Makenna has seen dead animals before, but not like this. His fur matches Archer’s, the same beautiful thick, silver, and black that she has ran her hands through so many times, these last few months. Her tears begin to flow, and her heart begins to pound heavily. “Noooo…” she moans as she touches the side of the still wolf. This is what will happen to him if Sam catches him!
“Makenna? You were supposed to wait for me!” her dad says drawn by the sound of her voice. He pulls her into his arms and holds her tight. “It’s okay. We will catch whoever did this!” His partner pulls a sheet up over the animal.
“How many have you found like this?” she asks pulling away from him.
Eric looks at her and tells her the truth. “Three in the last few days.” The horror in her eyes mirrors his feelings. “I know it sounds bad, Makenna but…”
“It was Sam! Dad there is something about him, I know it is him!” she says desperately.
“Makenna, we have to have proof before we accuse someone. You know that. I will drop you off at home and we will talk about this more tonight. I don’t like him any more than you do but for now, you need to trust us to do our job.” He pulls her gently from the room and leads her to the truck.
“Just drop me off at the café, I will pick up the snowmobile and head over to Grandpa’s.”
“Good idea, I would feel better if you weren’t alone, anyway.”
Pulling into the café they see the other snowmobile is gone. So she heads straight to hers without going inside.
“Straight to Grandpas, Makenna.” He tells her. She nods to him and waves before pulling off. This is her favorite part of the day. The sun is high in the sky and the snow glistens like diamonds. She flies, fast, and free across the sea of white and from the corner of her eye she sees something. Slowing down, she cuts the engine and pulls off her helmet.
Her dark blonde hair, blows across her eyes and she stares hard into the woods that corners her land. “Almost home,” she tells herself. When she goes to start the engine she hears it, the sound of a puppy or young wolf in pain. “Oh, No!” Images of Archer as a pup flash through her mind. “Not again.”
She climbs off her snowmobile and steps into the thick snow and heads in the direction of the noise. “Arrrr, Arrr, Arrr...” It screams for its mother. Recklessly she runs towards the sound and as it gets louder, she skids to a stop.
The snow has been dug away from a hole in the ground. From inside the hole, comes the screams of a young wolf. Dropping to her knees she leans over the side and looks down. Confusion clouds her face, the hole is empty, except for a speaker. Afraid, she jumps up just as something sharp strikes her neck.
“Ouch,” her hand covers her neck and jerks it free, a dart. Makenna stumbles to her knees as a wave of darkness fills her sight. She falls sideways into the snow and her heart beats loudly in her ears as she hears the crunching of boots in the snow.
“Well, look what I caught! Just the bait I need to catch me an Arctic Wolf.” Sam rolls her onto her back and she stares up into the eyes of the hunter.
He ropes her tightly to his sled and begins the journey to his truck. “Don’t you worry, I will take good care of you.”
Makenna screams in her mind, unable to move. As the drug takes affect she can still hear and feel, but she is paralyzed. A short time later, the sled stops moving and she hears the sounds of whimpering.
Sam opens the gate of his large truck revealing two large cages in the back. In one cage a wolf snarls and growls in its throat but can’t move. He opens the other cage and unstraps Makenna’s body roughly from the sled. When he lifts her body the bracelet she wears snags and beads explode dropping to the ground. Ignoring it, he rolls her inside the cage before slamming the gate shut.
Makenna lays face down, staring into the eyes of limp wolf in the cage next to her. Their eyes meet and she screams in her mind and welcomes the darkness as she faints.
Chapter
14
“For the last time, she will be here soon. Come sit down.” Caleb tells Archer again drawing him away from the window and the setting sun.
“It is not safe for her to be alone, Caleb.” Archer insists. Fear for her has his head pounding and his skin itches and feels tight.
“Enough of this! I am going to look for her!” he snaps and heads to the door. The sound of an approaching vehicle draws their attention. Archer runs to the window to look and sees Eric climb from the truck, but no Makenna.
Caleb joins him and they head to the door to greet him. The door opens and Eric smiles, “Hey boys.”
“Where’s Makenna?” Archer demands.
Eric stares into his silver eyes and his smile fades, “She’s with you, right?”
“No, she never came back Uncle Eric. Where did you drop her off?” Caleb asks pulling his coat on and tossing Archer his.
“At the Café, she was riding the snowmobile here to be with you. Dad!” Eric yells and hurries to the kitchen to get his father. A few minutes later they all pile into the trucks and drive the few miles to the house. Halfway to the house they come across her snowmobile. Archer is out of the truck in a flash and sniffs the air, following her scent, he runs into the woods. He hears the sounds of Eric’s voice screaming her name.
“Eric, I will check the house. You guys check the woods, okay. We
