Page 8 of Wolf Bound

Then he released her wrist, nodded, and she made her way to the cliff and began looking for the best possible handholds.

Her heart beating hard, she carefully picked her way around the rock face, finding the best finger and toe holds she could use while the boy watched her in silence. As much as her muscles were shaking, she knew she needed to get some extra rock climbing into her work routine. The boy appeared to be shivering though, so she was glad she was returning to him to aid him now. She finally made it up to the top of the cliff. He immediately rose to his feet and hugged her.

She hugged him back, so glad he was safe. She untied the arms of her sweater from around her waist and pulled it over his head and arms. Of course now, she was getting chilled! She was wearing a flannel shirt, but she could have used something heavier as it grew colder this evening and the breeze picked up.

She used her satellite phone again to call Devlyn with an update. “The kidnappers came back and tried shooting us, but we managed to get under a little bit of a shelf that protected us. I’m back topside to warm up the boy. The…uhm, dog might have a couple of broken ribs. Not sure.”

“I understand. Heath, Fisher’s brother, is a doctor and he’s bringing medical supplies to take care of him. All our men are armed. If they see the wolves, they’ll take them down. The men should be there in about fifteen minutes.”

Fifteen minutes would seem like an eternity.

“We’ve got twelve men headed your way,” Devlyn added. “Some will be looking for the kidnappers also. We can’t allow our kind to break the laws.”

“Right and they’re doing it this time in your…uhm”—she glanced at Billy snuggled up in her olive green wool sweater, sitting on the ground—“jurisdiction.” Though they couldn’t allow them to break the law in any territory, or places where wolf packs hadn’t claimed the locations either. “I’m going to let you go.”

“They’ll be there soon.”

“Thanks.” She wouldn’t call her boss to tell him all that went down until later, since really nothing had been resolved. Saving the kid, yes, but the three kidnappers were still at large, and Fisher could be seriously injured.

3

Tanner, Heath, and Shawn, Fisher’s brothers, and nine other men had been trying to reach the location where the USF agent, Fisher, and the kidnapped boy were as fast as they could. But it was a long hike and they’d also been watching for any sign of the kidnappers, should they have come back this way toward the trailhead.

The men had been quiet, listening for sounds of any other people in the area. They ran across a group of four college-age hikers, and later, a man and a woman in their early forties or so, hiking along the trail they were on. Then Tanner got an update from Devlyn about Kira and what she had done for the boy and Fisher. “Thanks. I’ll let everyone else know.” He ended the call and shared what Devlyn had said with the other members on his team.

They had to remain quiet in case the kidnappers were about. Tanner knew that everyone wanted to kill the rogue wolves for trying to murder both Fisher and the USF agent and for kidnapping the boy and abandoning him in the woods. Then they began to smell wolves—three unknown gray male wolves, a human boy, a red she-wolf, and Fisher. They knew then, even though Kira Westwood had given Devlyn their GPS coordinates, that the kidnappers had recently been in the vicinity as fresh as their scents were, and Tanner and the rest of the pack members were on the right track.

Five miles off the trail, they heard a woman talking low, and a child’s voice saying. “Yes. I want a BB gun for Christmas.”

Then the woman said, “Shhh.”

“It’s me, Tanner Greystoke, Fisher’s brother and Devlyn’s cousin,” Tanner called out, so as not to alarm them, sure it was Kira and the boy.

“I’m Heath, Fisher’s brother and the doctor,” Heath said.

“We’re over here,” Kira shouted out. “I hope you brought something with you to carry Fisher on up the cliff face.”

“We did. We’ve got a litter and all the climbing gear we need,” Tanner said from some distance in the woods, and then they finally reached the woman and the boy, all cuddled up together on the ground next to a tree. Tanner pulled a warm coat out of his backpack and gave it to the boy to wrap himself up in it and gave him a knit hat to cover his head.

Shawn said, “I’m also Fisher’s brother. I’m Shawn.” He immediately gave Kira his warm down parka to wear.

“Thanks. Fisher is straight down there”—she pointed in the direction where Fisher could be found—“on the ledge beneath the overhang.”

“Hey, Fisher, we’re coming,” Tanner said, shouting over the cliff’s edge as he and the others prepared to tie off ropes so they could make the climb safely and rescue him.

“Why are they saying they’re the dog’s brother?” Billy asked.

Light dawning, Tanner and the others realized the boy had seen Fisher running as a wolf. “He’s like a family member to us,” Tanner quickly said, still coming to grips with the fact that his brother had been shot and could be seriously injured from the fall. He couldn’t believe that a wolf run at dusk would lead to something as insidious as kidnappers taking a boy hostage and then trying to eliminate Fisher too. Tanner suspected that Fisher had realized the boy was in trouble and had gone to help him. Though what his brother could have done for him as a wolf when the men were armed with guns had Tanner scratching his head. Still, Tanner would have felt the same need to go to the boy’s aid even if it had cost him his life.

Tanner glanced at Kira, thanking God that she had come to Fisher and the boy’s aid and had alerted Devlyn right away as to the trouble they were in. Devlyn had already told them that they might be helping her with her case, but they’d never expected that Fisher would have gotten into the middle of the mess all on his own just by taking a run as a wolf deep in the national park.

Wearing harnesses and helmets, some of the men were lowering a litter while Tanner and Heath were rappelling down to check on Fisher. Kira sure hoped he was going to be okay as she sat on the ground with Billy wrapped up in her arms, fast asleep, keeping him warm. She was too keyed up to drift off, but she was glad Shawn had shared his parka with her. She’d been wishing, if the boy hadn’t been an issue, that she could have turned into her wolf. Though if the boy hadn’t been here, she would have stayed with Fisher and kept him warm.

Then a dark-haired man showed up, his expression serious and determined, looking like he was in charge and Kira suspected he was the pack leader. He headed straight for Kira and then he crouched down to speak with her. He shook her hand. “I’m Devlyn, and we’re all at your service.”

“These men really need to be caught and I appreciate any help you can give me. No other USF special agents were available at the time to help me with the mission.”

“Which is what your boss told me, and we immediately were ready to help out. How’s the boy?” Devlyn asked.

---