Luca picked up one of the key chains. The wolf shook its entire body as if shedding water.
Luca chose the other key chain.
The wolf vanished.
Movement in Luca’s peripheral caught his attention. A large beta headed around the front of the RV. Luca ducked behind the seat. The driver’s side door opened a few inches and Luca held his breath. A massive blue wolf materialized from the edge of the moonlight and darted between the seats to the outside.
The door shut, and Luca waited. The gold wolf reappeared. It gazed out the windshield, then looked at Luca.
He raised up on his knees. The silhouette of the beta followed the blue wolf across the field and behind the other motorhomes.
The wolf ghosted through the driver’s door. Luca eased across the seat.
Now the phantom stood at the edge of the shadows.
Two silver wolves joined it.
All three watched him.
Are you really helping me or trying to get me caught?
Their gazes intensified.
Luca chewed his bottom lip.
All three wolves raised their heads and swiveled their ears.
Please be on my side.
Luca opened the driver’s side door. Muffled conversation traveled from beyond the RV. Footsteps swished in the grass. Luca hit the ground and rolled under the RV. A pair of large feet appeared at the end of the motorhome. Before they reached the bumper, one of the silver wolves darted across their path. They stopped. The wolf stopped.
The person cursed and jogged after it.
The golden wolf materialized in the shadows next to Luca and crawled on its belly to the far end, where the canopy of trees hung low enough to create a veil.
He followed it from under the carriage and along the edge of the woods toward the horse trailer.
A green leapt from the broken pattern of light where the moon cut past the branches. The gold froze, and so did Luca. It crouched and Luca did the same. The green watched over its shoulder in the direction of the horse trailer.
One of Isaiah’s betas stepped away from the trailer. A blue wolf slipped from behind him. He followed it for a few yards before stopping.
The golden wolf laid back its ears.
The green met its gaze. After several long seconds, it vanished and reappeared in front of the beta. He glanced back at the trailer. The wolf spun in a circle before darting away, and the beta hurried after it.
Luca had no doubt now. For some reason, the wolves were helping him.
The gold wolf slunk close to the ground. Luca stayed low, following it to the horse trailer. He crept up the ramp.
The gold wolf watched the empty picnic area in front of the motorhomes. Luca would have to trust it to keep an eye out.
He pushed aside the tarp.
At first, he thought it was the sickly light from the lantern hanging on the wall causing the discolorations in Nox’s skin, but no light in the world could have eaten away the muscle leaving a husk.
What had once been tan skin had wrinkled and tightened around bones—a handsome face, collapsed with sunken cloudy eyes and drawn lips.
Only the rise and fall of Nox’s chest kept Luca on his feet. He glanced back to check on Isaiah’s location.