And the Wolves Will Cry

Ch 16: Stalling Doesn't Always Work

Max POV:

Em and Sam were asleep, so I went on a hike; I was out for a few minutes when I heard someone talking.

"You know, if you were fast, we wouldn't have needed to wait" a girl said,

"Shut up, it worked, just not in the way you thought" that voice was much deeper, a boy perhaps.

"Quiet pupheart, I don't like unexpected things and you know that" then she'll really not like me.

"I know, but YEESH, Luna needs to lose a few pounds" I heard a smack, and then a yip.

"Char, you don't EVER talk about a female's weight, we've been over this." Char? As in Charcoal? As in Charcoal and Juniper. This was not my lucky day; I peeked my head out and saw the two wolf-people carrying Luna, Well, that can't be good. They stopped moving

"Do you smell that?" Charcoal asked

"My sense of smell is limited you coyote brain"

"It smells like, Human"

"Now you're just bragging on how you can differ our wolf and human scents, Char, I told you no one can do that, so cut it out"

My eyes darted around, looking for an escape plan. Trees, can wolf-people climb trees? But if I run, Luna will stay with those mutts. The thought made me mad. I knew what it was like to be unloved and uncared for, Luna didn't deserve that. I picked up some rocks as quietly as I could, and I tossed some as far away from me as possible, I hope this works.

"Hey Ju, do you hear that?"

"Probably some rodent, come on, we've got a warrior to haul."

"But I'm HUNGRY, you made us skip meals for the past week, so what if it's a rodent, it's probably got some meat on it" Is this actually working? I tossed another stone to be safe.

"Well, I suppose we'll be in a better condition to subdue Luna if we're not weak from hunger"

Then she immediately chased after a squirrel, when Charcoal in tow, leaving Luna behind.

"Come on Luna" I tried to pick her up, but Gym was never my strong suit, and I toppled over.

"Man, Charcoal was right, you do need to lose some weight"

I knew I'd get a paw upside the head later, but I didn't care. I decided to drag Luna back to camp since I wasn't going to leave her. After a minute of hardly useful dragging, I tried to wake her up.

"Luna, wake up, I need your help" Still out cold.

"Where is that mutt, I thought she was right here" I heard Juniper complain.

Crud, I did some quick thinking of how far Sam might've been, none of the outcomes good. What can I do? I'm not a fighter, but I'm not a horrid actor, even on the streets, I couldn't hold my own in a fight. So what did I have, My reflexes, charisma, and my head, as always. Let's see, from what I've seen, Juniper fights for a kill but holds honor, I could grab her attention and race back to camp, but I don't think Sam can take her style on. No, the only person who could fight Juniper was Luna, and she was out cold.

"I think I smell something over here" Charcoal points out.

I can try to stall and attract attention, it's my best bet. I jumped out of my hiding spot.

"Hello, I don't believe we've been properly introduced, I'm Max Crow, and who are you?"

"I am Charcoal, after the factory where I was found, that's Juniper, she's called that because her hair's the color of Juniper berries," Charcoal explained, so he got lost in thought easily, interesting.

"Charcoal you Mutt! Get him, he's an ally of Luna" Juniper barked

"An ally, WHAT? Luna hasn't even told me about you wolf-people things yet, she abandoned her 'friends' when things went downhill for her" I sympathized.

"Yes, it does seem like she's making a hobby out of that, but I but enough stalling, something tells me you know where Luna is, if you tell us, we'll let you go, it's better for her if we get her before the hunter. simple as that, no if's and's or but's"

"I don't know what you're talking about, who's the hunter?"

"No more questions, Char get him" Juniper scoffed,

"But I always do the heavy-lifting" Charcoal complained,

"Because it's the only thing you're good for, fleabag" Juniper remarked,

"Wow Ju, that hurt"Charcoal winced, but that didn't stop him from turning toward me and lunging.