Willow (Blood Vine Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

through the trees.
                  A scent on the air brought me up short, halting me in my tracks. Dirt skidded up around me at the suddenness of my stop. What was that? I pushed my elongated muzzle into the air and inhaled deeply. I knew that scent, werewolves. But it wasn’t one of Bella’s boys. Who …
                  There was an excited yelping sound to my right, distracting me. Ralph shoved his huge head into my side excitedly. I had not hunted with the pack since we had moved to Grover and even before that it had been weeks. It was nice to see that I’d been missed.
                  “Hey, Ralph,” I called to him. I knew he couldn’t answer me back in his wolf form, only the females had the distinction of telepathy, but he waved his oversized head up and down several times.
                  Ralph was the youngest of Bella’s pack and his youth often showed. I liked him though, which was more than I could say for the others. A low growl signaled a warning and Ralph’s ears flattened to his white head. Simon glared at me with distaste.
                  “I’ve come to hunt,” I growled back at him. His expression didn’t change. I wasn’t afraid though. I brushed past him and into a dense part of the forest.
                  I craned my neck forward, listening for the sounds I wanted to hear. My eyes slit in concentration. I wasn’t as experienced as the boys but I was still wolf. I sensed six bodies behind me, tense and ready. So Simon had decided to join us after all , I thought smugly.
                  Then, two miles west, I heard what I had been listening for. Footsteps. It was big, but light on its feet. My breathing hitched up along with my heartbeats. Rabbit was okay for a quick fix but I loved bringing down deer. My head jerked in the direction of the footsteps. The creature wasn’t moving very quickly. With an excited growl I took off in that direction.
                  I saw flashes of grey, black, and brown as the rest of the pack flew by me. The boys were faster than me, but they wouldn’t take my kill. I pushed my head closer to the ground and dug in for more speed.
                  It wasn’t hard to find the deer and even easier to bring it down. If I had been in my human form I probably would have felt sorry for the animal. It didn’t stand a chance against six male werewolves. In my wolf form I was disappointed that I hadn’t been there to help kill the creature.
                  The boys all dropped to their bellies to let me eat first. Ralph whined impatiently and tried to crawl to me but one look from me and he fell silent, ears pressed to his skull. The warm meat slid down my throat, filling my stomach and rejuvenating my body. Only once did Simon approach me while I ate but a quick bite to his left leg put him back in his place.
                  After I was full I laid down a few feet away from the kill. Alex and Pierre lay with me and eagerly cleaned the blood from my muzzle and paws. The other four brothers fell on the leftover meat with fervor. I wished I could just find a stream to clean up in but Bella had told me this was how the boys bonded to a female. If I refused them, they may eventually turn hostile to me. So I endured it as best I could.
                  Ten minutes later I was loping through the trees on my own. The boys had found some shade to sleep under while their bellies were bloated with meat. I smelled the water before I heard it, so I veered off my path in search of the small stream. The sight didn’t disappoint me; in fact, I was delighted at the sight. It was bigger than I had expected. Without pausing to scan my surroundings I dipped my head and began drinking the cool water greedily.
                  I figured I should probably morph back so I could make sure all the blood was off of me. I wouldn’t want to