Read Wild Wolf for Free Online

the wolf shining through. “Was it good for you?” he asked, his voice a scratch. “’Cause it sucked for me.”
    â€œIt really sucked for me too,” Misty said, giving a breathless laugh.
    Graham reached for Misty’s hand. She slid hers into his, his fingers barely squeezing.
    â€œWhat do you know?” Dougal said, returning from inside the shed. “Duct tape.”
    Graham let out a chuckle, closing his eyes again. “One human invention that’s useful.”
    â€œLots of human inventions are useful,” Misty said, babbling while Dougal peeled off pieces of tape and ripped them from the roll with his wolf teeth. “Cars, for instance.”
    â€œPaved the world and clogged all the clean air with crap,” Graham said. “Destroyed Shifter territory and made us vulnerable to humans.”
    â€œThanks, Graham.”
    â€œSure thing, sweetheart.” His eyes opened again. “Are you going to tape me up anytime soon? Like before my guts fall out?”
    Dougal wiped the wound as clean as he could with the soaked T-shirt, then Misty helped him hold Graham’s skin together while Dougal taped it closed.
    â€œThis will hurt like hell when you pull it off,” Dougal said.
    â€œYeah, well, it hurt like hell going on,” Graham said. “Now you need to get out of here and look for a spot with a cell phone signal. If you have to go all the way back to Shiftertown for help, do it.”
    Dougal stared. “You want
me
to go?”
    â€œYes, you. Misty will never make it across fifty miles of desert on foot, without water. Right now, I’m a wuss because I’ve been shot, had a hand dug into me, and am being held together with duct tape. That leaves you.”
    Dougal gazed out at the empty land, his fingers picking at the roll of tape in his hands, his face almost gray. Dougal, though in his early thirties, was considered barely an adult by the Shifters. Graham had told her Dougal had come through his Transition—whatever that was—and had been an adult for about a year. But though in years Dougal was older than Misty, in many ways he acted like a scared teenager.
    â€œYour wolf can do it,” Graham said. “Follow the scent trail back to the dirt road. Call Reid, tell him what happened. And for the Goddess’s sake, don’t tell Eric.”
    Dougal nodded, but numbly.
    â€œPromise me,” Graham said. “Not Eric. I don’t want him all up in my face about this. He’ll blab all over Shiftertown that I’m hurt, and we can’t afford for some of my wolves to know that. Understand?”
    Dougal’s eyes cleared a little, and he nodded again. “Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
    â€œNow, go. It’s getting hot, and I’m looking forward to that other human invention—air-conditioning.”
    Dougal plucked his cell phone out of his pocket at the same time he unbuckled his jeans again. “How am I supposed to carry this as wolf? If I have it in my mouth, I’ll bite through it.”
    Graham grinned and pointed a shaking finger at what Dougal had dropped. “Duct tape.”
    â€œShit,” Dougal said.
    Â â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢Â 
    D ougal at least hid in the shed as he shucked his clothes again and changed back to his wolf. In a few minutes, a black wolf with light gray eyes emerged from the shack, his fur shaggy and rumpled, his tail almost dragging on the ground.
    He looked so dejected Misty wanted to put her arms around him and hug him, but she’d learned she shouldn’t do that to a Shifter without permission. Shifters hugged each other all the time, including male-to-male hugs that would make some humans uncomfortable, but an outsider didn’t join the hugging group until invited.
    Misty did give Dougal a gentle pat as she started taping the cell phone between his shoulders. Dougal growled while she fixed the phone in place, but his Collar didn’t spark,