Silver, Montana

Chapter 2: Mountain wolves

Bent forward, hand on her knees, Emily tried to catch her breath. They had been walking for an hour, constantly uphill, at the infernal pace set by the two brothers. These men must have superpowers, she thought, to be able to hold so long at that speed. Despite her extensive training, she had been struggling to keep up, and the stitches were becoming unbearable.

Kieran noticed her absence and turned back to join her.

“Come on, we are nearly there!”

“Sorry, can’t follow, you guys are machines!” she uttered between labored breaths.

He shrugged.

“We are going slow actually. The pack is close, try harder!”

Emily winced. She didn’t expect any sympathy, but she simply couldn’t do any better. He would have to deal with it.

“This is the best I can do. I need a minute to rest, otherwise you’ll have to carry me.”

He stared at her.

“If that’s what it takes…”

She shook her head in annoyance.

“You’re not serious, I’m far too heavy for you to…”

Before she could finish her sentence, she was thrown over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes.

“That’s not funny, put me down!” she protested, quite miffed at his reaction.

“I’m not having fun, just doing what we are here for. Stop making so much noise, the wolves will hear you and we’ll have come here for nothing.”

“Fine, but I’ll get you back for that.”

“Whatever!”

Reluctantly, Emily resigned to her awkward position. She rolled her eyes at Owen who was laughing silently. How did they know where to go? Not once did they inspect the ground for tracks, they only seem to inhale deeply in every direction before deciding which one to take. Did they develop their sense of smell by living so close to nature?

They rushed forward for another few minutes, until they reached a clearing. Kieran put her down and motioned her to crouch. A pack of a dozen wolves frolicked in the clearing, four youngsters and eight adults. Slowly, Kieran rose to his feet and advanced towards them.

Emily was flabbergasted. Had he lost his mind? The pack was going to attack to protect the pups! She considered warning him, but thought better of it. Owen didn’t seem worried, and the animals didn’t move.

Kieran got closer and the largest male came towards him, head, ears and tail down, whimpering. The other adults copied his behavior, encircling him. He bent towards them, scratching heads, and some exposed bellies.

Emily watched the improbable scene, fascinated. How could he do that? These were wild predators, not domesticated dogs. Searching her bag, she took a block of paper and a pencil, documenting the composition of the pack, the approximate age of the members and their ranks. They appeared well fed and healthy; there must have been an abundance of preys in the area.

After a while, Kieran returned and she questioned him:

“What did I just see? Are you a wolf-whisperer of some kind?”

Smirking, he answered:

“Nope, I just happen to know these ones. I raised the Alphas when they were orphaned pups. They have a good memory.”

Emily narrowed her eyes at him; did he think she was that ignorant?

“I’m a wolf specialist remember. This doesn’t add up. They submitted to you, all of them.”

“So, they believe I’m their alpha. Is that a problem for you?” he retorted defiantly.

“It’s not normal behavior, that’s all.”

She cut it short. This was wrong on so many levels, but expressing her opinion about it would only land her into trouble. For all she knew, he could just go and leave her there, in the middle of nowhere, and she would never find her way back. It wasn’t worth it.

Owen stepped in.

“If you are rested now, we have more wolves to find.”

Kieran sniffed the air and started in a new direction, so fast that Emily had to jog to catch up. She caught his arm:

“Slow down, dying girl here. I apologize ok?”

He rolled his eyes and complied.

Five hours later, and they had found another pack. Although it was smaller, Emily was appalled at the number of animals sharing such a small territory. She was past the point of exhaustion, and it was nearing the middle of the afternoon. Calling for the brothers, she sat down on a large root and grabbed a snack bar. While reaching for her water bottle she dropped it, and kneeled on the ground to look for it. There, embedded in the mud, was a wolf paw print, or so it seemed. Because it was far too large to belong to a wolf.

“Maybe it was a mountain-lion’s!” Owen objected, apparently unwilling to believe her.

“Cougars have retractile claws, and their paws are wider. This was from a large canid species, and the only one here is the Gray Wolf.”

“Whatever you say, next time we’ll be tracking a wolf on steroids!”

She huffed, exasperated. They had been arguing since they started their descent towards the valley, the two guys making fun of her discovery. A pity she didn’t have any plaster of Paris with her, she could have made a cast of the print.

The sun was gone, and heavy clouds were moving in, pushed by a strong breeze. Kieran glanced at the sky and increased the pace, worried. These could bring rain or worse, snow.

Midway to the village, his worse fears materialized. Thick snowflakes began to fall, decreasing the visibility, rapidly covering the trail.

Stopping for an instant, he faced Emily:

“Don’t take it badly, but I have to carry you again. We need to run, and you won’t manage to follow.”

Emily didn’t think long. She understood his concern; they could easily get lost and freeze to death in the blizzard.

“Do it.”

He lifted her and sped up, covering the rest of the distance in a ridiculously short time. Emily had kept her eyes closed, moving upside down made her nauseous.

She was surprised when he helped her back into a standing position.

“Are we already there?”

He shrugged.

“All the trees look the same. We were closer than you thought.”

She raised her eyebrows incredulously and he frowned.

“But now we have a problem. There is not a chance that you can drive back in this weather. You’ll have to stay here tonight.”