The wolf growled, his fangs flashing white in the fading darkness. She steadied her aim. The weapon she held didn't shoot bullets, but tranquilizer darts.
"This is going to sting, but it won't harm you."
For a moment, the wolf stared at the gun, then raised his glowing eyes to her face, as if he understood the contradiction between her words and the weapon in her hand.
"I'm going to put you to sleep so I can determine the seriousness of your injury." She stepped closer. "That's it. Sit still so I can get a good shot."
Stephanie fired, then cussed because she had the gun on safety. In the time it took her to glance down, pull the safety back and glance up, the wolf attacked. The force knocked her to the ground. She tried to raise the gun, but the animal's teeth clamped around her wrist.
Pain registered before she yanked her hand away and fired. The dart hit him in the shoulder. The animal stared down into her eyes. His hot breath fanned her face. Saliva dripped from his sharp fangs. Stephanie had been filming wolves for three years, but she'd never gotten this close and personal with one. She was terrified, but she was fascinated at the same time.
The only thing she could do was remain motionless, hope the animal wouldn't rip her throat out, and pray the drugs took effect quickly. The beast snorted, then sniffed at her neck. She closed her eyes, waiting for the pain of his teeth to follow. A wet tongue touched her throat. The animal licked her neck. She opened her eyes.
The night was quickly fading, but she saw him more clearly. More clearly than she wanted to see him at this close range. He was as black as midnight. But his eyes?she swore they were blue. She blinked, and in an instant he was gone.
Lying perfectly still, she tried to control the racing of her heart, the ragged sound of her breathing. For all she knew, the animal hadn't gone. He could be watching. Waiting to pounce. It seemed as if an eternity passed, although Stephanie imagined it hadn't been long.
Slowly she rolled to her side and sat up. She glanced around the area. Nothing. How had the animal managed to run away, injured as he was? He wouldn't get far, that much she knew. The drugs would take him down. When she tried to rise, pain shot through her wrist. She stood and tried to look at her injury. The light wasn't strong enough. Her campsite wasn't far. Stephanie planned to return, disinfect and bandage the wound, then gather the supplies needed to nurse the wolf.
She followed a trail she'd created with a package of tissues back to camp. It was dark inside her tent. Without wasting time to light the lantern, she fumbled through her supplies, disinfected her wrist, then wrapped a bandage around the wound. It stung like hell. After gathering the supplies she needed, Stephanie hurried out. She retrieved a flashlight from her Jeep, annoyed she hadn't thought of snatching it after she'd heard the gunshots, and before she'd run unthinking into the night. Poaching was a serious problem all over the world. Her response earlier had been automatic. She'd assumed that whatever was being hunted, it was probably illegal. She'd been right.
The trail of tissues she'd marked had been easy to follow. Locating a trail of bloodstains from the wounded wolf was not as simple. Once she did, Stephanie expected to find the sedated animal quickly. The sun had completely risen by the time the trail led her to a small clearing, and to a house?a cabinlike structure with animal pens in the back and the front door standing wide open.
A sign outside the cabin read "Rick Donavon, DVM." She followed the bloodstains up the creaky steps. Pulling her gun from her jacket pocket, she stepped inside the cabin.
Nothing looked out of the ordinary. There were no immediate signs of human life, or of the animal. On the floor she saw bloodstains leading to a hallway, where she heard the sound of running water.
She found two rooms off the hallway, an unoccupied bedroom and a bathroom. The bathroom door stood cracked an inch. She pushed it open, stepping inside. Hot steam curled around her. Through the haze, she spotted another bloodstain, on the floor in front of the shower door.
The shower door suddenly burst open. A man stepped out, reached inside and shut off the water. He