The wail continued, sounding odd yet somehow familiar.

Argus?

The smile was gone from Harlan’s face as he bounded through the forest and back to his brother’s side.

* * *

Argus twisted and turned his body in an attempt to wrest himself free from the silver-gray’s hold on his shoulder. The flesh there had torn open and Argus was bleeding freely from the wound.

Tora fought the urge to come to her brother’s aid. First of all, this was a fight between two wolves—much like the fight that determines who is alpha male and leader of a pack—and Argus would never forgive her if she stepped in before the fight was done. Second, there were three other wolves watching her. If she joined the fight, they would likely join in as well, taking her out and perhaps even killing her.

But Argus, it seemed, was still a long way from being done. He managed to twist his body enough to end up on top of the silver-gray, forcing the animal to finally let go of his shoulder. Now, with his shoulder bleeding and the silver-gray surprised to be caught on its back, Argus went on the attack. With a great single bite, Argus sank his teeth into the silver-gray’s throat, clamping down as hard as he could and refusing to let go.

The silver-gray fought back, batting Argus’s head with its front paws and kicking at his trunk with its hind legs. When that had no effect, the wolf began biting at Argus, its jaws snapping wildly open and closed in an attempt to strike one last, desperate blow.

Despite the counterattack, Argus did not ease his hold on the silver-gray’s throat.

The wolf’s blows became even more urgent. Its legs kicked wildly at Argus’s body, opening up long red gashes in his flesh, and its teeth snapped at his head, tearing up his ears and eyes.

But Argus would not let go.

Slowly the silver-gray’s kicks and bites began to slow. One, two, three more kicks and the wolf’s legs came to rest. One last attempt at a bite and the wolf lay back, giving up its throat and surrendering itself to Argus, putting itself at his mercy.

That’s when the three other wolves stepped forward. They weren’t about to sit back and watch their leader be torn to shreds.

Tora stepped forward as well then, putting herself between Argus and the wolves. But the animals didn’t slow, and it didn’t appear that they were afraid of Tora at all. And why should they be? They outnumbered Tora three to one, and even if Argus joined her, he was tired and wounded from the fight. Perhaps most important, the girl was still there, and they weren’t about to walk away from such a large and easy meal.