Greykin Mountain

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Jackson couldn't shake the feeling that something was lingering in the thickening murk. He looked to his left, right, and over his shoulder, and every time he checked, the fog grew harder to see through.

          "How far are we?" Cleo asked Tokala. The black wolf was limping now; evidently, her injury was more severe than she'd let on.

          "A little less than a mile," Tokala answered.

          Maab and Lalo, who were pulling the moose by its legs, adorned relieved expressions.

          "Do you need to take a break?" Tokala asked Cleo.

          She shook her head. "No, I'll be fine."

          "Are you sure?" Aiyana asked. "You're limping."

          "Yeah. Don't worry about me. I've been through worse."

          They continued through the woods, but the snow started falling much heavier, and it quickly became hard for Jackson to see the wolves in front of him.

          "We'll stop here," Tokala called through the blizzard.

          Lalo and Maab dragged the moose over to a tree, and everyone grouped up around it.

          "How long do you think we'll be stuck here?" Aiyana asked.

          "Until the storm calms enough for us to see where we're going," Tokala answered. Then, he set his eyes on Jackson. "You all right?"

          Jackson stopped staring into the white and nodded. "Yeah, I just...I feel a little unsettled."

          "Why?"

          "I just...I don't know."

          "If something was following us, we'd know," Lalo uttered.

          He wanted to believe that; after all, these wolves were a whole lot more experienced with their senses than he was, but he couldn't ignore it. It was like something was prodding him with a stick, urging him that something wasn't right. But no matter how hard he stared or sniffed or listened, he couldn't find any sign that something was out there.

          Maybe his problem was the fact he was searching for cadejo. What if there was something out there, but it wasn't a rotting wolf? Julian—that stray wolf Damon's hunting party had found—was once skulking around out here, and Jackson's wolf had taken over and killed another stray wolf. What if there was a rogue following them?

          He wanted to tell Tokala, but if he started throwing around the suggestion that there were rogues out there, he was sure that Lalo and everyone else who seemed to despise him would be given more reason to believe Aysel and Elias' ridiculous theory that he was part of a rogue group and was working Damon to have him accept them into the pack.

          But he had to say something. "Tokala," he insisted quietly.

          The orange-furred wolf didn't answer, though. He'd adorned a cautious stare and was staring into the blizzard.

          Had he seen something?

          Everyone else quickly noticed Tokala's expression.

          "What is it?" Cleo asked.

          Lalo frowned strangely. "Tokala?"

          They all gawped at him...but then the snow started crunching.