SEAL Wolf In Too Deep(85)
But Eric couldn’t let anyone know about this—not when the lawbreakers were wolves.
The moon was full, the cool, dry wind whipping the pinyon branches around, and he caught the scent of a wolf—one of the wolves involved in growing the illegal cannabis—that was loping through the trees dead ahead. Eric and his pack had to catch the bastards running this operation before humans did. Keeping lupus garous secret from humans was paramount.
Eric had been doing one of his usual searches for more of the illegal plants when he’d come across the scent that evening. He’d already found ten areas where they’d been growing. But he needed to actually catch the culprits, and this was the first time that Eric had been this close. Yet Eric was in a real quandary. Darien, his cousin and the leader of their pack, would be furious if he learned Eric had gone after the wolf on his own without calling for backup, but what could he do? He couldn’t let him get away.
All he could do was concentrate on the wolf’s scent ahead of him. It was confident, not fearful—the wolf didn’t yet suspect that Eric was trailing him. Eric glimpsed a tuft of black fur stuck to some of the underbrush, and it smelled of the wolf he was following.
They reached a goatlike path that led to a secluded patch of marijuana. So far so good—there was no sign of any other wolves in the area.
Eric moved in to take the wolf down, but saw movement to his right. Another wolf, this one more beige than gray, had been hiding in the brush. Hell, one gray wolf against two big gray males? Darien would kill him for getting himself into this bind, if Eric lived through it. He didn’t have a choice now. Kill or be killed.
Eric whipped around before the wolf had a chance to attack. He dove for the wolf’s right foreleg, hoping to bring him down before he had to deal with the other wolf. The wolf wasn’t prepared for Eric’s quick assault, and with two hard chomps in quick succession, Eric brought the wolf down. The wolf yipped and growled, backing away from Eric on three legs, favoring his injured one.
Eric swung around to face the new threat. The wolf he’d been following had tried to sneak up on him silently, like a wolf on a hunt. Eric feinted, then swung around and bit into the wolf’s other leg. With a snap, he broke the wolf’s leg.
Neither wolf was totally disabled. That was the problem with just breaking their legs. He knew of a wolf—a real wolf—that had lost a leg in a trap. She continued to have pups, and when she lost her mate, she began attacking sheep as a way to provide for her young. Luckily, the sheep owner humanely caught her and took her to a wolf sanctuary where she and her pups were cared for. But it proved a wolf could still manage to survive on three legs. Which meant these wolves were still dangerous to him.
Neither attacked, but both eyed him, growling, which made him suspect they were both beta wolves. When one lifted his chin to howl, Eric knew he was calling his pack for help. And then Eric would really be a dead wolf. He leapt in a single bound and tore into the wolf. He bit him in the throat just as he felt the other wolf tackle his back.
Once Eric took out the first wolf, he twisted around, but fell on his side. The wolf took advantage, but not for long. The injured wolf couldn’t manage well on three legs. He was in pain, trying to kill Eric with all his might, but it wasn’t good enough. Still, the wolf managed to bite Eric’s flank, and then he lifted his snout to howl.
Hell. His heart racing, furious with the damn wolves for doing something illegal and putting all their kind at risk, Eric tore into the wolf. He only wanted to take him in. He didn’t want to have to kill him. But when he heard another wolf coming, Eric finished the injured wolf off, and raced back down the mountain. The other wolf would have to deal with his dead pack members. Eric could fight another, but not a whole pack if there were even more of them in the vicinity.
His flank was burning, but he tried to ignore it as he ran full-out as if a whole pack of wolves were on his tail. With the enhanced healing abilities of the lupus garou, it would heal up sooner than if he were just human, but it could still take some time, depending on how bad it was.
Eric reached his truck and shifted, the shift warming his muscles and bones, though his wound burned even more. The shift was instantaneous and he quickly unlocked his door using the code, grabbing his medical bag and fumbling around inside it for the disinfectant. Then he bandaged the injury. It wasn’t too deep, thankfully. He hurried to pull on his clothes when he heard a wolf yip about a half a mile away, in a different direction than where he’d just been.
His need to protect a wolf kicked in, yet the wolf could very well be from the same wolf pack that was growing pot. What would the odds be that members from two lupus garou packs besides his were here in the park?
He grabbed his medical pack and headed out at a run, calling CJ, his deputy sheriff brother, at the same time. “Killed two of the wolves involved in the drug operation. Left when a third was on its way. Now I’m investigating a wolf injury.” He gave coordinates for the drug site.
“Wait for me to get there. I’m calling it in to Darien and the sheriff, but I’m on my way.”
“Can’t wait, little brother. I’ll be cautious.”
“All right. I’ll let everyone know what’s going on.”
Eric approached the area, careful to stay downwind. When he was close enough to see what the problem was without the wolf seeing him, he witnessed five wolves around an injured she-wolf. She was lying on her side near the base of a cliff where evidence of a recent rock slide littered the area. By the way the other wolves were reassuring the injured wolf, Eric assumed they were lupus garous, which surprised the hell out of him. He hadn’t seen any in the park before his run-in with the other wolves earlier today. But owing to the size of the national park, it was understandable. Unless they were just visitors and not from the area.