She took a step away from Cameron, hating the look of hurt in his eyes. But she couldn't accept his comfort. Not like this. Not as a damned vicious Arctic wolf with teeth that could crush bones.
She lifted her nose and sampled the air, smelled Leidolf drawing closer, but still out of sight. She understood why. He probably had seen what Gavin had done to Hilson.
Gavin was watching the two of them now, her clothes and bags in his arms. "She's still a feral wolf," he said, his voice gentled. "Let her go."
"You're mine," Cameron said softly. "You have to go with us, Faith. You can't stay out here alone. Kintail's men…" He rose unsteadily, his jaw clenched, eyes narrowed. "You can't stay here. Follow us."
She waited for him to limp to his snowmobile, waited for him to climb on, waited for him to look back at her once more, pleading more than demanding that she obey him. And then she decided what she would do. She'd follow him, for a brief time, then find Leidolf. She couldn't run to the trailhead and risk turning into a human somewhere along the way. If she could make it to their rental vehicles, maybe. But not out in the open like this.
She followed Cameron for a little while as he drove his snowmobile and tried to find a way back to the main road. He kept glancing back at her, making sure she was still there, loping slightly behind his snowmobile, while she kept looking for the best place to bolt where the trees wouldn't allow a snowmobile passage.
Gavin was an even further distance behind, and she noted he was watching her, too. Wary, she suspected. If one wild wolf could knock Cameron from his machine, why not another? Only she was female and not half as big as Hilson. Although she assumed if she bared her teeth, she could scare the most stalwart of men.
She glanced back at the woods, knowing Gavin figured what she was up to. Cameron, too, but she hoped he wouldn't see her take off until it was too late. And then she spied a flash of red fur. Leidolf. He must have realized she might need help. At least she hoped that's why he was stalking them.
With one last look at Cameron, she silently wished him well, then bolted for the woods. She half expected Gavin to warn him that she had taken off, but he didn't. Probably figured she needed to run wild and Cameron shouldn't have interfered with her natural instincts. In any event, it worked well for her.
Cameron would no doubt give him holy hell for it, too. But Faith didn't think she could make it to the trailhead as a wolf. She couldn't risk it.
Faith ran deeper into the woods, the sudden realiza tion that no matter what else was wrong with her life, she enjoyed the sense of adventure she now was expe riencing, the freedom to move as a wolf, the way her fur coat protected her against the elements without her having to wear tons of clothing to keep warm. Freedom, that's what she felt.
But it would be short-lived if anyone from Kintail's pack caught up with her. Or she ran into the werewolf killers.
Cameron was certain Faith would run off, but he hadn't expected his good friend, Gavin, not to tell him the moment she did. He glowered at him again, as the two trudged through the trees on foot, pursuing her tracks, unable to follow on the snow machines. He had to admire her ability to solve problems no matter what the circumstances. He only hoped they wouldn't find her naked, freezing to death along the way. And he hoped that if they did catch up to her, she wouldn't be in any other trouble and would be willing to follow his lead this time. Frustrated with his own inability to take care of her while she was a wolf in the wilderness, he was damned thankful Gavin hadn't seen her shapeshift and that he could avoid the problems that would have entailed.
A blurring of two exquisite shapes, like the northern lights mixing in surreal colors, that's the way she had appeared to him, blending from the beauty of a naked woman into that of a furred white wolf. The woman one instant, the wolf the next. Even though she shifted quickly and even if he hadn't chanced to see the blurred effect, she wasn't the same after the process was done. The woman vanished, the wolf took her place. So there was no mistaking it if Gavin had caught a glimpse of the switch. Although he probably would have assumed he'd been hallucinating.
"I don't understand why you feel we have to chase after the wolf, Cameron. She probably took off after a rabbit, and she'll be back."
Cameron sliced his friend another glare.
Gavin looked back at the tracks. "You already bit my head off about not warning you sooner. But hell, she's a wild wolf, and this is what they do." He paused and leaned over a little. "Damn, there are two tracks now."
Cameron stared at the impressions in the snow. "Broader paw, larger wolf. Male." He swore under his breath.
Gavin chuckled. "She could be in heat and interested in him and having little wolf pups in the spring."
Cameron hauled off and socked his friend in the jaw. He didn't know what came over him to knock Gavin off his feet. Except the raw emotions he felt toward Faith were sitting at the surface, and he couldn't contain them any longer.
Gavin winced and stared up at him. "Hell, what is wrong with you? I know you've got to be tied up in knots over the guys' disappearance, but this wolf? What's gotten into you?"
Cameron couldn't even make the effort to apologize like he should have. He wanted to shift. In the worst way, Cameron wanted to go after her, tear into the male wolf who was with her, and show the world of wolves she was his.
After the male wolf met up with Faith, her paw prints disappeared, and he knew she was following the male, using his tracks to make her journey easier. Incensed, he wanted to shake her, make her realize he was the only one for her.
He vaguely noticed Gavin rejoining him, still caressing his jaw. "You still have a damned hard punch. Want to tell me what's going on?"
He wanted to. They'd never kept secrets from each other before, except for Gavin's clandestine operation concerning watching Marjory's extracurricular activi ties. But he knew this part of his life he couldn't disclose to Gavin. And now, he was afraid he might have to dissolve the partnership, or get his friend into the trouble he and Faith were in already.
But after they located Owen and David. After they made sure they were safe.
Which brought another troubling thought to mind. If Owen and David had been changed, and he suspected at this point they had been, the three of them could continue to be partners in their business. How would they be able to eliminate Gavin from the partnership as close as they had all been over the years?
He shook his head. No matter the scenario, he couldn't think of an uncomplicated way out of the mess.
Gavin followed behind Cameron. "Guess you don't want to discuss it. I could understand your not wanting to tell me about your new girlfriend. But hell, your rela tionship with a wolf?" Then he hurried to catch up. "Did the wolf rescue you?" He shook his head. "Knowing you, you rescued the wolf and now you feel this connection, like you always do when it comes to rescuing damsels in distress. But I never thought in a million years the situation would have extended to a wolf."
"They've headed back to the cabins," Cameron finally said, noting the path the wolves' tracks were taking. "Let's return for our snowmobiles and find a way back to the main road. It'll be faster that way."
"What about Faith, the woman?" Gavin asked, taking a handful of snow and holding it against his jaw.
That's what Cameron worried about more than anything. Faith, the woman, and the mess she could be in now.
"It'll be faster if we shed our clothes and run like wolves," Owen said, racing through the woods ahead of David and Elizabeth, half freezing to death, rubbing his numb fingers, then shoving them back in his jeans pockets, his trouser legs stiff with clinging snow. "You still think we should go straight to the cabin resort where Cameron is staying?"
"Yeah. I know that Officer Adams and Whitson and that Trevor Hodges are on their way there, but it's the only way we can get to Cameron. They'll stop them from leaving for Millinocket, and we've got to let Cameron know we're all right. Although Kintail will most likely assume we're headed that way also and try to have us intercepted before that." David looked at Elizabeth. "What do you think?"
"I agree with everything you've said." Elizabeth had kept up with their longer strides, while David's hand remained wrapped around hers the entire time, pulling her along, making sure she didn't fall, and she hadn't once complained. She looked worried, of course. She knew Kintail better than they did.
But Owen was surprised when David had asked her if she wanted to come along. He figured David would have been more concerned for her safety. Maybe he was using her a little as she'd kept them headed for Charles's cabin resort when Owen had tried to steer them wrong. Deep down he didn't think so though. Maybe David had the hots for her as much as she did for him, only like usual, he was hiding his feelings.
Suddenly David asked, "Think we can start our own pack in Seattle?"
Owen shot him a get-real-look over his shoulder. "We'll be lucky to find a place in Alaska where as Arctic wolves, we will fit in more. But I doubt we'll be safe there either. And what if the areas are tied up with packs already, just like Kintail's, and they don't relish the idea of two more full grown males joining them?"
"Kintail's got the people believing his pet wolves are perfectly tame here, so everyone's used to seeing them around, off of leashes, completely compatible with the human populace. Why couldn't we do that back home?"
"In Seattle?" Owen shook his head. "Can you imagine dropping into Starbucks for your favorite cup of coffee, with me in tow as a guide wolf?" Owen let out his breath in a puff of frigid smoky vapor. "So do we do it, or not? Can you force the shift?"
"I can do it. I'm just not sure I want to."
"When we arrive at Cameron's place, he'll have a change of clothes for us. He's already one of us. He'll recognize us. His girlfriend, Faith, should have clothes for Elizabeth. We'll be warmer. My hands are already numb. Most of the heat in my body, I'm losing through my head without having a parka, a hood, or hat to keep me warm. I can barely see because of the sun reflecting off the snow except where the trees shade the area. Plus, trudging through the snow is slowing us down. We'll be able to run a hell of a lot farther and faster with our lighter weight as wolves situated on top of the snow rather than in our human forms plowing through it. And we'll be a lot less visible in our white fur against the snow-filled backdrop than we are now."