k her in like

lunged from the left, and her body had swerved right before her mind could argue, and now the road was gone behind h

. Heavy, wet

lines of fire across her cheeks. The bundle was crushed under one arm, and some distant, stubborn part of her w

and heard the cloth tear. Another wolf came from the left, and another behind, and she understo

gasped, to no

a patch of ice

at made white light burst behind her eyes. The bundle flew from her arm. It hit a rock and split along its seam, and a pale g

lves s

on her side, her lungs burning, and watched the huge shapes hover at t

ook it. The bitter smell thi

lena's chest turned ove

, and every smell in the forest rushed in at once, bright and enormous: pine sap and wolf musk and blood, her ow

d his head. A low sound came

ent," h

ut of that vast mouth. Elena's mind refused it, and for one mome

is gone. Smell her.

voice from the dark, awed a

ought, stupidly, and pushed

began to

hat she is," he s