her and walked to the plane. He stopped a few feet away. “Ma’am, you should come with me. The Luongos are bringing in reinforcements.” Kelli sat and looked at the man, dumbstruck. “What… How… Huh?” A particularly loud yip carried across the meadow from the fight. The man looked over his shoulder. “We need to go. Now.” He pulled the door of the plane open and beckoned for her to get out. She took his outstretched hand and climbed out of the plane. She reached back for her suitcase. “Leave it. Let’s go.” He motioned for her to follow and trotted away from the plane. Kelli grabbed her jacket and hurried to follow the wolf. He led her away from the fight and into the trees on the opposite side. “What are you?” “Your savior. I’m going to shift back. Just follow me. I won’t get too far ahead.” He shifted back to wolf form and led her through the trees. She stumbled along behind him and squinted in the dim moonlight beneath the pines. His darkened form flitted in and out of the shadows, but she was able to follow him. After a time they reached a stony path up into the hills. The wolf shifted back to man form. “Up here is our home. The Luongos wouldn’t dare follow us inside.” He shifted back to wolf form and scrambled up the path. Small stones rattled back down behind him. Kellie sighed and followed as best she could. She was out of breath when she reached a clearing midway up the slope. When the wolf trotted into a cave, she decided that she’d had enough. “No way I’m going in there.” The wolf came back out and shifted to man shape. In the moonlight of the clearing she could see that he was powerfully built with broad shoulders and defined muscles beneath his t-shirt. “Suit yourself.” He walked into the cave again and this time she noticed a shaft of line shine out when he pushed some kind of curtain aside. The smell of stew wafted out and made her stomach rumble. She realized that she hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast nearly twenty-four hours ago. She sighed and followed him into the cave. The curtain appeared to be some kind of giant animal skin. She pushed it aside and stepped into warmth and light. Something passed over her when she entered. Something invisible, but palpable. The man was sitting on a fur covered bench and swirling a ladle in the pot. “It’s rabbit stew, if you’re interested,” he told her. “Sure.” He ladled some of the thick broth into a wooden bowl and passed it to her before handing her a normal looking metal spoon. “Don’t burn your mouth,” he told her. She blew on the stew and looked around the cave. It was large and the walls were hung with furs. Fur pallets lined the walls. She couldn’t tell how far back it stretched, but the furs made it seem relatively shallow. The man saw her looking around. “They others should be back soon. They were just trying to delay the Luongos.” “What are Luongos? And what are you?” He smiled a wide toothy smile. “I, my dear, am a werewolf. As are the Luongos. But they are feral, wild creatures that are more wolf than man. They would not have treated you well had they reached you before we did.” She shook her head, not understanding what he meant. The whole concept of werewolves hadn’t really registered yet. “I need to get back to my plane in the morning. The search party will be looking for me.” “Of course. The rest of the pack should return shortly. We’ll escort you back after dawn.” Kelli nodded and ate her stew. She set the empty bowl down beside her and yawned. The man pointed toward a pallet. “Feel to free to lie down. I’ll keep watch.” She wanted to stay up, but she was completely exhausted. She crawled to the indicated pallet and flopped onto it. It was warm and soft and smelled of pine needles and musk. She was asleep in seconds. *** Kelli woke to the sound of panting. She opened her eyes and propped herself up on an elbow. A pair of