Noble nudged Harlan and gestured along the trail in the direction they’d just come. Harlan was the best tracker of the pack and if Argus had left the path, Harlan would be able to find him—hopefully before something bad happened.

Harlan nodded, turned around and set his snout low to the ground. Noble and Tora waited for him to find their scent. After a moment he was off, sniffing the trail in search of his bigger brother, with Noble and Tora close behind.

* * *

Argus wasn’t sure where he was in the forest. He knew he was in the area being disputed by the logging company and the protesters, but other than that he was lost. He’d been so intent on finding the apparition that he hadn’t paid attention to where he was or where he was going. Now it all seemed foreign to him, as if he’d been dropped into a strange land where he did not belong.

Suddenly, there to the left…movement between the trees. Argus caught a glimpse of something large making its way through the forest, but when he turned to take a better look the thing was gone. Only the swaying of branches told him that something had been there a moment before.

He ran over to the trees, still now, but holding the key to finding the apparition. There was a strange, yet somehow familiar scent on the leaves.

Argus didn’t understand. The scent was strong enough that even he could track it, but what it was telling him didn’t make any sense.

Or did it?

Still in his wolfen form, he followed the trail as best he could, keeping his snout low to the ground, appreciating Harlan’s tracking ability more and more with each step. The scent was getting stronger now, and becoming even more of a mystery.

The trail abruptly ended at a fair-sized redwood. Argus sniffed the base of the tree until he realized that the scent hadn’t ended there, but had merely changed direction.

Up!

Argus lifted his head to look along the trunk of the tree—just in time to see a large werewolf plunging through the branches, its maw open, teeth bared, and its scraggly hair trailing behind it like the frayed threads of a flag.

There was no time to move. Barely time to brace for the impact.

Thhhump!

Argus was pinned to the ground by two massive arms connected to a body that was much bigger and heavier than his own. The werewolf’s fangs were bared in a snarl and Argus was amazed at the length and sharpness of them. Any one of those teeth could tear through his neck in a single bite.

“Who are you?” the werewolf rasped.

Argus tried to answer, but the beast was sitting too heavily on his chest. He couldn’t get enough air to breathe, let alone answer a question.

“What do you want?”