“Nothing,”I say.
The forest is quiet except for the buzzing insects and the wind rustling the leaves. Overhead the sky is clear, the moon is high and big and flooding the forest with energy. It’s eerie and discomforting. Something must be up.
“You don’t think they’ve found a way to mask their consciousnesses do you? Like the rogues at the Sanc.”
I shake my head.“Even if they did, there’s no way I wouldn’t be able to sense something at that volume. And besides, that many wolves ... there would have to be a few hundred I could still sense even if they were trying to block me out. These Axis Pack wolves can’t all be that attuned to their spiritual side.”
“Right.”
Suddenly a shiver runs down my spine.
“Wait!”
I grit my teeth, focus harder.
“What is it, Max?”
I focus and focus. Leaning forward until I swear my chin could touch the mossy ground in front of me. Then, like a spark, I sense it. I sensesomeone.
“It’s a wolf.”
“The army?”
“No.”I shake my head in confusion.“It’s just one guy. He’s alone. But he’s running, fast, he’s ...”
“Max?”
“He’s coming straight for me.”
Just as I realize the lone runner is heading in my direction, I hear the rustle of branches and the scrape of feet on stone. I open my eyes just in time to see him break through the trees right in front of me. He leaps into the air and as he does his clothes tear, his face morphs, his limbs break and recalibrate. Fur covers his body and in an instant he’s a snarling wolf, landing just feet away.
“Max!”Jasper’s voice still reaches me.
The wolf snarls and snaps its jaws at me.
“Shift Max, you have to shift!”
But I have no time to shift, because as this Axis Pack wolf rears back, pushes off the ground, and dives at me I realize exactly what’s happening.
Walter knows I’m here. He knows I’ll be using my powers to prevent him from sneaking up on us.
He knew to take me out first.
The wolf lands on me, its jaws clamping down on my shoulder, making me cry out in pain. I struggle under its weight, panicked and trapped, not knowing if I should shift or if that would render me vulnerable for too long, long enough for him todig his teeth in further and finish me off. So instead, I do the only thing I can. I close my eyes, let my body go limp. And reach out.
I let the strands of my consciousness infiltrate my attacker as his claws dig into my flesh, tearing searing lines down my chest. I clench my teeth so tight I taste blood. I manage to attach to a memory, some painful moment, the moment this wolf’s dad died, and while he’s momentarily distracted, I use every ounce of strength in my body to flip him off me.
The wolf goes flying up and over the edge of the cliff. I scramble onto my belly, peer over the ledge, and watch as he falls, twisting and writhing, and finally landing with a thump.
He isn’t dead, his chest expands in pained, shallow breaths, but he’s more than incapacitated.
Before I even think to check my wounds, I close my eyes and reconnect with every wolf in the Elite and Rocky Pack armies.
“Shift!”I yell.“It was a distraction. They’re here! Shift now!”
Jasper shifts first. I can sense his energy changing, the wolf inside being released. He lifts his muzzle into the air and releases a booming, night-splitting howl.
The Elite and Rocky Packs follow suit in an explosion of lupine energy. The humans gone, the woods are now full of wolves, growling, snapping their strong jaws, clawing at the sod, ready for battle.
