After handing Matto a water, he drank one too, then examined the cans. The meat stew would work best. More sustenance to replace their lost energy. He found a can opener and dumped the contents of all six cans into a pot.
“Here’s a plan.” He studied the twins with concern. They’d need to rest before they had any chance of helping to heal Renee.
If she was still alive…
No, wouldn’t he and his brothers sense if Renee had died in the crash?
“Calian,” Matto said in a raspy voice. “What just ran through your mind?”
“Renee,” Calian replied. “If her helicopter crashed, or the assassin got her, we’d know, wouldn’t we? I nipped her throat a couple of times. It was hard not to. I came close to marking her properly.”
“She’s not dead,” Kansas stated.
“Misty knew when Hunter died. Remember her frantic call to us?” Dakota said.
The rich scent of the heating stew had Calian’s stomach rumbling. He checked the pot and its contents. Warm enough. He spooned food into bowls and handed the stew to his brothers. “That’s what is keeping me going.”
“Your plan?” Matto prompted.
“We split up and communicate with howling.”
“No, look at this logically. Sax told us the scientists are further north. Renee would’ve flown toward this lodge from the north,” Matto said. “It makes sense the assassin would set up and shoot at Renee as she landed. What would Renee do? She’s a trained soldier. No fear to paralyze her thoughts. She’d react instinctively, get her helicopter higher and fly toward the trees in that direction. Once she cleared the trees, she’d make the assassin’s job harder.”
“Unless the assassin got a clean shot at Renee first,” Kansas commented.
“But in that case, the chopper should’ve crashed near to the lodge. I didn’t spot anything. Didn’t smell anything either.” Calian shoved a spoonful of stew into his mouth and swallowed. “Despite the snow, our sense of smell is still excellent. We would’ve scented the fuel for one thing.”
“So which way do we search?” Matto asked. “Do we pick the most logical direction? Or do we play it safe and each head in a different direction?”
Dakota pushed his empty bowl away. “I say we use logic. Renee is smart. She’d have flown toward the ridge because as soon as she cleared it, she’d have protection from a gunman.”
“Depends where the gunman set up,” Calian pointed out.
Kansas scraped his bowl clean. “Yeah, Renee might’ve assumed the woman was still inside the lodge.”
“We could search for the assassin’s scent, that’s if we can find it in this snow. She would’ve followed the chopper,” Dakota suggested.
“Vote on it,” Matto said.
Ten minutes later, three wolves plus Calian exited the lodge. Once Calian shut the door, he shifted and he and his brothers split up to search for scent trails. Almost immediately, Kansas howled to attract attention. He stood on a clear patch of ground, sheltered by the upward swell of the land and three tall trees. A track ran past the trees before snow covered the land again. Not much, but enough to give them a direction.
Calian glanced at his brothers. Each nodded, and Calian dragged in the scent. Confident he had enough to track the woman, Calian trotted along the rough path leading away from the lodge.
Shell casings.
He paused, anger digging its claws into his flesh. Jason Vega’s fault.
The man had done this because of his son. He’d wanted revenge.
Calian growled, pissed at the man who’d gone after Renee, but he continued slogging along the trail, steadily climbing a rise. The path taken by the woman assassin wound in and out of spruce trees. The fall of snow had obliterated most of the prints, especially in the windier sections unsheltered by trees.
Then he scented polar bear. He slowed, allowing his brothers to catch up and notice the same as him.
Matto yipped while Dakota whined. Kansas remained silent but appeared unhappy. Calian didn’t blame him. Renee was already in trouble. Add in a polar bear and things became a mite trickier.
Calian continued following the trail, backtracking once when he took a wrong turn. Then he caught the scent of blood. His stomach hollowed out and fear gripped him by the ruff. No, not Renee.
His brothers sniffed the blood too, their forward progression behind him forcing him into the clearing.
