Noble’s body was changing—not from human to wolf, but into all of its forms at once. While most of his body had remained human, his left arm and right leg had transformed into their werewolf forms and seemed stuck there. Meanwhile, his left arm was continually shifting through all of its different forms. The hand would start out with five fingers, but twenty minutes later there would be a wolf’s paw and three fingers below the wrist. Another twenty minutes after that the hand would be transformed again, made up now of two fingers and three werewolf claws. And up past his wrist the arm seemed alive, the flesh pulsing and throbbing as patches of fur appeared at the shoulder, then slowly rolled down the length of the arm as if there were something beneath the skin, pulling it along. It was so unnatural that the other members of the pack were at once repulsed and fascinated by it, wanting to look away but unable to take their eyes off it.

“Would you like something to eat, Noble?” Phyllis asked. “Maybe some chicken soup?”

She’d been pushing the soup since they’d gotten home, but the mere mention of food had Noble’s stomach heaving. He would have thrown up if his stomach wasn’t already empty. All he could manage were a few dry heaves. “No food,” he gasped, the pain evident on his face. “I’ll ask for some if I get hungry.”

“Sorry,” Phyllis said, making herself busy by dabbing some sweat off Noble’s forehead.

The door opened then, and Ranger Brock stepped into the room. “How’s he doing?” he asked.

Phyllis said nothing in response. Instead she pulled back the covers so the ranger could see for himself.

“Okay, then…not so good,” he said under his breath.

“What do you think it could be?” Phyllis asked, her voice cracking as if she were on the verge of tears.

Ranger Brock shrugged, and said, “I don’t know. It could be anything.” Then he knelt down beside the bed and put a hand on Noble’s shoulder.

“So what do we do? Wait?” asked Phyllis.

“What else can we do?” the ranger answered, still inspecting Noble’s body.

“We could call somebody, for one.”

Ranger Brock shook his head. “What’s a doctor going to make of this?”

The room was silent for a moment.

“How about Doctor Katz?” offered Argus.

“The vet?” the ranger said.

“Not funny, Argus,” Noble managed to say.

It wasn’t all that crazy an idea, but it really didn’t matter whether they called in a doctor or a veterinarian: one look at Noble and the pack’s secret would be out. And even then there would be no guarantee that anything could be done to save Noble’s life.

Tora spoke up next. “I know this is going to sound strange coming from me, but…we could call Doctor Monk.”