furiously, the gravel crunching beneath the hiking boots he’d been wearing all day. Eventually, he pulled out a laptop and began clacking away on its keyboard. “Okay,” he said after fifteen minutes of silence that the rest of the crew seemed to relish. “Okay, I’m ready – Alex, get that camera on me.”
Moving slowly, Alex readied his camera and trained it on an impatient Gus.
“Serena, we’ll film your bit after this.” Straightening, Gus looked right into the camera. “Wolves once roamed the Southeastern United States, at home among the mountains I’m standing in right now. Relentless hunting and the urbanization of previously untouched wilderness drove them to extinction, and it’s been over one hundred years since Canis lupus has called this region home.” He paused, presumably for dramatic effect. “At least, that’s what we’ve all been led to believe.
“But have these apex predators really been banished entirely from their native hunting grounds?
“Perhaps not. In the early nineties, efforts were made to reintroduce them to the Great Smoky Mountains. Due to malnutrition, disease and unruly wolves roaming beyond the park’s boundaries, the project was eventually brought to a halt. The reintroduction attempt was considered a failure, but if Braden Spencer and Roscoe the dog were able to speak, they might just tell us differently. Are hungry wolves roaming among unsuspecting tourists, as dark and treacherous as the night itself?
“Here – tonight – we’ll delve deep into the Tennessee wilderness in search of the shadow wolves ourselves.”
Alex shut off the camera as Gus turned on one heel and marched toward the SUV, opening a door and collapsing into a seat like he’d just run a marathon.
“C’mon, Serena,” Alex said, sounding less hostile than usual as he turned to the girl, who’d commandeered the laptop Gus had been using just minutes ago. “Let’s get your two cents in.”
Serena set the computer aside, stepped forward, cleared her throat and introduced herself as the team’s “research expert”. In less than half the time Gus had taken, she rattled off a few facts about wolves, their hunting patterns and various instances of reintroduction efforts.
After that, they piled into the SUV at Gus’ behest, apparently headed for a lunch break.
Michael breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe now he could get back to Kimberly. Even miles from Half Moon Pack territory, her scent still lingered in his lungs, sweet strawberries and cream. The memory of the night before made his mouth water, and he longed for another taste of her, monster hunters be damned.
CHAPTER 5
Kimberly lowered a folded sweater into her suitcase, completing a neat stack. When it was situated, she held on, clinging to one sleeve just like she clung to the past week, not wanting to let go of her time in the mountains.
She couldn’t leave Michael behind. Not after what felt like a lifetime of waiting and hoping. When he’d shown up in the Smokies and approached the Half Moon Pack, she’d been catapulted into a vicious cycle of conflicting feelings – disbelief and shock, uncontainable happiness and yes, anger. The past week had been an emotional spin cycle, and now…
She wasn’t ready for it to end, couldn’t head back to Nashville and pretend everything was normal. No way. Whatever numbness the years had leant her was gone, the deadened nerves in her heart brought back to robust, beating life. Longing gripped her, along with memories of the night before … and that morning.
What did he think of her now – was he dreading her departure as much as she was?
The thought that he might not be stung. She’d waited for him, in her own way, for nearly thirty years – had raised their daughter on her own. There’d been dates, occasionally, after the first few years of isolation, but she’d never felt right with anyone else the way she’d felt right with him. Each of the men who’d briefly been a part of
Moving slowly, Alex readied his camera and trained it on an impatient Gus.
“Serena, we’ll film your bit after this.” Straightening, Gus looked right into the camera. “Wolves once roamed the Southeastern United States, at home among the mountains I’m standing in right now. Relentless hunting and the urbanization of previously untouched wilderness drove them to extinction, and it’s been over one hundred years since Canis lupus has called this region home.” He paused, presumably for dramatic effect. “At least, that’s what we’ve all been led to believe.
“But have these apex predators really been banished entirely from their native hunting grounds?
“Perhaps not. In the early nineties, efforts were made to reintroduce them to the Great Smoky Mountains. Due to malnutrition, disease and unruly wolves roaming beyond the park’s boundaries, the project was eventually brought to a halt. The reintroduction attempt was considered a failure, but if Braden Spencer and Roscoe the dog were able to speak, they might just tell us differently. Are hungry wolves roaming among unsuspecting tourists, as dark and treacherous as the night itself?
“Here – tonight – we’ll delve deep into the Tennessee wilderness in search of the shadow wolves ourselves.”
Alex shut off the camera as Gus turned on one heel and marched toward the SUV, opening a door and collapsing into a seat like he’d just run a marathon.
“C’mon, Serena,” Alex said, sounding less hostile than usual as he turned to the girl, who’d commandeered the laptop Gus had been using just minutes ago. “Let’s get your two cents in.”
Serena set the computer aside, stepped forward, cleared her throat and introduced herself as the team’s “research expert”. In less than half the time Gus had taken, she rattled off a few facts about wolves, their hunting patterns and various instances of reintroduction efforts.
After that, they piled into the SUV at Gus’ behest, apparently headed for a lunch break.
Michael breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe now he could get back to Kimberly. Even miles from Half Moon Pack territory, her scent still lingered in his lungs, sweet strawberries and cream. The memory of the night before made his mouth water, and he longed for another taste of her, monster hunters be damned.
CHAPTER 5
Kimberly lowered a folded sweater into her suitcase, completing a neat stack. When it was situated, she held on, clinging to one sleeve just like she clung to the past week, not wanting to let go of her time in the mountains.
She couldn’t leave Michael behind. Not after what felt like a lifetime of waiting and hoping. When he’d shown up in the Smokies and approached the Half Moon Pack, she’d been catapulted into a vicious cycle of conflicting feelings – disbelief and shock, uncontainable happiness and yes, anger. The past week had been an emotional spin cycle, and now…
She wasn’t ready for it to end, couldn’t head back to Nashville and pretend everything was normal. No way. Whatever numbness the years had leant her was gone, the deadened nerves in her heart brought back to robust, beating life. Longing gripped her, along with memories of the night before … and that morning.
What did he think of her now – was he dreading her departure as much as she was?
The thought that he might not be stung. She’d waited for him, in her own way, for nearly thirty years – had raised their daughter on her own. There’d been dates, occasionally, after the first few years of isolation, but she’d never felt right with anyone else the way she’d felt right with him. Each of the men who’d briefly been a part of
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