Wolves of the Beyond: Shadow Wolf Read Free Page B

that governed so many aspects of the wolves’ lives. He had cracked the byrrgis , and even if the wolves had been able to reassemble, they would not chase the moose. Meat gotten through a disturbance of the order was not considered morrin . Indeed, it was declared cag mag , an old wolf word for tainted meat, and since tainted meat was thought to make one insane, the expression also meant “going crazy.”
    But it was not just the meat that was cag mag . From the malevolent looks the wolves were giving him, Faolan knew they thought he was tainted, too. He heard their whispers. “He’s more bear than wolf,” one male said to his mate.
    “And we,” the mate replied, “have to go hungry because of him!”
    But their words were nothing compared to what was coming. Faolan felt his marrow freeze when he saw the tawny wolf, the young outflanker called Mhairie, approaching. He sank to the ground. And oddly enough, the dirt hit his belly faster than it ever had before. He shoved his face into the grit, but before he could utter the first sound of an apology, her words were upon him like a swarm of stinging bees.
    “What were you thinking? You wrecked my chance. Do you know how many she-wolves my age are ever asked to run as an outflanker?” She did not wait for an answer. “Of course not. You know nothing. You are an absolute idiot!”
    “I know, I know,” he said, his voice hoarse with desperation.
    “We’re going hungry and that’s the least of it. We’re lucky no wolves were killed when that moose charged.”
    “Look—I think I should just go away. They’ll out-clan me for sure and then—”
    But Mhairie cut him off. “Duncan MacDuncan decides that, not you!” she spat.
    “Well, why stay around?”
    “Why stay around? Look, you mealy-marrowed piece of scat. You have to go to the Carreg Gaer and have a hearing by the raghnaid . You can stand up to a moose on your stupid hind legs and prance about like a bear, but you can’t face our court of justice? And just where were you thinking of going?”
    “Um…” He hesitated.
    “Where? Ga’Hoole, I suppose?”
    “The thought had crossed my mind,” Faolan muttered.
    There was complete silence, a stunned silence. Slowly, Mhairie began to speak. “Are you blazed? Moon blinked? Have your brains gone cag mag ?”
    “It was just an idea,” Faolan said, trying to drive hisface farther into the dirt while rolling back his eyes so he could see her.
    “Great Lupus, you are pathetic! You don’t even know how to do the third-stage submission roll, which, incidently, you are supposed to be doing right now after the initial belly scrape. You don’t know that, let alone anything else about our world. You think you’re just going to churrlulu your way through this.”
    “I don’t know what churrlulu means,” Faolan admitted.
    “My point exactly! Churrlulu is the owl word for laughing something off, taking it lightly. Go to Ga’Hoole. You don’t speak the language. You don’t fly.”
    “I know some owl words. I had a friend, an owl, a Rogue smith.”
    “Oh, fantastic. You had a friend, a Rogue smith,” Mhairie sneered, then cocked her head. “Forget Ga’Hoole. You don’t belong there.”
    “Well, I don’t belong here!” Faolan answered. He tried to keep his ears laid flat as was proper, but they kept twitching up.
    Mhairie sighed. “I still can’t believe what you did on that byrrgis . I mean, for the love of Lupus, this was supposed to be my…my…” Mhairie began to stammer. “Mybig moment. I could have finished the crimp if it hadn’t been for you.
    “Look, I don’t know what the raghnaid will do. I’m not sure when they’ll call you. Not with Duncan…” She started again. “Not with Duncan MacDuncan so…so sick.” Her voice dwindled to an aching whisper. But within seconds, the sting was back.
    “And one more thing—that tone of yours! You don’t use that tone with me or with any other wolf. You are a gnaw wolf. Everyone knows that