Page 110 of Smoke and Lure

At the eighth start, Rudie told Morlie that she needed to stop depending on speed and sight, instead she needed to use her sense of smell and wits to anticipate the rabbit’s next move.

When she followed that logic, Morlie finally grasped the rabbit just enough by the soft black tail to grab one rabbit foot with her other hand.

“Yes!Yes!”Morlie held the rabbit over her head as she stumbled back toward the area where Rudie and Faolan stood over two miles away.

Lovel and Wolcott came up alongside her.

Wolcott took the rabbit from Morlie, locking it tight beneath one of his arms.

Even as the others praised her efforts, Morlie barely listened, because her body’s hunger shifted to second place after her fatigue.She envied the pregnant wolf-shifter, Amira, who was home napping, because all Morlie could think about was climbing in bed and letting her weary body shut down for a bit.

“Great job, Morlie.”Rudie smiled when they got back.

Faolan was no longer at his perch, but was standing off, scanning the area with an intense scowl on his face and his wolfen ears set high on his head, listening.

She ignored him.

“Glad that’s over,” Morlie declared.Not waiting for the others, she turned back down the path that would take them to town.

“How exhausted are you?”Lovel inquired.

Morlie frowned, at what she thought was an insane question, they all may be used to pulling from their wolves' powers to accomplish something, but she certainly wasn’t.This run had taken every bit of her old and new abilities and strength.

Glancing over her shoulder, she expected to see that the others were not far behind.

However, Morlie paused when she noticed the trio hadn’t moved from the spot where Wolcott had the rabbit caged once again.

She shook her head, planning to leave them there.“Real tired.Can we get back to town, now?”

Lovel took two steps toward her.

Morlie almost smiled in relief until she heard her friend's words.

“Fight me.”

“What?”She couldn’t have heard her correctly.Morlie took a step towards Lovel.

“Should I hit you like Rieka to get your mind in the fight?”

In a flash, Morlie closed the distance and stood in her friend's face.“No one is slapping me, ever again.”The growl that came out of Morlie punctuated her statement with her beast’s agreement.

Lovel laughed as she stepped back and took up a fight stance.“Then fight me.”

“Didn’t we just discuss I was tired?”

Raising an eyebrow, Lovel met her gaze with a hard but compassionate expression.“Do you think for one moment that Minsi would care if you were drained.Hell, no.That’s exactly when she’d try and come after you.Catch you off guard.”

Minsi.Morlie didn’t look left or right, but at Faolan.Seeing how the man's gaze was locked at a single point in the dense woods.

A shiver ran along her spine at the memory of the whiff she’d caught while chasing the rabbit.The she-wolf had been somewhere, watching her.

There was no way the bitch was going to take her unprepared.

Without another word, Morlie took her position before Lovel and readied herself for the fight.

Two hours later, Morlie walked into the house, her legs as unsteady and weak as a new fawn.She didn’t even attempt to stifle a yawn as she walked with one eye open toward the main bedroom.She had bruises on her body, from Lovel’s fast, sure hands, but Morlie had blocked every one aimed at her face and struck out often on offense, connecting with Lovel's body in one place or another.

However, now, she was too worn out to keep more than one eye open.

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