Free Changeling Dawn by Dani Harper

unusually adept at reading the forest floor.
    “I think you’re right,” he said, crouching over the prints.
    “This cub is maybe five or six months old—much too young to survive on its own. I didn’t see any wolves from the air, so its pack may have moved on. Strange that they didn’t track him down.”
    “ Her. I’m pretty sure it’s a female, although I haven’t gotten very close to her.”
    “Her, then.” He straightened, but continued to study the ground. “You know, this cub’s size is unusual for this time of year.”
    “Why?”
    “Do the math. This far north, most wolves don’t mate until April. After that it takes 60-plus days until the pups are born. Then they spend the first two months of their life in the den.”
    “Ir s">
    “Exactly. So the pup is small, but not small enough. It shouldn’t be this old yet.”
    “Maybe its mother mated out of season? I heard it was a mild winter.”
    “They’re not usually affected by the weather. Now if food was unusually abundant, that might have had an effect.” Abruptly he pointed to a faint line of bent grass stems running parallel to the path she’d made between her camp and her dig site. “The cub may have headed in that direction. Mind if I take a look?”
    “No, go ahead. If you don’t need me, I’ve got a dig to straighten out.”
    “Sure. I work better alone when I’m tracking, anyway.” He headed into the trees, and she stared after him for a long moment, before sighing and unrolling the string.
    Josh Talarkoteen had a very fine ass.
     
    From beneath the broad umbrella-like leaves of a devil’s club bush, Anya eyed the man as he picked his way slowly through the camp. She’d been so scared when the helicopter came, scared that it was those men again, the mean ones who had taken her mother away. This man was different. He wasn’t like her, and not like the woman who worked in the dirt, but he wasn’t like most humans either. He smelled good, smelled like the forest. He seemed ... safe .
    But he couldn’t be, could he? She’d heard them talking about her, and knew he was looking for her. Bad things happened to Changelings when humans found out what they were. Her father had been a Changeling just like her, and when she was very little, he had been killed. By humans. That’s why she needed to be a wolf, stay a wolf. As a little girl, she wasn’t very fast or very strong. As a wolf, she was both. Her mother had told her that if she ever got lost, she should let the wolf inside her take care of her until her mom found her again.
    She wished her mom would find her soon.
     
    Kenzie painstakingly scraped away another layer of dirt. The string that marked the grids was back in place, although it had obvious knots and splices in it. The metal stakes weren’t very straight either, but as long as nothing heavier than a mosquito tripped over them, they would hold. She hoped. She needed them in order to document the site properly, but hell, she’d use spruce root and twigs if she had to. The site was already proving interesting.
    So was Josh Talarkoteen, if she was honest about it. Two days ago he’d had to leave without finding the cub, but he’d returned each morning since. Kenzie hadn’t seen the little wolf at all, but Josh had managed a fleeting glimpse. Most people would have gone charging after the animal, but he had simply sat down where he was and pretended he didn’t see it. Kenzie was impressed with the man’s intuition, his desire to approach the cub on its terms.
    Too bad he’s human ... She brushed away the thought and tried to work, but her focus evaporated when Josh came over.
    “I couldn’t get my hands on a live trap,” he began. “We don’t have a lot of them and they’re in big demand at this time of year. There isn’t one in any of the local offices that isn’t being used. They can fly one up from Southeast at the end of next week, but that’s too long. So I’m going to have to use a dart.” He opened