its roar drawing us. We came upon elk bedded down for the night and startled them into flight. With so many wolves, we were unmatchable. We were the supreme predators of the land, and we took down our prey and ate our fill.

I caught a dark-gray wolf—Augustus—watching me and remembered to be wary of him, but when he tilted his head back to howl his satisfaction at the successful kill, I did the same. We all did. The night sang to us, demanding we acknowledge the magic that nature had granted us.

After finishing the elk, the pack took a circuitous route through their territory, checking for intruders and enjoying the magic of the moon. We loped easily along the riverbanks, some pausing to lap up the cool refreshing water. Our powerful muscles carried us over boulders and down inclines as the waterway grew frothy. It headed downhill and gained width and depth as streams flowed into it.

A hint of a musky scent rose over the damp vegetation growing along the river. A moose had come this way. It was a rare find in this part of the state, and joy filled me at the contemplation of battling such strong prey.

Half the pack splashed through the river to run on the other side, seeking the moose’s trail there. Guided by instincts that believed it had remained on the closer side, I stayed there, following the waterway downstream. Soon, though, the terrain grew more difficult to navigate, the riverbanks turning into steep canyon walls.

The scent of game propelled us onward, led by?—

My step faltered as I realized Augustus was leading me now. My mother and the white wolf had crossed to the other side. I glimpsed them in the foliage over there, but the river had grown too wide and treacherous to follow them over. Jasmine and Emilio had ended up over there too. None of the wolves who’d been friendly to me were on this side, but some more of my cousins were.

My hackles rose with the certainty that trouble was coming. Oh, it was possible this was all accidental, that we would simply hunt together and nothing would happen, but I doubted it. My lupine instincts had been so preoccupied by the hunt that I’d allowed myself to be singled out, to be surrounded by werewolves who’d already tried to kill me.

Ahead, the moonlight shone on a railroad trestle bridge that crossed high over the river. There. That was my chance to get to the other side, to where the rest of the family hunted .

Hoping to gain the lead so my cousins couldn’t mess with me, I pumped my legs, bounding along the rocky rim of a canyon. The river roared through it far below, much wider and faster than it had been miles upstream.

The moonlight brightening the bridge showed wide railroad ties that offered sturdy purchase, but, as I ran out on it, I couldn’t help but glance down at the frothing water visible below. Far below.

A questioning howl came from the forest on the other side. It was my mother’s voice, and it sounded like she’d traveled away from the river. Or… been led away from the river? It might have been my imagination, but I thought I caught a hint of concern in her howl.

I parted my jaws, intending to send an answering call so she would know where I was, but two huge wolves trotted onto the trestle from the far side. Paws on the wooden ties, they sank low, setting themselves as their eyes bored into me.

My gut twisted, and I slowed down. They were there to block me—or worse.

When I glanced back, the dark-gray wolf that was Augustus padded onto the bridge from the other side. Another cousin came up beside him, the wolf with the black-tipped tail who’d helped attack Duncan.

Damn it. They’d led me to this. I’d walked into their trap.

One-on-one, I might have held my own against any of them, but I didn’t like the odds of winning a fight against two of them. Or, if I couldn’t handle the situation quickly enough, against all four of them.

Even as I debated what to do, the two wolves in front trotted out onto the trestle toward me. The wolves behind me closed from that direction.

I glanced over the edge at the water roaring past below. It was hard to tell how deep it was, but that froth made me suspect boulders down there might kill me if I fell.

Farther downstream, a pool of darker and quieter water didn’t appear as treacherous. If I jumped, I might be able to reach that spot, to land without hitting rocks.

But something told me these guys wanted me to do that. And that it wouldn’t be good for my health.

It would be better to knock them into the water.

Since the wolves coming from the far side blocked the way to my mother and the part of the pack that might help, they were the logical ones to attack. But Augustus had started all this. For whatever reason, he’d made himself my enemy. This was his plan. I had no doubt.

I snarled at the approaching wolves, then turned sideways and crouched, as if I would leap from the bridge. All four wolves picked up their speed, running toward me, intending to knock me off if I didn’t jump.

At the last moment, I whirled toward Augustus and charged between him and his ally. Surprise flickered in their eyes, but they braced themselves, and their jaws opened, ready to attack.

There was no way I wouldn’t be hurt. Knowing that, I still rushed in, lunging for Augustus’s throat. At the same time, I swung my hips toward his ally, hoping to knock one or both wolves off the bridge. It wasn’t that wide.

Augustus was ready and met my snapping jaws in a bite of his own. I knocked his snout aside with my own, like a sword fighter parrying an attack, and rammed my shoulder into his as I intentionally bumped the other wolf. He sank his fangs into my hindquarters, but I was so focused on Augustus that I hardly cared. Magic and adrenaline surging through my veins made me fast. Before Augustus could bring his jaws back to me, I bit into his flesh. He shifted enough to keep me from tearing into his throat, but my fangs sank deep between his shoulder and neck, and he cried out.

The metallic tang of blood washed over my tongue. Snarls and pants filled the air, audible over the roar of the river.

Holding on so that he couldn’t maneuver, I surged forward, ignoring the fiery pain that ignited in my back from the other wolf’s bite. With all the power in my limbs and torso, I pushed against Augustus. As he attempted to shake me off and escape, one of his paws slipped off the trestle. He lunged to keep his balance, trying to stay on the bridge, but I shoved him without mercy. Only when he lurched fully over the edge did I let go of him.

I spun toward his ally. The other wolf had released me but only so he could bite again, higher along my flank. He was trying to work his way to my neck. These roadkill lickers all wanted me dead.

Furious and indignant, I lunged and bit him three times so quickly it stunned him. Hot blood ran down my leg from my wounds, but I didn’t care. I barely felt the pain over the rage filling me, the instinct to kill that charged through my wolf blood, threatening to take over my rational mind.

As I bit in for the fourth time, tearing a chunk out of the side of my foe’s neck, he flung himself backward. He went over the opposite side of the trestle, pitching toward the frothing water below.

Before I could turn or plan another move, something slammed into me from behind. The other two wolves had reached me.

I whirled, biting, but they didn’t want to engage in a fang fight. Accepting my bites, they used their shoulders and chests to shove at me.

Alone, I might have braced myself and pushed back, but their combined power was too much for me. Worse, my paw came down on a tie slick with algae. I tried to get better footing, but they succeeded in shoving me off, just as I’d done to Augustus .

As damp cold air whistled past me, I looked toward the moon watching from high above. This might be my end, but at least I’d stood up for myself. And I’d died a wolf. So be it.