New Moon by REBECCA YORK

crouched behind boulders.
    They had each launched an initial arrow. They followed with more shafts.
    Three against one. Not good odds, considering that the wolf had been wounded a couple of days earlier, then gotten himself into a nasty fight not far from the cave. But he was already running down the rocky incline with no thought of turning back.
    He felt the familiar animal savagery take him. With a snarl the wolf leaped from the rocks, landing on the closest shooter. He went for the man's throat, feeling satisfaction surge through him as he chewed through flesh and bone and tasted warm blood spurting into his mouth.
    The archer made a gurgling sound and dropped the arrow he'd been about to mount on the bow string. Next to him, his comrade pulled a knife and rushed the wolf.
    For long seconds, the third man was too stunned to move. Snapping out of his trance, he drew a sword and dashed to his comrade's aid.
    Unfortunately, the odds were even worse than Logan had thought. Two more men had been crouching out of sight. As they leaped forward, Logan wondered if the target really had been the bird. Maybe they'd worked up a plan to get him to attack.
    And he'd done just what they wanted—rushing right into another trap like a wolf bent on self-destruction.
    Only he was going to take as many of them with him as he could. One man was on the ground, probably dying from the wound to his neck. But the three additional soldiers moved into position, surrounding Logan. He whirled to snap at the one coming up behind him with a sword, and the guy to his left lashed out, slashing with the knife.
    He was barely able to avoid the two blades. Grabbing for the knife hand, he bit down, hearing the satisfying sound of bone crunching.
    A sword thrust aimed at his side slid along his flank, cutting into his flesh, but his thick fur prevented major damage.
    He saw the soldiers' eyes. Two of them were scared. The other was angry.
    At the wolf? Or at the orders he was forced to carry out?
    It didn't matter. They would kill him in the end. He charged the soldier with the sword, coming in low, throwing the man off balance. He got in a killing bite as he heard the two men behind him charge.
    The next sound he heard was a scream.
    Whirling away from the man he had just vanquished, he saw the white wolf come down on a soldier's back, teeth clamped on his neck.
    Rinna! She had changed form and come to his aid. But had she ever been in a fight like this?
    Logan leaped to defend her, chomping down on the wrist of the man with the knife. He cried out and dropped the weapon.
    The soldier who was still standing went for Rinna. Logan whirled toward the man, knocking him off his feet.
    The white wolf leaped on the attacker, tearing at the man's scalp with her teeth.
    When the guy went still, the white wolf lifted her head and looked around as though stunned that the ground was littered with bodies.
    Her gaze met Logan's. He saw her triumph in addition to her shock. And he wondered what she saw on his own face.
    He'd hunted and killed plenty of animals, but he'd never killed a man before today. He was sure the soldiers back at the river hadn't survived the fight. Maybe that was even true of the two men who had attacked him after he'd left the cave. But in both cases, it had been their lives or his and Rinna's.
    He longed to change to human form, run to her and fold her close. But they had to get out of this area before reinforcements showed up.
    He didn't know much about warfare in this world. He wanted to find out if the soldiers had some means of communicating with each other in the field. Would they send reinforcements? What?
    Rinna stood stock-still in the middle; of the carnage. Making his way around the bodies on the ground, he came up beside her. When he butted at her with his head she looked like she was coming out of a dream.
    He touched her with his muzzle, trotted a few feet away, then shifted his head to the right several times.
    She followed slowly at