The stench made my eyes water but it was still better than the hot stinking breath of those evil night creatures.
“Where is he?” they hissed to each other. “Can you smell him? Can you?”
They searched for a long time, rooting at the ground and lifting their noses to sample the air. Glowing red eyes pierced every corner of the night.
The werewolves moaned and shrieked and cursed.
“Get him! Find him! Make him one of us!”
I stayed absolutely still as the dank coldness of the water seeped into my muscles. I was stiff with cold, sick with fear.
After a long while, the one called Ripper began to call. His angry howls formed words inside my head and banged against my skull.
“Little one, you can’t escape your nature. You cannot escape us!” Anger made his voice crack and hiss inside my head. “The curse is in your blood. You cannot resist! Come out and we will show you how to take a kill!”
The others howled and stamped the ground and echoed his call, shrieking, “Little one, little one, come out to us!”
The beast in me yearned to come bounding out of the nasty water and run with the pack. What harm could it do? It was my nature! I must celebrate my nature!
But the part of me that was still Gruff refused to give in—I wouldn’t kill, no matter what. I stayed hidden in the icy pool. The cold crept deeper into my bones. I ached and felt I’d never be warm again.
Hours passed and still the grisly things searched, rattling the trees, snarling in anger, and calling to me with pretend sweetness in their foul voices.
Hiding under the old swamp tree, I didn’t move. I could no longer feel my arms and legs. I was nothing more than a wretched lump. Never in my life had I felt more cold and miserable and sick in my heart.
I was a monster who didn’t want to be a monster, and it was killing me.
Chapter 18
I woke up with a jerk.
My body was numb from the neck down. I couldn’t feel a thing.
But it was quiet in the swamp. Somehow I must have slept. Or passed out.
I opened my eyes. Dawn. The terrible night was over at last. I sagged in weak relief against a cypress knee—the root of the cypress tree that sticks up out of the water.
I looked around cautiously.
“Aack!” I jumped.
A frog sat on a rock an inch from my face. It stared at me for a moment, then blinked slowly and slid out of sight into the water.
A few birds sang in the tops of the trees—which they would never do if the werewolves were still lurking. I was safe at last.
Slowly I crept to the shore. I braced my hands on the solid bank to heave myself out and gasped at what I saw.
My hands! They were my own again, small and hairless, with pale, grimy nails and no claws.
I pushed myself onto dry land and lay there panting, feeling the warmth of the sun on my shivering skin. I touched my face and looked carefully at my arms and legs.
It had worked! The monster inside me was gone and I was plain little Gruff again.
As miserable as I’d been, hiding in that cold swamp water, that’s how happy I was now. It had all been worth it. I was free!
I started to get up, hearing my bones creak and groan, when a sound made me stop in my tracks.
A howl.
The birds scattered and another frightened frog plopped into the water.
“ARRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!”
The howling filled the air, died away, and rose up again.
It was heading my way.
Fast.
Chapter 19
A large gray shadow flickered among the trees.
I stumbled to my feet and tried to cry out. But my voice was a croak. And my legs still wouldn’t work right. I couldn’t move.
The howling started again, calling to something deep in my blood.
Soon it would catch my scent. I didn’t want to be found helpless like I was.
Forcing myself to my feet, I staggered in among the trees. I was starting to get some feeling back in my muscles when I stepped into a mud hole and went down hard.
“Aargh!” I dragged my foot clear, relieved to find I hadn’t sprained it.
Then, as I turned, a huge gray blur filled my vision. It hurtled through the air right for me. I put up my arms crosswise to shield my face from the impact.
“Oooomph!” I was knocked flat to the ground and the air whooshed out of me.
A long, warm tongue lapped at my skin, running along scratches and cleaning off the last of the mud. “Wolfmother!” I barked happily. Her rough tongue tickled.
After she’d satisfied herself that I smelled basically the same and was not too damaged to walk, she stood at my side and barked at me to follow her. We were going home.
So that’s what I did. It took most of the day. We were a long way from the den, plus I was sore and bruised, and branches and stickers kept snagging my bare skin.
Wolfmother led me to the spot where I’d left my deerskins but there wasn’t much left of them to put on.
It wasn’t until we got to the den that I really felt like my old self again. Snapjaw and Leaper jumped all over me to show their joy, and Thornclaw motioned for me to finish his dinner.
Only Sharpfang kept his distance. He watched me with cold eyes and moved away whenever I approached, keeping to the edges of our clearing.
“Rrrr-rrrr,” I growled pleadingly, crawling closer to him.
I rolled over and put my chin to the ground to show I was friendly and harmless. But Sharp-fang was having none of it.
Saddened, I let him alone and played with the cubs until the sun
