Amber Silverblood: Silverpack

Chapter Thirty

I could smell buck.

A strong wind whipped through the woods, sending flurries of snow cascading through the pitch black night air. It carried on it more scents than even my wolf nose could sort through, but I zeroed in on the one I was looking for. A buck, big and strong, that had passed through here less than half an hour ago. My stomach growled. I had skipped having dinner with the rest of the pack after the crappy day I'd had at school, knowing that nothing could ease my nerves better than a good hunt.

I may not be able to kill Mr. Wrogan, Ed, Victor, or Hendricks, but I could kill that deer!

I took off through the trees, sprinting between them like a bolt of brown lightning. The buck's scent burned like fire in my nose, and my blood burned in my veins. Life sucked, and I desperately needed to take my anger out on someone. This buck had wandered inside Stark's protective wards against Becky, giving me the perfect opportunity to vent some frustration. Tonight, I didn't want to be weak, helpless Amber. I wanted to be a wild animal, a wolf, queen of the forest.

With my breath fogging the cold air in front of me and my tongue lolling out the side of my mouth, I tramped through the shin-deep snow, kicking it up into the air behind me with every step. It occurred to me, not for the first time, how much simpler life would be if I were to give up on my human life and just be a wolf. No school, no responsibilities, nothing to worry about except finding food to fill my own belly. Despite how much my wolf side loved the idea, in the back of my head I knew I could never do it. Mom and Kimberly were still back in the human world, and it wasn't like my problems would just disappear if I spent the rest of my life on four feet. That wouldn't stop Majestic from kidnapping me and turning me into a pincushion, and one way or another I was going to have to deal with Becky eventually— that is, unless the queen of the forest only wanted her domain to stretch over a couple of acres. I growled at myself, like that would cow my human side into submission. Even if I couldn't really do it, at least I could pretend for a while.

I skidded to a stop, throwing up a wave of snow, and sniffed the air again. The buck had gone... that way! I launched myself into motion again, and howled to the moon in exhilaration. I came to the top of a small hill and spotted my prey. The stupid deer had its head down, drinking from a hole in the frozen creek, but it looked up and spun around as soon as I spotted it. It jumped, obviously not accustomed to seeing wolves in this neck of the woods, and then bolted.

It was too slow.

I pounced in a blur of fur, teeth, and claws. The deer made it a whole fifteen steps before I caught up to it, sinking my jaws into its neck and dragging it to the ground. It kicked and threw its antlers around, but it didn't matter because I'd already severed its vein. All I had to do now was help it die faster. Less than a minute later, its head fell to the ground and its last breath escaped from its lungs. I gave the corpse a feral, bloodsoaked grin, the most human I would allow myself to be tonight, and then opened my mouth and—

Before I could dig in, another howl broke the peaceful silence of the night, and I looked up to see a great grey wolf standing on top of the hill I had just been on. My first impulse was the growl at him and defend my kill, but then his scent reached my nose and I immediately backed down. Stark bounded down the hill, spry despite his age, and examined my buck. He gave an approving nod, a very human thing to do, and stepped back to let me eat. I looked at him, puzzled, and for the first time I noticed that he had a bundle of clothes clamped in his jaws, so he couldn't eat. With his permission, I finally gave in to my hunger and tore into the dead animal.

Don't forget, the prey inside me said as I ate, we're mad at him.

No, not mad, I growled back at it. He alpha.