Page 8 of Tracking the Alpha (Project Therianthrope #1)

Chapter Five

Another day in the woods and another failure.

A dejected Tanis sighed as she climbed the tree she’d chosen as her bed for the night.

Given the wiliness of the wolf she hunted, she took no chances.

She needed to rest, and the best way to do so without getting mauled involved getting high enough off the ground that a leaping predator couldn’t snag a bite.

That assumed, of course, her target remained in the vicinity.

She’d not caught sight of the beast since their encounter a few days ago.

It should have been impossible for a wolf that size to vanish.

Tell that to the lack of tracks and spore.

It was as if it disappeared into thin air.

Impossible, of course, and even more annoying, she’d have sworn it watched her.

The hairs on her nape prickled almost constantly, but despite how many times she spun, expecting to find it lurking behind, she’d yet to spot a hair left behind.

As she’d trekked through the forest, employing every skill she’d ever learned, she’d had much time to replay the events that brought her here.

She still didn’t quite grasp why the military insisted on bringing in this creature alive.

Such a dangerous killer should be put down.

At the same time, had she been told the truth?

The beast hadn’t torn out her throat despite having the chance.

She’d expected to die when it pinned her to the ground.

After all, it outweighed and outmuscled her.

Yet it had only stared. Stared in a way that discomfited because she’d have sworn she saw intelligence in its gaze.

It appeared curious and not rabidly murderous, which led to her wondering what the general and his major-minion neglected to mention when giving her the supposed facts on the wolf.

They’d indicated it would be bigger, stronger, smarter, but she now had to wonder just how intelligent they’d made this predator because she should have found a trace of it by now.

At the same time, why would something with smarts remain close to the place that wanted it dead?

The wolf obviously knew it was hunted, and yet it chose to remain.

Hunted her like she hunted it, its presence a light scent whispered on the breeze that whistled through the barren boughs.

It watched and yet remained out of sight and reach, showing caution since their encounter where he’d somehow evaded all three of her snares.

Unheard of. Tanis had been herding animals for capture from a young age.

However, she’d never come across anything that moved as quick as that wolf and either knew to avoid the traps or had such a ridiculous amount of luck.

Her grandmother would have claimed the creature held the spirit of a god and would have chastised her for trying to capture it.

Then again, if grandmother could have seen the size and lushness of its fur, she most likely would have turned its pelt into an epic fur cloak once she finished her scolding.

This wolf wasn’t a god, just a creature whose nature had obviously been tampered with, and the sooner Tanis tracked it down, the sooner she could return home.

She leaned her head back against the bark of the tree and stared at the sky.

The bare limbs let her clearly see the fat full moon shining overhead, casting a silverly glow on everything around.

Its presence reminded her of the general’s warning to stay far from the military installation this night.

Something about them performing a military exercise, one not meant for civilian eyes.

Whatever. She preferred staying outdoors to the cramped cell with its cot they called a room.

The food they’d served was decent, at least, what little she had of it before she’d headed out.

The general—a pompous and cold dick—hadn’t wanted her wasting any time, which suited her fine.

The sooner she snagged the wolf, the sooner she’d get away from here.

She hoped.

Something about the general, this place, everything really, had her on edge. It didn’t help she couldn’t escape the niggling sense she’d never see the place she called home again.

In the distance, she heard popping noises that sounded like gunfire, followed by a howl, a strange and eerie ululation that brought a frown.

It didn’t sound like a wolf. Not exactly.

The baying kept going, rising and falling in timber, almost siren-like before going abruptly silent.

In that quiet, more gunfire erupted, making her wonder if the wolf had gone after some of the soldiers doing some training.

Did she waste her time sitting in the tree?

Should she be relocating to where the commotion appeared to be happening?

She eyed the walkie-talkie, which she’d kept switched off since that first disastrous day when that idiot general ruined her cover.

The thought of beeping him made her grimace.

She’d vowed to only contact him once she trapped the wolf.

Speaking of traps… The clearing held four new snares, carefully placed and hidden with leaves, but she didn’t have much faith in them.

Not with the way this wily predator had evaded the last set.

Still, how else would she capture the damned thing?

As a backup, she also had a tranquilizing rifle strapped to her pack, not her first weapon of choice because an adrenalized predator wouldn’t be stopped by a single drugged dart.

An arrow to a haunch, though, that would slow it down enough for her to put it to sleep.

Screw the major and his demand she not seriously harm it. A hole in its flesh would heal.

The strange howl erupted again and turned into a stuttering high-pitched cackle that had her brows rising.

Definitely not a wolf but canine in nature and most likely a coyote.

Odd, because she’d not seen signs of any in the environs, but not surprising, since they were common in most parts of Canada.

Nuisance creatures, they rarely bothered adults, but small pets and children should be monitored.

The bow across Tanis’ lap shifted as she arched her back to stretch it.

The only weapon, other than her knife, the major let her keep.

He’d confiscated her firearm, reminding her she was to capture, not kill.

He’d tried to take her bow as well, and Tanis had argued that she couldn’t be expected to venture into the wild defenseless.

In the end, the major allowed her to keep it with a stern admonishment to only use it as a last resort and to avoid any grievous injury to the target.

Whatever. If it came down to Tanis or the wolf, she’d kill it without hesitation, and screw what the major or the general wanted.

She should probably try and sleep but couldn’t.

Something told her to stay awake. Despite keeping her eyes opened, she wondered if she dreamed when the attack came.

The coyote emerged from the forest at a speed that shocked.

Tanis never even had time to lift her bow when the creature, running full speed, hit the tree and climbed it!

To those who claimed coyotes couldn’t climb, while rare, if determined, they damned well could, and this one did.

The leap brought it high enough that its front paws found purchase and it heaved itself to the bough across from Tanis.

It immediately lunged, and Tanis leaned back to avoid the snap of its jaw.

In doing so, she lost her balance. As she felt herself falling from her perch, she dropped the bow and latched her legs around the limb.

She ended up dangling upside down with a view of the coyote standing on her branch, giving her a mad glare.

Before it could chomp one of her legs, she let go and did her best to tuck and flip. She didn’t quite make it, and rather than land on her feet, she ended up thumping hard on her ass. That would bruise and hurt later. Assuming there was a later.

She sat up as the coyote barked before scrabbling down the tree, aiming right for her.

A huge thing of snarling teeth and glowing, rabid eyes.

Tanis didn’t have time to grab her bow, and her gun remained slung in the tree.

There wasn’t even time to get to her feet as it coiled its hind legs preparing to launch.

The sheath by her side yielded a knife, the blade on it only a few inches long but better than nothing. The coyote launched itself and hit her hard, drawing a grunt. They both went down, her under it, arms up and blocking the snapping teeth from her face.

If she’d not seen it clearly, she’d have thought she fought a wolf, given its size.

Coyotes usually weighed around thirty to fifty pounds—the size of a medium-ish-to-large dog.

At her current weight of 120 pounds, she should have been able to easily fling it.

Only this coyote, much like the wolf, was much larger than it should be. Another of the general’s experiments?

No time to ponder, as it tried to literally eat her face. Snarling and snapping. Straining to sink its canines. Tanis felt herself weakening and tiring, the mad frenzy of the attack taking all her strength to defend.

The beast was suddenly knocked off her, and she scrabbled backwards while staring in wide-eyed shock at the wolf that had come to her rescue. It crouched low and growled at the coyote, who suddenly decided it didn’t want to fight. The creature darted into the bushes, the wolf hot on its tail.

Tanis blinked at her near-death. How wild that her target had saved her. But then again, not too surprising. The wolf most likely protected its territory.

A knife-clutching Tanis rose to her feet.

A glance around showed no movement, at least in the areas where the moonlight shone.

She couldn’t tell if anything hid in the shadows, but she certainly heard the rustle and snap of animals ploughing through shrubbery.

The sharp yips and guttural growls of the two beasts fighting.

Who would win? Didn’t matter. Both wanted her dead.

Be ready.

She retrieved her bow and readied an arrow before she closed her eyes and listened.

The battle appeared to have ceased, and the forest went still.

Even the wind didn’t blow. Not a bough creaked.

When the battle of the beasts resumed, it proved startling and easy to pinpoint.

She pivoted with an arrow drawn back and ready to fly.

The tussling wolf and coyote emerged from a bush in a tumble of fur and vicious snarling. The pair of them rolled and grappled for supremacy. For all its large size, the coyote lacked the power and strength of the massive wolf, and only sheer feral adrenaline kept it in the fight.

When the wolf finally latched onto the neck of the wild canine, the coyote couldn’t escape.

The shaggy beast closed its mighty jaw, crunching the neck it held, practically severing it in half.

Amidst the spurting blood, the coyote squealed, a wheezing death cry that came with spasming limbs that lasted only seconds before it went limp.

The wolf dropped the carcass and shook its big body before lifting its head to howl.

The eerie sound brought a shiver, but it was those eyes fixing on Tanis when it finished its victory cry that snapped her out of her trance.

Rather than wasting too much time aiming, she let the arrow loose.

This close, the wolf couldn’t entirely evade, although it tried, turning sideways so fast she feared she’d missed.

To her surprise the tip of the arrow sheared through the meaty part of the wolf’s shoulder.

Not a kill shot, just a bad wound that led to the beast bolting.

In its panic, it didn’t pay its usual attention and stepped into one of Tanis’ snares.

The rope tightened around its limb, and with a yelp, the wolf went flying into the air.

Well, damn. She’d caught the wolf. Her lips curved in relief and pleasure. She’d done it. Time to call the general and tell him to bring a cage so she could get out of this place.

Awoo . The wolf expressed its displeasure as Tanis turned her back to dig through the leaves at the bottom of the tree looking for her pack with the walkie-talkie.

The wolf went quiet. The whole forest did, but for the creak of the rope as it swung slightly with its catch. With the walkie-talkie in hand, she pivoted to admire her hard-earned catch. With no phone to capture the moment, she’d only have her memory to recall the size of the beast.

What she saw fried her brain and dropped her jaw.

“Impossible.” She whispered the word, and with reason, because the wolf and coyote were gone. Where the coyote used to be lay a bare skinned almost decapitated woman, and as for the snare that caught the wolf, it now dangled a naked man.