My head felt hazy, too. I didn’t remember landing here. Had I passed out and crashed? How far was I from home?
Without moving my head too much, I tried scanning my surroundings. The land stretched on forever, seemingly empty. Nothing moved or made a sound across the white expanse. I was in a different world.
My stomach growled.
I sighed. No animals meant no hunting, which meant no food. No food meant I’d take longer to recover.
Then I remembered there were snacks in my satchel. It was slung over my neck and shoulder with a secure harness clasp.
At least, it was supposed to be. It wasn’t there anymore.
“Shit,” I swore, annoyed and upset now. I didn’t care about the food. Wolfy was in there. If I lost him...
Frustration welled inside of me. Ignoring the pain, I raised my head and roared, shooting out an angry burst of fire. The flames dissipated and flew away as tiny cinders in the breeze.
“Dammit,” I muttered.
I couldn’t lay there forever. I had to get up and find my bag. But as I attempted to put my weight on my front paws, a sharp pain jolted up my arm. I winced, instantly sinking back against the grass. I tested the other paw for good measure, and felt the same shooting pain.
My stomach lurched. I was hurt worse than I thought.
And it was cold.
This is bad,I thought. My muscles were spent. My wings ached, too sore to fly, and I couldn’t walk.
But this land seemed uninhabited. That was both a good and a bad thing. Good because nobody would bother me while I recovered, and bad because I had nothing to eat.
I scowled, shivering as I curled up in the crunchy snow.
This sucks ass.
I closed my eyes and tried to fall back asleep. Time would pass, and my body would slowly heal on its own.
But some time after I’d settled down, my ear twitched.
I didn’t move, but I was wide awake. I focused on the novel sound.Chuff, chuff, chuff.The rhythmic footsteps of some four-legged animal. Alone. Probably a fellow hunter and not a prey animal. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t eat it.
The sound came from in front of me, so I slowly opened my eyes. I saw its source immediately. A white furry shape padding in my direction. I recognized it from the two small, pointed ears and long legs ending in big paws.
A wolf.
My hunger ground to a halt, replaced by a stirring sensation in my chest. It was the real-life version of Wolfy.
Well, shit. I couldn’t eat that.
Unless I gotreallyhungry.
The wolf noticed I was awake, and halted instantly. Its ears flicked back, uneasy. Its thin chest filled and narrowed rapidly. It breathed hard, nervous now. A freaked-out wild animal confronted with a creature it’d never seen before.
I thought about calling out to it, but changed my mind. Animals were warier than shifters. I’d only scare it away, and I didn’t want it to bolt before I decided whether to eat it or not.
So I laid low, watching without moving.
The wolf glanced warily over its shoulder, then looked back at me. It inched closer.
When it was close enough to see its face, I searched its gaze. Amber-brown eyes glistened with sapient intelligence.
I was struck by doubt. Was it an animal, or a fellow shifter?
