The Descent From Truth Read Online Free

milk. The wolf tensed and snarled. She refused to give ground as Alex worked his way toward her. Her eyes, human-shaped and too big for her face, held him entranced. He fished the last of his venison jerky from his backpack, laid the dried meat in the snow, and backed away.
     
    Snarling all the while, the wolf advanced without taking her eyes off him. She ate the jerky with a delicacy that surprised him. When it was gone, she stared at him as if waiting to see what would happen next.
     
    He squatted in the snow and held out both hands. “That’s all I have, girl. We’ll both have to go without.”
     
    Still dragging the pup, which refused to relinquish the nipple, the wolf eased closer. Alternately snarling and sniffing, she advanced until her nose brushed his face. She licked, and ecstasy weakened him so that he could barely maintain his footing in the snow.
     
    He awakened and realized he had ejaculated. He dug fresh underwear from his backpack and changed hurriedly to minimize exposure to the cold.
     
    * * *
     
    The Mylar curtain that sheltered Alex and his overnight charges also filtered out much of the morning light. Accustomed to being roused by the sun, he slept late. When he awoke, Pia and her baby were still asleep.
     
    Snow had drifted against the Mylar. He burrowed through and stood to stretch sleep-cramped muscles. The wind had stilled, but frigid air made the scar tissue on his cheek itch. Brilliant sunlight reflecting off an unbroken blanket of white hurt his eyes.
     
    With a cloudless sky and calm air, he would have no trouble getting Pia and her kid airlifted out. A good thing; as much as he enjoyed their company, he didn’t need the distraction. Being booted from the Army had left him broke and homeless until the ex-commander of his old Special Forces company pulled strings to land him this job. Self-pitying and pissed off at the world, he’d gotten off to a bad start. He didn’t want to let Captain Faust down by getting himself canned.
     
    Maximillian Koenig was visiting Silver Hill, surveying his domain. Alex wondered if Faust, who had left the Army and was now Variant Corporation’s director of security and intelligence, would be with him. Probably not. Though Koenig undoubtedly traveled with a personal security force, he wouldn’t drag along his corporate top cop.
     
    Shrugging away the speculation, Alex crunched several feet through the snow and relieved himself against a rock. He crawled back into the shelter and found Pia diapering her baby. She once again wore her lightweight pants. The borrowed thermal underwear lay neatly folded on his sleeping bag. She asked him to watch the baby and wriggled through the snowy tunnel to the outside.
     
    During his early teens, Alex had earned pocket money as a sitter for a neighbor’s kid, so he was comfortable with his temporary assignment. He knelt on the sleeping bag where the baby sat. “Get a load of this, Freddy.” He pulled back his sleeve to expose his wristwatch and tripped its chimes. The baby seemed fascinated, so Alex triggered the chimes over and over until Pia returned, shivering and hugging her thin coat about her.
     
    Alex slipped off his down-filled parka. “Your clothes are way too light.” He wrapped the parka around her.
     
    “Thank you.” Another shiver wracked her. “I believe I shall never be warm again.” She sat on the sleeping bag and pulled the baby onto her lap. By tickling the kid’s chin, she coaxed a grin from him.
     
    Alex lit the remnant of the portable stove’s fuel. “Have us some coffee in a few minutes.” He heated water in the big aluminum cup that clipped onto his canteen holder and served as a multipurpose cooking, drinking, and eating utensil. “Hate to see you guys leave,” he said as he worked. “You’re good company.”
     
    Pia smiled. “I also regret that our acquaintance must be brief.”
     
    He liked what the smile did to her face. Still careful to keep his damaged left profile