The chill on my bones vanishes once my skin is covered in fur. My muscles are still solidifying as I leap forward. My wolf’s mind dislikes being left behind, so regardless of weak and flimsy muscles, keeping up with the pack is vital.

Some one hundred yards deep into the forest, I catch up to the pack. Keith’s blond wolf is flashing his long canines as Rick’s copper wolf snarls in response.

Woah. What’s the deal?

Rick holds his head and tail high, reminding Keith of his place in the pack. Alicia huffs at her mate and points her nose emphatically to our left. She inhales deeply and barks at Rick.

Following her lead, I take a deep whiff of the air. The breeze is blowing against us and I can smell it clearly. Through the earthy scent of soil, foliage, bark, and bitter pine needles, the delicious scent of deer greets my nose. This must be what Alicia is sensing.

So what’s the big deal with Keith and Rick?

The big copper wolf growls lowly in response to his mate, but lowers his head an inch. He barks at us.

Follow her.

Alicia takes off with Evan hot on her heels.

Seeing my mate bound after another female, even if she is the alpha female, draws a rumble from my throat. Rick catches my glare with one of his own. He’s holding himself back as well, apparently. When speed is what we need, Evan’s the best candidate for it, alpha or not. Sometimes it’s best to just swallow our pride and get over ourselves.

We take off after them with Tamara, Emily, and Paige trailing behind us. Marcus keeps pace with me in the middle, closely behind Keith.

The scent on the wind gets stronger as we run closer toward the source of the heavenly smell. As we approach, the others pick up the scent too, and their eyes light up in excitement and their tongues loll out of their mouths.

The forest thins out a bit as a creek opens up before us. A pair of young deer are drinking from the water, their shoulder muscles shuddering in an attempt to shake off landing mosquitoes. They cannot sense us as the wind is blowing their scent directly upon us.

My mouth begins to salivate immediately. Lowering myself on my haunches, I watch Alicia’s lead and wait for instructions.

She makes eye contact with Keith and Rick, and nods her head to the right. She then catches Brianna, Evan, and Marcus’ eyes, and nods to the left.

For a second, I fear she’s going to leave me behind, and I stifle a whimper as I sink down to the ground and turn my head up, begging. Once the others have dispersed, she looks at me and her eyes smile before giving me a nod.

Perking up, my tail wags a bit as I stealthily creep toward her.

I cannot see where the others have gone, but I can smell them all around us. Alicia has instructed the others to circle around our prey and now she is showing me how they make their move.

Crouching down low to the ground, Alicia creeps slowly forward through the brush. Our paws make not a sound as we cautiously advance towards the unsuspecting deer.

The wind ruffles my fur, causing both Alicia and I to freeze in place. The scents of our pack members is stronger on the wind, and no doubt the deer pick it up too as their heads dart up from the stream. Their ears flick forward and back as they search for any sounds to warn them of encroaching danger because they certainly got a good whiff of us.

I don’t want them to get away. I want to take them down, tear their flesh between my jaws, and take my prize back to the village.

Alicia’s tail thwarts me in the face, breaking me out of my bloodthirsty trance. Her hazel-green eyes glare at me, telling me to focus.

Lowering my head, I flatten my ears back in apology.

Sniffing, she turns her attention back to the deer. They’re on full alert now. They’re trying to figure out where we are so they can run in the opposite direction.

But it’s too late.

Evan springs out from the foliage and charges after them.

They take off in opposite directions, with one running right toward Alicia and I.

Alicia leaps after the one coming at us. Her large jaws open wide and go for the deer’s tender jugular.

My eyes lock onto the whites surrounding the deer’s eyes. I sense her movement before she makes it.

She pivots, and Alicia misses her target, snapping her jaws around thin air.

I try to match Alicia’s movements, launching myself at the vulnerable spot on her neck, but I’m not quick enough to react. My teeth graze the fur as she gallops off. Furious with my miss, a snarl escapes through my clenched teeth as I take off after her.

Being behind her puts me at risk for getting my head clobbered with her back hooves—a position no newbie wolf ever wants to find herself in. Alicia is running up along the deer’s right flank. My instinct tells me to go after the left.

The deer narrowly misses galloping straight into a tree. Alicia and I spread out to avoid running too close together and whamming into one ourselves.

From the corner of my eye, I see a blur of movement. I recognize his scent and my heart jumps a little in glee as Evan pulls up into my line of vision.

He hurtles himself over a fallen log and streaks ahead of Alicia and I with such speed that a burst of pride in my mate gives my gait an extra boost of adrenalin. It’s exhilarating.

Evan’s jaws clamp down on her hind leg before quickly jumping off. She cries out in pain, a sound that hurts my ears, yet pulls my lips back in a grin. She thrashes a bit, just as Evan must have expected before jumping off.

The bite is enough to distract and slow the deer down so that Alicia can come around and sink her teeth into the herbivore’s jugular. She cries out again, long and high-pitched, until no sound can come out. She jerks her limbs in one last effort to throw Alicia off, but her efforts are futile when Evan and I latch onto her weakening hind legs. Her blood fills my mouth with joy as it gushes down our throats.

As the last of her life spills out, Brianna joins us then, grinning. Throwing back her head, she howls to the others, announcing our kill.

I release the flesh in my jaws after Evan does. Blood glistens down my chest, staining the bits of brown fur there mixed with my predominantly black coat. The stains are like a badge of victory, and I puff my chest out proudly.

Alicia growls as she releases the animal, a reminder that she took it down, and I just helped.

I lower my gaze and head submissively, despite the pride radiating off me at being able to help take down the animal.

She snorts in satisfaction of my apology as Tamara, Emily, and Paige come running over. Excitement shines in their eyes at the kill.

The three females move in to take the body back to the village as another howl of triumph nearby cuts through the trees. Rick, Keith, and Marcus have taken down the other one.

We’re off to a great start to the hunt.

As the deer are taken away, we regroup and decide to spread out in search of our next prey. Our howls to each other have alerted other wildlife about our presence, so it might be harder to find more deer to hunt.

Evan and I take off in one direction, following our noses through the brush. I’m still trembling with excitement at our success, but it slowly diminishes as we search longer and farther for more deer.

Before I know it, Evan stops me when we’ve reached the edge of the territory. I can smell the patrol trails around the perimeter, and the strong scent of the alpha marking the land.

But there’s something else out there. Across the invisible border, I pick up the scent of another creature. Not a deer, rabbit, or squirrel, but that of a foreign wolf.

Rogues. I growl unconsciously, thinking about the last one that crossed into the Silver Star’s territory.

Evan pauses in his steps when he hears me growl and he gives me a questioning look.

Can’t he smell them? There’s got to be at least two of them out there.

Throwing my head back, I alert the others, allowing my voice to carry long and high in urgency.

Evan’s golden eyes widen and he circles around me to try and pick up the scent.

Lifting my nose up to the sky, I inhale deeply, trying to figure out just how close they are. What puzzles me more is that Evan doesn’t seem to smell them.

The snap of twigs behind us announces the arrival of Rick and Alicia. Soon after, Keith, Marcus, and Brianna arrive.

As soon as Alicia nears Evan and I, she sniffs audibly and lowers her head, growling.

Good, she smells them too. It’s not just me.

She barks at Evan and I, ordering us to step back behind them.

She, Rick, Keith, and Marcus advance to the border, growling and snarling for the rogues to show themselves.

I take a step forward, but Evan promptly blocks me protectively.

That’s when we all see them through the trees outside the border. Two large figures move forward just enough to make their presence known before their eyes catch what little light is left in the sky.

Then they are gone.