Cooper could see the joy on Jada’s face even in leopard form, and laughed a couple of times as she and Francine tussled in the snow. She’d finally relaxed, and she was more beautiful as a leopard than he could have imagined. She looked like freedom itself. When she pounced on him and rolled him into a snowdrift, he couldn’t even get irritated. He hadn’t played in the snow in a long time, either.

So he was still in human form when the first wolf charged Jada and knocked her flat, and Cooper’s brain shorted out with rage. He lurched forward and pain exploded in his legs as more wolves appeared from nowhere, and Cooper cursed himself for letting himself be distracted. Stupid, rookie mistake. Just because he hadn’t seen the wolves in a day and a half didn’t mean they weren’t there.

He hauled a wolf away from Francine by the scruff of its neck and threw the damn thing into some of its friends. He slid and scrambled in the snow, trying to reach the shotgun in the truck or at least get Francine to safety. The bear tore free before he could achieve either, and Cooper’s clothes shredded as he changed. He roared and slapped another wolf with a full paw. Cooper turned to see Jada fighting off three wolves, making a good show of it, and as he lumbered in that direction, something cracked through the air—once, twice. Three times.

It sounded like a rifle. Cooper blinked and he was on the ground in the snow. Then something stuck out of his hip—a metal tube with a feather on the end. He groaned and swatted it away, the acrid scent of tranquilizers sending panic through him. It stole away his coordination as he stumbled to help Jada, bellowing at the wolves in warning and swatting them away like pesky flies.

He snarled, shaking another wolf off his back leg, and vowed to at least buy Jada enough time to get in the truck with Francine so they could get away. He didn’t know why the wolves wanted to kill him, but it didn’t really matter as long as Jada was safe.

Cooper threw himself at the wolves with a fury he hadn’t felt in years, taking bites and claws to his gut as he kept them off Jada. She wormed free and fled for the truck, though she didn’t move fast enough. She stayed with him at least part of the way, trying to drag Cooper back with her.

A shotgun racked behind them, and human Francine, still naked from the shift, held up the weapon on the wolves and shouted, “I’ll shoot you. I will. Don’t make me.”

The wolves didn’t exactly hesitate, but the wounded ones limped away a bit. Francine’s hands trembled as she manipulated the weapon, and Cooper made a mental note to give her some lessons. The world started to get fuzzy as Cooper concentrated on snarling at the wolves and keeping them away from Jada, but he recognized their tactics—they didn’t try to kill her, just harried her until she tired. Typical wolves, wearing their prey into exhaustion and then picking them off, one by one.

He wouldn’t allow it.

Cooper lunged at the wolves and knocked Jada back with his paw, hoping she got the message to get into the damn truck. He couldn’t hold them off forever, and he couldn’t rest until he knew she and Francine were safe.

His legs went numb and he slowly sat in the snow, still grumbling to warn the wolves, and the pack closed in.

Francine’s voice pitched high, almost hysterical. “Cooper, get up. Get up!”

Something groaned and then Jada stood next to him, naked and human in the snow. Cooper growled; she’d freeze to death out in the snow without shoes or clothes on. His head swung around to nudge her toward the truck, but she’d found the rifle stashed under the seat and held it up.

Jada stepped out to his shoulder, the rifle trained on what Cooper suspected with the alpha wolf, Her voice came out strong and clear, and perfectly decisive. “Back off. I have more than enough in this magazine for all of you. We’re getting in the truck and driving away, and if you try this shit again, I won’t hold my trigger.”

The wolves growled, one advancing closer to Cooper with its head lowered, and Jada shook her head. “I warned you.”

She squeezed the trigger and winged the alpha in the shoulder, and the wolves retreated. Cooper blinked, his ears ringing from the shot and the tranquilizers, but he growled in solidarity. He almost burst with pride at Jada’s confidence and capability. She nudged him with her bare foot. “Change back, Cooper. We can’t fit a grizzly in the truck.”

He wouldn’t be awake much longer. And she was right—if he passed out in bear form, they’d never be able to get him into the truck. He’d put them all in danger. Cooper groaned but convinced the bear to retreat, and then he sprawled in the snow, naked and bleeding and in so much pain he couldn’t think straight. Whatever rifles they used, their rounds were different. He’d been shot plenty of times and never felt like this.

Jada didn’t put her rifle down, still keeping the wolves at bay. “Francine, get a blanket ready, and don’t look at Cooper. Cooper, get up. Knees, then feet. Get in the passenger side.”

Each command echoed in his ears, distorted and strange, and he struggled to comply. His legs, still shredded from the wolf bites, didn’t want to cooperate, but he dug deep and managed to grip the door handle. He hauled himself up, feet sliding in the snow, and collapsed headfirst into the truck. Jada snorted and backed up, shoving his legs in as well, and Cooper groaned. Francine tossed a blanket over him, and Cooper faded in and out of consciousness as Jada yelled at the wolves more, ordered Francine to cover her with the shotgun as she moved around the truck, and got in the driver’s side.

Cooper blinked, his mouth not working as he tried to form words to tell her how to drive the truck, but nothing seemed connected to his brain. He managed to growl and grumble, but nothing useful escaped his lips.

Jada cursed at the clutch as she got the truck started and it jumped forward. Cooper reached for the stick to help her, but looked up as Francine’s blurry face appeared over the back of the seat.

She patted his cheek, sounding worried. “Did you know you have a dinosaur on your back?”

He groaned and slid off the seat more, sliding into darkness as well.