by Martha Carr
Rex snorted and pawed at the water as a dark shape swam beneath the surface. “Don’t know why she’d lie about it. Unless she really, really hates you.”
Amanda chuckled and tried to hide it with a serious expression and a curt nod. “The ʼgator went that way.”
Johnny looked from one hound to the next, both of them completely oblivious to his calculating gaze. They ain’t even tryin’.
“All right. Her first time on a hunt and we’re takin’ the kid’s advice.” He pulled on the throttle control stick and shifted it to starboard to take them in the direction of her outstretched hand.
She grinned at him, turned quickly, and slapped both hands on the deck to lean into the breeze again. “I knew I’d be good at this.”
Despite his frustration with the two wildly distracted coonhounds, he smirked. There’s more to huntin’ than simply pickin’ up a scent. We’ll see how she handles the rest of it. If she ain’t tellin’ us to trail a damn fox instead.
Chapter Two
Johnny steered the craft toward the smaller tributary on the right, where the tree cover thinned a little and let more light in through the thick swamp foliage. Amanda scanned the water ahead of them, her face a picture of confidence.
“Hey!” Rex stood with his tail pointing straight out behind him.
Luther did the same. “ʼgator!”
“Johnny, this is it. Found the trail.”
Rex sniffed the air again and rumbled a low growl. “Damn, she’s good, Johnny.”
The dwarf expected her to turn at any moment and flash him an I-told-you-so grin, but the young shifter was as intensely focused on their quarry’s trail as the hounds.
“Noses up, boys.” He centered the airboat directly downstream and nodded. “Let’s bring this beautiful bastard home.”
They moved slowly along the waterlogged reeds for another ten minutes and all four of them listened for a ʼgator’s warning hiss or splash in the water. The rhythmic buzz of cicadas, birdsong, and the occasional flutter and rustle through the branches meant that they had to focus to discern what they were looking for.
“Slow down,” Amanda muttered.
Johnny almost laughed. “You get somethin’ else, kid?”
“Yeah. I think…”
“On the right, Johnny.” Luther skittered portside and his snout pointed directly at the soggy bank. “Trail goes up there.”
“That’s left, dummy.” Rex echoed his brother’s enthusiasm and his tail wagged a fraction of an inch before it stuck out rigidly behind him. “Left, Johnny. There under the trees. It’s real strong now.”
The girl nodded, her eyes wide as she sniffed the air and turned her whole body to face the left-hand bank.
“All right.” The dwarf killed the throttle and turned the slowing propeller to direct their course toward land. When the fan cut out, all the other sounds around them seemed so much louder than before. There’s nothin’ like the buzz of the Everglades. Someone should put this on a sound loop. Show all the city folk what they’re missin’.
“Johnny, it’s right there,” Luther whispered with a low, barely audible whine. His paws clicked eagerly on the deck as he tried and failed to hold still. “See it?”
Rex grunted. “I see it, Luther. Shut up.”
Johnny squinted at the shoreline, and sure enough, the fifteen-footer came into focus. The beast lay with its belly in the mud, concealed behind tall reeds rising from the bank in an open patch of sunlight beneath the muggy heat.
“Yeah, I see it too,” he whispered. “Hold steady, boys. We’re almost there.”
Fortunately, he’d aimed the airboat in the right direction so it would reach the shore about twenty feet from the resting ʼgator—fifteen feet of crushing jaws and powerful claws and prehistoric scales. Fuck yes. It’s about damn time.
Amanda was breathing heavily in her excitement. “So what’s the plan?” she whispered.
“As soon as we reach the bank, the boys go first.” The dwarf nodded at her despite the fact that she hadn’t moved her fixed gaze from the reptile. “You can join ʼem if you want. But wait until we hit—”
A howl rose from downriver, high and trembling before it subsided into a growl. Half a dozen other voices joined it and the intrusion snapped the girl out of her intense concentration. She inclined her head and her eyes widened. “Shifters.”
Damn. And they’re close.
“Don’t you mind ʼem, kid. We’re on the hunt, so—”
The shifters howled again, and she lurched forward along the bow.
“If you throw yourself off this boat, kid, we lose the element of—”
“I have to go.” Her knuckles grew white as she grasped the edge. “Johnny, they’re so close. Can you hear them?”
“Yeah, I can hear ʼem. Focus.”
A wild, inviting yip rose from the shifters miles downriver.
Amanda lost the final remnants of her control. She shifted and her clothes fell around the body of a small gray wolf before she leapt the last three feet over the water and landed in a squelch of mud.
“Damnit. Amanda!” Johnny hissed in frustration but she was gone and now rushed directly toward the ʼgator’s nest in the reeds. Mud and twigs flurried behind her as she raced past in a blur of gray.
The ʼgator startled and lurched toward her. Its enormous mouth opened wide and it uttered a fierce hiss. The airboat thumped against the riverbank, and Rex and Luther bounded from the boat, baying as they closed in on their quarry.
“Amanda!” the dwarf shouted.
More howls came from the shifter pack, and she stopped briefly to orient herself. In the next moment, the damn kid splashed into the river and slipped on the muddy bottom as she tried to reach the other side.
Rex and Luther darted toward their quarry, but not before the monster thrashed its tail violently and scrabbled toward the water after the small gray wolf who now paddled across.
“Damnit!” The dwarf snatched up his break-action rifle and slung it over his head and shoulder. He scowled and jammed the safety on the harpoon gun he’d rigged with a net and jerked it sideways toward the ʼgator that now slithered down the mud toward the water.
A loud thump resulted when he pulled the trigger, and the net flew end over end before it struck his target and tangled in its claws.
“Good shot, Johnny!” Rex bayed again and scrambled along the muddy bank.
“We’ll take it from here. We got this one!” Luther howled and fell halfway into the swamp before he righted himself and sprinted toward the ʼgator.
The beast thrashed in the net and hissed angrily as it launched massive sprays of water around it.
“Forget the ʼgator, boys.” Johnny leapt off the boat and paused briefly when another chorus of howls issued through the Everglades. Downriver, Amanda kicked against a fallen tree covered in thick green growth and changed direction again to return toward the left-hand bank.
“But you got it, Johnny.”
“Yeah, we can finally—”
“I said leave it.” He tugged as much of the airboat as he could onto the shore, left it with a snarl, and hefted the rifle that dangled at his chest. “Follow the kid.”
“Aw, man.”
“That’s a bigass ʼgator, Johnny.”
The dwarf responded with a piercing whistle and pointed as the last traces of Amanda’s gray fur vanished behind the reeds and the thick, sodden underbrush.
“Yeah, yeah. Fine.”
“Get the pup.”
Both hounds swung away from the thrashing reptile and headed after the shifter girl, hot on her scent.
He cast his quarry a longing glance. One gleaming yellow-brown eye flashed him a venomous look and the massive creature uttered another hiss as it tried to shake the net off. As he trudged up the slippery bank, the dwarf tightened his hold on the rifle and growled with annoyance.
I almost had him. There’s no way that net will hold. And no way he won’t see me comin’ next time either. Big motherfucker
like that gotta have some brains.
The shifter pack howled again, this time a little closer, and Johnny stormed through the muddy reeds after his hounds.
Rex and Luther darted through the growth and across waterlogged mounds of earth, splashing as they ran and sniffed Amanda’s trail.
“We won’t let her get away, Johnny.” Rex panted.
“Pup’s never been out here,” Luther added. “She’ll get lost for sure. But we’ll find her.”
“Stay on her, boys.” He trotted after them while he checked that his rifle had a round in the chamber. Satisfied, he swung the barrel up again with a click. She’s fast, I’ll give her that. I hope we’re fast enough to get her before those damn shifters do.
Having to constantly duck under tree limbs did nothing to improve his mood but he picked up the pace. As best he could, he ignored the thick swarms of gnats clustered around his face and the dangling vines and huge leaves that slapped against his body as he moved.
“Almost there, Johnny.”
“So close. And she’s—” Luther barked. “She found ʼem.”
They raced through another thick stand of reeds and a wall of cattails rising from the swamp. When they emerged on the other side, Johnny raised his rifle and aimed it at the six wolves who stood on a dry, sunny berm.
Luther and Rex skidded to a halt, panting heavily as their tails wagged. “Found her, Johnny.”
“There she is.”
Amanda stood halfway between the thick cattails and the small pack of Florida shifters. She paced from one side to the other as she uttered short, excited yips.
The six wolves bared their teeth at him and the hounds. The huge, mud-splattered alpha stood slightly in front of the others and growled.
“Back away from the girl.” The rifle didn’t exactly aim at any of the wolves, but it wouldn’t take much to swing it in any direction and aim true. “She ain’t tryin’ to cause trouble.”
Amanda continued her almost frenetic moment. She now panted in excitement and brimmed with nervous energy.
The wolf at the back of the pack sat and licked its muzzle.
“Yeah, that one thinks you’re full of shit,” Rex interpreted.
Behind the alpha, a dirty-white wolf paced in a short line.
Luther grunted. “Yeah, and that one wants to rip your arm off.”
The dwarf ignored the canine peanut gallery, swung the rifle’s barrel slightly to the side, and nodded in that direction. “Go on now. I don’t want trouble either.”
The mud-splattered alpha with blazing yellow eyes glanced at Amanda, snorted, and shifted where he stood. A huge man with soaked leaves, mud, and twigs matted in his disheveled hair stood on the berm in front of his pack, all rippling abs and bulging pecs and bare-ass naked.
“Aw, come on.” Johnny rolled his eyes and looked away. “No one wants to see that.”
The man raised an eyebrow. “You got a thing against shifters, dwarf?”
“Naw. Merely someone else’s junk in my swamp.”
The other wolves growled behind their alpha and their hackles raised.
“Woah, you pissed ʼem off, Johnny.” Rex took two halting steps toward Amanda, his ears back against his head as he snarled.
“Yeah. They don’t know it’s your swamp.” Luther stalked slowly to the right and glared at the wolves.
The naked man tilted his head and glanced at the hounds. “We don’t take kindly to two-legs tellin’ us where and when we can run.”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass where y’all run,” Johnny all but snarled and swung his rifle to aim squarely at the man’s glistening chest. “As long as it ain’t with the kid. You stay away from her, ya hear?”
The shifter’s upper lip curled in a snarl. “Why’re you stompin’ ʼround after a pup, huh? She ain’t a dwarf. And you got enough hair on ya but you sure as shit ain’t no shifter.”
“She’s my responsibility.” He didn’t bat an eyelid. “Simple as that.”
After he’d scratched vigorously behind his ear and dislodged a clump of mud that splattered at his feet, the alpha studied him for a moment before he sniggered. “Big responsibility for a little guy.”
“Watch it, pal.”
The rest of the pack studied Amanda hungrily and some of them joined the beta in short, aggravated pacing.
Rex lowered his head and growled softly. “Say the word, Johnny.”
“We’ll bury ʼem for you.” Luther lowered his head to sniff something on the ground, then whipped it up again quickly to glare at the wolves.
“I said git.” He jerked his head to gesture out of the clearing again, but his rifle didn’t move from its steady aim at the alpha’s chest.
The huge shifter raised a hand to settle his pack and narrowed his eyes at Johnny. “You got shit fer brains, dwarf, but the kid’s got spirit. She needs a pack who can show her how to use it. How to grow more than five feet tall.”
“Five-two, asshole.” He grunted obdurately. “The kid ain’t comin’ with you.”
“No. She found us all on her own.” The alpha’s mouth twitched and his gaze settled on the gray wolf. She stopped pacing and stared at him. “We can show her what a real wolf can be. Girl needs a family.”
“She has one.”
When the naked man stepped toward Amanda, Johnny fired his rifle at the ground two inches from his feet. A spray of soggy, matted reeds and mud splattered the alpha’s body, and the pack snarled as one.
The dwarf regarded him calmly with an unyielding expression and the wolves growled a low chorus of displeasure. He stepped forward and aimed higher on the alpha’s chest. “Don’t make me say it again. I don’t like repeating myself.”
Ignoring everything but Amanda, the naked man inclined his head toward her and nodded. “You know where to find us, girl, whenever your master lets you off that leash. But don’t let him put you in a cage too.”
In the next moment, he shifted into a shaggy wolf splattered with even more mud and turned to Johnny with an angry snarl. The rest of his pack echoed the sentiment and they tensed as they snapped their jaws and growled, waiting for their alpha’s command.
“Johnny, we should go.” Rex glared at the shifters.
“Yeah, they’re itchin’ for a fight. That’s what that means.” Luther took a step closer to his brother.
“I know what it fuckin’ means. Amanda.”
She turned briefly to look at him and her tail lowered slowly.
“It’s time to go.”
“We’ll hold ʼem off if we have to, Johnny.” Rex snarled again and the alpha took two warning steps forward.
“We’ve been in way more fights than they have.”
The dwarf ignored them, his gaze fixed on the alpha. “Now, kid.”
She sat on the wet ground and whined.
“Get back in the boat. We’re goin’ home.”
With a final glance at the pack, the small gray wolf stood and turned to head toward him. He gestured behind him at the thick wall of cattails, and she trotted hesitantly through them but glanced over her shoulder multiple times.
Johnny kept his rifle trained on the pack leader as he stepped slowly backward. Rex and Luther paced in front of him and passed each other constantly as their master retreated through the reeds.
“Yeah, you think you’re so scary, huh?” Luther growled. “But who’s got the gun, assholes?”
The alpha snarled, bounded forward, and skidded across the slippery trampled underbrush.
“Johnny does!” The hound darted through the cattails as the pack snarled and moved forward after their alpha.
Rex glanced at Johnny who continued through the reeds. “Luther has a point—”
The dwarf’s whistle cut him off and he pushed through the rustling cattails after his brother. Narrowing his eyes, Johnny directed a final warning glance at the growling pack members before only the barrel of his gun poked through the reeds. After a moment, it disappeared.
As he trudged quickly through t
he swamp after his dogs, the pack filled the air with long, high-pitched howls that moved rapidly away in the opposite direction. Amanda stopped and looked at him with surprisingly expressive puppy-dog eyes. He pointed at her. “The boat.”
She turned slowly and trotted through the underbrush as she sniffed easily along the trail her new family had blazed to find her.
The airboat had drifted slightly offshore from where Johnny had pulled it up as far as he could, but it was still there. Gotta love low tide.
Amanda boarded first, followed by the hounds, and none of them said a word.
Johnny stamped one boot onto the bow, turned to sweep his rifle across the swamp, then shoved the corner of the airboat off the bank and jumped aboard. He left the rifle strapped around his chest as he settled in the stern and turned the throttle.
The propeller whirred to life, and he shoved the control stick to make a tight turn on the river. Amanda shifted into her human form and snatched her clothes up hastily. The dwarf and both hounds turned away to give her as much privacy as possible as the airboat increased speed. Its humming fan streaked them upriver and the hull bounced slightly and skimmed the water.
When the girl finished dressing, she walked quickly toward Johnny at the stern and maintained her balance easily despite their speed. “You said I could go wherever I wanted as long as I told you.”
He scowled upriver, unable to look at her. “That wasn’t—”
“I told you I had to go meet them.”
“It’s not what I meant, kid.” He finally looked at her, and his scowl softened at the sight of the angry flush that raced up her neck and into her cheeks. I can’t blame her for being who she is. But not like this. “If you wanna find a pack, you do it on your own time. And preferably not in the swamps.”
Her hair fluttered on either side of her face and she folded her arms. “Why?”
“The Everglades has far more than most folks give it credit for. But the shifters here? They play into all the stereotypes—the redneck kind.” He cleared his throat. “Weird family shit.”
She scoffed and shook her head.
Johnny had to look away. “And now that ʼgator knows we’re after him. So thanks.”