The Last Lone Wolf by Maureen Child

Author:Maureen Child
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2010-12-30T05:00:00+00:00

Seven

“Jericho,” she cried, “Nikki’s gone. Nikki! Nikki baby, come to Mommy.”

She jumped to her feet as yet one more howl sounded out, sending shivers down her spine. That one seemed closer than the one before, she thought frantically. How many of the blasted things were out there?

“Damn dog,” Jericho muttered, scrambling to his feet as Daisy began to walk a fast, frenetic circle around the fire. She peered into the woods, struggling to see past the encroaching dark, straining to hear the slightest sound, the faintest yip. But there was nothing. It was as if the forest had swallowed up her dog.

“Where is she?” Daisy sent a quick, panicked look at Jericho. “She must have wandered off when I wasn’t looking. Oh, God, how could I have been so careless? Nikki!”

Before he could say anything, Daisy rushed off blindly into the tree line, pushed by a driving sense of urgency. If there were coyotes close by, Nikki would be helpless. Nothing more than a snack to an animal three times her size.

With her heart in her throat, Daisy shoved through low-hanging pine branches, hardly noticing when the limbs and needles poked at her. “Nikki! Come here, girl!”

“Daisy, damn it!” His shout followed her into the brush but didn’t stop her.

Her gaze swept the darkness, checking every shadow. Beside herself with worry now, she called the dog to her again and then listened for an answering bark that never came. The farther she got from the river, the more terrified she became. Nikki wouldn’t have strayed this far. But she might have gone another way. How would Daisy find her? They should go to the lodge. Get a search party. Flashlights. Something. But she couldn’t leave without Nikki, so Jericho would have to go for help alone.

She’d wait here. She’d keep looking. She had to find the little dog that was her last remaining link to the brother she’d lost. Visions of Nikki hurt, or worse, filled her mind and strangled the breath in her lungs. Her imagination was running at full steam so she screamed when a hand came down on her arm and spun her around.

“Stop,” he ground out, holding onto her upper arms. “You’re not going to find the damn dog running through the woods like a crazy woman. Hell, you don’t even know where you are. How can you find her if you’re lost, too?”

“I’ll find her. I’ll just keep looking until I do. I can’t lose her,” she said, her voice hardly more than a whisper. “She’s all I have. She’s my family. She’s…”

He gave her a hard shake to get her attention, then released her and stepped back. “You go running off like that in the dark and you’re going to end up at the bottom of a ravine. You don’t know these woods.”

“No, but you do,” Daisy said, grabbing hold of his shirt with both hands. “Find her, Jericho. Please find her.”

Clearly disgusted, he said, “I’m going to. But you’re going back to camp.” He turned her around, pointed her at their campsite and gave her a gentle shove.

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