by Alisa Woods
Minutes ticked by, then longer… she didn’t know how long she sat there, curled up on the bed, but suddenly there was a buzzing sound that pulled her out of the nightmarish swirl of thoughts that had captured her mind.
She creaked open her eyes. The room was the same, of course—it could be the middle of the night or the middle of the afternoon. She wouldn’t be able to tell with the window blocked.
It took her a moment to realize the buzzing was coming from her pocket. Her phone. She fished it out—it was a text. A small flame of hope surged in her heart… maybe it was Cassie rescuing her again, as she usually did with her life and her energy.
But it wasn’t Cassie. In fact, it wasn’t any number she recognized.
Hello, Terra.
It’s Julius. Sally gave me your number.
If it’s not too inconvenient, I would like to meet and talk about something—not in front of the others. Something a little more private.
Can you meet me?
There was no way Kaden would let her go. He wouldn’t let her one step outside the safehouse, at least not today. Maybe not ever again.
But she knew a meeting with Julius was safe. And more than that, he was the one person in her life at the moment who really understood her art. She could bring some of the prints she had from this morning. Whatever he wanted to talk about didn’t matter. She just desperately needed to talk to someone about art. About life. About something positive and growing and good—Julius was the perfect person for that.
She curled up to sitting on her bed and quickly texted him back.
Yes. Can we meet now?
Yes! Excellent.
He sent her directions to a small café in downtown Seattle. It wasn’t far from the safehouse, although he couldn’t possibly know where she was. She checked Google Maps and, even though it was past rush hour and close to dusk, it looked like she could take a bus from where she was and get there within twenty minutes. She texted him the time she could meet, then hurried to pluck the finished prints off the line and choose which one to bring. She didn’t like showing unfinished work, so in the end, she selected only two, tucking them in a portfolio carrying case. Now… how to sneak out without Kaden stopping her? He had to be out in the living room, as he always was.
There was only one other way out… through the window. It was completely blocked off, but that could be undone. It might make a racket, but that would just reassure Kaden that she was still in the room—and probably keep him away, if she was tearing up her room in a fit of embarrassment or anger or whatever.
None of that mattered.
She was going to see her patron saint.
The bus ride was surprisingly quick—she was pretty familiar with all the lines from her time scouring the city for material—and she arrived downtown at the café even before her appointed time.
Julius was already there. His blue eyes were bright with shining excitement, and the fact that she was alone seemed to enchant him.
He took her hands in his. “My dear, I am so excited to see you without your keeper. I very much appreciate you taking the time to see me, especially on such short notice.”
“Of course,” she said with a smile. “And I have something to show you. But you said you wanted to discuss something first—is it about my work?”
He dropped her hands, smiled, and gestured to her seat across the small table from him. It was an upscale place with white tablecloths and fresh flowers, and he seemed entirely at home. He signaled to the waiter, who quickly brought over some water. Julius instructed him to bring a bottle of red wine that Terra didn’t recognize, but the waiter clearly did. He rushed off.
Then Julius folded his hands and propped his chin on them, gazing at her with a look of delight on his face. “The thing I wanted to discuss absolutely concerns your work, but that takes a backseat, if you have something to show me. I must see whatever you have!”
The glow rose up inside her again, banishing the darkness just as she knew it would. She brought the portfolio up on the table and quickly unzipped it, revealing the two prints—one of the child, the pup, and the other of an elderly woman, whose shaggy fur had silver tips like a halo all around her body.
Julius’s eyes raked hungrily over the prints. “You must tell me what these are. Please.” The enthusiasm in his voice just fed her, loosening the tension in her body and letting the work absorb her.
“The child was born in the shelter,” Terra said. “They have very little, almost nothing, but he’s being raised in a pack that loves him tremendously. It’s as if he has twenty fathers and a dozen mothers, in addition to the one halfling who is his actual mother.”
Julius’s face lit up. “A halfling?”
“Yes, someone whose parentage isn’t a hundred percent wolf on both sides. It’s more common than you might think. Sometimes the child will express its wolf and be able to shift; sometimes not. There are no set rules about these things, but the halfling mother mated with a full-blooded wolf, and it looks like their son is able to shift already. This brought great joy to the mother and the rest of the pack. He’s a treasure. He’s also apparently quite a handful.”
Julius gave a small chuckle. “I can only imagine that raising a child who also can shift, complete with claws and fangs, might present a slightly different parenting challenge than normal.”
Terra smiled. “Not as much as you might think—kids are kids. It’s the human side that gives the most trouble.”
Julius nodded and pointed to the silver tipped shaggy wolf. “And this one?”
“She’s been at the shelter for many years, more than most of the residents. Her mate was killed in some kind of violent gang rivalry several years ago. She’s like the grandma for the pack now. She stays with them, helps care for the pups, and greets each new halfling or straggler or lost soul that comes through the door.”
Julius was nodding again. “This is even more fantastic than I could possibly have imagined, Terra. Your work is just phenomenal here. I cannot wait until you’ve finished your curation.”
Terra beamed. “I can’t thank you enough for the idea. You’ve literally saved me from… well, from a darkness that’s becoming more difficult as time goes on.”
He frowned. “You’re not talking about that monster, the Wolf Hunter, are you? Because I would hate to think that anything that maniac said was in any way influencing you.”
Terra felt the darkness grabbing at her again. “Let’s not talk about it, shall we? Besides, I want to hear about the mysterious thing you wish to discuss.”
He examined her carefully but didn’t press further about the Wolf Hunter. “Very well, then.” He leaned forward, lacing his fingers again. “I’m assuming these are not the only two wolves you have managed to procure photographs of?”
“No, I have dozens I was able to shoot this morning.”
“Did you happen to see any… white wolves?” His blue eyes were intent on her now.
A prickle crawled up the back of her neck. “A white wolf?”
“I know they are very rare,” he said. “Although our new candidate for Representative, Grace Krepky, is apparently one.”
“Yes, I know.” This turn was making her very nervous for a reason she couldn’t quite identify. It wasn’t possible for Julius to know the Wilding family had a white wolf in its past—it was just a legend in her family, until very recently when her cousin, Noah, had revealed that he had been turned into a white wolf by the experiments the government had performed on him. He claimed that it proved he was directly descended from the white wolf that broke up the Wilding pack to begin with, back in her grandfather’s generation. Noah also said he, and the previous white wolf, were really male witches, just as the rumors that have circulated for years in her family had claimed.
Terra was as surprised as everyone else when he revealed all this. And of course she wondered, just like every other member of the family, if any of the rest of them had white wolf tendencies. She didn’t shift often, but whe
n she did, her fur was very black.
The problem was… Julius shouldn’t know any of that. With the secret kept locked away, deep and dark in the Wilding pack. Had he somehow heard about Noah’s revelation?
Even more importantly, why was Julius bringing up white wolves at all?
“I didn’t see any white wolves today,” Terra said cautiously. Which was the truth. “But I don’t understand—why are you asking?”
“I know it must seem odd,” he said ducking his head and toying with the tablecloth. Then he looked up. “As you may have ascertained, I have a bit of a fascination with shifters and especially those of the wolf variety. When Grace revealed that she was a white wolf, I realized there was so much more to being a shifter that I didn’t understand. I investigated, doing my research, and I came across these ancient stories about the white wolf and how it was powerful. Magical. More so than the average shifter.” He cleared his throat and gave her a small embarrassed smile. “Please forgive my over-exuberance. Sometimes I get excited.”
“No, it’s all right,” she said, patting his hand. “Have you talked to Grace?”
“In fact, I have. But, of course, she knows little more than I do. It was a surprise to her to be a wolf at all! And apparently her parentage is a little bit of a sensitive topic.”
Grace was mated to Jared River, Jaxson’s older brother, so Terra knew the complexities involved in that whole situation. And that Grace was the bastard child of a shifter who had a fling with her mother—had, in fact, seduced her just like the hate groups like to accuse shifters of doing all the time. She could understand why Grace might not want to talk about it, especially with a human.
“Well, even though Grace is a white wolf, she’s only a halfling,” Terra said. “Obviously, her mother was human.”
“She may only be a halfling, but she has extraordinary healing powers… or so I hear.”
Terra didn’t think that was necessarily secret, so she nodded.
Julius leaned forward again, looking fervent. “Don’t you see? The power of the white wolf must be extraordinary. If even his halfling offspring could have such extraordinary healing powers, what must the original white wolf possess?”
The original was quite possibly a witch—but Terra wasn’t about to say that. “I suppose.”
“It’s just a theory.” Julius waved his hands around. “But I have this gut feeling… that if I can just find this white wolf, this mythical pure being, that maybe he could somehow bring peace to the city. Perhaps there’s something in this white wolf that could bring us together.”
Terra frowned. This idea of a white wolf being a savior… she didn’t want to burst Julius’s bubble about that. Besides, she didn’t really have much in the way of facts—just the rumors of her family and the fact of Noah being a white wolf himself. All she really knew was that, for the Wilding family, a white wolf had left nothing but destruction in his wake.
She cleared her throat. “Well, I guess I can keep an eye out for this white wolf, if you’d like, while I’m doing my work.” She hoped that would be good enough for him.
His eyes lit up again. “Excellent! And if you could perhaps ask around, as you mingle with the shifters of the city, perhaps we could piece together some clues. Any scrap of rumor or legend, anything would be helpful. It’s like a grand mystery!” He looked bashful again. “It’s a teeny bit of an obsession of mine, but I realize it’s rather… eccentric. I appreciate your discretion in this. It wasn’t something I wanted to bring up in front of the others because, well honestly, it makes me look a bit foolish. And I endeavor to be taken seriously most of the time.”
That brought a smile to her face. “Your secret is safe with me, Julius.”
He smiled wide. “Terra, my child, you’re more of a treasure every moment I spend with you. If I were a wolf, you would be in serious danger of me asking you out on a proper date.”
She grinned, but before she could respond, her phone buzzed on the table next to her.
There was no image, but she recognized Kaden’s number.
Oh shit.
“Oh dear,” Julius said, peering at her phone. “I hope I haven’t gotten you in trouble.”
She rose quickly from the table. “I’m afraid I have to go. You can keep these.” She slid the portfolio and its photographs across to him.
“Of course! Of course! Run along.” He waved her up and away.
She snatched up her phone and debated not answering Kaden’s call at all. She knew that would be worse for her in the end, but she didn’t want to take his no-doubt angry call in front of Julius.
She let it ring as she hurried out of the café.
Jesus, she’s on the run.
Kaden was having a legit heart attack. The pain in his chest, as he stared at Terra’s torn-apart window coverings, as he realized that she wasn’t fucking here, couldn’t be anything other than his heart seizing up and stopping dead still. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.
He’d lost her.
Fuck! No. His brain restarted as he launched across the room and shoved the dangling black drapes aside to stick his head out the window. The narrow alleyway outside the window was empty, but it dumped out onto the street. He climbed out, leaving a bent screen behind in his haste, and sprinted down the narrow passage to the front. Maybe she’d just left a moment ago. Maybe he could catch her before she got too far.
What the fuck was she doing?
He stumbled to a stop at the curb in front of the safehouse. There was no sign of her. He hurried down the sidewalk, looking everywhere, but it wasn’t like he could go shouting her name through the neighborhood. They were supposed to be lying low, for fuck’s sake! Kaden paced back to the front of the house, wracking his brain while he ran both hands through his hair, trying to reel in the panic enough to think.
Why did she leave? He raced back over their “fight”… he’d been so damn close to kissing her, sending all the wrong signals because he couldn’t fucking control himself, and then, like an ass, he’d pulled back and given her some shit about just doing his job. She’d rightly told him to fuck off and stormed into her room.
In retrospect, it made perfect sense that she would bail—not “perfect sense” for a calm, rational person, but for Terra? To run off in a fit of anger? Completely consistent. And the fact that he didn’t see it coming just underlined how messed up he was around her. Completely fucking incompetent.
And now she was gone.
He slammed a fist against his forehead. He would have time to deconstruct how much of an idiot he was later. Right now he had to find her again.
How long had she been gone? It had been over two hours before he banged on her door to check on her. Maybe she’d left right away and had time to cool down. Maybe she was wandering the streets right now wondering what the fuck to do… or worse, contemplating something truly dangerous, like going after the Wolf Hunter or some damn thing.
He pulled in a breath and blew it out through his teeth. Dammit, Kaden, think.
His phone.
He yanked it out of his pocket. If she were calm now, maybe he could reason with her. Talk her back in. He dialed her number, and it rang and rang… he was about to give up when she finally answered.
“Hello.” It was her.
Thank God. “Jesus, Terra!” The air rushed out of him along with the relief at hearing her voice. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m okay. I… went out.”
“What the—” He had to mute the phone against his chest as a string of curses burst out of him. He quickly got a grip on himself. “Where are you?” he ground out through clenched teeth.
“Kaden, I just had to—”
“Where are you?” He was on the edge of completely losing his shit. So much for calmly talking her in. Jesus.
“Downtown bus thirty-four.” Her voice was chastened. “I’m boarding now, heading back, I promise.”
“Stay on that bus.” Downtown? Fuck. What was she doing there?
“What?” It was like she didn’t think she’d heard him correctly.
“Stay on the fucking bus, Terra!” He was shouting again… so he just hung up. He had to calm the hell down, and the only way that would happen was if he got eyes on her again. He sprinted to the sedan parked under the carport next to the safehouse, climbed in, threw it in gear, and let loose another string of curses as he zoomed down the street. He couldn’t peal rubber the way he wanted to—he couldn’t afford to attract attention to the safehouse—but he needed to get to that bus.
It was a good ten minutes before he’d sped across town and finally glimpsed Bus 34 trundling down the mainline, past shops and weaving bicycles. Kaden executed a highly illegal U-turn and came around the back of the bus. Only then did he trust himself to call her again.
This time, she picked up on the first ring. “Hello?”
“Are you still on Bus 34?”
“Yes.” Her voice was quiet.
“Stay on the bus,” he ordered in no uncertain terms and then hung up again.
Then he let out a long sigh, releasing some of the tension coiled deep inside him. He couldn’t see her, but he had eyes on the vehicle. He would just tail it, watch who boarded, and make sure she stayed safe until the bus reached the stop nearest the safehouse. The vehicle was maddeningly slow and belching noxious fumes onto his car, but it wasn’t much longer before they were crossing over to the neighborhood branch of the line.
When it finally reached the stop, Kaden gripped his steering wheel and watched as she scurried off. Terra didn’t notice his car at first, but when the bus pulled away, she saw him glaring at her from the driver’s seat. He put the car in gear and headed for the carport down the block, not stopping for her. He didn’t trust himself not to make a scene, and that would attract too much attention. Her eyes were wide as he passed her, and she had damn well better get the hint that she needed to walk the final leg to the house by herself. He checked the rearview mirror. If she didn’t get that pretty little ass in gear and haul it to the house, he’d double back and get her.