*

Tyrone had to stay inside for a few days, still sore from his mishap with the wolves.  He kept Wishbone company, now realizing why the puppy had been so scared that day he’d seen the wolves for the first time.  The two rolled an old tennis ball back and forth as they talked, and Tyrone willingly played hide-and-go-seek with Wishbone, always being “It” but never complaining.  Robyn would visit him once in a while, but she’d mostly spend her time outdoors, and who could blame her?  After the run in with the wolves, Robyn explained on their way back to the house that she used to live at a puppy mill that was like a living hell for her.

At least now she could find out that not all humans were bad.

Chapter Four

Two days had passed since the last wolf incident, and Sherlock decided it would be safe for him to investigate the edge of the forest for a while.  From questioning Wishbone, Tyrone and Robyn, Sherlock figured that the “Scout Wolves” always traveled in fours, one being the “Lead Scout”, and the rest being subordinates.  Sherlock sniffed some tracks that smelled a lot like wolf.  They were strongly scented, and had a twinge of dangerousness in it.  This has to be the Lead Scout.  Sherlock kept his nose to the ground and followed the tracks.  They were running, stopped, scattered.  Why would they scatter?  Did something scare them?  He’d met another dead end.  This is almost exactly like the police work I did.  Dead ends seem to be attracted to me.  It was a good thing that Sherlock was very observant, though.  He found cracked twigs and wolf hair on the ground, noting that they could’ve gotten into a scuffle from the mess of dirt, fur tufts, and paw prints on the ground.

Sherlock studied the spot for a few minutes before picking a set of tracks to follow.  He lifted an ear when he heard Robyn barking far off in the distance, and realized that it was time to head back.

He turned to leave when he felt another’s presence.  He sniffed the air, but they had disguised their scent.  “Hello?”

He tried to smell past their cover up scent, but it wasn’t working.  “Hello?”

All of a sudden, a black streak came out of nowhere and hammered Sherlock to the ground.  Winded, he looked up and came face to face with a snarling black wolf’s yellowed teeth.