About a dozen wolves milled around me, sniffing me and inspecting me. Alawa ran her nose through my fur, feeling it. I pulled away shyly; as painless as my introduction had been thus far, I still didn't trust any of these people. I didn't know their intentions.
"Stop it."
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Her ears flicked back in embarrassment. "That's a welcoming gesture."
And how would I know that? "O-oh."
"Ha! C'mon, I'll show you around." She turned around and began walking away. I followed her, leaving Mingan and Tara behind. Spike trotted along behind me, seeming almost reluctant to leave me side.
I followed Alawa through a wolf-sized hole in the rock, and squinted my eyes in the darkness. A cavern opened up before me, filled with the scents of forty or so different wolves.
Alawa walked to the far end of the cave and pointed with her nose. "This is where all the Omegas sleep." She turned her head and looked me over briefly. "I'm sure they'll fit you in somewhere!"
So that's all it takes? Just a quick one-over to decide my societal rank?!? I huffed quietly, feeling miffed. She didn't even know me, but she'd already ruled that I was to be an Omega. It was just like running into someone from the large handful of judgmental people that I'd known through my life; they were all the same, being quick to judge me based on my appearance, or the appearance of my parents.
Alawa heard my huffing and turned once more, lowering her head. "What?"
"Nothing," I responded briskly. Not that there's anything wrong with Omegas, but still.
Alawa sensed my misgivings, and her face hardened momentarily. "Your rank isn't personal, Humfrey, its physical; it is based on what you are capable of doing."
"Oh?"
"I know you haven't met everyone yet, but surely you've already seen some of our hunters? You are small, Humfrey. But that doesn't make you any more or any less."
I looked across the cave at a few other wolves sitting in the Alpha's part of the den. There was no denying it, they were much bigger than I. Muscles bulged beneath their fur, and they had at least four inches of height on me. Their figures screamed raw power, while mine didn't. Next to them, I would appear as an anemic canine, struggling to stand!
"How many wolves are there?" I asked, once again smelling the scents that hung thick in the air around me.
"Forty-seven. There used to be much more, but the pack has been thinned out a bit over the past twenty years."
Probably because you guys are too stubborn to introduce new people into the pack.
I nodded. "It's nice here. Nice and hidden. Has Abrams ever came close to finding you guys?"
Alawa cocked her head at me and furrowed her brow, confused. "Who?"
"Dr. Abrams? Dr. Scott Abrams?"
"What are you talking about?"
They don't know? Mingan didn't Tell them?!? Then again, why would he have? Mingan had said that he'd ran away from Abrams, and that was that. He probably doesn't even know that Abrams is still obsessed with finding him!!
"Humfrey? What are you talking about?"
I blinked my eyes, and realized that I'd been staring off into space. "After I was bitten, I made it out of the park and managed to get back home, but I got really sick."
"That would've been from the change."
"Well, I know that now, but I didn't back then. I ended up in a hospital, being treated by the same doctor that had tried to treat Mingan, ten years ago."
"Mingan...?" I could see a look of horror creeping onto Alawa's features. She was no doubt worried that the secret existence of her pack had just been compromised.
"Yup. Anyways, this doctor, this crazy doctor, had me restrained while he took a bunch of blood samples, trying to figure out what was going on with me. I got away and headed up to Bloodvein First Nation; I'd read about Mingan in a newspaper article. Mingan's sister told me that Dr. Abrams has been searching around for his body for years, going so far as to put spies in the community. The guy is pretty obsessed--not that I can blame him."
Alawa's face was now contorted with confusion. "What? What do you mean, 'not that you can blame him?'"
"Well, his daughter was bitten a few years back, and apparently, she died during the change."
Her eyes widened in surprise, and her mouth hung open. "There's only ever been one instance where someone was bitten, and was never seen by us again. A girl...after a month had passed without us seeing her, we realized that she had most likely died. The change never takes that long--even your own change was a little on the drawn-out side."
"She wasn't fully Ojibwe. She was Métis; her father, Dr. Abrams, was of European descent."
"We'd known that she was only half Ojibwe when we'd bitten her. After she never came back, we assumed that it had been due to her Métis heritage. So when you were bitten..."
"You naturally assumed I would die as well, I know."
Alawa hung her head knowingly. "Some of the elders used to tell stories of a French voyageur, who was a close friend of the Anishinaabe. As such, he was accepted into the community, and apparently, he ended up being bitten by the wolves. He died a horrible, painful death...so the story goes." Her ears twitched curiously. "So this Abrams fellow..."
"He's dangerous. He was willing to break the law back in Winnipeg--back in the city--and, on my way in here a few days ago, he sent some guys into the park to find me. They even drugged a girl that had been following me. He doesn't seem to have any limits; he's intent on finding out what caused Mingan and his daughter's conditions."
"Does he know about us? About the wolves?" A hint of worry crept into Alawa's voice.
"No. I mean, if he did, he sure didn't let onto it. He didn't seem to understand what was happening."
"In the past five years, we've lost ten wolves to traps and hunters. Every time, we found where they had died, but their bodies were gone. Is it possible that this is Abrams' doing?"
"Uh..." No, it couldn't be. Abrams didn't know what had happened to his daughter.
I remembered lying back in a hospital bed, restrained, with Dr. Abrams standing over me, lecturing me: "This isn't about just you.Don't be so arrogant as to think that this has only ever happened twice! My daughter came back from Ontario one summer with the exact same condition. I couldn't treat her. She was dying right in front of me. She disappeared from the hospital, just like Mingan Tihkoosue. Just like you wanted to. Just like everyone else who has ever gotten this thing!
"You are simply too valuable to lose. I have to know what happens in the end stages of this sickness."
Abrams knew that his daughter had been in the wilderness, as had Mingan, before they'd became sick. And the newspaper clipping that I'd read back in Winnipeg had said that Mingan had been attacked by an animal...
What if Abrams had connected the dots? And the missing bodies Alawa mentioned...what if he had figured it out? What if he's hunting us now? I looked up at Alawa and shook my head. "I don't know. Its possible, I guess."
We were interrupted by a flurry of barks from outside the cave. Alawa turned and raced through the cave, wagging her tail. Spike and I followed her out.
"What's going on?" I asked, confused.
"Well, by the looks of it, Kémé and David have returned." I felt my stomach turn over nervously, and I slowed my pace. Spike smiled and shook his head as Alawa leapt out of the cave, barking excitedly.
"What's her problem?"
Spike laughed and shook his head once more. "She and Kémé are mates, Humfrey! Couldn't you smell him all over her?"
"No, I couldn't. I was the one being smelled, remember?"
"Ha!"
"'Ha,' what?"
"Would it be safe to assume that you don't know who Tara is mated to?" he asked, a sly grin forming on his face.
"Yeah, it would be..."
"Me, you tree stump!"
Say what? "Really?"
"Yes! Boy, you really are thick!" He laughed and walked out from the cave.
I held back, hesitating. Here goes.
I moved to step out, but as I lifted my paw, the yipping outside the cave fell silent all at once. I froze, my front paw hanging in the air, as someone whispered something outside. Someone else snarled a reply, and followed up with a menacing growl.
A new scent found its way into my nostrils, and I took a step backwards. A few more low growls sounded outside, and someone began walking towards the cave. I lay my ears back and took yet another fearful step away from the entrance. The smell that filled my nostrils terrified me, for reasons I could not explain. It was similar to Alawa's scent, but it also carried the uncannily familiar scent of blood, blood that I had smelled before...
Something scrabbled along the rocks at the cave's entrance, and a brown-furred head peered in, staring at me.
"There you are! What are you doing, hiding back here?" it asked, booming out the words. I lowered my head and stared at the ground, keeping silent.
"C'mon out of there!" he commanded, and then withdrew from the entrance. He spoke with and air of authority, as if he expected to be obeyed.
I dared not defy him, so I stepped slowly forward, slinking my way out into the open. Once again, everyone was circled around me, staring intently. The brown wolf towered in front of me, looking down at my tiny form, testing the air. He circled around me on four massive paws, and squinted his eyes curiously. Another wolf stood in the circle, staring at me strangely, unmoving. Was that...contempt I saw in his eyes? I lowered my gaze, not daring to make eye contact.
The brown wolf completed his circle around me, and spoke once more.
"You are the outsider?"
I felt myself lowering as he spoke. I couldn't help myself; I wanted to do nothing more than assume the submissive posture in his presence.
"Y-yes, I am!" I looked away to the side when I answered.
"You were bitten by the Omega?"
"By M-mingan, yes!"
He lowered his head down to mine, putting his nose millimeters away from my own. "And you've survived..." he whispered, then huffed loudly, a look of mild amusement crossing his face. He moved back, and looked down at the bite-scars that wrapped themselves around my right limb. "Scrawny one, you are." He turned and looked over at Mingan, who immediately looked away guiltily. For the first time, I noticed that there were several wolves who had pressed themselves down to the ground, including Spike, Tara, and Mingan. Those must be the Omegas. Huh. Maybe my societal rank is fitting after all--just like them, I can hardly look at the guy in front of me!!
"I'm Kémé. What are you called?"
I inhaled in preparation to answer him, and almost choked. I could smell blood again, on his muzzle...human blood. There was no question about it--I recognized it.
"Who?" I choked out the word hoarsely, hoping desperately that my nose was playing some sadistic trick on me.
Kémé's face twisted momentarily with confusion and surprise. "'Who?' I'm sorry--"
"Who did you choose? Who did you bite?" Kémé cocked his head, and frowned down at me for interrupting him. I heard Mingan tsk warningly at me from the sidelines. No doubt I was breaking some kind of unspoken rule by interrupting the leader of the pack, but I didn't care. My heart was racing, and I feared I would burst into tears if I wasn't careful.
Kémé's frown deepened as he watched me begin to twitch with worry. He opened his mouth to answer, but I cut him off again. I couldn't help myself!
"Was it a girl?" I croaked. The blood, the scent...
"It was," he growled warningly. I wasn't making a good first impression, but that could wait.
"In a canoe? Alone?"
His eyes widened knowingly. "How did you know?"
How couldn't I know? I'd recognize that scent even if I wasn't a wolv.
Nadie.
My heart stopped.
You bastard, you bit Nadie! My veins flooded with adrenaline, and I sprung up, jumping clear over Kémé and slamming into the wolv that stood behind him, knocking the look of contempt off his stupid face. I hit the ground running, my paws propelling me forward as I barreled through the circle of wolves around me. Surprised yips and growls sounded from all around, and I heard people yelling behind me as I darted into the woods.
"Humfrey! Wait!" Spike's worried voice called out after me, but I didn't stop. I didn't know where I was going, but I raced onward nonetheless. I had to find her!
I heard numerous paw prints behind me, chasing me down. I glanced back over my shoulder to see the wolv I'd bowled over sprinting after me, along with a few others. Kémé's voice called out behind me.
"David! Stand down!"
"Are you kidding me? Did you see what that mutt just did to me?" David growled in response.
"I said, STAND DOWN!! All of you!" Several of the footprints behind me fell silent.
"What are you doing? You're following him?!?"
"I have to!"
"You're gonna let him back into the den? After the way that outsider just acted? That's a week's banishment at least!"
"David, turn around. Now."
I heard an angry snarl sound behind me, but I didn't turn and look. I opened my mouth and panted as I ran. I had to focus on my movements; if I didn't, I would trip over my still unfamiliar body.
The voices behind me were quickly growing quiet. I could make out Kémé's voice once again. "Hutch, with me. Let's go!"
A new voice answered. "Are we tracking Spike too?"
"Spike is following the outsider. If we track one of them, we're tracking both of them."
The voices behind me finally became mottled with the sounds of the forest around me, and I continued forward.
It seemed like one big, cosmic joke. It wasn't fair! Nadie had tearfully confessed to me, barely a day ago, that she didn't want to be bitten...and now she had been. What had it been like? Was she afraid? Did she call out for help, help that was more than fifty kilometers away? Did she fight back?
Or had she been injured somehow, like I had been? What if Kémé had bitten her to save her life, just like Mingan had done for me?
I ran forward, filled with worry. Unlike me, Nadie knew what she was in for. She had seen firsthand what would happen to her. She had seen my pain, as I'd lay there, writhing, as my body had broken itself and twisted into a new shape.
I'm coming, Nadie. You won't be alone, not like I was! I'll find you!
Something flew out of the trees beside me and slammed into me, knocking the wind out of my lungs. I let out a surprised "woof!" as I was thrown into boulder.
"What the heck are you doing?" Spike growled at me, showing me a threatening side for the first time. "Do you have any idea what you just did back there?!? You can't interrupt an Alpha, never mind our leader!"
"I--"
"Shut up! You kicked David onto his tail in front of the entire pack. David is Kémé's second in command! You have no idea what Kémé will do to you for that!"
"He bit Nadie, Spike! He bit her! C'mon, you've got good ears. You must've heard our conversation back on the island!" Spike's ear's lowered guiltily at the accusation.
"Yeah, I heard. Sorry."
"Whatever. You heard her though, right? She was afraid! She didn't want to be bitten!"
"Humfrey, few people do! It's not for anyone to choose. That's just the way it is!"
"I don't accept that! And I'd be willing to bet that she doesn't, either!"
"We don't question that which is, Humfrey! We just don't! She'll be back here in a few days. C'mon, let's turn around! You are a newcomer here. I'm sure Kémé will forgive you! Let's go back before this gets any worse."
"No! Spike, I had to endure a large part of my changing alone, and afraid. I can't doom her to that as well! I won't!"
Spike lunged at me, sinking his teeth into my scruff. I yelped out in pain, and he let go, pushing me to the ground.
"Humfrey, just stop! This is the way it's always been! This is the way things happen. Why should it be any different for her?"
"Because I love her, Spike!"
My eyes widened, and I clamped my mouth shut as I realized what I'd just said.
I'd actually said it.
Spike stared at me, blinking his eyes rapidly. He opened his mouth and closed it several times, as if he was trying to pick the right words to say.
I turned away and began running again, hoping that Kémé and Hutch weren't on my tail just yet. Spike's footprints raced after me.
"Do you even know where you're going?"
"Yes," I lied. I didn't have the slightest clue where I was, and Spike knew it.
"For cryin' out loud," he muttered, than pulled ahead of me and veered off to the left.
"Are you going back?" I called after him.
"No. I'm going to find your girl. If you want to do the same without getting caught right away, you'd be best to follow me." He kept running, and I stopped, staring down after him.
Dang it, he's right. He knows where he is, I don't. I growled in defeat, than raced after him.
Thanks, Spike.
* * * *
After two solid hours of running, the forest gave way to long lake, dominated by a large, central island.
I dipped my muzzle into the cold waters and drank greedily.
"What is this place?" I asked after I'd licked my muzzle dry.
"Kawaseechewank Lake. You paddled through it on your way in."
"Ah yes, I remember. It's just different, seeing it from the shore."
"I wouldn't know. I've never been in a boat before." Spike stuck his nose in the air and sniffed. "I don't smell her."
"Well, either she hasn't made it this far, or she's already passed through." If she'd already paddled the lake, she would have ended up back in the creek where she'd been drugged. It was that same creek that joined Kawaseechewank Lake to the Bloodvein River, and the Bloodvein river lead directly to Bloodvein First Nation, nearly one hundred and fifty kilometers away.
"So which is it? I mean, how fast can she go?"
I didn't know. I had completed my journey, from Wallace Lake back to my island, in three days. That said, I'd been doped up on adrenaline. Nadie wasn't; she would be paddling much slower than I had been.
Yet somehow, she'd managed to paddle one hundred and fifty kilometers, from Bloodvein First Nation all the way to the creek leading up to Kawaseechewank Lake, in just two days, before she'd ran into Abrams' men and was sedated. Was it possible that she had traveled so far, so fast?
Oh, heck no. She must have taken some other route. There's no way she could possibly paddle that fast.
Perhaps she'd been flown in; I didn't know. But it didn't matter how she'd ended up in Atikaki; I just had to find her.
"Let's go North, up the lake. She couldn't have made it this far already. C'mon, we'll retrace my original route up here. She's bound to be here somewhere!" I wheezed.
We raced up along the lake, stopping and smelling our surroundings every few minutes. I began to growl in frustration after fifteen minutes of finding nothing.
"Dang it!" What if I made the wrong call? What if she did make it past the lake already? I shook my head, trying to decide whether my second-guessing was justified. I just didn't know! Finding her seemed hopeless!
"You smell that?" Spike interrupted my thoughts, pointing up the lake with his muzzle. I sniffed the air, catching a whiff of her scent.
"That's it!" I darted forward, catching a glimpse of a tiny beach up ahead along the shoreline, hidden behind a large pile of granite. I hadn't seen it until now.
I sprinted between the trees around me, ignoring the pine needles that pricked at my paws. Almost there! I leapt headlong into a line of bushes, and emerged on the other side to find the beach beneath my feet. I skidded to a halt in the sand, searching my surroundings.
At the far edge of the sandbar, a red smear the size of a basketball interrupted the uniform color of the shoreline.
Blood.
I stepped forward cautiously, and licked at the bloodstain. It was definitely Nadie's blood; the scent was unmistakable. But it smelled strange; there was something else mixed in, something out of place.
"She was afraid," Spike said softly behind me, but I jumped nonetheless, surprised. I lowered my head and inhaled again. So that strange scent mixed in there is...fear?
I swiped a paw at the bloodstain angrily and growled. This was definitely where she'd been bitten; I could smell Kémé's paw prints all over the beach.
You hurt the one that I care about! I closed my eyes and pictured myself clawing at Kémé, making him beg for mercy. She hadn't wanted this, not anymore. He had no right to hurt her! He had to pay for what he'd done to Nadie!
"That's just the way it is, Humfrey," Spike stated softly, reading my thoughts. And we do not question that which is. I know. I shook my fur and opened my eyes, calming myself.
"I know, I know."
"So where is she now?" he asked, looking out at the lake.
"How should I know?" Where was she? Had she been found by someone? Had she woken up from the bite, and left already to continue on home?
I didn't like the thought of the first option. If she'd been found and taken by someone, if whoever had taken her didn't know about the existence of the wolves, in all likelihood, she'd end up in some hospital, being treated by Abrams. And I doubted he would let her go as easily as he had me.
So I went with the second option. You covered a lot of water, Nadie. I underestimated you.
"She's woken up already. She's headed back up to Bloodvein."
"What? How do you know?"
"I don't. But I don't like the other possibility that I've thought of." I turned south, but Spike nipped at my ear, pulling me back.
"We can't go that way. You heard as well as I did that Kémé is tracking us."
"Are you sure? I mean, they haven't found us yet..."
"Probably because we've been running non-stop. But they're Alphas, Humfrey. They can run just as fast as us, but for much longer. We've gotta keep moving...just not that way. We'd probably run right into them."
Oh. I hadn't thought of that.
"So where do we go?"
"If we're gonna follow the Bloodvein river up to the reserve, we've gotta get to the other side of this lake first. There is a set of rapids up ahead, about a kilometer north; we can cross there."
I didn't like the idea of walking through a set of rapids, especially after the miserable experiences I'd had with them, but I couldn't exactly hop in a kayak and paddle across the lake.
We took off running once again, and kept our pace until the thunderous sound of water crashing over rocks filled our ears. I broke through the treeline and stared at the set of rapids before us. Spike pointed at a slab of exposed granite, jutting out from the foamy water and cutting across three quarters of the rapids.
"Water levels are low right now. We're lucky; if they were high, that would be underwater and things would be much more tricky!"
I tiptoed forward onto the rock, praying that I wouldn't slip and be washed away. The makeshift bridge was narrow, and I could feel the spray of the surrounding waters blanketing my fur as I walked, my claws clicking loudly on the wet granite below my paws.
"Okay, Spike, now what?" I asked as I reached the end of the exposed rock. I was standing roughly in the middle of the rapids, and the surrounding sound was deafening.
"You're gonna have to hop over a few rocks until you hit the shore!" He yelled out over the noise, and I nodded my head with determination. Just don't slip. If you slip, you'll die--remember what happened the last time you ended up in one of these?!? Just focus on the jump; don't think about anything else. I shifted on my paws and tensed up, hoping that I wasn't misjudging my jumping ability.
"Ah!" I yelled out as I leapt forward over the waters, sailing over a sea of angry waves, rushing madly beneath me. I landed on an exposed rock and immediately jumped again, my momentum refusing to let me come to a complete halt. I cried out again as I leapt from rock to rock, not daring to stop in between jumps until I finally jumped onto the earthy shoreline. I dug my claws into the dirt, grateful that I'd made it over alive.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Spike's voice shouted behind me, and I turned just to see Spike flying through the air straight at me.
"OOMPH!!" I grunted as he slammed into me, almost knocking us both back into the water. He scrambled his way over me, scratching my back with his claws in the process.
"Dang it, man, why didn't you move?" He snarled accusingly, and shook the water out of his fur, glaring at me all the while. I looked back at the torrent behind me and laughed. It didn't matter--we had both made it!
"Hello! Humfrey! Wipe that stupid smile off your face! I could've fallen in! Why didn't you move?!?"
"Sorry bout that!" I huffed back, still smiling. "Alright! Lead the way!"
"You frickin' amateur." Spike muttered insults under his breath at me, but I ignored him. I was alive! Besides, he'd get over it. Sure enough, five minutes later, his happy demeanor had returned, our near miss back at the rapids forgotten.
"Alright, lover boy, here's the plan. Now that we're on the right side of the lake, we're gonna loop around the lake until we hit that creek. We'll follow the creek back to the river."
"And then?"
"And then we find your girlfriend. Seen as I haven't been able to talk you into turning back, I guess we'll follow the river until we find her."
"What if we don't find her? I mean, I'm sure she'll be traveling much faster by canoe than we are on foot."
"Hey, you're the one who wanted to race after her! Don't worry man, we'll find her, one way or another. Heck, if it comes down to it, we'll follow her back to the reserve."
"Really? I mean, you'd do that?" It was long ways away.
He looked away. "Yeah, I'd do that." He laughed dryly. "Y'know, I've been watching your butt for so long already, I don't think I could turn around if I wanted to."
I don't deserve a friend like you. "Man, you really are a piece of work, Spike. I hit you with a rock, I drag you all over the park, and you still stick around. I don't know how Tara can stand you, following her around everywhere!" I joked slyly.
"Ha! Usually she's the one following me!"
We ran on in silence, carving out a path through the forest. Several times, we had to climb over huge ridges of Canadian Shield; over old, lichen-covered remnants of ancient mountains. It wasn't long before we were both panting loudly, trying to keep our pace.
"There's no way we had such a good head start over Kémé," Spike grunted between labored breaths. "He should have found us by now."
"Maybe we lost him?" I suggested hopefully. I didn't like the idea that we were being hunted.
"Ha! He's got Hutch with him, and Hutch is by far the best tracker in the pack."
"Yet here we are, still running, still free..."
"Yeah, I know. I can't explain it."
I began to worry about returning to the den. I'd seen Mingan, all bloodied up, after he'd disobeyed pack law. What would happen to me and Spike when--if--we returned?
Then again, Mingan had managed to heal himself overnight. Perhaps any punishment we received wouldn't be so bad. After all, it would only take a few hours to heal up...right?
I spurred myself faster at the thought of being caught. What if Kémé found us and took us back? I wouldn't be there for Nadie. I wouldn't find her!
I overtook Spike, and he growled at me to slow down. Not a chance, buddy. We can do this.
"C'mon! We're almost at the creek!" I called back, but he growled again in response.
"I've been a wolv all my life, and even I can't maintain this pace! Slow down!"
We stopped at the edge of the creek, catching our breath. I felt exhaustion set in in my joints; I must've been ignoring it until now. Suddenly, I realized how Spike must feel. My legs were cramping up.
Spike nosed me forward after a minute. "Alright, I'm good. We've gotta keep going. If we stop for too long..."
He didn't need to finish his sentence. If we rested, we'd no doubt end up cramped and unable to continue.
We slowed our pace down to a jog, and tracked along the creek until it opened up to the river.
I sniffed the granite at the intersection and closed my eyes, remembering running into Abram's men, at this very same place. I could still smell a few pungent traces of oil that had leaked out from their motor boat somewhere along the line.
I turned east and sprinted off, following closely along the shoreline, keeping an eye on the water at all time, hoping to spot Nadie in her canoe.
We rounded a bend in the river, and I stared down along its length.
"Spike, you see that?" A silver object floated in the distance, hugging the shoreline closely. It had to be her!
"Sure do. Let's go!!" He tore off ahead of me, but I quickly overtook him.
As we neared the aluminum canoe, Nadie's scent drifted into my nostrils, carried to my by the wind. I could feel my tail wagging happily behind me, and I breathed in deeply, relieved by her familiar smell.
But something was...lacking. It was as if her physical presence was missing from the scent. It smelled...old, and strangely, something chemical was in the air as well.
I jumped over a rock and came into full view of the canoe. My heart sank the moment I saw its empty frame.
It was floating next to a smooth, granite "beach," tied to a nearby tree. I ran over to the shoreline and dove into the water, paddling furiously until I was up next to it. My hind legs found purchase on a submerged rock, and I pushed myself up, leaping out of the water and into the boat. It rocked violently with my presence, and I fought to keep my balance.
Nadie's gear was still in the canoe; her tent, her food, and her water were all packaged up and tied down neatly along the keel line. Everything was there, including her paddle. Everything except her.
I sniffed the interior frantically. Maybe she was nearby, and had just stopped to relieve herself. Yes, that had to be it! She was in the forest, no more than a few seconds away!
So why did her scent smell old? And what was that chemical smell?
Oil and gas. I choked on my own tongue.
They're back.
Spike called to me from the beach. "Humfrey..."
His tone was grave, and I whipped around and jumped out of the boat, swimming back to dry land. Spike's eyes were wide with worry.
"What is it? Talk to me!" I demanded desperately. Something must've happened. What if she's been found--again?!?
"I found something over here." He pointed to the trees, and I followed his gaze. A backpack lay a few meters away, sitting up against a tree's trunk. A roll of toilet paper lay on the ground in front of it.
But again, Nadie was strangely absent from the scene, despite the obvious clues that she'd been here. I sniffed the pack, and I felt my stomach churn. Her scent wasn't the only one present.
My mind flashed back to when I'd been hiding in the reeds back at the creek, listening to Nadie trying to talk down the men in the boat. I sniffed the pack again, and barred my teeth. One of the men from the boat--Max, the dark-skinned one--had been here, at this location, along with several new people I hadn't smelled before.
They'd found her. They'd been here with their boat, and somehow, they'd found her.
And again, she'd been alone, left to face yet another terror by herself. My gut heaved, and I growled angrily, raising my voice until a howl escaped my lips, full of fury. I'd been too late. How was I supposed to find her now? She could be anywhere!
"Spike! We missed her!" My chest heaved with sobs, and my vision blurred with tears. "They took her! She could be anywhere! We were too late!"
"Humfrey--"
"They'll probably take her back to Winnipeg. How am I supposed to get to Winnipeg? He'll never let her go, Spike! Abrams will hold her until she changes, and then that's it!! He'll know about us! The secret will be out!"
"Then we'll just have to stop him, won't we?"
The voice that answered my cries did not belong to Spike.
I instinctively fell flat on the ground and lay my ears back in submission, not daring to look up. Kémé emerged from the trees, followed closely by Hutch, who stared Spike down into place. But instead of coming from behind us, from the direction we'd come from, they came from in front of us.
They overtook us. They've been ahead of us this whole time!! They hadn't been hunting us at all!
Kémé looked down at me, amusement written all over his face and eyes.
"I've never met someone so defiant, so willing to break the rules."
I'm a dead wolf. "I'm so sorry."
"And I forgive you."
I looked up at him, confused. I hadn't expected him to just act like nothing had happened back at the den.
"You...you aren't mad?"
"It doesn't matter right now, Humfrey. What matters is that girl you're chasing. You're right. We have to find her. I saw her being taken."
"Why didn't you do something?!?" I snapped at him before I could stop myself. Oops.
"There was only two of us, and seven of them. But now we are four."
I let a hopeful look cross my face, and I raised my head as he continued to speak.
"We're going to find her, and we're going to bring her home." He turned and looked down the river. "I overheard them talking; they're taking her back to Bloodvein. That is where we will go." He started off into the woods, and I dared to stand back up.
We're going to find her! Perhaps I had judged Kémé too harshly, before I had really had a chance to get to know him. Irony. He wasn't as bad as I'd thought--he was going to help me. We would save Nadie! She wouldn't have to suffer!
Kémé threw his head over his shoulder, staring at me. "And you are going to tell me exactly who these people are, and why they've taken one of my wolves."
* * * *
Edited 08/05/2016