Asra grunted beside him. “We’re upwind. Let’s go before she smells us.”

Ciaran balked as Asra turned from the scene. “What?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’?” Asra said as she walked away. “Wolves are trouble. We’re lucky she hasn’t noticed us.”

“We can’t just leave her to die!”

“Yes we can,” Asra said. “Watch.”

Ciaran glanced back to the helpless wolf below. Blood marred the snow white fur on her trapped hind leg. She panted and heaved with the effort of twisting her body to try to push down the levers of the foothold trap. If the boar found her, she’d be doomed, and her death would not be quick. He wouldn’t leave a wild animal to that fate, much less a sentient person.

Ciaran growled and tugged the mare’s reins, bringing the horse to a stop in front of Asra. The beast stood solid in Asra’s path, and she glared up at Ciaran.

“You’re always going on about how we need to help people,” Ciaran said. “Can’t imagine a better situation of someone needing our help.”

Asra folded her arms. “Some people don’t deserve our help. Wolves are at the top of that list.”

“Along with nobles? Princes, especially?”

“That’s … different.” She shook her head, as if shooing away a fly. “You have no idea what you’re talking about here. You have no idea what wolves are capable of.”

The wolf howled behind them, and Bane snarled again.

“See?” Asra said. “Even your dog agrees. And now she’s going to call more.”

Ciaran glanced down at Bane. He was a hunting dog; of course he would growl at what he perceived as prey. Once he found out the wolf was also a woman, he would control himself.

“You can choose to help or not,” Ciaran said, directing the mare around Asra toward the wolf. “But I’m not leaving her to die.”

Asra groaned behind him as he dismounted and tied the horse’s reins to a sturdy tree trunk. He headed into the woods, calling Bane to his side. As he traversed down the hill, he worried that Asra might not follow him after all.

But just before he reached the edge of the clearing at the bottom of the hill, Asra appeared beside him and said, “You have no sense of self-preservation. How have you survived this long?”

Ciaran smiled. “My charm and good looks? Or perhaps the retinue of guards protecting me around the clock.”

“Hello?” the wolf called. “Is someone there?”

Asra growled. “If we die, it’s your fault.”

“Noted,” Ciaran said, and he stepped out into the clearing.

When the wolf spotted them, she stood, her hind leg pulling against the trap. Her mane of fur bristled as she growled at them.

“Easy,” Ciaran said, holding his hands up in a calming gesture. “We’re here to help you.”

“She won’t attack,” Asra said, sneering up at the shapechanger. “Wolves are cowards. Won’t attack anything unless they outnumber it twenty to one.”

The wolf regarded Asra with a shrewd glare, analyzing her with pale yellow eyes. “I suppose I don’t need to ask what kind of fur you have, wolf-killer.”

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Bane rumbled another growl. Ciaran gripped his collar and muttered to him, “Mind your manners.”

“Oh, I’ve killed a lot of things,” Asra said. “Wouldn’t mind adding wolves to that list. Sure would make my ancestors proud.”

“We’re on a bit of a time crunch, aren’t we, Asra?” Ciaran asked, hoping to steer the conversation back to the topic at hand and away from death at the jaws of a giant wolf. He turned back to the captive and said, “We’ll just release you and we can all be on our way.”

The wolf flopped to the ground with a huff. “Oh, Moon Mother, cast your light on me. Having to be rescued by a human and his pet.”

Ciaran headed toward the trap. It was nearly three feet in width, ample enough for the massive magic hogs in the area. The teeth of the trap’s jaws lacerated the wolf’s leg below the hock. Blood saturated her fur and dampened the rusty iron. Ciaran swallowed back his nausea and grabbed hold of the levers on either side of the jaws that would release the trap.

“Why not have your precious packmates help you?” Asra asked.

“I don’t have packmates,” the wolf said. “Just my bird, who seems to have found something more interesting than helping me.”

Asra scoffed. “Wolves don’t travel alone.”

“My, you certainly do know a lot of my kind,” the wolf said with a tight smile. “Perhaps you would be willing to teach me a thing or two.”

The rust made the levers stiff, and the blood made the surface slick. Ciaran pushed down with his body weight, and just as he thought he had the leverage to force the levers open, his hands slipped. The trap twisted, and the wolf spun on him with a snarl.

Asra stepped between Ciaran and the wolf, and Bane leapt to Asra’s side, snarling and snapping. The wolf kept her fangs bared, but laid back down without further protest.

“It’s all right, you two,” Ciaran said as he gripped the levers once more. “My mistake.”

“If you must know,” the wolf said with a huff, “I’m a courier.”

“Bullshit,” Asra said. “No one would trust a wolf to be a courier.”

“Not everyone is as prejudiced as you pets, apparently.”

Asra held her arms out to the empty clearing. “Then where’s all your goods?”

“About half a mile south. I heard there was a powerful boar in the area. One that the humans regard as a god. Such a beast would surely provide an anchor or two.”

“A what?” Ciaran asked, looking up from his task, but Asra cut him off.

“I’m not letting you put hand or paw on an anchor,” she said with a snarl.

“Well, you won’t have to worry about it,” the wolf sighed. “All I’ve been able to find are these damn traps. I’ve wasted too much time trapped here to hunt it any further. I must move on to my deliveries.”

Ciaran gave one good push downward, and the trap jaws finally swung open. The wolf pulled her paw free and hauled herself to her feet. She shook herself out and winced when her paw made contact with the ground.

“Do you need help healing your foot?” Ciaran asked, straightening himself.

“She’ll heal just fine on her own,” Asra said.

“Indeed,” the wolf said with another cold smile. “I wouldn’t want to impose on you any longer.”

She turned to leave, but Asra said, “No, you’re not leaving yet.”

The wolf turned back, glaring at Asra with bared teeth.

“You need to tell the human thank you,” Asra said. “He’s the only reason you’re not still stuck in that trap. If it were up to me, I’d have left you for dead.”

The wolf growled under her breath, but eventually sighed and smiled. “Of course. How rude of me.” She dipped her head to Ciaran and said, “Thank you, human.”

Ciaran dipped his head in return. “You’re welcome.”

As the wolf turned and limped to the edge of the trees, she called back, “Good luck to you both. I’ll carry this to my grave.”

When she had vanished in the thick forest, Asra turned to Ciaran.

“All right,” she said. “Let’s go hunt this boar.”