Brand of the Pack - Tera Shanley Page 0,37

the brush.

Running with a pack was nothing and everything Morgan could have expected. A rush of knowledge came with every footfall, every maneuver. A small sound could signify a complicated strategy and a flick of the ears could solidify their plans. An hour passed in seconds as she explored the new territory with them. Grey skidded to a stop in front and jerked his head to the west. The relaxed grunt of a deer reached her ears.

Bigger prey always moved on a full moon. They could better see danger coming with the added light and didn’t have to wait until morning to find food. Good and bad for the pack. They had a chance at a meal, but it would be on the move.

Morgan stalked quietly behind the others and was rewarded with a view of a small herd of deer in the thick of the woods. A large doe and a smaller yearling fed on grass off to the side. The easiest prey. Grey growled almost inaudibly in his throat, never taking his eyes from their quarry. They needed to separate them. He disappeared into the forest and headed west while Morgan led Marissa toward the unsuspecting animals.

She jumped out of the brush at a dead run and herded the two deer forward. Marissa separated the bigger deer off and rejoined her right behind the smaller one. They followed Grey’s scent into a valley and right as she closed in on the tired animal, Grey shot out of the brush and into the side of the deer, forcing it to the ground.

Grey lifted his voice in the victory of their first successful hunt, and Morgan and Marissa joined him. The Dallas pack joined their song from a distance, fading, rejoining, and fading again.

Chapter 11

Morgan opened her eyes to a weight across her abdomen. The heat against her fur was what had brought her back from the depths of a dreamless sleep. Marissa slept soundly across her middle. She sat up and the cream and brown wolf stretched until each of her individual toes could be seen.

Where had Grey run off to? Surely, he wouldn’t have left his pack unless it was for something important. The hair rose on her haunches. Marissa whined and licked at the tender underside of her chin. She let off a shallow growl and trotted in the direction of the house. His scent was still fresh and the hum against her soul lessened with every step. Marissa picked her way carefully behind her. Her soft, practiced paws turned barely a leaf.

Voices drifted on the wind. One was Grey’s and one belonged to an unfamiliar man. As she moved closer, her hackles rose to the point of discomfort. Like someone petting her against the grain of her fur.

“I’ve driven all this way and I want to challenge you,” a lanky boy on the cusp of manhood said with raised eyebrows.

Grey was leaning against the side of the house, completely bare of clothing and utterly unconcerned. “I don’t accept your challenge because my mate has already been claimed. By me. You have no grounds to issue a formal challenge. I have not failed in my duties in any way.” He crossed his arms and glanced behind him as she came out of the woods.

The raven-haired boy jabbed a finger in her direction. “Her, I want her. She’s the silver wolf everyone has been talking about.”

“How old are you?” Grey asked, unperturbed.

“I’m twenty. Old enough to start my own pack.”

Grey snorted. “You are old enough to start your own pack, sure, but you aren’t dominant enough. You couldn’t hold one. You couldn’t keep them safe or keep them together. You weren’t born for it, kid.” His eyes were a deep pool of blue as he glanced down at her and shrugged. Wolf, having no concern at all with the pup, seemed to have retreated.

“I can learn.”

“No, you can’t.” His steely tone suggested he was losing patience with the boy. “The dominance you have in life is the dominance your wolf has when you are Changed. It doesn’t increase with age or experience. Wolf isn’t even threatened by you. How do you think you are going to keep a pack safe? Do you know how much fighting goes in to keeping Silver Wolf safe? The minute another male who is more dominant, stronger, bigger than you comes along, you will lose her. Who is your maker? Why did he turn you so young and why is he not watching