Argus did his best to catch up, sprinting when he had the energy and running wildly toward the finish line.

“Twenty-four, seventeen,” Coach Quinn called out, as Argus crossed the line.

“Is that good?” Argus asked, falling to his knees. His whole chest heaved as he desperately tried to fill his lungs with air.

“Not bad,” the coach answered. “It’s third best today. Would probably put you in the top twenty at the provincial finals.”

Third best? Argus thought. Top twenty? No. No, no, no. He was Argus Brock. He wasn’t supposed to be third best or top twenty. He was number one, the best.

But as he knelt on the ground, bent over and struggling to catch his breath, both Shannon Boersma and Ronnie Camacho turned around and began running in the other direction.

“Where are they going?” Argus managed to say.

“Back to help the others,” said Coach Quinn. “We’re a team. Your race might be over, but theirs isn’t.”

Argus nodded. He would have loved to help the others finish the race…if he could.

“Next time,” he said, between breaths.

Coach Quinn just laughed.

Chapter 8

After dinner, while the ranger and Phyllis went into Redstone to do some grocery shopping, Noble and Harlan sat down in front of the television and turned on their GameCube. They’d rented a new fighting game and wanted to get their money’s worth before it had to be returned. Tora was in her room, talking on the phone with Michael Martin. Argus had left the dinner table and headed straight for his room. Now he emerged, dressed in a T-shirt and pair of shorts.

“Where are you going?” Noble asked, as Argus came down the hallway.

“Out for a run.”

“What do you mean, ‘out for a run’?” Noble asked.

“I’m going for a jog. No big deal.”

Noble put down his controller in the middle of his game, giving Harlan an easy victory.

“Yeah!” Harlan cried out. Then, “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Argus is going out for a run,” Noble said.

Harlan rolled forward on the couch. “You can’t do that.”

“I can,” said Argus. “And I will.”

“But the ranger forbids it,” Noble pointed out.

Argus hesitated, then said, “I’m not going against the ranger. He didn’t want us out running as wolves. I’m going out as a human. I’m even wearing red and white. No one’s going to mistake me for a wolf.”

“I don’t think it matters if you go running as a wolf or as a human. The ranger wants us to stay indoors, especially at night.”

“I’ll be back before dark. And I’ll make sure I stay on the side of the road, away from the forest.”

Noble got up and put himself between Argus and the front door. “I can’t let you defy the ranger.”