By The Light Of The Moon

Chapter 14

"Come on, Milly. You can do it. Jump!"

She tossed her head while her front legs pranced in place, wanting to follow, but hesitant. Convincing a mule to jump wasn't the easiest task, especially at night.

"Scratches! Come on, Milly. Come get some scratches!"

With a whinny, she finally sprang up, her hooves scrambling against the rocks. I ducked to the side to avoid the incoming equine.

"Good girl!" I promptly lavished plenty of scratches around her ears and mane before reattaching her reins – which I'd removed during her jump – and guided her up the steep path.

Both of us kept sliding as rock chips and gravel rolled under our feet. As much as I wanted to walk on the moss to the side, Shane and I had agreed it was best to avoid leaving tracks if at all possible. There was no way to tell if the slight indent in the gravel came from a mule, deer, human, or any other large animal. The moss, on the other hand, tore free much more easily and would betray our passage.

Shane's wolf-whisper came out of the darkness. "Olivia, the trail branches ahead. Go left when you see a big rock in the path."

"Thanks."

I knew he wouldn't go far – not when he had to guide us along trails that constantly branched out and converged. The deer herds had left many paths in this area.

I finally spotted a rock much larger than the gravel it sat on. Predictably, the trail going left was much steeper. I clambered up as Milly followed behind me. There was no chance of riding her with the low hanging branches and slippery gravel, not in the dark, so we were restricted to my speed. I wasn't sure how far we managed to travel, but it seemed to be all uphill, which made sense since we were trying to climb over a mountain.

At least we hadn't run into any war parties.

Distant snarls from behind made me pause and hold my spear tighter. They sounded wolf-like. Very wolf-like, with a distinct resemblance to the dire wolf from the other day. Milly thought so as well and snorted as her ears flicked back and forth, sidling against my back. I held onto my spear and kept walking even though the sounds got more vicious and clearly came from more than one animal.

I wasn't sure what was fighting, but I was very sure I didn't want to meet them. If Shane was in the melee, I hoped he was okay. As a werewolf, he was a force to be reckoned with, but so was an entire pack of dire wolves.

Milly skittered behind me, pushing against me in her desperation to leave the wolves behind. Taking a chance, I stepped to the side and swung onto her back. She pranced and pulled against the reins as I refused to let her move. Once she stopped fighting, I gave her some slack and she gingerly minced ahead as each hoof sunk into the gravel. I had to lean against her neck to avoid the low branches.

My legs were grateful for the break, and this part of the trail seemed fairly straight, albeit steep, and as long as she was just walking, it should be safe enough to ride her. The continued snarling fight behind us had her speeding up, but the loose gravel forced her to maintain a reasonable pace. Her four feet were covering more ground than my two had, which was a bonus.

The snarling faded, and I desperately wished I knew which of the animals responsible were on our trail. We hadn't gone far before I was forced to dismount and guide Milly over a very rough section of the trail and coax her to jump up another waist-high ridge. The terrain wasn't any more favorable, so I was once more reduced to walking.

Rustling in the underbrush had my eyes scanning the darkness as I pointed my spear in that direction. "Shane, please tell me that's you."

"It is."