His eyes remain liquid silver, but his body turns into a half-man, half-wolf. A werewolf! Her mouth falls open and when she blinks he is gone.
This hunter must be stopped! Archer listens to him raging and smiles. He will never know what hit him. He leaps, and runs, striking him fast and hard. Sam falls backward, with no clue what is happening. He looks at his body hoping for a bite, but finds none.
Slowly Sam stands up again, only to be hit from behind. He hits the ground on his stomach and skids two feet across the ground. When he rolls over and opens his eyes, he screams in terror.
A werewolf is staring at him snarling and saliva drips from his teeth. Oh how badly Archer wants to hurt him, the way he hurt Makenna. His instinct is to kill the man. He leaps onto Sam’s chest and watches as he smiles his toothless yellow grin.
Just when Archer leans forward to sink his teeth deep into Sam’s throat, a huge white wolf hits Archer in the side knocking him away from the hunter.
Archer and Caleb roll around fighting, with no clue that Sam is closing in on them. He has waited for this all of his life, nothing will stop it now. The pain hits him so fast that Sam doesn’t stand a chance. He falls over on the ground twitching and Makenna holds up the black stick smiling.
“How does that feel, old man!” and she shoves it into his leg once more with a loud crack and sizzle just to be sure he doesn’t get up right away.
At the sound of Makenna’s voice, Archer turns giving Caleb the opening he was waiting for. Caleb leaps and pins him to the ground. Makenna stands staring at them with tears running down her face.
“Archer?” she calls out and stumbles to the ground. Rage flows through his mind blinding him to everything but getting to the man who tried to hurt her. Her voice reaches him, calming his soul and he turns in time to watch her drop to the ground.
In the distance sirens can be heard, they are coming! Caleb growls at Archer and backs off in surprise when he feels the moon touch him. She turns him into a human once more.
Archer rolls over and closes his eyes forcing his body to shift back to the human form of himself.
With a cry of relief Makenna runs to him and throws her arms around his neck. He is holding her tightly in his arms and grabs her face to look into her eyes. Makenna stares into the eyes of her guardian and smiles through her tears, and he kisses her softly. It feels like goodbye, her heart begins to pound.
“Thank you for taking care of me, Makenna. When I was lost, you gave me hope. I will never forget you.” he stands up and helps her to her feet. The sound of car doors and her father’s voice screaming her name fills the night.
“I don’t understand. You are leaving me?” she asks trembling. Caleb walks to her and puts his hands on her shoulders.
“Makenna? Your Dad is coming. We should go.” Caleb tells her gently.
She looks back towards the sound of her dad’s voice, and for one moment Archer looks at the girl who has been his only friend and he thinks about it. One bite and she would be with him forever. One bite and he would never be alone again. But he remembers the empty feeling of losing his mother and he hears the desperation in her father’s voice as he searches for her. It is not the right time. He turns to go.
“Archer?” Makenna calls out to him but this time he doesn’t stop. One tear slips down his cheek as he pulls his shirt off and drops it to the ground.
“Archer!” she calls out stronger. Caleb holds her back as she begins to panic.
Archer stops and lifts his head to the moon. Then he runs. He runs blocking out the sounds of her screams. He drops to all fours, a wolf once more and he runs.
“ARCHER!!!” She screams fighting with Caleb to let her go. He wraps her in his arms and holds on tightly.
“It’s okay, nugget. Calm down. Everything’s going to be okay.” Lights surround them and her father screams her name laughing and crying at the same time.
Chapter
17
Sam was arrested and jailed, charged with kidnapping, torture, animal cruelty, and much more. They found wolves buried on his land and enough evidence to put him away for life.
Four days later Makenna stares through the window into the woods, hoping beyond hope, that she will see Archer again. Bad dreams have been haunting her and she wonders if she will ever be able to sleep through the night again. She did not tell the police about Archer. Oddly enough, Caleb and her father kept quiet too. They were all protecting the Arctic Wolf.
It is snowing again, as it does in the Northern Rockies. Is he safe? Is he warm? Is he with his pack? What if they don’t accept him? Will he be alone? She sniffs and fights back her tears. Strong hands touch her shoulder and she sighs.
“No more crying cousin. I know you are gonna miss me, but I will be back for spring break. I promise.” Caleb says laughing. They can hear the sounds of their grandparents in the kitchen laughing and cooking.
She turns with a small smile and looks up at him. “At least you are not leaving until after my birthday. I expect a present, bubby.”
The front bell rings and her smile fades. Is it him? Her heart begins to beat and she looks hopefully at the door. Her dad opens the door and welcomes Sakari to her party. Makenna’s smile
