I clutched the cubs to me. But I was too slow. The Legwalkers would catch me for sure.
There was only one thing I could do.
Wolfmother nudged my arm and I put the cubs down. She grasped Leaper in her teeth, holding her by the scruff of the neck.
My stomach flip-flopped. Wolfmother could only take one cub at a time.
Maybe once she’d gotten away, I could come back for Snapjaw. I swallowed hard and tried not to think.
Frantically I started scooping up pebbles. Outside, I could hear the Legwalker creeping through the bushes, thinking he was being sneaky and quiet.
It had to be now, ready or not.
I sprang out of the den opening and threw a pebble over the Legwalker’s head. It landed behind him, rustling up some leaves. As I’d hoped, he whirled and fired his gun.
CRACK!
My ears ringing, I fired off another small rock. This one hit him in the head.
But before he could turn again, I was up the tree that grew outside the den. I began pelting the Legwalker with rocks.
He fell to his knees.
“RRRuuff,” I barked. “RRRRRuuff.” That told Wolfmother to flee, now, fast.
All that practicing with my throwing stick was proving good for something. I never missed.
“Ow!” squeaked the Legwalker. “Hey! Ouch!”
I grinned to myself as I glimpsed Wolfmother slink out of the den and slip soundlessly into the woods.
The Legwalker couldn’t get up. He couldn’t even see what was hitting him. Now if I could only keep him down until Wolfmother could get back for Snapjaw.
But it wasn’t to be.
CRACK! CRACK!
I heard the whine of the gun-arrow as it whistled past my ear.
SMACK!
Another one smashed into the tree trunk I was balanced against. It had missed me by a hair. The things that came out of the guns were tinier than my pebbles. But a lot more dangerous. CRACK! Another one hit the tree and buried itself instantly.
The other Legwalkers had come back.
“Kill it!” they all shouted.
It. They meant me.
Chapter 38
I couldn’t let them get me here. Snapjaw was still inside the den!
The poor cub must be frightened to death.
I took my biggest rock and heaved it into a tree over the Legwalkers’ heads, outside the clearing. It made a big, satisfying noise in the leaves.
“Whoa, where is it?” cried one of the Leg-walkers.
“Wolves don’t climb trees,” yelled another.
“Just shoot it—we’ll figure it out later.”
Gunfire erupted, ripping leaves and sending squawking birds in every direction.
The trees here were close together and I was able to swing myself into first one, then another, moving farther away from the den. There was so much commotion, none of the Legwalkers noticed.
Then I saw a sight that made my heart leap with joy.
Sharpfang! He dashed out of the woods, streaking for the den. He dove inside, and when he emerged he had Snapjaw between his teeth.
I howled and growled, raining rocks down on the Legwalkers to distract them, and when I looked back, Sharpfang was gone.
And I was out of pebbles.
I hunched in my tree as bullets whizzed over my head, feeling very much alone.
Then I started to wonder—could I go after my wolf family? Not now, but maybe after dark when the Legwalkers had given up and gone back to their dens.
I needed my family. I ached for them. Where would I be without Wolfmother and Thornclaw and Sharpfang and Snapjaw and Leaper?
But then, as the Legwalkers crashed around below me, I realized it could never be. The Legwalkers wouldn’t give up so easily and my family needed to be on the run. I was too slow. I’d just hold them back.
The only way my wolf family could survive was without me.
CRACK! I ducked as a bullet ripped through the leaves over my head. One thing I had to do, I had to get out of this tree. But with no pebbles left, how could I distract the Legwalkers long enough?
Then off in the distance, I heard Sharpfang howl. Howl as if he wanted to be heard. As if he wanted the hunters to know where he was. What was going on?
“Over there!” Roy shouted. “Get it!”
It was getting the Legwalkers all excited, that was for sure. They crashed off in that direction as fast as they could go. I almost laughed, easing myself down from the tree.
By the time the Legwalkers got there, Sharp-fang would be miles away.
Down on the ground, I sighed. Which way should I go? What did it matter? I was part Leg-walker, part monster, and deep inside I was part wolf, too. But nobody wanted me.
I stiffened at a small sound in the bushes nearby. Again my pulse began to race.
Chapter 39
It was Wolfmother.
Cautiously, the wolf crept out from the underbrush. She held Leaper in her mouth.
I whined in surprise and fear and barked to send her away. The hunters could be back any minute.
Wolfmother growled softly in her throat and crouched on the ground, folding all four legs. It was what she used to do when I was little. I would climb on her back and ride like the wind.
But now I was too big.
She growled again and fixed me with an impatient eye. Maybe it would work. I longed for it to work.
Biting my lip I straddled her back. Wolf-mother stood and I held on, shakily. She took a step, then another.
But suddenly the Legwalker’s dog, Lady, began to bark in the distance. It was a strangled yelp, like she was struggling with all her might against the tie that held her back.
I knew what had happened. The dog had scented Wolfmother. Wolfmother knew it, too. She began to run. But with me on her back she was slow and her feet sank too deeply into the soft ground.
Excited, the Legwalkers freed the dog to give chase. The yelping of the dog and the harsh shouts of the Legwalkers chilled my blood. They were coming our way, fast.
Already Wolfmother was
