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cracked and strange. It had only been in the clearing an instant when another wolf burst out of the trees
running close behind it -- this one was platinum white with pale eyes -- McKinsey! I realized with a start
that the black wolf with gray stripes had to be Doctor Locke. But how had he turned himself into a wolf?
I had been under the distinct impression that he wasn ta were , like Ben and Savage, so how had he
managed to shift forms?
My questions were driven out of my head when the black and gray wolf launched itself at the larger gray
and brown one. The doctor was going after Savage! But he was no match for the enraged Lead Wolf.
Even limping on three paws, Savage repelled the attack almost contemptuously, bowling the smaller wolf
over with a head butt. Locke launched himself again, the moonlight gleaming on the gray stripes in his
flanks, and Savage plucked him out of the air easily, his strong jaws closing on the smaller wolf s throat. I
heard the distinct click of teeth meeting, and one agonized howl abruptly cut short as Savage crushed his
attacker s windpipe.
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The white wolf threw back her head and howled mournfully as Savage shook the limp figure of the wolf
that had dared to challenge him. The rest of the pack answered her howl. They were on the ragged edge
of a change, but still they held back. Was it because they were waiting for an end to the conflict or
because they were forbidden to change until the final kill had been made? But Ben, who had been
hanging back as the other action took place, didn t howl with the others. Instead the compact black wolf
that was the man I loved sprang into action.
He rushed in before Savage could drop the body of the dead doctor/wolf to the ground, and his teeth
closed on Savage s left foreleg. I heard the quick, painful snapping sound again, and when he danced
back, Savage was truly crippled. The Lead Wolf howled and snapped angrily, but with no way to rest his
weight on his two front legs, he had lost all the leverage he needed to fight. He was finished and everyone
watching knew it.
This time there was no holding the pack back. I saw them begin to twist and writhe, their forms changing
from human to animal in a matter of about sixty seconds. They threw up their heads and bayed at the
moon as one, before advancing on the figures in the center of the clearing. Clearly, they wanted Ben to
finish what he had started, and just as clearly, he didn t want to.
He backed away from the crippled Lead Wolf, his fur standing on end and a soft growl I felt rather than
heard rumbling in his throat. Even in his purest, most animal form, Ben was not a killer, and part of me
loved him for that.
Seeing that he wasn t going to finish the job, the other wolves in the pack apparently decided to do it for
him. As one, I saw them dive onto the wounded Lead Wolf and pull him to the ground. There was a jet
of blood, black in the moonlight, and I turned my head, unable to watch anymore.
The Goddess is worshipped in blood! Molly s voice startled me, and I looked down from my vantage
on the flat stone altar to see that the women of the pack had retreated from the mass of writhing, furry
backs, and circled around the priestess instead. The white wolf that was McKinsey was also there,
crouched at the priestess s side, whining low in her throat. Both of the men that had cared for her were
now gone, and the air of fear and loneliness she exuded was almost a palpable thing.
You know what is expected. Molly looked at each woman in the loose circle around her and then up
at me. You know what you must do. Open yourselves to the Goddess! Her needs are only half
met -- let her fill you!
She raised her hands over her head in a welcoming gesture. Oh, Goddess, we have met thy hunger for
blood. Now fill us with yourself that we might meet thy need for flesh. We open ourselves and we call to
you -- do as you will with us. Use us, take us,make us what you will. We surrender to your hunger as we
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