Something Moved In The Distance

She woofed low, attempting to get them to respond to her if they were nearby but hidden from sight.

A spotted owl hooted from a tree, and Cassie twisted her head in his direction, listening for sounds of the wolf pups mewling.

Screeching its arrival, a peregrine falcon flew high above the coniferous treetops. But Cassie could detect no sounds of the wolf litter.

She retrieved the salmon and then brushed it by red cedar, the branches giving off an aromatic smell, momentarily adding spice to the fishy smell of the salmon in her mouth.

She slipped through the lush ferns, ended up back on a hiking trail where humans travelled, and edged off it again through more ferns, rain droplets clinging to the feathery fronds as the rain grew heavier.

Her heart beating harder, Cassie frantically searched the area for the new wolf's den and the pups that needed their mother close by. But where had the female red moved them?

Hell, Cassie knew she'd taken too long to reach the creek and fish. Not that fishing was the problem, she soon realized, but going after the blasted rabbit earlier had taken the precious time when she should have found the creek first and gone fishing instead.

Hunting for prey wasn't her usual job, nor did it interest her when she ran in her wolf coat, but she hadn't thought she could be that inept at it. Or that a cotton-tailed rabbit could outwit her so easily.

She reached a high point on a hill and stood still, listening, sniffing the air. Come on, where have you gone to now?

And then something moved in the distance through a clearing. A red wolf. Instantly, she froze. The wolf was bigger, not the she-wolf. It didn't see her yet.

Cassie remained frozen in the downpour, a sheet of grey coming straight down from the same-coloured sky, the only other thing moving--the salmon, its tail and head jerking slightly in her mouth.

And she knew if the wolf looked in her direction, he'd see her. His head suddenly swivelled her way. The wolf's amber eyes caught sight of the movement, of her and the fish.

The wolf was a male, had to be as large as he was. And a beautiful red. Was he the one that had called for a gathering? She hadn't seen any sign of other wolves anywhere near the female and her pups.

She couldn't believe the mother wolf was on her own. Was he with her then? Protecting her? That would be good news.

But what if he was a lupus Garou? Yet... he shouldn't be out here running in daylight in his wolf coat, just like she shouldn't be. Maybe he was just lupus.

Like her, the male wolf didn't move, his gaze focused on hers. She stayed put, waiting to see what he did. She didn't want to try to locate the pups while another wolf watched.

Most wolves adored young ones, played, fed, and taught them how to survive, but she'd read of a group of phantom wolves who killed off another wolf pack, leaving their pups to starve in a cave. And then the phantom wolves had disappeared from the area.

In another case, a rabid wolf had killed a whole pack he'd come across. Not that this wolf was anything like either case, but as much as she'd studied wolves' behaviour, any of them could be unpredictable.

In any event, she had no plan to lead him to the she-wolf's new den, if she could locate it herself.

The wolf continued to observe her, and then he gave a wolf's version of a smile as if he'd made a decision and headed straight for her.

Her heart took a dive. She was an intruder in their territory, and he was part of a pack. She damn well bet it was Axel Ash's red lupus Garou pack.

And if she didn't find the female and her pups and soon, she was sure a whole gang of lupus garous--mate-hungry bachelor male types--would be in the area, searching for her.

Adrenaline flooding her veins, she ran down the other side of the ridge, her jaws growing tired of carrying the salmon.

She had to lose the red male, find the she-wolf, give her the fish for the pups, and figure out a way to take care of the pups and the she-wolf somewhere beyond the vicinity of a lupus Garou pack's territory.

But where was the blasted new den? And how was she going to lose the red male in the meantime?

* * *

She was too far away to reach quickly, but Axel Ash hoped the red wolf on top of the ridge, carrying a salmon in her mouth, was Cassie. As soon as he reached the peak of the ridge, he sniffed the ground and caught her scent. And then raced off again.

He was torn between locating his men and finding the little red female, but she could be in as much danger as his men. He reminded himself he had others looking for them, but no one else to look after her.

It was the oddest thing, though. Just when he thought he was within inches of locating her, Cassie's scent would disappear.

Back and forth, he continued to track her, and then he'd get another whiff and take off again. Almost as if she knew he was tracking her, and she was trying to avoid capture.

His spirits soared when he believed he would soon catch her. When he came to the river, he lost her scent. Not liking that he was exposed to prying hunter eyes on the naked bank,

Axel Ash ran downstream anyway in a rush but, not locating her scent, tried upstream. Same thing. He couldn't sense her at all.it was strange for him. He stopped and stared at the river. She had to have crossed it. Hell. He dove in and wolf paddled through the choppy currents.