by Bru Baker
If you can’t go around it and you can’t go through it, sometimes you have to go OVER it. Good job, wolflings! Take the token attached to this but leave the note. Remember, the team with the most points wins, and each token is worth 10 points—except the final token, me. I’m worth 30! Keep looking!
The challenge hit Nick right in his predatory instincts, and he had to fight the urge to throw his head back and howl with frustration. Drew was purposefully amping these kids up. Was he crazy?
At least one of the wolfling groups had made it this far, and even though Nick was worried for Drew, he couldn’t help but be impressed with the campers. He hoped it was cabin two. His kids were pretty good eggs.
Nick followed the trail of Drew’s scent as it wound through the forest. As soon as he picked up the sound of water, he resigned himself to what was coming next. Sure enough, as soon as the track he was following came within jumping distance of the creek, it disappeared. Smart. Drew was definitely crafty. And if he hadn’t used himself as bait, Nick might even grudgingly admit Drew knew what he was doing.
He sniffed along the edge of the creek, wondering if there was a way to do this that didn’t involve getting wet. The creek was just wide enough that he couldn’t easily pick up scents on the far bank, which meant he needed to be in the middle if he had any hope of catching the point where Drew got out. Dammit.
He splashed his way to the center, thankful for his fur. His undercoat would keep him more or less dry, at least for a while. It was cold enough he could feel the bite of the water, so it must have been torture for Drew. Surely that meant he hadn’t spent too long in the water.
Nick made slow progress, pausing every foot or two to sniff at either bank, straining to pick up Drew’s scent. After ten minutes, he started to worry he’d missed it somehow. Though if he had, so had at least one group of wolflings. He could hear them splashing about a quarter mile ahead of him. He doubled his speed, intent on keeping them within hearing range in case they stumbled upon Drew. He was so focused on them, he barely noticed the strong scent of honeysuckle and forsythia until a deep inhale made him sneeze.
He stopped, zeroing in on the far bank. The woods were full of flowering shrubs this time of year, but none had smelled quite that strongly. He investigated, his nose twitching with discomfort as the perfume intensified. Some of the branches on the forsythia were broken, and crushed honeysuckle petals littered the ground. He jumped up on the bank, nose to the ground as he sniffed around the strong-smelling bushes. It was faint, but he honed in on Drew’s familiar scent.
He looked around, his pulse jumping when he saw the note card Drew had left here still had the token attached.
A surge of pride swept through him. Drew was good at this. Neither of the groups of wolflings had picked up his trail here yet. Instead of using something to mask his scent that would stand out, he’d used something that was everywhere in the forest. Very clever.
Congratulations, wolflings! Sometimes we have to focus not on what is out of place, but what is off-kilter. If you’re the first group through, take your token. If you’re the second, don’t despair. You have one more token to find before the high-stakes prize.
Nick sneezed again, his nose irritated by the honeysuckle. He contemplated taking the token, but that would be petty. Sure, Drew had challenged him to run the course, but the real purpose of it was training the wolflings.
He put his nose to the ground again and followed the trail. A few feet from the bush it became stronger, no longer drowned out by the cloyingly sweet floral scent. He picked up his pace, loping along the trail. It took him on a winding path that skirted up to the edge of a clearing. Nick’s heart sank when he realized he was directly behind the stables. He could track Drew up to the point where Drew had clearly jumped the pasture fence, and after that, the scent died out, replaced by the odor of horse with only a faint undertone of Drew.
Nick hated the smell of horses.
He sighed and followed the scent trail to the main stable building. Another note card fluttered in the breeze there, attached to the stable door with a nail.
Great job! We can’t always assume what we’re tracking will stay on foot. You were probably able to pick up on the horse’s scent—if you did, that’s awesome! If you didn’t and you just figured this was a good place to check, that’s awesome too. Remember, you have wolf senses, but you also have a human brain. You’ll need to rely on both to find me now.
The token was still attached, which probably meant both groups of wolflings were still in the creek. Nick wondered how long Drew planned to let them traipse through the woods. Was someone with them? They weren’t likely to wander outside of the camp’s perimeter fencing, but they could be out there for hours if they lost the scent trail.
He chuckled to himself, chagrined. No wonder Harris had laughed in his face when he’d said Drew couldn’t do this. Nick was man—or in this case, wolf—enough to admit Drew had done a better job than he could ever dream of doing.
He couldn’t declare victory yet, though. Nick sniffed around the barn a bit, but just like Drew had warned, his wolf came up empty. He trotted back out into the sunlight, nose to the ground in a fruitless attempt to find any hint of a scent trail. Everything was obliterated by the acrid tang of gasoline from the tractor the groundskeepers used to mow the pasture.
Nick’s head shot up at the thought. Where was the tractor? He could smell it, so it had clearly been running recently. But the pasture had been empty except for the horses. His nails clicked on the asphalt as he broke into a run, following the oily diesel smell. He cleared the corner and shot down the paved road that wound through the middle of camp, skidding to a halt when he saw the tractor parked outside the infirmary.
Gotcha.
Chapter Eight
DREW was relaxing on the back porch with a glass of iced tea when the door banged open and he heard the clack of wolf claws on the hardwood. There was only one set, so he was pretty sure it was Nick and not a group of wolflings, but he grabbed the flashbang he’d gotten from his brother Jackson just in case.
Nick was moving too fast to navigate the step down onto the enclosed porch, and Drew had to bite back a laugh when he went sprawling, legs tangling in the rocking chair Drew had been in moments before.
He wasn’t sure how it was possible for a wolf to look haughty, but that was the only way to describe Nick’s face as he delicately picked himself up and sat on his haunches. He looked around the room and then barked once, and Drew’s eyes widened when he realized what he wanted. He hadn’t thought about the implications of the fact that the wolflings—and Nick—would be in their full shift when they completed the course. Nick couldn’t shift back without standing there naked.
Drew muttered a soft curse and grabbed an afghan off the porch swing, holding it out to Nick and averting his eyes. Once Nick was sorted he’d have to go get towels or something for the wolflings. Crap. Unless they’d left their clothes in the garden?
He jogged down the steps and inspected the pond. Sure enough, there were several piles of abandoned clothes. He gathered them and brought them up to the porch. The wolflings could sort out whose was whose later.
“I cannot believe you made yourself bait!”
Oh good. Nick was done shifting.
“I’ll go get you some sweatpants,” Drew said with a mean smile. “It’s hard to be an authoritarian dictator while wearing granny squares.”
“Everything is a joke with you,” Nick said, holding the afghan tight around his waist. “You could have been seriously injured with this stunt. What were you thinking? Once they shift at this age, the wolflings are running almost entirely on instinct, and you set yourself up to be the scent they were tracking!”
“A, they have to find me before they can maim me, and B, no one was getting within ten feet of me.”
He tossed the flashbang to Nick, whose hands came up to catch it reflexively. The afghan slid to the floor, and Drew let his gaze linger over Nick in all his naked gl
ory for a moment. Nick did nothing to stop him, staring back just as hard. Drew’s cheeks heated. He remembered the last time they’d been on the porch together. Nick said it had smelled like a brothel, and he hadn’t even been naked that time. God only knew what Drew smelled like right now.
Nick’s gaze finally dropped to the item he’d caught. “Are you kidding me? A grenade? Your brilliant protection plan was a grenade?”
Drew snorted. “No, that’s a flashbang. It makes a loud noise and a bright light, incapacitating anyone in its radius who isn’t prepared for it. It works on humans, and it works marvelously on Weres. If they’d been in full bloodlust when they found me, that would have stopped them and given me plenty of time to get out of their path.”
Nick pursed his lips, and Drew was beginning to recognize the pinched expression for what it was—Nick not wanting to admit he was wrong. Drew grinned.
“I’ll go get you some sweatpants and a shirt. Stay here in case the winners come through.”
“I’m the winner,” Nick said petulantly.
Drew looked back at him over his shoulder. “Honey, you’re a full-grown Were who’s intimately acquainted with my scent. If you weren’t the winner, we’d be having words.”
He half expected Nick to follow him up the stairs, but he obediently stayed on the porch sulking. Drew looked at his phone. Cabin one had just gotten out of the creek and cabin two was still in the water.
It wasn’t like he was an idiot. He’d planted trackers on the tokens and had both Scott and George out shadowing the groups. He didn’t want any of the wolflings getting hurt or lost out there, after all.
He’d played games like this with his Pack since he was a kid. It had been a way for him to be involved in Pack bonding. He didn’t have the senses to participate in the hunts, but he could be the hunt. It had been years since he’d been found before he made it back to the final destination on the path he’d chosen. It had always driven his stepbrothers mad, and it looked like Nick was just as much of a sore loser as they had been. Perhaps it was a wolf thing.
He laughed to himself as he made his way back downstairs with a pile of clean clothes for Nick. He could have let him suffer the indignity of the afghan, but to be honest, Drew liked seeing Nick in his clothes. It felt domestic.
He tossed the bundle to Nick and picked up his tea, settling back into the rocking chair with his tablet. He had evening office hours today, and he needed to read up on the patients who were scheduled. Drew still had a long way to go in terms of learning about all of his new patients. He’d prioritized digitizing the records of anyone with an appointment in the next month, so at least he had those available to him here.
He was especially concerned about a young woman who had called for a last-minute appointment to have her clavicle looked at. She probably should have just gone to the hospital, but his receptionist said she’d insisted on seeing him instead. If it was broken, there wasn’t much he could do for her, but if she was anxious about hospitals, he could certainly go and help ease that.
Nick dropped into the chair next to his, and Drew offered him his glass of tea. Nick drank from it without hesitation, handing it back after he’d drained half of it.
“I still think making them hunt you was dangerous, but I’m willing to admit you did a good job.”
That was high praise coming from Nick. Drew turned off his tablet and leaned back in the chair.
“I know you have me cast as the helpless human, but I’m really not. Trust me when I say the flashbang is the least of the protections around here, okay? My job may be to take care of the wolflings, but first and foremost I have to ensure my own safety. I wouldn’t be here if Anne Marie didn’t trust I know how to do that.”
Nick scowled but nodded. “I’m getting that.”
“Good. I hope you’re getting that while I’m not a wolf, I was raised like one. My mom married my stepfather when I was four. He may not be my biological father, but he’s part of me. I learned everything my stepbrothers did. And when they went through their Turns, my stepfather started training me in hapkido and other self-defense techniques. I might not be able to beat you outright, but I can take you down long enough to find something to use to my advantage.”
Drew wasn’t sure if he imagined the flicker of interest that crossed Nick’s face or not. Maybe it was just wishful thinking. When Nick turned to him he could see a faint blush staining his cheeks. Maybe not on the wishful thinking, then.
“I find myself in a position to, uh, reevaluate some of my preconceived notions,” Nick mumbled.
Drew’s phone vibrated. “Cabin one is coming in hot,” he said after checking the notification.
A moment later he could hear them hooting and hollering—very clearly human. And as they stampeded onto the porch, very clearly naked, too.
“Wow. Congratulations, ladies and gentlemen. Please get some clothes on.”
Scott laughed. “They took the last note a bit too literally. I’ve been yelling at them to shift back since the stables.”
Nudity wasn’t an issue among Weres, so Drew doubted Scott had tried too hard. Despite what he’d told Nick about being raised like a wolf, that was one area he still felt completely human. He had a modest streak that had always embarrassed his family. Ironic, since in most families it would be the other way around.
He looked up, pleased to see everyone had at least some article of clothing on. “Did you get all the tokens?”
“Cabin two got the first one, but we found the other two,” Rebecca said. She had leaves in her hair and dirt on her face, but she was absolutely beaming.
“And you found me, which is good for another thirty points. Well done, cabin one!”
“They were rock stars at following a scent trail. Got a bit hung up on the water, but you have to admit that and the rope were dirty tricks,” Scott said, shaking his head fondly.
“Yet here they are, so clearly it wasn’t too difficult.” Drew rose and gestured toward the house. “C’mon in. I’ve got drinks and snacks in the kitchen. Nick can tell you more about what you’ve won while you’re eating.”
Nick shot him a confused look, and Drew rolled his eyes. “Okay, I guess I will be the one to tell you more about what you’ve won.”
The wolflings giggled, and everyone followed him into the kitchen. The camp chef had sent over enough food to feed twenty, which was probably about right for ten wolflings, two adult Weres, and a human who was going to miss dinner tonight.
“Some of you may be aware there’s a new Marvel movie out—”
“It looks so good,” one of the wolflings he didn’t know lamented.
Another flailed. “Right? But it’ll be in theaters when we get home. I hope.”
Drew cleared his throat and spoke over them. “The winning cabin gets to go see it tonight, with Nick generously volunteering to be your chaperone.”
Nick’s head shot up, his brow furrowed. Had Harris not told him about that? Drew couldn’t take them because he had office hours, and even as confident in his skills as he was, he wouldn’t take five wolflings out by himself. He might take calculated risks, but that would be sheer insanity for a human. Hell, he wasn’t sure it was a great idea for Nick to do alone. Maybe he ought to rope Scott into going, too.
He glared at Scott, who was buttering a piece of cornbread. He fumbled it and then perked up. “Ah. I’m going too! I’ve been waiting for it forever. I’m not missing my chance.”
Drew grinned into his fist. He very much doubted Scott knew which Marvel movie it was or had any clue what made Marvel different from DC. It didn’t matter. Nick would have backup, and it was one less thing for Drew to worry about.
The wolflings were all chattering excitedly, even the ones who had no idea what the movie was about. It was a chance to get off campus, and that was all they cared about. Drew’s phone buzzed again, and he swiped the screen, watching as the beacon in the first token moved toward the infirmary. This group was advancing much slower than the first, so they m
ust have realized they’d lost.
“Cabin two is on their way. Nick, can you take care of the debrief? Deliver the shit sandwich and all that. I’ve got to go change and get to the clinic.”
Nick recoiled. “Shit sandwich?”
“Yeah. You know, the classic way to deliver constructive criticism. You did this well, but you sucked at this, but hey, what about this thing, good job! The shit sandwich.”
Nick relaxed back against the counter and continued pouring himself a glass of tea. Drew recognized the cup as the one they’d shared out on the porch.
“That is much better than what I was envisioning. What a gross phrase.”
Drew shrugged. “It’s what my mom always called it. She gave out a lot of those with four boys under her roof.”
“I’ll take care of it. Do you have the details on the movie outing?”
“Harris really didn’t tell you? He even bought the tickets. Everything’s set, you just have to take them. Everything should be in the folder he gave you.”
Nick wrinkled his nose. “Ah.”
“You didn’t read the file after he told you I would be the one running the course, did you?”
“Nope,” Nick said, at least having the courtesy to look chagrined.
One step forward, two steps back. Drew sighed. “It’s all in there. I’ve got to run or I’ll be late. Scott can help you check out a van to take.”
DREW stretched his arms over his head, trying to wake himself up. He’d rushed out without grabbing anything to eat, and now he was exhausted and starving. The woman being ushered into the exam room was his last patient of the night, though, so at least there was that.
“Maura Chandler,” he read from the file, looking up to study the pale, painfully thin woman in front of him. She was cradling her right arm to her body, her lips pressed into a bloodless line from the pain. “I’m Dr. Welch. Why don’t you have a seat up on the table?”