“But if you bring them here, won’t they be running?”
Link gave her a sly grin. “I’ll bring them in slow. Be ready. Oh, and Nicole?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t shoot me.”
Chapter Fourteen
She’d done it.
Nicole rubbed her hands together in front of the fire and stared at the sled lined with cooling bags of meat. Link said they could take a roast to Clotilda on their way back to thank her for maintaining the trap line and could spare some for all three of the Silver families as well, but that wasn’t why her stomach was fluttering with pride right now. She’d made a respectful shot, dropped her animal as Wolf chased down his own, and then she’d said a prayer over its body to thank it for the life that would aid in her survival. She’d never felt like doing that over the hamburger she bought from the store.
It felt important that she’d been a part of this instead of relying on her money to buy protein.
The fire crackled and smoked in front of her, the warmth battling the stark chill in the air. They were short on firewood so Link had left half an hour ago to look for more. He would be back any minute now, and a trill of excitement filled her stomach at seeing him again. The nerves of the hunt were through, and now they would spend the entire night here in the tent together before they drove back tomorrow morning. They would have an entire night of Link feeling good and of Wolf feeling sated before he took another shot of the McCall Reset tomorrow.#p#分页标题#e#
Movement on the other side of the sled captured her attention, and she grinned as Wolf trotted up and sat in the snow.
“Hi, Wolf,” she greeted him, so happy that he was back.
He canted his head and stared, but his eyes were off. They were greenish gray and a different shape, and they were much harder than Link’s. The gray tint in his fur was just a slight shade lighter, and he looked smaller. Acute fear froze her into place.
That wasn’t Wolf.
“Oh, my gosh,” she whispered. “You can have the meat.” That’s what it was after. The scent must’ve drawn it in.
The wolf’s eyes narrowed, and his lips curled slowly over his teeth as he laid his ears back. Long, white dagger-like teeth contrasted against the dark coloring of his wet lips, and as he let off a soft growl, frozen breath blew from his muzzle.
Her breath trembled, and her entire body began to shake as adrenaline dumped into her system. She shot a glance to the rifle leaning against the snow machine, halfway between her and the wolf. Too far, and she would have to get closer to the snarling predator to reach it. Shit.
Moving slowly, she gripped the last log sitting by the fire. The wolf leapt over the snow machine and charged. With a grunt, Nicole swung the log as hard as she could upward and caught the animal under the jaw the instant before its teeth touched her jacket. With a yelp, the animal went sideways and skidded across the snow as she bolted for the rifle. Please be loaded!
She could hear the wolf inching closer, scrabbling for traction in the snow behind her, a desperate growl in its throat to reach her. Skidding on her knees in the snow, she snatched the rifle, twisted, and landed with her back against the snow machine. Clicking the safety off, she screamed as the wolf jumped at her. Boom!
The dead weight of the wolf landed on her legs, pinning her as he let off a long sigh. His chest didn’t rise again. Gritting her teeth, Nicole struggled out from under him, desperate to get away from the dead eyes that stared vacantly at her. Scrambling to her feet, she swallowed another yell of terror when she saw them. Three wolves, two black and one gray, were stalking her from the other side of the snow machine. No time to jump on, much less turn the engine and get up to speed before they were on her. “Link!”
She lifted the rifle and huffed out a breath, then pulled the trigger. One dropped, two bolted for her, and she took off as she jammed another bullet into the chamber. “Link!” she screamed again. Fuck, she just had to buy herself time. She had to keep breathing until he could get to her.
She turned and planted her feet, then pulled the trigger on another. The last one reached her before she could reload. She lifted her arm to protect her neck, and it sank its teeth into her forearm. Nicole grunted in pain as the black, snarling wolf dragged her down with its body weight. It shook its head violently as Nicole struggled to finish cocking the gun one handed. Warmth sprayed across her cheek, and she panicked, jamming the butt of the gun against the hard packed snow. The sound of metal on metal was heavenly, and she aimed the barrel under the wolf’s chin. Its eyes widened with understanding just before she pulled the trigger. She staggered upward, and locked her legs against the uneven ground as she tried to catch her breath.