The man was lifted two feet off the ground as a good eighteen inches of underwear suddenly appeared above his waistline.

“Ah, ow!” the man screamed.

“Get out!” Harlan whispered.

“I’m gone! I’m gone!” the man screamed.

Harlan set him back down. He howled with laughter as the man ran away, his legs bowed while a white underwear flag flapped in the breeze behind him.

If only, thought Harlan, I could do the same thing to Jake MacKinnon.

* * *

When they were done, the campsite was a shamble. There were men running every which way and several of the protesters who’d been camping out down the road had dropped by to see what all the commotion was about.

“We’re done,” Noble told Harlan. “Pass it along.”

Minutes later the pack was safely back in the forest, high-fiving each other and laughing at the havoc they’d caused.

“That’ll convince them that the spirits are angry,” said Harlan.

“May-be,” Argus said, drawing the word out in two full syllables. There was a strange tone to his voice, as if all the fun had made him sad somehow.

“What do you mean maybe?” Tora cried. “You should’ve seen my guy run.”

Argus nodded. “I bet he was scared.”

Again, that hadn’t sounded right. Usually, after such episodes, Argus would be the one howling with delight. But here he was acting as if a friend had died, or he’d lost all hope.

Noble stepped forward. “You okay, Argus?”

“Huh, what?” Argus snapped, as he suddenly realized he’d been wearing his emotions on his sleeve. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

He shrugged. “I guess scaring people isn’t as much fun as it used to be.”

“I’ll never get tired of it,” said Harlan.

Noble and Tora laughed. Argus’s expression remained unchanged.

“C’mon,” said Noble. “We’ve still got time to get a few hours of sleep in before school.”

The pack readied for the run home. All except for Argus who lingered in the forest as if he planned to stay out all night.

“C’mon Argus,” cheered Noble. “First one home gets to call in sick for school tomorrow.”

“Eat my dust,” cried Harlan, transforming to wolfen form and bounding into the forest. Tora followed her brother, but Noble waited for Argus to join in.

“You go on ahead,” Argus said. “I want to be alone for a while.”

Noble did not move. “It’s Phelan, isn’t it?”

Argus nodded. “I want to talk to him.”

“We all want to do that,” said Noble.

“No, it’s more than that. I need to talk to him.” A pause. “He’s one of us.”