by Holley Trent
“The place we’re headed to is modern enough,” he said after a minute.
The gas pump’s gauge click, click, clicked—not moving nearly fast enough, in Arnold’s opinion.
Pressure must be low.
“What’s there?” Leonora asked.
“In Norseton? Everything you could want.”
“That’s perfectly vague.”
“Best I can do.” He hadn’t had much time to explore the place himself. He’d made sure his sister was settling in okay, and he’d left as soon as he’d had his vision.
“Tell me about it,” she said.
“I will.” The gas finally stopped trickling. Arnold set the nozzle back into its storage compartment, grabbed the fuel receipt, and twisted the truck’s gas cap back on. “Once we get back to the truck. Come on.” He canted his head toward the gas station.
Leonora sighed, shifted Kinzy to her other arm, and then grabbed the diaper bag.
Once she was out, Arnold took the bag from her and locked the truck door. “I’ll just hold onto that until after I’m done.”
“Oh, give me a freakin’ break, dude. You’re gonna hold a diaper bag as collateral? Of all things?”
He didn’t respond. Just pulled the gas station door open for her and waited for her to walk past him.
He nodded at the bored-looking teenager behind the counter and guided Leonora toward the hall where the restrooms were situated.
He’d been to that particular gas station once or twice before with Petra. Petra, though, had volunteered to be his travel companion. He hadn’t had to worry about her staging escape attempts every time he turned his back. He and Petra had always had the same goals.
“I’ll go first,” he said, pulling on the men’s room door. Then he thought better of closing it. He doubted she was going to run off without her diaper bag—especially since Kinzy’s vital records were inside—but she could tell the clerk she’d been kidnapped. The highway patrol would probably need a good half hour to get to that remote outpost, but all the same, Arnold wanted to avoid having law enforcement on his tail.
“Actually—”
He pulled her into the empty men’s room, baby and all, and locked the door.
“Come on, dude!” she whined.
“Stand there for three minutes. You won’t die of exposure, or anything like that.”
He hustled to a stall, unfastening his jeans as he went.
“My child is going to be traumatized by this. Mark my words.”
“Your child isn’t even going to remember this.” He let out a small moan of pleasure as his bladder emptied. “Your child isn’t even three months old yet.”
“You never know what kids’ll remember. I remember crazy stuff from when I was really little.”
“How little?” Talking to a lady while he taking a leak was weird as hell, but apparently, he needed to stop thinking of Leonora as normal. She was falling more and more into the category of “kook” with each passing minute.
She’s got a mouth just like ma. Jeez.
“Like, really little,” Leonora said. “Little enough that I wasn’t much taller than my grandma’s knees. I remember grabbing her skirt so I didn’t get lost at a community event.”
“You could have been two or three. Not exactly an infant.”
“Meh.”
“Right. Meh.” He tucked his junk away, flushed, and then headed for the sinks.
She gave him a sideways stare as he headed out, as if she’d expected him to emerge uncovered and indecent. “I’m sure I could remember other stuff if I tried,” she muttered.
“Uh-huh.” He scrubbed his hands and then handed her the diaper bag. “There you go. Handle business. I’ll get grub.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me what I want?”
“I get a sneaking suspicion you were going to volunteer that information whether or not I asked.” He unlocked the door, pulled it open a few inches, and checked the hallway for customers.
No one was there.
He nudged her out and turned her toward the ladies room. “Pretty sure there’s a changing table in there if you need one.”
She stopped in front of the door. Shifted her weight. Cringed.
“What?” he asked.
She sighed and held out the baby. “Can you hold her while I…you know.”
“Oh.”
“Normally, I wouldn’t ask. Smart wolves don’t hand their babies over to dudes, whether they know them or not, but given the circumstances, I don’t see where I have a choice.”
“I’m not going to hurt your baby. If I were that kind of wolf, you would have seen evidence of my untrustworthiness already.”
He wasn’t so naive as to think those wolves didn’t really exist. They did. To many male wolves, women and children were just possessions—bartering chips. And sometimes, the children were inconveniences they didn’t want to be bothered with. Male children got sent away. Female children got bartered.
She handed Kinzy over slowly. Other than a short whimper of a complaint, likely about being shuffled between the two adults, Kinzy didn’t seem particularly bothered. Apparently, one pair of arms was just as good as another as far as she was concerned.
Leonora stood staring at him with her hand pressed against the door.
“What?” he asked.
“Held many babies in your life?”
“Not that I can remember.”
“Huh.” She stepped into the restroom.
Arnold stood waiting outside the door for a moment, and then realized he could be using his time more productively. He needed to be getting caffeine into him, for one thing, and he didn’t want to spend another ten minutes dawdling in the store when Leonora was done. He wanted to be back on the road as quickly as possible.
Stepping in front of the drink coolers, he called up to the bored clerk, “Can I just make a pile on the counter? I’d get a basket, but I’ve only got one free hand.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
He grabbed some sodas, cold coffee drinks, and juices. Packs of nuts, jerky, and dried fruit. He was squinting at the display of prepared sandwiches trying to make out the expiration dates when Leonora emerged from the bathroom hall.
“Let me have her.” She held out her arms.
She’d fixed her hair a bit. Her pale ponytail was straighter, and face a bit dewy. She’d likely cleaned up the best she could using the sink.
“I bet you’d love a hot shower,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
He slid the case open and pulled out what looked like the newest two sandwiches. “A hot shower. You were tromping through the woods with a baby. I’m sure you’d like a hot shower and a soft bed.”
“Oh. I thought you were trying to tell me I smell.”
“I’m doing all I can not to sniff you on purpose.”
“Because I stink of my mate, right?”
He ground his teeth and gave a slow nod as he straightened up. “Yeah. That’s why.”
Basically a lie. The mate scent was the least of her issues. Her milk scent was driving him to distraction. The fact of the matter, though, was that she was some other wolf’s mate, and her baby was some other wolf’s problem.
He gave Kinzy to her. “Want anything in particular? I’m going to check out.”
“Um.” Leonora scanned around her, then shrugged. “Just water, I guess. Need to stay hydrated.”
“Right.”
Because she’s nursing.
She padded away, cooing at Kinzy as she went, and Arnold backtracked to the drink coolers.
His phone buzzed as he grabbed two water bottles by their necks. He shifted everything to one arm and rooted his phone out of his pocket as he walked to the counter.
“Yeah?” he said after accepting the call.
“Gods, Arnold. Where the hell are you?”
Petra.
He grunted and set the new items in front of the clerk. “Actually, I’m glad you called. Could you tell A—” He’d been about t
o say Alpha, but the clerk was staring Arnold right in his damn mouth. “Uh. Adam. Tell Adam I’m bringing someone back? Clear it with him?”
“I asked you a question.”
“I’m near the border in Colorado.”
“Doing what?”
“I’ll explain when I get back.”
“You had a vision, didn’t you?” His sister’s tone was only half accusing, which meant she was probably in a good mood. He’d worried about her when he’d taken off in a rush. She’d been recovering from severe injuries. Normally, he wouldn’t have abandoned her to near-strangers—and especially not in a brand new pack—but his visions didn’t wait. He’d had to act.
“Yeah, I did,” he said. He rooted out his wallet and watched the total price tick higher and higher.
Gonna have to get a job sooner than later.
Petra sighed. “When should we expect you?”
“Trying to get there before nightfall, for obvious reasons.”
“Is the person you’re bringing back aware of your obvious reasons?”
“Yep,” he said.
“Does this person have his or her own obvious reasons?”
“Yep.”
“Gotcha. I’ll tell Adam. Be careful.”
“I always am.” He ended the call and stuffed the phone back into his pocket just as the clerk looked at him expectantly.
Arnold sighed and swiped his debit card.
If his new alpha didn’t place him into a gig soon, he was going to have to dip into his emergency fund—something he tried to avoid doing at all costs. Wolfpacks were fickle things, and Arnold never again wanted to be turned out on his ear without a penny to his name. Next time he got sent away, he’d be prepared. He wouldn’t have to sleep outdoors unless he wanted to, or have to beg strangers for money or food.
He didn’t have to be indigent.
The fact that Leonora had seemingly chosen that life grated at him.
Running into the woods with a baby…
She had to either be desperate or nuts.
He took the bags from the clerk and waited at the end of the hallway for her.
“Desperate or nuts,” he muttered.
It was high time he found out which.
CHAPTER FOUR
Leonora took another sip of water and stared at Arnold’s profile as he drove silently.
They were somewhere in New Mexico. He’d told the truth about that much. That was all she knew. If she’d had one of those fancy new phones like his, she might have been able to open a map app and see their exact location.
Probably doesn’t matter, anyway.
Her being far away from home was a good thing, actually. She hadn’t exactly left Wolverton with the blessings of her “husband,” or anyone else. She wasn’t supposed to leave town unescorted, and up until her great escape, she’d never left at all.
Cringing, she settled lower in the seat and shifted Kinzy to her other arm.
So tired of the silence.
“Been lucky so far, right?” she said. “No cop’s pulled us over for not having a seat for her.”
“Oh, they probably can’t tell she’s back there.” He glanced at her in the rearview mirror and put his gaze right back on the road. He had to be pushing the truck to seventy, and apparently they were making very good time. The man was a machine of some sort.
“We’re higher off the ground than most police vehicles, for one thing. For another, she’s on your lap. They can’t tell you’re holding her. Risk would probably be higher if she were upright and staring out the window or something.”
“I never bothered to buy her a seat. Didn’t think I’d need one. Lady wolves from my town so rarely ever go anywhere.”
“Yeah, that’s the case across the board. I think most of the ladies in Norseton have driver’s licenses, though. My sister does, for sure, but she hasn’t lived in a pack for a long time.”
“Where was she?”
“With me. We both left our pack at fourteen.”
“Why?” Leo knew she was pushing her luck, peppering the man with questions the way she was. Ladies were supposed to be seen, not heard. And to be seen as little as possible, at that. They did their best to stay out of the men’s way, but every now and then, paths crossed, and some jerk got his knickers in a twist.
“I was sent away from my pack, and she went with me. We’re twins. Until she died, our mother raised us to do pretty much everything together. After that, all me and Petra had was each other.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I don’t know what that’s like, losing someone. I’ve been lucky, I guess. At least with that.”
He shrugged and glanced into the mirror again.
His eyes were so dark that she couldn’t make out the pupils in them. They should have been menacing, but they just weren’t anymore. They were warm and…curious.
She was curious, too. Not staring at him was hard, and if she’d been the slightest bit decent, she wouldn’t have wanted to. After all, she was married.
Kind of.
He fixed his gaze back on the road, and that quiet descended into the truck cab again.
She was capable of quiet, for the most part, but the lack of noise had always made her uncomfortable. She was a talker. Her mother always cringed whenever Leo opened her mouth. You’re gonna get yourself in trouble, Leo, she always said. One of these days, you’re gonna open your mouth and some impatient wolf is gonna snap. Don’t make the same mistakes as me. Save your words for home. Do all your talking with me, okay?
So, that was what Leo had done up until Samuel showed up in town looking for a mate to collect.
She rubbed her eyes and sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Arnold asked.
“Nothing. Just thinking about stupid wolf stuff.”
“The moon pulling you to shift already? I’ve never heard of anyone being sensitive so early in the day, but I guess you’re new to it.”
She grimaced. Grunted.
“How long?” he asked.
“Not long. The dirt bag bit me right after Kinzy was born. My milk had barely come in when he did it. I was so angry.”
“What the hell did he do that for?”
Leo might have been wrong, but Arnold sounded to her like he didn’t approve of what Samuel had done. She could hear the judgment in the cadence of his words. Any other male wolf she knew might have high-fived Samuel for his accomplishment.
She let out a breath and stared at the desert zipping by outside her window. “That was his M.O., I guess. The way he always does it.”
“What do you mean always? How many times has he been married?”
“Depends on who you ask.”
“I’m not following what you’re getting at, Leonora.”
“Leo,” she said flatly. “The only person to call me Leonora regularly is Samuel.”
“And who is Samuel?”
“The wolf who bit me.”
“Your husband.”
“That title is what’s up for debate.”
She didn’t turn to look, but she was certain that if she’d risk a glance up to the mirror, Arnold’s brow would be furrowed. And she’d feel defensive and like she needed to explain herself, when—in truth—nothing that had happened had been her fault.
She’d followed the rules. She’d done what she was supposed to with varying degrees of compliance.
Until she ran.
“You got a story you want to tell me?” Arnold asked.
“Don’t know. You got one for me?”
“Mmm. I’m sure I could think something up if you insist, but I suspect whatever you have to say will be far more entertaining.”
“Try me,” she said.
She wanted to trust him—needed to trust someone—but she had a baby to worry about. Leo needed to be careful with her words, like her mother always warned her.
“Um. How ’bout you tell me something first?” Leo said.
“Is that how we’re gonna play it? Okay.” He made a clucking sound for
a few seconds. Drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Smiled a little, even, and she was pleased to see he was capable of working his face that way, though she hoped he did as little smiling as possible. The dreamy sight made her eye twitch and tits hurt.
“All right,” he said. “Maybe this is cheating, though. It’s really more of my sister Petra’s story than mine, but at least you know how we ended up in Norseton. We started in Oklahoma.”
“What happened?”
“We were making our annual drive to our mother’s grave. I was asleep, and Petra was behind the wheel. One minute, I was dreaming about porterhouse steaks and mashed potatoes, and the next, the front of the truck was making out with a big tree, and my sister was laying on the ground ten feet from the front. Flew right through the windshield. Me, I just got pinned.”
“Gods! What happened?” She clutched her chest over her thrashing heart. Exciting stuff like that didn’t happen around Wolverton. Wolverton may as well have been the sleepy town of Mayberry.
With werewolves.
“Someone called 9-1-1, I guess. I remember someone cutting me out of the truck, and paramedics whisking her away.”
“How did she survive that? Even for a werewolf—”
He chuckled. “Yeah. I know. I guess, Petra and me, we’re just built of sturdier stock than most. Typical of my grandfather’s line. You can never tell how the genetics will shake out when you’re a halfsie, though. We were lucky.”
“You’re only half wolf?”
When he didn’t immediately respond, she worried that maybe she’d gone and stuck her foot into her mouth again, but she risked a look up into the mirror, anyway.
“Sorry,” she muttered. “I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“Don’t apologize. I was just trying to get a read on you.”
“Why?”
“Some folks behave a certain kind of way when they find out you’re not pure.”
“Yeah, well, some folks behave a certain kind of way when they find out you’re battier than a barrel of Louisville Sluggers.”
“You talkin’ about you?”
“Wheee.” She sighed and let her lips sputter. “Ditzy blonde. That’s me in a nutshell. My father used to say that I talk the way a fish breathes—that I just can’t stop. He was wrong. I just need to talk to people sometimes. I don’t think he understood that. Or maybe most other wolves are better at shutting up than I am.”