An Undying Love by Janet MacDonald

she made sure she stayed downwind of them.
    She was moving
in the right direction as she could smell the salty sea air getting heavier. As
she entered what looked like an old apple orchard the winds changed direction
and she all but lost the scent. Tired and damn near unable to walk, she made it
only a few yards into the orchard when she needed to stop again as her hind
legs wobbled precariously. She panted as she sat for a moment, her tongue hanging
from the side of her maw. The winds died out as she sat there, trying to regain
some strength. The clouds in the night sky moved, uncovering the moon, and the light
shone from it over the old orchard.
    A soft movement
to her right caused her ears to perk up. There was another sound from her
right. She listened as she looked over the overgrown field. She saw nothing,
but she felt uneasy. A snap of a branch somewhere in front of her had her
trying to regain her feet. They wobbled under her and gave way, not yet ready
to move. A howl resounded from behind her, and it was answered by several more.
They came from all around her. She was surrounded.
    Anya forced
herself up and caught the first sight of the wolf in front. He moved through
the tall grasses, his head low and he snarled. Her hackles went up to make
herself look bigger, and she growled a warning. It was answered by another
snarl to her left. She could see another wolf as he came closer. She turned her
head to a quick movement to her right and barely had time to register the male
as he lunged at her.
    She yelped as
his teeth nipped her flank hard and sank into her. She tried to move, but he
pawed her hind end, trying to get her to respond. She wheeled her head around
and bit him on the face. He yelped, and another advanced. Their smells were
heavy and musky. Her wolf was eager, but none had proven themselves. She made it
to her feet, tucked her tail in under herself and growled at one as he slunk in
low in front of her. She could see five of them. All of them were dark gray-furred
and much bigger than herself.
    The one in front
of her lunged once more, and she tried to step back. Her hind end went down again,
and she saw one of the other males as he tackled the one leaping at her. They
fought for a moment and the first one fell back. It had her wolf interested for
a second, but Anya tried to quell her base nature and forced herself to stand
again. She was prepared to fight off the males if need be. They flanked out
again as she stood there snarling at them on her weak legs.
    The sudden slam
of a male toppled her over from her left and she rolled to stay on her belly so
he couldn’t grab her by the throat and force her into submission. They fought furiously,
and she bled from several wounds. The wolf wrestled with her, biting at her
face, forcing her to lie flat. Before she realized what he was doing it was too
late as he pinned her down. His weight lay across her back as his teeth bit
hard into her shoulder. She yelped repeatedly in pain as he tried to mount her.

Chapter Six
     
    As Dante tracked
Anya, he noticed several times she’d laid down, her scent the strongest in
those areas. His inner animal was more than itching to find her, and he was
having a hard time fighting it for control. He wondered how she’d managed to
pull this off, having been unable to move her legs. She must have healed faster
than they’d anticipated and played on the injury. The hole in the floorboards
had been clawed at so she had to have shifted to do it, and no one had heard a
thing, which meant she’d waited until late at night. Although, her frequent
stops to lie down told him she was still very weak.
    A near smile
rose on his muzzle as he tracked her through a steep incline. He could see
where she’d slid down it rather than attempted to walk. A true alpha female, if
he ever saw one. Anya didn’t seem to let the terrain impede her, as her trail indicated,
and she’d managed to avoid his patrols as well. Her scent stayed downwind