Mating Games by Nikki Jefford

Author:Nikki Jefford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

chapter fourteen

Garrick led Raider and Ford through the forest to the Manama River. Birds called out all the while, as though wishing them well on their journey.

Raider’s claws scraped the rocky terrain as they moved steadily up the mountain to the summit, where a cool breeze ruffled his fur. In the distance, houses sprang up like warts over dry, cracked earth, and fractured roads connected them in a maze that led back to the beginning, like a snake devouring its own tail. He sat on his hind legs between Garrick and Ford, watching the silent city below. Raider recalled Emerson’s warning about the humans with their binoculars. If they did have a pair, they wouldn’t see the trio of wolves who sat as still and patient as mountain peaks.

The afternoon slid slowly away with the sky rotating above their heads, dragging the sun to the horizon to make way for the moon. Shadows fell across the city and dimmed the hilltops. The temperature dropped. The earth slipped into darkness while the skies lit up with stars.

Raider’s throat swelled with the urge to howl. On either side of him, Garrick and Ford shifted restlessly before Garrick stood and led the way down the mountain to the wasteland on the other side.

The sands below, usually scalding during the day, had cooled off as though doused in cool river water. The fine grains filled the spaces between Raider’s paw pads, grinding in with each carefully placed step. Garrick walked unhurried, slinking along stealthily, like a shadow slowly stretching across the landscape.

By the time they reached the outskirts of the suburb, fire smoke tickled Raider’s nostrils and accelerated his heartbeat to a steady rumble beneath his chest. Sand gave way to uneven asphalt besieged by cracks crammed with weeds spreading with relentless tenacity to reclaim the earth. The vegetation adjusted itself to the neglected landscape from the grasses and dandelions pushing their way between cement cracks to the once ornamental hedges that had grown wild and bushy. Sporadic trees branched out against houses, the limbs scraping against wooden siding as though they were trying to push the homes down.

“You cut us down to make way for your subdivisions and shopping centers, and now we’ll do the same to you,” they seemed to say.

Ivy twisted up railings and filled in the holes of chain-link fences, creating leafy walls dividing the deteriorating homes. There were plenty more with rotting wooden fences and rusted metal latches. In many cases, portions of the wooden fencing had fallen over, allowing views into diminutive areas of overgrown or dead grass, caved-in porches, and corroded lawn furniture.

They passed a home with junk strewn over a brick patio. Overturned chairs, a barbeque, plastic bottles, a bicycle, an umbrella, and a ladder littered the ground. The windows of the next house had been broken out, and a sun-bleached curtain hung limp at its side. With every structure they passed, the scent of smoke grew stronger.

Excitement thrummed along Raider’s spine. He could sense the

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