Argus turned to look at his sister. “Are you crazy?”

“Well, he is a scientist,” said Tora.

That much was true. Doctor Edward Monk was a former television scientist who had once trapped Tora in her wolfen form and tried to take her out of the forest. If it hadn’t been for a daring rescue by her brothers, Tora would have been probed and prodded like a lab rat, then put on stage and forced to change her shape as the centerpiece of a Las Vegas-style show. Sure, Doctor Monk already knew the pack’s secret—he just couldn’t get anyone to believe him—but he was also a dangerous man, and his help would come at too high a price.

“Interesting thought, Tora,” said the ranger, “but I’m sorry, calling Doctor Monk is out of the question.”

Tora shrugged. “It was worth a try.”

The room was silent for several long moments as Phyllis stared at Noble lying on the bed, then turned to face the ranger and the rest of the pack. Finally she said, “But we can’t just sit here and watch him suffer like this!”

The ranger slumped to the floor, put his elbow on the bed, and rested his head in his hand. He took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. “I doubt if there’s even anyone out there who knows what’s wrong with him.”

Harlan spun around in his chair. “I’ve been searching the Net for a couple of hours and the only thing that I’ve come up with that makes any sense at all is, well…puberty.”

No one said a word.

“A teenager’s body goes through all sorts of changes during puberty,” Harlan continued. “Hair starts growing…” A pause. “Other things start to grow.”

“Yeah, we get the point, Harlan,” said Ranger Brock.

“That could explain it,” Phyllis suggested. “After all, who knows what happens to a lycanthrope’s body at puberty?”

Argus’s eyes grew wide. “Phelan would know!”

Phelan was a werewolf who lived in the forest and who had been a member of their parents’ pack. Argus had forged a bond with the lone wolf and knew he could ask for his assistance…as long as he could find him in the forest.

Ranger Brock nodded slowly. “It’s worth a try!”

Argus got up from the bed. “I’ll go.”

“So will I,” said Tora.

Harlan switched off the computer. “We all will.”

Chapter 7

The moon was full, lighting their way through the forest. There was a chill in the air, but none of the pack felt the cold through their fur, which had been made thicker and heavier by the changing of the season.