A furious snarl ripped from Ze'ev's lips.
"Sy said they were human," I added, "but I don't know how well developed his ability to differentiate between smells is."
"Humans?"
I glanced down at Sy to make sure he was still asleep. He seemed to be. I hadn't felt the tension return to his small frame. "He said they hit Ajag."
I planned to rip out the throat of whoever laid a hand on him.
When the bushes rustled, I stiffened and tightened my arms around Sy, until I recognized the wolves coming through the underbrush. As soon as they reached us, they shifted.
Gundulf stared at the child in my arms. "What happened?"
"Someone came onto the ranch and attacked Ajag and Sy," I explained. "Ajag told him to run. I found him hiding in the tall grass."
I pushed myself to my feet and walked over to where Jackson stood. He had only been a true wolf for a couple of weeks, but he would know what needed to be done. I had no doubt he would protect Sy with his life.
"I need you to take him so I can go find his brother."
Jackson didn't even hesitate. He simply held out his arms.
"Gunny, stay with Jackson and Sy," Ze'ev directed. Even if he was the alpha of our pack, it really wasn't an order. Not many people were stupid enough to give Gunny orders. "Keep them safe."
Gunny nodded before stepping over to stand next to Jackson.
"I'll come in through the master bedroom," Ze'ev said. "Lu can take the second floor. Rad, you use the kitchen door. Don't shift unless you have to. If these are humans, they may not know about us."
"Don't get dead," Jackson added.
That was the plan.
I let out a small chuckle as we started toward the ranch house. We were all naked. That wasn't too strange for us, but if there was anyone in the house they were going to be in for quite the surprise.
When we got to the edge of the tree line, we split off. Ze'ev and Lu heading to the right side of the house. I went toward the far left side using the barn to hide me.
When I reached the far corner, I crouched down and peeked around the side. I had really expected to see some sort of activity and it unnerved me when I didn't.
I didn't recognize the car parked right in front of the house.
Chapter Three
~ Radulf ~
I glanced around to make sure no one was watching and then darted across the open ground between me and the vehicle. When I reached it, I squatted down and flicked out my claws.
I silently snickered as I stuck all five claws into one of the back tires. The hiss at the sudden loss of air was instant and very gratifying.
I punctured the front tire, too, before darting around the side of the house to where the kitchen door was located. As I approached the door, I could hear raucous laughter coming from inside the house.
It wasn't Ajag.
When I reached the backdoor, I moved to one side and peeked through the kitchen window. Due to the wall separating the kitchen from the rest of the house, I couldn't see anything, but I smelled at least three strange smells.
And Sy was right. They were human.
That made things a little easier in the fact that I was stronger and could fight them if needed. It also made things harder because I couldn't shift. I'd have to fight them in my two-legged form.
I was angry enough to do it.
