Page 47 of Wolves of the Rising Moon

But then, the sable wolf cocks his head to the side as if he’s heard something.

Or like he’s listening to someone in his head. Pack speak must be awesome.

He shifts back to his human form. He’s tall and blond, kinda like a Ken doll meets a wolf shifter. “Are you Willa?” he asks, face and tone neutral.

I nod.

The other two wolves ease their stances and step back up a few paces, coming to stand just behind the man.

“You’re welcome to join us, but next time, try not to scare the shit out of us lookouts.”

I nod again and give him a short bark that I hope conveys the right amount ofoopsie.

He shifts back and the four of us run in loose formation, trailing the rest of the pack by a considerable distance. It’s OK, though. We’ll catch up soon enough.

Except they keep me in the back of their little unit, one on each side of me and another in front. And any time I try to break away and take the lead, the gray and white one body checks me. Not hard. But enough to get his point across. So we end up losing more and more ground to the rest of the pack.

Oh well, their woods, their rules, I guess. So I put my nose to the ground and try to pick out the scent they were tracking.

Willa, you good?I smile to myself and ignore the little flutter my heart does at Rafe checking in on me. God, I love him.

I’m good. Just caught up with the packs. Kinda.

Kinda? What’s kinda?

Well, I scared the lookouts, so we fell behind, but I think we’re catching up.

Just take the lead. You’ll catch up fast.

Yeah, they kinda won’t let me.

Rafe is quiet for several beats.Willa?

It’s OK. I’m fine. Their woods, their rules, right?

Will, I don’t like this. Can you get away from them?

I—maybe? I dunno. I don’t want to just turn around and be rude. It’s probably nothing.

Rafe is silent again.

Jonah’s tracking your scent. We’ll be there soon.

I doubted that, but I don’t say so.OK. See ya eventually.

I refocus on tracking, but I’m not getting much. It’s just dirt and worms and the musky scents of the betas surrounding me.

I check again, smelling deeper, longer, and now I’m worried.

Because I can’t smell anything familiar. Not the creek or the prey the pack was tracking. Not Jonah or Rafe in the distance.

Not even the pack I tracked here.

Shit.

I check once more to be sure, sniffing the air this time, too.

Fuck!

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