Home -- Wolv book 3

Eleven - Close enough to touch

Before the sun had even begun to illuminate the horizon, Machk and I were awake, gently pulling the bloody makeshift bandage from Sarah's neck. Beneath the crusted grasses was a thick, vicious-looking red gash, barely scabbed over.

"You sure we should be moving her?" I asked quietly.

"No. If anything, she should be staying right where she is," Machk grunted back. Crouching down onto all fours, he nuzzled his way underneath her, and gently flipped the sleeping timberwolv onto his back. "But I'm also thinking about your friend back at the creek, ma'iingan.  That plane has not yet flown overhead again--we should return to your friend before it does and takes her, too."

I nodded quietly, and the two of us began walking back south beneath the stars. Slowly, we crossed the tundra field and returned to the treeline, making our way over the frigid landscape back to Daanis.

"I've gotta hand it to you," Machk whispered. "You sure did manage to run quite a long ways."

I raised an eyebrow at him curiously. He was beginning to look strained beneath Sarah's weight. "Oh, yeah? Is that so strange?"

"For you it is."

I bristled. "Why, because I'm a direwolf--a ma'iingan, as you keep saying? Or because I'm an Omega?"

He shrugged, jostling Sarah around on his shoulders. "Both. You also just shifted barely two days ago, you look like you've been starving yourself for months, and yesterday morning you could barely walk on your own four paws!"

I flipped my ears down, rolling my eyes. "Okay, you've got a point, I guess." I jabbed him lightly in the ribs, earning an annoyed growl. "I really am glad you followed after me."

"Yeah," he grunted thinly. "Darn, she's heavy. Ow!" Machk looked back to find Sarah pricking her claws at her side, her eyes now half-open.

"Don't...call...fat," she wheezed. A thin stream of blood ran from her lips, and she spat down onto the ground. "Put...down. I can...walk!"

Machk snorted, jostling the timberwolf on his shoulders. "Forget it. You almost died last night, Sarah."

"Fine...now!"

"No you're not. Just shut up and let me carry you," Machk grunted. He ducked through the trees, leaving the tundra plain behind him, and I trotted quietly after him, keeping pace as he wove his way through low-hanging branches and scrub. "Ugh, this is gonna kill me," he muttered, twitching his black nose furiously.

"Why's that? Aww, is the big, bad Alpha getting tired? I thought Alphas were supposed to be strong!" I teased. He sneezed, sniffing the air.

"No. It's her scent. It's drivin' me crazy!" He growled in frustration. "I hate spring."

"Why's that?"

Machk raised an eyebrow at me. "Because spring means hea--you're an idiot, you know that? No wonder you're extinct!" he mumbled. I scowled back at him.

Jerk.

I could feel a pair of eyes on me, and I twitched my ears nervously, sneaking a glance at Sarah. She stared straight back at me with wide, brown eyes, not bothering to break her gaze with even a blink.

I flinched, looking ahead instead. I hadn't really had a chance to take in the landscape on my run north just yesterday; I'd been far too focused on blowing off steam to care about sightseeing before.

It was...a different sight, to say the least. Numaykoos Park, while a wilderness reserve much like Atikaki, was also much different than it's southern counterpart. It was much flatter; while there were still thousands upon thousands of exposed sections of Canadian Shield up here, the Precambrian rock didn't form rolling hills like it did in Atikaki. The ancient mountains it did form were few and far between; even though they were relatively flat and low to the ground, the tips of the tallest hills were barren of trees.