Erin had no idea how much time had passed when she awakened with a violent start. For a moment, she couldn’t imagine what had jerked her from a sound sleep. Then she heard them. Wolves, howling at the moon. Only she didn’t believe for an instant that they were really moon worshipers. She thought they howled to each other as a form of communication, and she felt fairly sure that they were saying, Here she is, a stupid woman who doesn’t even have a gun. She smells really good to eat.

She was out of the sleeping bag in one second flat. She couldn’t count on Wyatt to wake up and save her. Thinking quickly, she bundled her sleeping bag and pillow into her arms, shoved her feet into her boots, and grabbed her lantern. Without turning it on—she didn’t want to carry a beacon to guide the wolves straight to her—she plunged through the tent flap into the night and ran to Wyatt’s tent. The campfire had gone dead, and she caught the toe of her boot on something and almost fell. When she reached his door flap, she flipped on her lantern so she wouldn’t accidentally step on Wyatt when she entered the enclosure.

To her surprise, he was sitting up in bed. He winced and cupped a hand over his eyes at the sudden light. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“There are wolves out there!” she cried.

“Ah. I knew I felt something. Is that what it is?”

“Yes, and they sound hungry. I think I’m on the menu tonight. I don’t even have a gun!”

She expected him to smirk. She knew she sounded like an archetypal city girl. Instead he frowned and said, “Slade sent up a rifle and ammunition for you. I’ll go get it.”

Erin’s inner alarm went off. “If you think I’m going back to my tent with only a gun for protection, you’re delusional. I’ve seen wolves in movies. They travel in packs. You may as well send me back with a BB gun for all the good a rifle will do me.”

He ran a hand through his hair and then let it fall to his shoulders. “Erin, don’t take this personally, but I’m not sharing a tent with you. Besides, if what I felt is wolves, I need to get to the horses.”

“I’ll help.”

He gazed up at her for a long moment. “There’s really no reason to be scared. Wolves normally don’t go after people. They’re just hungry and want an easy dinner. To wolves, those horses look kind of like McDonald’s does to us.”

Firecracker. Her beautiful horse was out there, tied up and unable to run in order to save herself. Erin dropped everything in her arms and ran from the tent holding her lantern high. Domino gave a shrill bark, as if warning her of danger, but he stayed in the tent with Wyatt. Smart dog. Wolves would polish off the horses and have him for dessert.