Part 5
“Then we give him back,” Avery said.
Her voice sounded steadier than she felt.
The rest of the day became a series of preparations. Eli moved the trail cameras to cover the meadow. Dr. Brooks placed a light identification tag on Ash that would fall away as he grew, then checked his injured leg once more.
Rachel cleared a path from the mudroom to the porch. June closed the curtains facing the county road so passing drivers could not turn the release into a spectacle.
Deputy Benton parked near the entrance to the property before dark. She had spoken with Wade and the other nearby ranchers. No one was to enter the area until the wildlife team gave permission.
For once, Alder Creek listened.
Avery spent the afternoon beside Ash.
She did not pet him. She did not feed him by hand. Those had been Eli’s instructions, and she followed them now with painful care.
Ash paced the enclosure, restless from returning strength. Whenever the pack called, he stood at the mudroom door and listened.
“You know where you’re going,” Avery said.
He glanced at her, then went back to the door.
That night, the wolves arrived earlier than before.
One appeared at the tree line while there was still color in the sky. Another crossed the meadow twenty minutes later. By midnight, all nine were visible on the cameras.
The scarred female rested beneath the same pine where Avery had first noticed her. A large dark male moved from one side of the property to the other, checking the road and the neighboring field.
The pack did not leave before dawn.
Instead, they moved closer.
Eli watched the feeds from the kitchen table. “They know he’s strong enough to call.”
“Does that make them dangerous?” June asked.
“It makes them less willing to leave without him.”
At five twenty, Ash began throwing himself against the crate door.
The sound brought the scarred female to her feet. She crossed half the meadow before stopping, close enough for Avery to see the pale fur around her muzzle through the kitchen window.
A younger wolf followed her.
Eli looked at Dr. Brooks. She nodded.
“We do it now,” he said.
Avery changed into jeans that would not rub against her bandage and pulled on her hiking shoes. Her fingers shook so badly that she tied the first lace into a knot.
Rachel knelt and untangled it.
“Do you want me beside you?” she asked.
A week earlier, Avery would have said no before the question was finished.
“Yes.”
Rachel tied the lace properly. “Then I’m beside you.”
Eli reviewed the plan again. He would open the outer mudroom door and check the porch. Rachel would remain within reach of Avery. June and Dr. Brooks would watch through the kitchen window.
Avery would carry Ash’s crate to the marked spot near the bottom of the porch steps. She would open it, step backward, and return to the house.
“You do not wait for a wolf to approach,” Eli said. “You do not follow Ash. If he stays in the crate, we give him time from inside.”
Avery nodded.
“Tell me the plan.”
She repeated every step.
Eli unlocked the door.
Cold morning air entered the mudroom, carrying the smell of pine and damp soil. Ash stopped struggling and pressed his nose toward the opening.
Avery lifted the crate. It was heavier than she expected.
Rachel placed one hand beneath the other side.
“Together,” she said.
They stepped onto the porch.
The meadow seemed larger without glass between them and the wolves. Avery could hear birds in the grass and the faint rasp of Ash’s breathing inside the crate.
No wolf moved toward them.
Eli descended first and scanned the yard. Avery and Rachel followed. They carried Ash to the strip of flattened grass marked by two stones, then set the crate down gently.
The scarred female stood seventy yards away.
Her body was still, but her ears pointed forward.
Rachel backed toward the porch. Eli moved with her.
Avery placed her fingers on the latch.
Ash turned inside the crate and looked at her.
For one wild second, she wanted to pick him up, carry him back into the mudroom, and tell everyone he was not ready. Then the scarred female made the three-note call from the forest. Ash faced the meadow. Avery opened the latch…
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