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My eyes snapped open How long had I been asleep?

I lay onnew there What was neas the crescent ainst an indigo sky

"Showtime," I muttered

I’d rather Ada hiht in a tree with un But he hadn’t offered and I hadn’t asked

In fact, neither one of us had said a word He’d behaved as if he were drawn to , stupid, destructive He’d behaved like a man who couldn’t help himself, and that wasn’t love

But it was so out soht I tucked both gris-gris in ators I didn’t need, and one never could tell when the truth un was loaded, but I put so with a bottle of water and soht Last, I opened the cooler I’d bought in town yesterday and withdrew a long white paper-wrapped package fro was uneventful Though it would be too arou was poised to step into my trap, nevertheless, I approached quietly, just in case However, when I pushed through the tall grass, the only thing I saas an ee

Not that it was easy to see it, if I do say so h to hold ten growncypress tree After I rearranged the round cover, the ht of a crescent moon

I tossed the contents of ht to entice you"

Wolves preferred live prey, but they weren’t against a free meal when they could find one Me, I couldn’t sto up a live creature to await a bloody death Prime rib would have to do

Over the past few days I’d not only readied the cage, the darts, the gun, I’d also readied a second perfect cypress nearby: tall, with acres of moss I’d placed a portable tree stand about twenty feet off the ground

I tiedthe heavy-duty nails I’d pounded into the tree, I cliaze to wander over the area, I hoisted un upward by way of the rope pulley, secured the safety strap aroundaccidents occur when hunters tumble out of their trees because they fall asleep, have a heart attack, or are just plain stupid than when they are actually shot - and settled in to wait

The sounds of the swaht the place loud when I was inside the mansion? I hadn’t ators, nutrias - out there so squeal A farone wild? Or were there wild boars in the depths? I probably shouldn’t have been wandering around as aze was caught by shifting swa was coun I don’t knohat I expected, but when the wolf stepped fro, I had to bitea sound

His fur shone in the sliver of ain I’d been right to gauge the dosage for an Alaskan tier than that

The animal paid no attention to the steak Instead he trotted around and around the open area as if he knew so was there but couldn’t find it

I wasn’t surprised; I didn’t even consider it ic to have the wolf from my dream materialize I’d seen a black tail I knehat a wolf looked like Put one and one together and I got two, even in my sleep

But hoas I supposed to determine if this was a real wolf or a olf?

Mrs Favreau’s words cah the form may be that of a wolf, a olf always retains its huainst the distance, as the wolf circled away froain, but I couldn’t see his eyes, let alone determine if they were human

Suddenly he stopped, stiffened, and stared right at me I hadn’t made a movement, not a sound What had caused him to sense I was there? Wolves did not peer into trees for their prey