I KNEW WHAT A MESS Blue Boy’s mouth must be —I’d witnessed the attack on the unforgiving steel bars that had left the broken-off tooth lying in the pool of his own blood. It was incredible that he wasn’t dead. I’d seen humans do wonders with lame horses and sick cattle up on the Triple Bar T, but Golden Hair must have performed a miracle on Blue Boy while Furry Face was out stalking Sully.
Curious as I was about it, I figured what Blue Boy needed now wasn’t questions but backup. I flew straight—or almost straight—to the rocky knoll. Lamar was curled up asleep near the foot of the knoll, where he slept when he hadn’t gotten Artemis any food. I landed in a twisted cedar and squawked:
“Come with me!”
Lamar sat up and yawned, displaying his impressive teeth.
“Your father needs you, Lamar,” I said.
Lamar’s face turned grim. “My father’s dead.”
“No, he’s not. He’s at the den site. But he’s in troub—”
Lamar was off before I could finish. He sprinted across the flatland, his big feet sending up sprays of moisture from the newly thawed ground. When he reached Slough Creek, it was looking more like Slough River, but he splashed his way up the flooded bank, not stopping till he reached the boulder.
I doubt the other wolves noticed me returning to my aspen. Blue Boy was standing on one side of the den, his whole body tensed and his tail straight up. On the other side stood Raze, his tail straight up too, the smaller chunk of elk meat on the ground between them. Standing behind Raze, like bodyguards, were Lupa and Ben. Down the slope Hope was standing over Frick, clearly favoring her right leg as she ministered to his bloody wounds.
“Have some food, Blue Boy,” Raze said. “It’s elk, your favorite.”
Blue Boy said nothing.
“Your ribs are showing,” Raze said. “Those humans didn’t feed you?”
“That’s no concern of yours,” Blue Boy snapped.
“Do something to your mouth, did you?”
“Time you shut yours.”
“You don’t look so good, old wolf. Did you wear yourself out?”
Blue Boy arched his neck, his fur standing on end, and let out a low snarl. “I’ll wear you out.”
But tossing the bigger chunk of meat into the den must have aggravated his poor gums, for the blood was now flowing freely from his mouth. Worse, he was wavering on his feet, as if standing in a high wind, when there wasn’t so much as a breeze.
“Father!” Hope said in alarm.
As Raze crouched to attack, Lamar stepped out from behind the boulder. Hope twisted her head around. “Lamar!”
Everyone looked his way. Even Frick lifted his head off the ground and watched as Lamar climbed the hillside, weaving among tufts of new grass and splotches of melting snow. Raze rose out of his crouch and gave him a murderous glare. Blue Boy looked disgruntled.
“Taking a break from your coyote?” Blue Boy said.
As Lamar passed under my aspen, he shot me a look. Deservedly, as I had let the cat—or coyote—out of the bag. But he just kept climbing. He went right up between Blue Boy and Raze and ripped off about half of the remaining hunk of elk. After chewing a while, he crouched and swiveled toward Blue Boy, as if now he was going to challenge him. Every muscle in Blue Boy’s shaky body stood out.
But all Lamar did was creep forward and give the bottom of Blue Boy’s bloodied snout a kiss. Then he regurgitated the elk he’d just chewed onto the ground and moved off to Blue Boy’s side. Lupa’s eyes grew round as a deer’s. Raze’s blazed with fury. Lamar watched his father. Blue Boy sniffed, gave Lamar a dubious sidelong look, and sniffed again. He lowered his snout tentatively and sampled the pre-chewed elk.
It took him a little while, but Blue Boy devoured it all. The meal didn’t staunch the flow of blood from his mouth, but it seemed to restore his stability. He swiped the grease and blood off his lips with his tongue and gave Lamar another sidelong glance before turning his gaze on his other son. Ben hung his head and stepped backward, his tail between his legs.
Then Blue Boy’s eyes fixed on Raze. “What were you saying?”
If it had been anyone other than Raze, I would have pitied him. A moment ago he’d been about to dispatch the wobbly alpha and take over the pack. Now he was faced with two wolves, each bigger than he was—on the very spot where his father had humiliated him almost two years ago.
“Nothing,” Raze muttered, his tail wilting.