Follows Another Country
Part Four of the Dark Moon series.
Tyler Hill was careful as he pulled the battered jeep into the turnoff to the Larabee ranch, but his companion shot him an annoyed glare anyway, as the truck bounced over the cattle guard. He sighed softly to himself. Some days it seemed he was on Angela's shit list just for breathing. He stole another look at the young woman seated next to him and gave another wistful sigh.He knew it was a lost cause to have a crush on her, but he couldn't help himself. The two were graduate Biology students at the University of Wyoming, currently teamed to investigate reports of a wolf pack in the area. Their assignment was to photograph, document and radio tag the animals in order for the Department of Fish and Wildlife to keep close track of them. There had been a complaint filed by a nearby cattleman of one of his calves being killed by the pack.
Mr. Royal had been only too helpful in pointing them in the direction of the horse ranch. He had stated that he believed the animals had their den somewhere on Larabee's property. He had heard them howling during the last full moon. Privately, Tyler got the impression that the man would be only too happy to cause trouble for his neighbor. Maybe because Larabee's property was clearly posted with 'No Hunting' signs, and the word in town was that the man would not tolerate trespassing on his land.
He was jolted from his thoughts by Angela's crisp voice.
"Remember, Tyler, let me do all the talking. I'm sure I'll be able to persuade Mr. Larabee to let us set up our base camp down by the river."
The curvy blonde automatically checked her reflection in the rearview mirror, smoothing a lock of her curly hair back into its ponytail. Tyler hid a smile. Intelligent, beautiful, and vain. Yep, he sure could pick 'em. But he had seen Angela charm the most hardened rancher with nothing more than the flutter of her lashes and a sweet smile.
He nodded obediantly, and focused his attention back on the drive. The sprawling stone ranch house and barns were coming into view.
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Buck Wilmington reclined nude in the back porch hammock, sleepily soaking up the sunshine and lazily debating on whether to take a quick snooze or not. He could hear Chris in the kitchen, banging pots as he prepared stew for lunch. Vin was sprawled on his back on the sunny porch, also naked as the day he was born, already asleep. Buck's moustache twitched with amusement at the sight. The younger man was covered with a half dozen fluffy, napping kittens, with an equally sleepy baby boy curled up in the crook of one arm.
The batch of rambunctious young'uns had worn themselves out playing in the yard. Vin had taken an immediate liking to little JD, as Buck called him, declaring John Daniel too long a handle for such a bitty boy. He had proudly carried his kittens up from the barn to show the toddler, and they had spent several happy hours playing stalk-and-pounce on the porch under Ripley's watchful eye, while little JD gurgled and squealed approval.
The sudden crunch of tires on gravel had Wilmington quickly sitting up and swearing loudly. Damn. No time to look for clothes or to duck inside. A few seconds before the unfamiliar vehicle wheeled around the corner of the house, he vaulted out of the hammock and shook Vin awake with a brisk one word order.
"Shift!"
Tanner obeyed instantly. Larabee had already warned him about being wary with strangers, and to listen to Buck and follow his lead if he wasn't around. The next moment, there were two large wolves where two naked men had been. Vin remained in his supine position, mainly because he was still covered with snoozing kittens.
Unperturbed by his abrupt switch, they and JD merely snuggled closer into Vin's soft fur and settled back down to nap, the kittens purring in approval at their warm, furry mattress. Buck sat up straight and woofed at the arriving truck, trying very hard to masquerade as a watch dog. He thought the wagging tail and lolling tongue were a nice touch.
Vin rolled over carefully, unwilling to expose his soft belly to strangers. His purring entourage obligingly shifted with him, and little JD sat up sleepily for a moment before curling back up against Tanner's side, again using him as a pillow. The last couple of days had accustomed the toddler to the sudden appearance and disappearance of various "goggies."
Tyler stopped the truck outside the house, and switched off the engine. Before he could say anything, Angela grabbed his arm hard with one hand, and hissed,
"Look!"
Tyler blinked disbelievingly at the sight of two adult wolves on the porch in front of them. No way! He squinted at the canines.
"They must be hybrids. Maybe a Husky mix..."
There was no other explanation. Larabee probably kept them as watch dogs to keep the property free of coyotes.
"No!" Angela stated firmly. "I know wolves when I see them, and those are wolves!" She indicated the big black animal alertly eyeing their approach. "No Husky mix is that large!"
The pair descended warily from the truck, careful to move slowly. Their caution was rewarded when both canines curled their lips in warning, revealing glistening white fangs. The massive black animal moved deliberately between them and the porch, obviously on guard despite his wagging tail. Tyler swallowed hard. Damn! That was one big canine! He blinked again and pushed his glasses up his nose.
The slam of the screen door brought both their heads up, and they reluctantly tore their gaze from the 'wolves' to the tall blond who stepped out on the porch to stand behind the animals, hands on his lean hips. Tyler met the man's regal gaze, and gulped again. Beside him, he heard Angela give a little gasp, and he felt a hot flush of embarrassment flood his freckled face. Great. He had seen Angela snap into seduction mode before, but never this quickly.
She stepped forward, hand extended, a sexy smile curving her full lips.
"Mr. Larabee, I'm Angela Bremer and this is my colleague, Tyler Hill, we're here to..."
Two bass snarls froze her in her tracks as the big black wolf planted himself deliberately between her and the man on the porch, and the smaller gray rose stiffly, hackles raised. Tyler stared, belatedly realising that the animal was defending a baby and a batch of small kittens. Even as he watched, the toddler sat up sleepily, one tiny fist knotted into the wolf's ruff, the other rubbing his eyes, and one of the dislodged kittens yawned and batted fearlessly at the canine's tail.
Angela started forward again, and this time both animals took a menacing step forward, teeth bared, eyes fearlessly locked with hers. She gulped, and froze again. Tyler decided it was time to say something. He looked up into amused green eyes, and realized with a shock that the lean blond was silently laughing at them. He flushed again, this time with anger.
"Mr. Larabee, we were sent by the Fish and Game department to investigate reports of wolves in the area. I guess they were right." He indicated the two canines with a wave of his hand. Angela for once was silent.
Larabee cocked his head and gave them a wide, white smile that made the hair on Tyler's nape prickle. He arched a blond brow.
"You mean my dogs?" he said calmly.
"Dogs! Mr. Larabee! These are obviously wolves!" Angela spoke sharply, chin up, her blue eyes flashing.
The smile widened into a smirk. Larabee folded his arms over his chest and coldly stared her down.
"Wolves don't have blue eyes, Miss Bremer."
Angela blinked uncertainly, unused to being corrected, and in that particular tone. Her mouth pursed and she dropped her eyes to the animals in question, blinking when she realized Larabee was correct. Both animals had blue eyes. Tyler fought down a smirk of his own, for once he had been right!
Both young biologists stared at the 'dogs' doubtfully, they had never seen canines with such dark blue eyes before. Huskies sometimes had pale blue eyes. Reluctantly they raised their heads back up to meet the rancher's amused gaze. The big dogs never moved from their watchful positions, eyes alert on the intruders. Realizing they had gotten off on the wrong foot, Tyler made an attempt to put things right.
"I'm sorry sir, but we've had reports of wolves attacking cattle in the area, and we were told that there might be a wild pack living on your property. Maybe they wandered down from the mountains?"
Larabee met his eyes coolly. His wide mouth quirked with amusement and he spoke calmly.
"I'm sure Royal was only to happy to claim his coyote-killed calf was slaughtered by wolves. I'll bet he neglected to mention that he runs his calves on the Nature Preserve as well. Every now and then a young wolf wanders down from the rez pack following the elk, but they don't stay." He tilted his blond head to indicate his canine companions.
"My boys see to that."
Deflated, Tyler's shoulders slumped in disappointment. He was hoping to have been able to document a pack for his thesis. Disappointed, he regarded the dogs wistfully. Damn. Tentatively, he extended a hand towards the big, black male. To his surprise and pleasure, the big dog sniffed his fingers in a friendly manner. Not to be outdone, Angela stepped forward as well, and held out her hand, only to gasp as the animal stuck an impolite nose in her crotch and sniffed loudly, tail wagging furiously.
"Buck." The soft warning from Larabee had the dog whining softly and stepping back immediately.
Tyler watched in admiration. Larabee had complete control over the animal, a soft vocal command all that was necessary to rein him in. Apparently the animals had no doubt that their owner was alpha of their 'pack'. As he watched, the smaller gray limped slowly over to lean against the rancher's leg, his small charge toddling along with him, still clinging to the animal's ruff. A string of sleepy kittens followed, small tails held high.
Angela flashed another sweet smile at the handsome rancher.
"Then you won't mind if we camp down by the river for a few days, just to confirm that?"
Tyler stared at her curiously. When she used that syrupy tone, she was up to something.
Larabee regarded them both for a moment with narrowed eyes, then flashed another one of those sly white grins that unnerved Tyler, and nodded. His voice was curt, dismissive as he replied.
"You can have a week before I turn my fillies out to graze in that field. Then I want you gone."
Tyler flushed again, and he and Angela stood for a moment, then realized they had been unceremoniously dismissed. Faces hot, they turned back to their vehicle. Bremer slammed the door hard when she climbed in. Tyler gave Larabee a small farewell wave. It was not returned. Both man and dogs stood and watched until the truck was out of sight.
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Tyler stayed quiet, while Angela silently fumed in the seat beside him. He did a small, mental countdown. Sure enough, she gave an outraged hiss, and turned angry eyes on him.
"What an arrogant son of a bitch!"
Tyler gave her a small smirk.
"Why? Because he didn't fall at your feet?"
She huffed, and folded her arms, glaring at him.
"I think he's hiding something."
He regarded her wearily.
"Yeah, Angie, Larabee's got a entire wolf pack living in his kitchen."
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Chris waited until the jeep was out of sight. Then he slowly turned narrowed eyes on his beta.
Wilmington immediately flopped over on his back, tongue lolling, all four legs stiffly in the air, a lupine parody of a dead dog. The corner of Larabee's wide mouth twitched, but he maintained his disproving demeanor.
Beside him, Vin shifted and rose easily to his feet, JD held on one hip. Anxiously, he nuzzled his mate's jaw. Larabee slid a warm arm around him and kissed his cheek reassuringly. Buck shifted as well, and rose meekly to take his medicine. He gave his alpha a sheepish grin, and huffed out a breath,
"Sorry, Chris. It's my fault, I was half asleep."
Larabee frowned sternly and spoke quietly, seriously.
"We have to stay alert, Buck, especially now. We've got too much to lose." He shook his head ruefully. "You would shift just in time to greet a couple of biologists looking for wolves."
Abashed, Wilmington nodded. "Yeah, just my luck."
JD grinned toothlessly at him from Tanner's hip and happily held out his arms.
"Da Da!"
Buck beamed back and reached for the baby.
"Come 'ere you little poop machine."
Vin grinned and Larabee rolled his eyes at Buck's antics.
That first shitty diaper had been quite a revelation to Wilmington. He had been both appalled at the odor, and amazed by the amount. An exasperated Nathan and patient Rain had provided the big beta with a stack of parenting manuals, as well as basic lessons in child care, then had watched in something akin to awe as Wilmington fearlessly blundered his way into single parenthood like bull in a china shop.
Wilmington had been surprised and gratified when Chris had quietly offered them temporary living space at the ranch, and use of Adam's old crib and high chair. Vin was delighted with the baby's presence and was very protective of him. They spent happy hours playing and learning together. Buck was proud to be offered the chance to den close to his alpha. It was a good sign that Larabee was willing to take a more social stand with the pack he had previously been indifferent to.
Ezra had dryly pointed out that the number of every female in the pack was on Buck's speed dial if he had the slightest question. Josiah and Rain had helped Wilmington shop for the necessary food and clothing for the child, sternly dragging him out of the toy store when he would have spent a small fortune. They were all secretly looking forward to Miss Nettie's reaction to Vin and little JD when she returned from her trip to Idaho to visit her sister.
"So Chris, what are we gonna do about those biologists?"
Buck absently bounced JD in his arms.
Larabee sighed and scratched his chin, eyes thoughtful. If Hill and Bremer found no wolf sign here, they might linger in the area to search and the Solstice Hunt was less than two weeks away. On the other hand, if he provided them with evidence of a lone wolf, they would have no choice but to take him at his word and move on about their business. Plus, they had already gotten good looks at Buck and Vin in lupine form. He turned an evil, white grin on his beta.
"Buck, call Ezra. Tell him we have a little job for him."
An equally broad smile spread across Buck's handsome face. He lived to needle the genteel, city raised Standish. He was looking forward to this month's hunt, but it would be Ezra's first. The southerner had so far managed to excuse or absent himself from the previous ones he had attended. Wilmington suspected that he just didn't want to get his paws or pristine fur dirty.
"We gonna have Ez sucker them kids?"
Larabee nodded, absently running a hand down Vin's bare back. "Yeah."
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The next day, Hill and Bremer were setting up camp in a small clump of cottonwoods along the small river that bordered the eastern edge of Larabee's ranch. They were careful to camouflage their small tent, and were currently standing on the riverbank debating on where to place their blind. Tyler thought the clump of willows they were standing next to, close to the deer trail, was a good spot, while Angela argued for farther downriver.
Tyler was more then a little peeved at his companion. From the moment she had climbed in the jeep that morning, it had been obvious that she had more than work on her mind. She was dressed in tight blue jeans, her plaid shirt was unbuttoned low to reveal a hint of cleavage and, instead of a neat ponytail, her honey blond curls cascaded loose down her back. She also wore bright red lipstick and perfume, sure signs that she was on the prowl.
Stony faced, he had sat silently back, resigned to witnessing her inevitable seduction of Larabee. It was now blatantly obvious to him why she had insisted on looking for wolf sign on the man's property. The handsome blond had intrigued her by not immediately falling for her considerable charms, and Angela Bremer loved a challenge.
When they pulled the jeep up to Larabee's house, they were met again by the massive black Husky. As they climbed out of the jeep he had met them, tail wagging amiably. He had allowed Tyler to gently scratch his ears, and again took an overly friendly sniff at Angela's lower anatomy. Tyler hid a smile at her yelp and gave the canine another friendly pat. He could have sworn the big dog winked at him, his jaws wide, tongue lolling in a wide doggy grin.
Larabee was as aloof as before, stepping out on the porch to greet them. He had again called Buck off with a single quiet word, and the big dog wandered off and lifted a leg to generously irrigate Tyler's tires. The gray Husky was nowhere to be seen. Tyler assumed he was either in the house, or down at the barns.
To Hill's pleasure, Larabee seemingly took no notice of Angela's assets. Instead, he merely mentioned they would need a key to the padlock on the east gate leading down to the river. Turning back to the house he had called:
"Vin, can you hand me the keys on the hook by the door?"
A slim young man padded barefoot out of the house, the baby they had seen yesterday held easily on his hip.
Tyler blinked, privately thinking to himself that if Vin had been a girl, HE would be on the prowl with Angela. Cobalt blue eyes set in a fine-boned, chiseled face regarded them with open curiosity. Vin's hair was a tousled fall of sun-streaked brown that touched his shoulder blades and he wore only a worn pair of jeans over golden, tanned skin. There was a clean, white bandage on his left forearm.
Tyler gave the young man a friendly smile. "Hi."
Vin glanced up at Larabee for a moment, then shyly returned the greeting.
"Hi."
Silently, he offered the key ring to Larabee.
"Thanks, sweetheart."
Larabee took it and removed a single key, which he in turn handed to Tyler. He gave the young man a sharp look.
"Don't lose it. Be sure to close and lock that gate behind you, and I want it back when you leave on Friday."
"Yes, Sir," Tyler answered dutifully.
The rancher gave him a curt nod, and turned back to the house, dismissing them as abruptly as he had before. He slid a possessive hand around Vin's hip as they reentered the house. Tyler slanted a look over at Angela's pink face. It was all he could do NOT to laugh out loud at her disgruntled expression.
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Deciding to keep Bremer off balance, Tyler stuck to his guns about the location of the blind.
"No Angie. This is the best place. That deer trail follows the riverbank, and crosses right there at the shallows. It's a good place to look for tracks."
To his surprise and gratification she had acquiesced, and they had set about setting up the blind in the scrub willows. Set-up was minimal, since they no longer expected to find a pack. They had both reluctantly agreed that Royal's information was probably just sour grapes - the cattleman prejudiced against his gay neighbor.
"Face it Angie, the best we'll do is find sign of a single wolf wandering past his pack boundaries, like Larabee said. Those dogs of his will have kept them well away from the area. I haven't seen a single coyote track since we got here."
She nodded reluctantly, closing the aluminum case the camera tripod had been packed in. Her pretty face was still set in a sullen pout and she had tied her loose hair carelessly back in its familiar ponytail.
"I still can't believe it! All the good looking men are gay!"
Hill hid a wide grin as he bent over the camera in his lap, loading a fresh roll of film. It had tickled him to see Angie shot down for once, before she had even had a chance.
"Yeah. Vin's awful pretty for a guy," he agreed cheerfully. "If I were a girl, I'd be after him instead of Larabee."
She sniffed and shot him a sour look as she opened another case to check the rifle and the darts over. It was doubtful that they would have cause to use it, but she preferred being prepared.
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Chris wiped his boots on the mat, then shouldered his way through the kitchen door. He had just fed and turned the mares out in the south paddock. Buck was seated at the kitchen table reading the morning paper, a cup of coffee at hand. Larabee raised an inquiring brow, he could hear the muted sound of the TV from the den.
"Hey Stud, the boys are watching cartoons."
Buck stood and poured a fresh cup for Chris. He grinned at the look on Larabee's face.
"Now, Chris, ya know how much Vin likes watching Bullwinkle. It's a show he remembered from when he was a little guy."
Larabee sighed and sipped his coffee. He padded quietly down the hall to the doorway to the den. Vin sat on the floor, a forgotten bowl of cereal in hand, eyes riveted on Fractured Fairy Tales. Little JD lay nearby on the rug nursing on a bottle, clutching his ragged bunny. When Tanner saw Chris, he grinned happily and jumped up to greet his mate. Chris smiled at the sloppy, chocolate tasting kiss he received, then scowled down at the contents of the cereal bowl.
"Buck!"
"Yo?" The big man stood in the doorway, a questioning look on his face.
"What the hell is this?"
Larabee held out the bowl. It was filled with a frothy, dark brown substance, liberally dotted with pastel lumps.
"It looks like a liquified cow pie!"
Wilmington chuckled at the exasperated look on his alpha's face.
"It's cereal. It's called 'Mud and Bugs'. The boys really like it."
He motioned the scowling Larabee back to the kitchen where he produced a box with a smirking cartoon warthog on the front as proof. Chris' scowl grew larger as he read the description of the contents. Mainly sugar and chocolate with almost no nutritional value. He sure as hell hadn't bought the stuff. He narrowed his eyes reprovingly at his beta.
"Buck. This crap isn't good for him. It's a wonder Vin hasn't been sick with all the chocolate you feed him."
"Aw, Chris, we got oatmeal and Cheerios too. This is just for a treat."
Larabee huffed out a sigh, but relented. Wilmington meant well. Still, Nate had pointed out that both Vin and JD were underweight. He made a mental note to check over any groceries Buck bought in the future. The big man was the king of junk food, and thought nothing of feeding them all hotdogs, candy and other fast food.
Vin made a soft inquiring sound, eyes on Chris' face. He could tell Chris was displeased with Buck, but wasn't quite certain why. Larabee gave him a reassuring smile, and handed him a ripe apple from the fruit bowl instead of giving his cereal back. He smiled down into puzzled eyes.
"This is good for you."
Frowning, Vin looked wistfully at the cereal. "No good? T-t-tastes good, Chris. I like it."
"I know, pard, but only now and then. Eat your apple, too, okay?" Larabee relented and handed over the bowl of mushy cereal.
Vin nodded agreeably and wandered back down the hall to the den with his breakfast. Chris turned back to the counter and his coffee. Buck regarded him with fond eyes. It was good to see the strong, protective side of Larabee emerge from hibernation to replace his indifference. Even if his alpha tended to be a mite overprotective.
Chris sipped his coffee as he moved around the kitchen fixing his own breakfast of sausage and eggs.
"Ezra coming by today, like I asked?"
"Yep. He whined about it a bit, but he promised to show up before noon."
"Good. Once those kids get their data, they'll move on."
Chris filled his plate and sat down to eat, while Buck reopened the paper. They spent the next few minutes in companionable silence, the only sounds the rustle of paper and the clink of fork against plate. They were interrupted by Vin entering the kitchen, pointedly holding a happily gurgling JD at arm's length, nose wrinkled at the odor. He carried the baby over and silently held him out to Buck.
Wilmington gave a groan of resignation. Another poopy diaper. Damn. He wished he could con Vin into changing the damned things, but so far, Tanner had proved to be too canny. The big man slanted a glance over at his alpha. He was sure Larabee was silently laughing at him. There was definitely a twinkle in the green eyes and the beginnings of a smirk on the wide mouth.
JD grinned toothlessly down at him, face smeared with something suspiciously resembling Tanner's chocolate cereal as he dangled contentedly from Vin's hands.
"Da Da!"
Buck chuckled at the sight of the small, grubby face. Nothing warmed his heart faster than the pure trust the baby had shown him from the moment he had been plunked down at Wilmington's feet. Grinning, he stood and reached for his smelly pup.
"C' mon kid, let's get you cleaned up. Dang! What a stink!"
JD gurgled happily as he was carried off towards the bathroom, his foster father loudly lamenting all the way down the hall on the necessary evils of diapers. Chris chuckled softly as he watched them go. Buck was damned lucky he had DISPOSABLE diapers. He could just imagine the fits the big man would have if he actually had to wash them out.
Turning back to his plate, he was just in time to grab a sly hand that was reaching for his last sausage link. He growled playfully and tugged his mate down into his lap, hands holding both of Vin's wrists fast. Vin snickered, then quickly leaned over Chris' plate to deftly snatch the sausage up with white teeth. Larabee snarled and snapped at it, and the playful tussle over the tidbit of meat quickly became a loving exchange of nips and kisses, after they bit the hapless sausage in half and shared it.
Vin turned in Chris' lap and happily wrapped both arms around his mate's neck as his lover cuddled him close. Contented green eyes smiled into laughing blue as the lean alpha planted a tender kiss on his younger mate's cheek. They nuzzled together contentedly.
"Are you still hungry?" Larabee asked softly, cheek against Vin's.
Vin would never ask for extra food, content with whatever Chris gave him. It bothered Larabee that his mate should be so accustomed to doing without meals that it never occurred to the younger man to ask for more. Nathan had said he was underweight, although extremely fit. There wasn't a spare ounce of fat on that compact frame.
Tanner shook his head in a negative reply, content to rub his face against Chris'. Larabee smiled and drew back, determined to draw a verbal reply from the younger man. Vin's vocabulary was growing, despite his shyness.
"Are you sure?" he coaxed gently, smiling into dark blue eyes.
Tanner shook his head again and made a small, exasperated sound when Chris evaded his lips. He scowled fiercely at his mate.
"What? I didn't hear that." Larabee teased gently.
"No.. no hungry. Kiss..." he pleaded softly as he nuzzled his alpha's jaw.
Larabee rewarded him immediately, kissing the pliant lips deeply. Engrossed in each other, it was several minutes before they heard Buck snickering in the doorway, a clean, rediapered baby cradled in his arms. The big man smirked down at the couple, moustache twitching with amusement.
"Worse then honeymooners! Wait! I forgot, y'all ARE honeymooners!" he boomed happily.
JD chortled and squealed, delighted as always with Wilmington's display of sheer noisy boisterousness. Buck bounced his boy, and beamed down at his friends. Tanner derailed Larabee's glare at his beta with another loving kiss, happily nuzzling his lover's cheek and Chris' scowl dissolved into a smile.
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Ezra P. Standish trotted down the deer path along the river in lupine form, fuming mentally. Why did HE have to play decoy? Why not Josiah, or Nathan? Well, it shouldn't take long. A quick trot by the blind and the young biologists could snap their photo and that would be that. He had an appointment with his tailor this afternoon that he simply could NOT miss...Good Lord, had he just stepped in excrement?
Whining softly under his breath, he made his way down the bank to the river to daintly dabble his paw in the water. Just what he needed to top off what should have been a pleasant afternoon, Eau de Excrement. He was dying for a good cup of coffee. Raising his head, he realized he was in perfect position to be seen from the students' blind.
Standish pricked his ears and sniffed the air, waiting for the telltell click of the camera shutter. He could hear quickly shushed activity in the willows, as the biologists jostled for position. No doubt they were eager to see a fine specimen of a canis lupis. He straightened to display his best profile.
Instead of the click of a shutter, there was a muffled Pssffttt! and a sharp sting to his hip. Horrified, Ezra realized that he had just been darted. He gave a dismayed yelp and turned to flee to the safety of his pack. As he sprinted for the cover of the trees he realized he was...getting dizzy...and... whoa...the ground was rippling....and oooohhh, shiny! He groaned in despair and collapsed into an ignoble heap of fur, paws twitching.
Hill and Bremer regarded their prey with satisfaction as they worked quickly to photograph, weigh, radio tag and take samples from their catch before the sedative wore off. Loopy, but still conscious, Ezra indignantly eavesdropped on their comments. He was irate. Just wait until he got his teeth into Mr. Wilmington....and Good Heavens!
They were measuring his...! Unhand me, Sir! Average! What do you mean, AVERAGE!
Ouch! Leave me SOME blood!
Of course, Ah am healthy and my fur is clean! Ah use Pre de Provence lavender shampoo...
No cavities...ha!
I have never had fleas in my life!
Really! Young woman, remove your hands from my tail immediately! Damnation! Haven't you imbeciles ever heard of a tympanic thermometer!
Standish gave a horrified groan when he realized what they were doing. NO! Not that! But he was helpless to resist as Angela Bremer firmly riveted an ugly, bright neon-yellow, totally unfashionable radio collar around Ezra's throat. The two young people beamed proudly down at their handiwork. Ezra whined piteously. He was never going to live this down!
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Two hours later, a frazzled, irate Ezra Standish was driving furiously down the highway, determined to make his appointment. Despite the summer heat, he wore a black wool scarf purloined from Mr. Larabee's closet wrapped tightly around his neck. It clashed horribly with his casual linen and cotton clothing.
He had returned to the ranch only to discover it deserted, with a note on the kitchen table. His packmates had chosen today of all days to drive into Medicine Bow on a brief errand to the feed store, giving Mr. Tanner a chance to socialize. To his horror, Ezra had been unable to remove the hideous collar on his own. It would have to wait.
Back at the base camp, Angela Bremer and Tyler Hill stared bemused down at the radio signal tracking monitor they used. Angela gave the device an irritated thump. Useless, secondhand equipment! There had to be a glitch somewhere. According to it, their tagged wolf was currently driving up the highway towards town. Damn. They would probably have to recapture and retag the young wolf.
Continues in Interlunation
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