Read In the Shadow of the Wolf 3 - Splintered Lies for Free Online

there.
Joe came out of the bathroom looking pale and drawn. "Did he tell you?"
"Yes."
Joe looked broken in a way Nick had never seen before; he couldn't imagine how it would feel to learn someone had been poisoning your child right under your nose. Nick could see Joe thinking about it, how the drug would have changed the tiny unborn baby into something neither wolf nor human. Nick thought Joe might start puking again if they didn't get moving.
"Break time," he announced. "It's gonna be a while before Rob gets any paperwork through on Ardenvale. That's enough for one day."
Joe's eye's narrowed but before he could get a word out, Nick was pushing him out the door. "Seriously, if anything else happens today our heads will explode. Let's go run."
Still silent, Joe let Nick get him back into the 4x4. He made no comment as they rode, not even when it became evident where they were headed. Nick found a place to pull off the road and parked behind a group of half-grown saplings, effectively hiding the vehicle from the road. The pair climbed out and Joe began to strip. Satisfied his friend wasn't going to resist taking a much-needed break Nick shrugged out of his jacket and pulled his shirt over his head. With their clothes folded haphazardly on the hood of the car, the men shifted at almost the same instant. Joe took off into the thick underbrush of the forest, Nick right on his heels.
Joe ran. And ran. And ran. Trapped inside his wolf mind, unable to talk to Joe, Nick wondered if he'd made the right choice. He thought, not for the first time, it'd be nice if life imitated fiction and wolves could communicate telepathically with one another. It worked so well in the stories. Then Joe stopped abruptly ahead of him and Nick had other things to think about. He scented the deer as soon as he halted beside Joe. Joe's lighter, silver-colored wolf turned gold eyes in Nick's direction, his expression quizzical. Nick wagged his tail and brushed shoulders with his friend, signaling his approval. His mouth watered at the thought of fresh venison.
Venison. That was the human in him. The wolf hungered for the dark spill of hot blood, the chance to tear into freshly killed meat and eat his fill. They hunted skillfully as a team, as they had so many times in the past. During the hunt they worked so fluidly together it sometimes seemed as if they could read one another's mind. Nick lurked upwind and allowed Joe to circle around downwind to lay the trap. Unlike so many things that day, the hunt went beautifully.
The deer's head came up when it scented Nick the moment he leaped snarling from the brush. The startled deer turned and fled straight to where Joe lay in wait. They had eaten their fill when the wind brought them the sound and scent of Doug's young pack out for their daily hunt. The yips and howls of the excited young wolves was usually something Nick enjoyed, but neither he nor Joe were in the mood for putting up with the youngsters' antics. Deserting the remains of their kill, Nick led Joe deeper into the forest, toward the sound of rushing water.
They found the wide creek bed not far from where they'd taken the deer. Exchanging a single glance they bounded into the water without hesitation, loping downstream and out of Doug's territory. Once past the boundary they slowed, taking time to wash the blood out of their fur and off their jaws. Nick watched Joe, taking note that his friend appeared less tense, and led him out of the creek. The pair climbed the slight grade of muddy bank to find themselves in a tiny clearing. Trees surrounded the haven of sun-warmed moss and grass.
Yipping happily, Nick trotted to where a single beam of late afternoon sunshine managed to navigate the multitude of branches to shine on an area of thick dark green moss. He nosed around the moss, investigating by scent what had been there before them—nothing much, just a few squirrels, a rabbit or two, and a family of mice. The tiny plants tickled his nose and Nick