Teeth bared, he lunged forEnguerrand.
The destrier shied away and the knight cried out in fear. Rolfe had no intention of granting the rogue any respite. Just before his teeth closed on the man’s forearm, Enguerrand jerked away. Rolfe’s claw grazed the steed’s neck. The smell and taste of blood awakened a fury within the wolf even as the horseshied.
Enguerrand shouted and his hunting knife slashed Rolfe’s shoulder. Rolfe snapped and twisted, and the knife fell to the ground as his teeth sank into Enguerrand’s hand. The knight cried out in pain, flung Rolfe aside andretreated.
The other men circled closer but Enguerrand waved them off. “I said this one is mine,” he said through gritted teeth. He and Rolfe circled each other, the dogs whining to join the fray. The fallen dagger glinted in the snow and Rolfe wished he had the ability to useit.
But no. He must work with the weapons he had been granted. In this form, he had wickedly sharp teeth and claws. He was cunning and he wasquick.
He had the wolf’shunger.
Enguerrand unsheathed another dagger and gathered up his steed’s reins withpurpose.
Rolfe circled the steed, snarling, increasing the horse’s fear. He had no intention of injuring the horse, but hoped it might throw its rider. He eyed the knight’s mail, seeking a weakness. Enguerrand’s hauberk hung to his knees, but it was slit on both sides at the hip. He wore heavy leather boots, but no other protection on his legs than his woolchausses.
And for this hunt, Enguerrand had left behind hishelmet.
Fool! His bare neck gleamed with promise for a wolf’s sharpteeth.
Rolfe leaped suddenly for Enguerrand, latching into that man’s thigh. The horse shied, then reared when it felt the weight of the wolf. Enguerrand screamed with pain as he and Rolfe fell from the steed together. The horse stumbled, then fled, abandoning itsrider.
Rolfe and Enguerrand battled for supremacy, rolling in the snow, each unable to strike the killingblow.
To Rolfe’s surprise, the other knights did not rally to defend Enguerrand. He felt the dogs’ attention waver and heard a large creature thunder through the brush nearby. Dogs and horses turned away and the dogs bayed. Rolfe heard them depart in pursuit of some other prize. Left to their own battle, knight and wolf tussled in thesnow.
If he accomplished nothing else before he died, Rolfe would ensure that this man could not kill the sparkle in Annelise’seyes.
Enguerrand raised the knife. Rolfe bit hard into his palm before the blade could be planted. Rolfe’s teeth slid easily through the heavy leather, and he savored the other man’s cry of pain. He bit harder this time, wanting to inflict damage. The taste of the blood made the wolf lust for more. Enguerrand seized the knife in his other hand and drove it into Rolfe’s shoulder. Rolfe dove for Enguerrand’s chest at the same time that the knife sank home. He dug at the neck of his hauberk with one paw, exposing the knight’s throat, and summoned thewolf.
Enguerrand must have realized his intention for he struggled with new force and shouted for assistance. His men were gone, though, and his entreaty fell on deaf ears. He made little sound before Rolfe’s sharp teeth were buried in his throat. The wolf bit and ripped and tore, shredding the flesh until Enguerrand fought no more. The villain shuddered, then went still, his blood staining the snow and Rolfe’sfur.
It was only when he saw his own blood mingled with that of the knight in the snow that Rolfe recalled that he had been injured, as well. He was shaking and it took no small effort to restrain the wolfagain.
But he was a knight in his heart. He would not maul his opponent. Rolfe compelled himself to back away from Enguerrand’scorpse.
The baying of the dogs was more fevered than it had been before and he wondered what they hunted with such enthusiasm. Was it the same creature that had distracted them? Despite the pain of his wound, Rolfe trotted in pursuit of the sound as quickly as he couldmanage.
He was leaving a trail of blood and he knew it, just as he knew the injury turned him from predator toprey.
Rolfe caught his breath in awe to see that the dogs had cornered a majestic stag. Rolfe both admired it and wanted to claim it, with a vigor that was alien to both himself and thewolf.
He was no hunter, and the wolf collected notrophies.
There was something unnatural about the desire the beast aroused within his breast. Perhaps the beast itself was unnatural. Rolfe had an uncommon urge to take this fine creature as a prize, an urge beyond anything he had felt as either wolf or knight. The hunters and dogs clustered there had an unusual gleam in their eyes, as though they werebewitched.
Suddenly they lunged at the stag and it fell, disappearing beneath the pack of hounds. There was a strange shimmer even as the men cried out in triumph and Rolfe heard the dogs whineagain.
He could make no sense of it, much less the cursing of one of the men, but assumed the dogs had damaged theprize.
Rolfe was distracted from their hunt because he felt himself changing. He gasped as his own flesh appeared before his eyes, as the fur disappeared, as dark nails rescinded. He stretched and stood tall, noting that the sun was still sinking toward thehorizon.
He was a man and indaylight.
The spell was broken! Rolfe did not know how or why, but he was profoundly relieved. If pressed, he would have wagered that his marvel of a wife, his beloved Annelise, had found the key to thepuzzle.
He had only to findher.
