“Lucas wants me to come with you when you go to get the wolves.”
Bridget perked up. “You’re going to get wolves? Where?”
Gage turned to her. “North probably.” He turned to Cray. “Is that what you were thinking?”
“North and west. Dean wants as many different gene pools as we can manage. I was thinking I would start around Algonquin and work my way back.”
“Oooo. Can I come?”
Cray turned to her with a shake of his head. “You can’t run.”
“I can run.” She flushed. “A little. I’m not a great runner, but—”
Cray grinned, changing the whole look of his face. “I’m sure you can run. But we will be running. In wolf form. With wolves.”
Bridget felt her whole body tense. This was her chance. She turned to Gage, her heart in her throat. “You’re going?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not going to leave me here, are you?”
Gage flashed her his sauciest smile. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
She let out a big breath. “Oh good. I’ve been trying to study wolves in the wild for years. This is going to be so great. I had an internship at a rescue sanctuary in college, but it’s not the same.” A sudden thought struck her with dawning horror. “Wait. They are wolves, right? I mean there are wolves— wild animals, right? They’re not all just— you guys, in disguise…”
“No. There are wolves. Never fear.” Cray had a small smile lurking at the corner of his lips. Bridget got the feeling he found her concern amusing.
“So why are you going to study them?” She glanced from Cray to Gage. “No wait, you said get them. You’re bringing them here?”
“That’s right.”
“Why?”
The two men shared a look. There was a short silence.
“That’s um… pack business,” Gage said after a minute. He had the grace to look apologetic, at least.
“I mean it’s a great idea,” Bridget said. “This is a perfect habitat for them. It’s very rural here, and with the Adirondack Park just to the south, which is protected—”
She felt a rush of elation. She was going to be part of repairing a major deficiency in the local ecology. “Oh, this is so great. They belong here. They’ll have great hunting. The deer population desperately needs a top-of-the-food-chain predator to keep their herds healthy.”
Neither man said anything, but Bridget didn’t let that bother her. She was used to people’s eyes glazing over when she started waxing on about ecology and the importance of an unbroken food chain for the health of the whole system.
“It’s a good territory,” Cray said after a minute, that small smile back on his face. He turned to Gage and gave him a slight nod. “So how is this going to work?”
“Perfectly. Come, ma chouchoutte. We have planning to do.”
And that was how Bridget found herself making a list of all the supplies she would need for an expedition into the wild. In February. Not something to take lightly.
“Okay, good,” Gage said, looking over her list. “We can go into town and pick this stuff up this afternoon. That way we can get an early start tomorrow.”
“Wait. We’re leaving tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t leave tomorrow. I have work!”
Gage tapped a finger against his chin, looking thoughtful. Then he shrugged. “I guess you’ll have to take a leave of absence.”
Bridget just stared at him, nonplused. “I have winter break in two weeks, can’t we wait until then?”
“No. We leave tomorrow.”
“Damn. I better call my department chair.” She was not missing this trip.
In the end, she was able to schedule a meeting for that afternoon, which was lucky, since it was Friday. If she could talk the man into giving her two weeks off, then she’d have the week of winter break too, so it could work. Depending on when they returned. Which Gage couldn’t predict, naturally. At least she had a good excuse. Her Chair would understand the opportunity to study wolves. And she only had two classes that he needed to cover.
Come to think of it, maybe Sandy would do it. If she had someone ready to step in, that would make it easier to get leave. And she knew for a fact Sandy could use the money. Her mother had been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and home care was expensive. It’s a plan. She stood and went to get her phone back from Gage so she could make the call.
He stood over her the whole time, of course, just as he had when she’d called her department head.
“Girl! Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in the lounge in two weeks! I have things to tell you.”
Bridget bit back a laugh. Sandy always had things to tell her. She lived for gossip.
“Do you know after you left, Rod got so drunk he couldn’t stand up? It was quite a scene, let me tell you. We all ended up staying over because the roads were so bad, so we had an up-close view of the whole thing. It was not a pretty sight.”
Bridget bit her lip. “Yeah, he was pretty drunk when I was there too.” But she wasn’t going into that with Gage listening in. What had he called Rod? Oh yeah. A cockapoo. Bridget stifled a snigger. He actually looked a little like one, with that mop of too long curly hair that he thought made him look distinguished. Academia at its worst. She shook her head. All he needed was the tweed jacket with the leather elbow patches.
“Listen Sandy, I don’t have a lot of time. I have this great opportunity to join a wolf study, but they’re leaving right away. Would you be interested in taking my classes? If George will go for it, anyway.”
“That would be great. How long are we talking? You have lesson plans, right? You don’t expect me to start from scratch.”
“No, no. I have lesson plans. It will be a piece of cake. It’s Ecology 101, you could teach it in your sleep.”
“Well, I don’t know about that. But I’m sure there will be a student or two who will be trying to learn it in their sleep.”
Bridget laughed. “Too true. I’m going to George’s office today to talk to him. I’ll give you a call and let you know.
“Great! Let’s meet for coffee. If he says yes, you can give me the lessons then too.”
“Oh, uh…” she looked at Gage, who was shaking his head. “No, I’m sorry, I can’t. I have a lot of stuff to do to get ready for this. They want to leave tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!”
“I know, right? But I can’t miss this. You know how long I’ve been trying to get funding.”
“Yes. Okay. I know. Call me as soon as you leave his office. And thanks, Bridget. I appreciate you thinking of me.”
“Are you kidding? You’ll be saving my butt. I’ll call you as soon as I get out. If he says yes, I’ll e-mail you the lesson plans.”
She clicked off the phone and handed it to Gage. “How did I do?” She raised her eyebrows. “Did I pass the ‘don’t-spill-the-beans’ test?”
Gage didn’t say anything, but he gave her a soft smile of acknowledgement. Which actually felt nice. Ignore it, girl. You’ve got things to do.
Bridget walked out of George’s office feeling like a million bucks. She was going on a wolf collection mission. She could hardly believe it. Now all she had to do was double check her list, shop for all the supplies she’d need for the trip, and pack. Piece of cake. Oh, and e-mail Sandy the lesson plans.
She went to pull out her phone to do just that and made a face. Gage still had her phone, of course.
The man in question pushed off the wall opposite George’s office, that sexy, knowing half-grin on his face. “I take it the meeting went well?”
“The meeting went fine.” She gave him a look. “Phone, please. I need to send Sandy my lessons.”
He handed it over without comment, but Bridget still felt like grumbling. She felt like a teenager for goodness sake. Just when was she going to get her phone privileges back?
The car ride north was long, beautiful and uneventful. They’d had to stop for
the night in a cheap motel along the way, but even that had been uneventful. She’d been too tired to argue when Gage told her they would have to share a room, but there had been two beds and he’d been a perfect gentleman. She figured since the three of them were going to be sharing a tent for the foreseeable future, there was no point in making a fuss.
The next morning they checked out bright and early, and three hours later Bridget stood in a snowy meadow and glanced around. She’d never been to the Algonquin Provincial Park. It was beautiful. Densely forested, but pocketed with lakes and meadows. And hills. Lots and lots of hills. They’d left the car in a trailhead parking lot around noon and had been hiking ever since. Her legs ached. Walking with snowshoes was just not something she did on a daily basis. But she was determined to show Gage and Cray that she could keep up. Although really—
“Stop a minute,” Gage said, coming up beside her. “Here, have some of this.” He handed her a baggie containing raisins, nuts and M&Ms. He pulled something from his inside pocket. “Here.” He passed over a red Gatorade.
She felt her heart give a little squeeze. He brought me a Gatorade? He put it inside his coat to keep it from freezing and everything. It was such a thoughtful thing to do. Taking care of the human. She had a feeling he and Cray didn’t need any special electrolyte drinks.
She opened it and took a sip. It was delicious, which just went to show how much she needed it. She took another bite of the trail mix, grateful for the chance to rest a bit. Why she had insisted on taking a turn pulling their sled of supplies was beyond her at the moment. But Gage hadn’t argued. Hadn’t protested once.
It was hard to admit that both of her partners in this adventure were not only faster and stronger than she was, but better equipped to handle the terrain. She wasn’t used to not being able to carry her weight. It was humbling.
A few moments later, they started off again. Bridget was grateful when Gage took the sled without comment, just as if she’d done her fair share. Without a word, deliberately avoiding any rub to her pride. She bit her lip and followed.
Cray was off ahead of them, in wolf form, searching out the local packs and trying to identify any lone wolves in the area. That was the key to this expedition apparently. To target wolves who didn’t currently have a pack and get them to relocate back by the Rabbit River.
“We’ll stop and camp in about an hour,” Gage said, glancing back her way.
“Good.” Bridget glanced around at the snowy vista. There were dense evergreen trees just to the north of them, and they were headed that way. A small pond was visible off to the right, only discernible by the flat expanse of white in the otherwise hilly landscape. Boy was she going to be glad to sit by the campfire tonight. At least all the activity was keeping her warm.
They trudged on, entering the shelter of the trees. Immediately the light dimmed and the going got a little more difficult. Bridget stopped briefly and took another sip of her drink. Gage must have heard her because he paused just ahead.
“We can camp any time,” he said, leaning on the sled as if he needed to rest too.
“No, I’m okay. Let’s keep going. Can you tell how far ahead Cray is?”
They were following his tracks in the snow, which lead upward into the trees. Oh joy. She pocketed her Gatorade and started off again, doggedly putting one foot in front of the other. You can do this, girl. Just keep going.
It was a relief when Gage finally pulled the sled to a stop and declared they were camping for the night. Bridget worked to get the tent set up while Gage scoured the surrounding area for wood. They had brought fuel for the camp stove on the sled, but a nice wood fire would be really welcome right now.
He returned a short time later with an arm full of snowy branches. Dropping them in a pile, he went right back out. Bridget was pleased to find folding camp chairs on the sled and sank into one, bending to rifle through the contents of the sled for dinner supplies. Gage had picked a good spot, she noted. Blocked on one side by a large outcrop of rock and shielded on the other by a tight clump of evergreens, the little clearing was sheltered from the wind. They could make a good fire there beside the rock, she decided and heaved herself out of the chair to go investigate the area. They’d need loose rocks to make a fire ring and she’d have to clear the snow from the circle so that the wood would burn.
She had just finished completing both those tasks when Gage re-emerged. “Nice job,” he commented, and Bridget felt a ridiculous surge of pleasure at the praise. That was probably not a good sign.
“Thanks,” she said, going for breezy. “I’ll let you make the fire.”
***
Gage stared across the crackling fire as Bridget ate the last of her meal. She had produced a delicious chicken and rice concoction with canned chicken, an onion, frozen peas, some chicken bouillon and rice. He was impressed. Supplemented by cheese and crackers and a glass of red wine, it had been a very satisfying meal.
The sled allowed them to bring enough supplies to keep them going for several weeks, but he’d probably have to hunt before the trip was over. He wondered how that would go over with Bridget. She seemed very at home in nature. More so than any other human he had observed. He was proud of how well she had done today on their first leg of the journey. It had been a solid five-hour hike into the wilderness, and not one word of complaint.
The firelight danced on her hair, making it glimmer in shades of gold and copper. She was so strong and beautiful, sometimes just looking at her made his heart ache. And the moon was waning. It was only six days until the new moon. He tried to put that out of his mind, but his thoughts kept returning to that fact. Not that it mattered. Not with Cray here.
Not that Cray was actually here, at the moment. He still hadn’t joined them. Gage assumed he was trying to catch up with the wolf pack they were trailing. He probably wanted to make contact with them first and see if they were aware of any unattached wolves in the area. That would speed their search considerably.
Gage eyed the small popup tent Bridget had assembled. Low to the ground and weather tight, it was far from roomy. With the three of them in there, it was going to be a tight fit. But snug. He grinned to himself. As long as Bridget’s sleeping bag was next to his when they bedded down, tight quarters didn’t bother him a bit.
Glancing up at the circle of midnight sky visible through the tops of the trees, Gage pulled in a deep lungful of clear night air. He could think of worse ways to spend his time. A lot worse.
“Bridget, do you know any ghost stories?”
She gave him a look and chucked a cracker at him.
He laughed and let the night enclose them in companionable silence.
Dearest Moon Maiden, thank you for this night.
Soon he would have to get up and hang the food somewhere the bears couldn’t get to it. Far enough away that they wouldn’t be attracted to the campsite by its fragrance. But not yet. For now he could sit by the fire and just enjoy the way it played over Bridget’s hair and illuminated the planes of her face. And he was content to do just that.
Chapter 16
Cray trotted up the hill to the ridge line and sniffed the air. They weren’t far off now. It was a small pack— an alpha, an immature male and three females, all related. He stretched his nose up towards the sky, and the crystalline points of starlight vivid against the darkness and howled. It was a howl of summoning and he waited for the reply. Sure enough, a few moments later the chorus started.
“Who? Who calls? Who?"
He let out another howl, long and undulating. “Brother. Brother calls. Brother.”
“We come. We come. We come.”
Cray sat in the snow and waited, listening to the echoes of the calls fall away into silence and the light breeze tickle through the needles of the spruce he sat below. Soon they would present themselves, and he would ask his questions.
They trotted up cautiously, hanging back, approaching slowly. Cray sat and waited. They would be wondering about his intentions. W
hy he was suddenly here in their territory, in winter when times were lean and hunting was scarce.
The Alpha of the small pack approached, slipping up over the crest of the hill. He sat a short distance from Cray, and he dipped his head in greeting.
“You come, Brother of the Night. The time is near.”
“Time. Time. Time,” the others chanted, sending a chill sliding down Cray’s spine.
It was always like this, communicating with the little brothers and sisters. They had their own wisdom, and their own objectives, but the meaning was not always clear.
“Time?” Cray repeated.
“Time. Time. Time,” the chant continued.
“The time of the Night. The time of the Moon. The time of the People.
“Why do you come, Night’s Brother?”
“I seek. I have need. I must find those brothers and sisters who are without pack. I must gather them home.”
“Home. Home. Home.” The chorus echoed out into the night.
“East. East, and south. You will find them there, Night’s Brother. Near the humans and their beasts. But they roam alone.”
“Alone. Alone. Alone,” the plaintive cry went out.
“Many?” Cray asked.
“Some. Pulled by the lure of the easy kill. But that way is death.”
“Death. Death. Death,” the other wolves chanted.
Another chill skated along Cray’s spine. It was similar to the pattern of the Sickness. Alone and hungry, unable to hunt effectively as a pack, the young wolves were tempted to attack livestock, easy kills. But then the farmers hunted them. With rifles. Easy kills.
Farmers had the right to shoot any wolf that threatened their animals, protected species or no. The ancient struggle between wolves and humans— it hadn't changed. And the wolves lost. Almost every time.
“Do you hunt, Night’s Brother? Do you join us on the hunt, Maiden’s own?
“I hunt,” Cray said, standing to follow the Alpha. He could help this pack find food and bring it down. A small bit of aid in the lean times of winter. And then he would search for those vulnerable souls lured too close to the humans— and bring them home.
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