Disappear

n Pack," I said to the young

twenty-eight, near the back on the far right."

to introduce themselves. Only the call to seats by the Council Chairman allowed us to make it ba

t's rare for women to compete at all, but doin

and Lunas, and finally the winners from the Games in 1988. The Games were both an individual and Pack competition; points accrued in each of the five competitive areas based on finish orde

Dublin Pack wolves were far more confident than me, and they were trading barbs and talking smack with friends at

it was. There were almost three hundred Werewolf Packs between North America and European councils. Thankfully, many Packs didn't have the funds

d be buffet-style with meal periods. I heard from the adjacent table that there had been three m

thing wrong with almost all the competitors being male. You are the only unmated female. The matin

make th

st all cases, the female goes to the male's Pack. That's why Alpha Ethan was upset with your win, though he couldn't show it

s to seek their mates; they would gain Pack members when they returned. Naturally, the Alphas would insist on reciprocal rights

Babies, and Cooking." I snorted at the thought, but it rang true. Pack members often reminded me of how 'lucky' I was that the Alphas took me in a

turday morning and ended Saturday night. There were fiv

time. Two hundred-plus competitors would compete in Target Pistol tomorrow and Target Rifle on Monday. The top half of scorers would advance to Combat Pistol on Tuesday and Wednesday

Archery was on Saturday, Knife Throwing on Sunday. Once again, the top half of competitors

Run. The first event was scored, the second all or nothing, and the run awarded points based on your order of finish and time be

at matches are like Thunderdome: two wolves go in, and one walks out. The w

got 'first-round byes' in the single-elimination tournaments. At most, the top two would have eight bouts in eight days, less

tried to entice me into their arms and their beds. I had the Beta pair escort me back to my room at eleven, right as

he buzzer went, you had five seconds to take a sniff and fifty-five seconds to identify everything you could about it. The first bag had urine. Simple, right? Nope. It was deer urine, specifically from a mature female whitetail deer who was pregnant. To get all the po

Pack in Michigan. I quickly realized how hard-earned experience would beat youthful exuberance as I watched the bout. Rowan was going for a quick submission, constantly trying for the neck, and the Beta played defense. Each time the Alpha heir lunged in for the kill, he'd take teeth to the shoulders or a claw to the side before the two disengaged.

lpha as the medical personnel rushed into the ring. If Heir Rowan looked bad in wolf

," I asked. "It w

now our Alpha Heir understands that brute strength isn't enough. At this level, everyone can fight. The smart wolves learn from the best; that's the whole point of being here. With him out in the first r

mselves. The crush of people hitting on me slowed, so I spent some time with the few other female competi

get. An hour earlier, sixty volunteers had run from the Pack House to a spot on the road five miles away. It was an all-or-nothing test;

this up to be a real test of our abilities. The targets would run together, then break apart. Sometimes they would cross, even double back before continuing. I could hear the frustration of wolves around me as they struggled to rega

watched Warrior Steve shoot rifle. I hit the rac

read out along the starting line. "The logging road is the first twenty miles, then it shifts left at the sign to the trail leading to the

At the gun, the group surged forward, the wolves in the lead racing for the logging road. I was in the

ulder into mine. I was knocked off my feet and fell heavily on my side in the pine needles and rocks. Nobody stopped to help. I

. The bigger males ahead of me were starting to tire out while I was just getting started. I was moving steadily towards the front of

ked up my speed, blowing by him before he could react. He growled in o

with me. I had the leader in my sights as we broke out of the tr

ve it everything I had, but he kept getting closer. I left nothing behind, only yards from the finish line when

, furious, and snarled a