White Fangs Read Free

in the world, and to deny unnatural appetites. The wild, he told them, should be something that they grasped hold of, not a power that held them.
    Back in San Francisco, Sabine had taken the job of feeding them through their change. Jack had protested, but she had wanted him to spend time with his family. Your mother and sister need to know you again , she'd said. Jack had left the dockside building, knowing that four monsters dwelled and raved inside, and Sabine would be close to them all the time. He had gone home and spent a day with his family, telling them some of his stories from the north — but only some, because there was much he had sworn he would never tell. Even so, during their journey he had begun to spend more and more time writing in his journal, making notes about a version of the story he thought might make a fine novel, albeit without monsters and witches and other things in which ordinary people would never believe.
    A gust of icy wind disturbed Jack from his reverie. Sabine had told him that their sojourn in San Francisco had been a success, and there was little that Jack could say against that. The wolves had survived their change without murdering anyone, and by eating beef and chicken thrown into their separate compartments in the old fishing shack by an attentive Sabine. But Jack's sense that they were heading toward something so much worse than werewolves loose in San Francisco allowed little chance to celebrate. Beyond Seattle, the world was wilder. And at the center of the wilderness of Jack's memories awaited Lesya.
    Jack, Sabine, and the crew waited at the railing as the ship docked. Nobody spoke. Small talk was not something that the wolves indulged in, even Louis. The severity of their prior existence had pared life down to the basics.
    As the Kraken nudged the dock and boarding ramps were lowered down, men and women hustled along the dock, and soon enough the ship's horn announced disembarkation.
    "I don't see anyone waiting to board," Sabine said. "Maybe we'll have the ship to ourselves!"
    "There are some remaining aboard," Jack reminded her. "A few hardy souls."
    He leaned on the railing, enjoying watching the dock hands working below. The deck was alive with men moving crates and goods off the ship and passengers shuffling about, awaiting their turn to disembark. Others had come on deck just for the sight of civilization that the Seattle skyline provided — their last such view for quite some time, as they continued on their northward journey. Soon the first of the passengers started down the short ramp, and a couple of them staggered a little as they stepped onto solid land, finding their land legs again.
    "I'm heading back to our cabin," Louis said. "I'm getting as much sleep as I can in a proper bed before we — "
    "Ghost," Sabine whispered.
    Jack's blood ran cold. It was as if she had reached into his dream and resurrected it. He saw her growing pale and grabbed her arms, fearing some sudden illness. Her eyelids fluttered, and she brought her hand up to her mouth and bit it.
    "Sabine!" Jack said. "What is it?"
    "I'm . . . I'm here, Jack," she said, suddenly leaning into him.
    Beyond her, he caught sight of the rest of their strange pack. The four werewolves stood frozen, like animals caught in a sudden flash of light, ready to bolt at any moment. It was the first time he had ever seen Louis and the others afraid, and he wondered fleetingly what other than brutality he was taking away from them by trying to re-teach them humanity.
    In their paralysis, all four of them — Louis, Maurilio, Vukovich, and the Reverend — were staring off to Jack's right, down over the ship's railing. Jack turned and looked down at the dock, to see what had so shocked them all.
    Standing still amongst the bustle, like a rock in the center of a white-water stream, a tall figure regarded him. Jack's first thought was to wonder how it was that Sabine had not felt his presence, but of course he was on dry