To Cheat Death

Chapter Eight

The tree line came right up to the cabins.

"I need something inconspicuous." I said.

"Well that wouldn't be me." Said werewolf wryly.

Walking along the forest floor I hoped against hope, that a small feather would be laying around.

Creeping erupted above my head.

Looking up I saw a nest.

Climbing up the tree was easy, even without panther.

An adult black feather hung on the edge of the nest.
Being careful not to touch the alarmed chicks, I gently tugged the feather free and Changed.

I hadn't had this bird before, but I think it was a blackbird.

I had a red streak that covered my brest and midnight black wings.

"Humm your pretty."

Flying down, I steered towards the camp. I circled till I saw the group I had heard laughing earlier.

Twenty people, varying in age, milled around a commens ground.

They filled picnic tables, some were laughing wildly, while others minded children.

"Its strange though." This voice caught my ear. It was Alecc. He and another boy sat at the end of one of the otherwise empty table. I flew a little closer and tried to act like a normal bird. No one payed me any heed.

"I thought at first she was a werewolf. Smelled like one, acted like one."

"I noticed too." Said the boy who had been in the clearing. What was his name? Zacc, I think it was.

"Very strange." Alecc continued. "She was a werewolf. But werewolves don't attack their own. Their Alphas just bend their minds to their wills. And after the meadow it was like she was a different creature."

"Well the werewolves have gotten smarter if they're using pretty girls to infiltrate packs." Zacc said, smirking.
Alcc rolled his eyes.

"She was sneaky too. She lied about being a shifter." A worried look came into Alcc's eyes.

"That kid needs to take lying lessons." Zacc agreed.

"She was a normal wolf, after the meadow and the blood on her face was gone."

"Odd bit of business. Are you going to tell your father?"

He hesitated. "I want my father to know what's happening if she's a spy, but if she's not...I don't want to cause more trouble...What's wrong with Sam?"

Zacc's face darkened,
"The raid didn't go well. They lost five."

Alecc froze,
"Five?!" He hissed. "How on earth did we lose five?!"

Zacc sighed.
"A pair of scouts disappeared. Your father sent another four after them. Only one came back. They aborted the mission in favor of finding the missing wolves. They saw no wer's and only found one of the scouts and one of the search party. Both of them were too late for Sam to bring back. The thing is whoever it was didn't attack the main group."

"So it was werwolves?"

"Had to have been. Wers wouldn't dare face us in battle now. Not when they are so weak..." he starred at the table grimly.
"Someone knew where we were and what we were doing...I'm afraid we have a traitor. And it couldn't have been the girl. It's someone we trust."

A group of children thundered toward me. They ran barefoot across the grass, playing a tagging game. As their attention switched from the game to the bird foolish enough to wander close, I swiftly flew up, evading the children's reaching hands.

The resulting noise drew Alecc's gaze and he watched us with the same piercing glare that said, you're all trouble makers.

Flying to the safely of the rooftop, I strained my ears but the voices below had blurred to overlapping words and conversations.

Scanning the crowd, I searched for something out of place.
Alecc and Zacc stood and started walking in the vague direction of my tent.

"What if they notice we're gone? We should go back." My bird cautioned.

I agreed but waited a moment longer. Hoping something would pop out at me. Something that proved or disproved my feelings of suspicion and mistrust.

Pushing my breath out in a heavy sigh, I took off toward the direction of my tent, sealing myself for a long, stuffy, wait.

Two wolves lay in the shadow of one of the larger cabins. My tent lay just beyond.
I circled above for a moment, curious.

One suddenly jumped on the other. A friendly scuffle erupted between them.
The one who did the jumping sprang away and growled like a cat. It stalked away it's tail raised in a kind of taunt, but the second wolf didn't take the bait. He instead put his head on his feet and made a show of curling up for a nap.

The first wolf ran away in disgust, hoping to find someone else to wrestle.

My attention turned from them.

The wolf's head came up. He peered around as if making sure no one was watching. His ears were up, alert.
He bounded toward the woods.

"Wonder what he's up to. Should we find out?"
Here was the suspicious behavior I had been looking for.

"I don't know if this is a good idea." Said blackbird.