Whatever was out there, Snapjaw wanted no part of it.
Behind me I heard a low growl. Leaper was up on her feet, her ears pointed toward the forest, twitching anxiously.
Something was wrong and the cubs knew it.
The hairs on the back of my neck rose. My eyes scanned the trees anxiously but I couldn’t see anything, and I couldn’t hear or smell danger as well as the cubs could.
Snapjaw suddenly bolted. Leaper was right behind him. The two cubs disappeared into the safety of the den.
And then I finally heard it, too.
Strange noises from the swamp, like some big animal was moving around.
But there weren’t any big animals around here except for us.
CR-ACK! A big branch broke. Leaves crunched. This animal, whatever it was, was moving slow. But coming closer.
Twigs snapped under heavy feet.
I suddenly realized what had me spooked. The thing out there didn’t care who heard it coming. It wasn’t afraid of anything, not even wolves.
The noises stopped. Had it gone away?
I was listening so intently I forgot to watch my back. That’s lesson number one. The first thing a cub learns. And I forgot.
There was no sound. Just a gray blur of motion on the edge of my vision as it sprang out of the forest.
I threw up my hands to ward it off but too late.
OOF!
The full weight of the huge beast slammed into my back and threw me to the ground. Rank-smelling breath was hot against my bare neck. Knife-sharp teeth grazed my ear.
Then the great jaws opened and I saw the gleam of teeth just as they sank into my throat.
Chapter 2
It was Wolfmother.
I tried to cry out but the big wolf held my throat between her jaws. Her teeth were hot needles against my skin. Fear churned in my belly. What had I done?
Then I understood—the strange, noisy creature was still out there in the forest and Wolf-mother was making sure I kept silent. She was guarding the den and her cubs.
SNAP!
Danger was coming closer. I could feel Wolf-mother tensing, her jaws still clamped around my neck, as if I were a noisy cub. I tried to tell her with my eyes that I understood, that she could trust me not to make a sound. But she wouldn’t let go.
Then at last, when I thought my whole body would seize up in one big cramp, she lifted her head, keeping her paws on my shoulders. Her eyes bored into me. It was only when she saw me press my lips tightly together that she released me. She twitched her ears once toward the noises still coming from the woods—closer now.
Then with a switch of her tail she let me go and hurriedly checked on Leaper and Snapjaw. Once she knew the cubs were safe, she stood at the entrance to the den, narrowing her eyes in the direction of the mysterious noises. She bared her teeth, growling low.
I hurried to Wolfmother’s side and crouched next to her. I made the reassuring yips that told her I would keep danger away.
She turned her eyes to mine and gazed at me.
“Grruff,” I growled, telling her, don’t worry, Gruff will protect you.
In reply she gave a short, sharp bark, urging me to hurry.
Chapter 3
Our den was in the drier portion of a forested swamp, rich with game animals and thick with trees and low thickets.
I knew the swamp like I knew my own hands and moved stealthily, sliding my feet so as not to crunch the leaves and pine needles, ducking under branches rather than pushing them out of my way, avoiding mud holes and wet places.
I moved without making a sound.
CRUNCH! CRASH! THUD!
Ahead of me the beast floundered around like it didn’t care who could hear it coming. I shuddered to think how huge and ferocious it must be.
I circled around its strange noises and then began to creep back toward it from behind. If it got too close to the den I’d get it to chase me instead.
I could do that much for my wolf family after all they’d done for me.
SNAP!
I froze, holding my breath. Lost in my thoughts, I had stepped on a dead branch.
But the strange beast just came crashing on. My skin crawled. What kind of animal was so fearless it didn’t care how much noise it made?
Then the creature made a strange sound. My scalp prickled. I felt like lightning had just shot through me, zapping my arms and legs. Suddenly I wanted to run back to Wolfmother. But the new sounds tapped a beat in my head, drawing me closer.
I forgot to watch my feet, stepped on a twig, and blundered through a pile of dead leaves. But I wasn’t worried about that now. I was close. Excitement churned my stomach. But what should I do?
THWACK!
Something slashed through the leaves faster than sight and buried itself in a tree trunk no more than an inch from my nose. Something deadly—and wonderful!
Chapter 4
I dropped to the ground as another thing whistled through the air. It hit a branch over my head and dropped to the ground in front of me. It was a stick thing, with feathers on one end and a sharp point on the other. What was it, and how did this strange beast make it fly?
“I got it!” cried a voice. “Let’s see if it’s dead.”
A voice like mine! But this voice made strange high babbling sounds all strung together. The sounds echoed in my brain, somehow reminding me of long ago, of the time before Wolfmother took me into her den. And then something really strange happened.
The sounds began to sort themselves in my mind as if something deep inside me was struggling to make sense of the odd Legwalker noises.
And then suddenly I understood that the creature had tried to hit me with the sharp stick thing. He thought he had killed me.
“You didn’t hit anything,” said a second voice. “You
