Page 63 of Way of the Wolf

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 allfourof 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 washard 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 guyswantedme to do that. And that it wouldn’t be good for my health.

It would be better to knocktheminto 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. Thiswashisplan. 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.

22

I landedin the icy water, the cold shocking me as my wounds burned from the contact. Gravity plunged me to the bottom of the river, and I’d barely slowed when I struck a submerged boulder. New pain erupted at the jarring blow, and my air escaped my lungs. The river swept me downstream with startling ferocity, spinning me about until I couldn’t tell up from down.

Though I pawed at the water, trying to swim to a calmer spot or at least find air, I couldn’t make progress against the whirling current. I clipped another boulder and lashed out in frustration, snapping at the water.

A boom cracked from nearby. What the— Was that a gunshot?

Finally, I flowed into calmer water, the pool I’d noticed before, and managed to get my snout to the surface. My paws brushed against the pebble-covered river bottom. I longed to surge onto solid land, but the gunshot made me hesitate to crawl out. Staying low, I peered toward shore.

On a rocky ledge overlooking the river, two camo-wearing men pointed rifles. I tensed, but they weren’t facing me. Their firearms angled skyward, upriver and toward the bridge. The water hadcarried me thirty or forty yards downstream, but the trestle remained visible, silhouetted against the night sky. Two wolves on it werealsosilhouetted.

My first thought was that the hunters were aiming at my cousin’s thuggish allies, and I started to wish the men good luck. But wait. That was a white wolf up there. And a silver female wolf. My mother and Lorenzo. They must have come out of the woods and onto the railroad trestle to look for me. Now, with a gunshot fired, they were running toward cover.

“Get them this time,” one man blurted.

“I will,” the other said, finger tightening on the trigger of his rifle.

I snarled and surged out of the water toward the hunters.

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