Page 59 of Wild Wolf
Running at his side during the full moon hunt was a goodstart.
Shifting had never come easy to Jordan. As a youth, the swift transition that Nolan enjoyed had always been slow agony forher.
The pack had blamed it on her inexperience andage.
Now the pack would give her noexcuses.
She had to do this. If she didn’t shift to run with Nolan beneath the moon, the pack would lose respect for her, and consequently, lose respect for Nolan. After seeing him challenged in the vineyard, Jordan knew Nolan could defend his place as alpha, but any weakness and the younger Lupines would jump all over him like water on hotgrease.
Jordan hiked down to the ponds, where the forest grew thick and wild. Nolan had forbade her to be alone, but she had no friends to bring with her and let them know herdefect.
I’ll run for a short while, practice, and be back before Nolan notices I’mgone.
Taking a deep breath, she focused. Thought of the forest, the freedom her wolfafforded.
Thepower.
A tingling rushed down her spine. Jordan closed her eyes and centered herself, focusing on that tingle of magick, seeing it grow and expand until itexploded.
Pain raced along her nerve endings as her human body fought the shift. Gritting her teeth she rode through it, and stretched out herarms.
Bones lengthened and her muscles stretched, but the excruciating agony didn’tfollow.
Jordan opened her mouth to scream with glee. A howl came outinstead.
Still grinning, she stretched on all fours, then shook her body, relishing the feel of muscles and strength. Jordan bolted up the pathway, her senses reeling. Smell, sight and hearingdoubled.
Ears pricked forward, she raced up the hillside, following an old scent trail of a rabbit. Maybe the creature had left, but a good chase was exactly what her wolf needed rightnow.
Up ahead, a strange orange glow flickered through the trees. Not the warmth of sunshine dappling the oaks and maples, but something moresinister.
Her wolf scented the smoke before she saw it. Jordan halted, her nose in the air, her fur onend.
Wolf and human knew this was bad, oh, so verybad.
The blue sky overhead held no hint of indigo storm clouds. This smoke came not from naturalsources.
Quiet.
She heard footsteps crunch in the dead material littering the floor, detected the snap of a breakingtwig.
Whoever set this fire was still there. Jordan paced slowly, using all her dormant wolf senses to creep with stealth through theforest.
Just like the games you and Nolan played when you first shifted. Stalk the prey. Quiet. Don’t let them know you arehere.
The acrid stench grew thicker. She ducked behind a tree and watched as the orange glow flickered stronger, and heard a mutteredcurse.
“There. Got it. That’ll teach that bastard Nolan,” the strange voicesaid.
Male or female? She couldn’t tell, for the accent was odd and the smoke made it impossible for her to distinguish an individual scent. If only Nolan werehere!
She had no cunning to stop this, no strength. But teeth and claws were goodweapons.
She must stop this person before they set the entire forest onfire.
Jordan crept closer, saw the campfire glowing bright, flames licking at the debris piled on the forest floor. No innocent human roasting hot dogs, but a hard-faced man with a cruel expression as he blew on the flames, and then steppedback.
He looked up. Jordan ducked back, her wolf urging discretion, but the human inside her filled withshock.
