OF COURSE, THE EASY satisfaction of my lupine nature couldn’t last forever. I woke at dawn naked and human. Eased out from beneath the other sleeping bodies and picked up Harry’s waterproof flashlight before returning to the cave we’d barely escaped the day before.
The water had receded during the night, leaving the ground muddy but the pool beneath the waterfall at its pre-flood level. Shivering, I considered assuming the painted cavern was similarly pristine and turning around without diving into the much smaller stream channel.
But I didn’t. I had to know how much damage Blackburn and I had created between us. Had to know whether his body was really as ravaged as I remembered when I fled from this spot less than a day before.
I took a deep breath and slid into the frigid water, letti
