Page 10 of Relics of the Wolf

“I use hair dye. My peltissilvering. Trust me.”

“Oh? Your fur was a beautiful raven black as a wolf.”

“Was it?” I knew it had been in my youth, but I hadn’t caught my reflection at any point during the last two changes. I’d assumed my fur was as hoary as Duncan’s, who’d been a similar salt-and-pepper color as a wolf. “You’re not lying to me to flatter me, are you?”

“You’re shrewd, being highly aware that I’m salivating over the chocolate you’re waving about, but I am not lying to you about your raven lushness. It was quite striking with your blue eyes.”

I squinted at him. He appeared sincere, but I would verify my lushness with one of my werewolf relatives later. Maybe my niece, Jasmine, who seemed to be on my side and should have no reason to flatter me.

In the meantime, I handed Duncan two squares of chocolate, more to keep him talking than as a response to his praise. Even if a part of me craved such attention from a man. I didn’t want to need it, but it had been a long time and was nice to hear.

“Thankyou, my lady.” He popped the chocolate in his mouth. “Your ex said the case was a trinket he’d picked up at a street market in Bangkok.”

I scoffed. “I know that’s a lie just from the research Bolin and his dad did on it. It’s of druidic origins, and there’s Ancient Greek writing on the bottom. There’s no way it came from the Far East.” I slid a square of chocolate into my own mouth. The mixture of salt and sweet, with crunch from the almond pieces, soothed me slightly.

“I did sense that its magic was nature-touched, not born of witches, sorcerers, alchemists, or necromancers. But Greek? I didn’t know druids lived in that part of the Old World.”

“Apparently, they got around back in the day. But not to Thailand.” I gave Duncan another piece of chocolate, feeling like a dog owner handing out treats for good behavior. Bribes, indeed.

“Items do move from country to country, especially in this day and age, but it’s possible he lied to me. Now that I’ve heard your side of what he said about your relationship and you… I believe he lied to me about many things.”

“He did,” I said, then admitted, “but I guess there’s no reason you should, as an outsider, believe me over him.”

“Sure there is.” Duncan pointed to the chocolate bar. “Hedidn’t give me food. He didn’t even give me a deposit. If not for the uniqueness of the item and promise of adventure in this land I hadn’t visited before, I would have been far less enticed.”

I didn’t want to be touched that he said he believed me over Chad, but it was hard not to feel mollified. “Do treasure hunters usually get a deposit?”

“Established ones being requested to find a specific item do. I generally require twenty or thirty percent of the agreed-upon fee, depending on how many flights and train rides I’ll have to take. If I have to hire sherpas and trek into the Himalayas, it’s fifty percent.”

“You’ve done that?”

“Visited the Himalayas, yes. But I shifted into wolf form and trekked myself. Our kind are hearty, even at high altitudes.”

“You’ve led an interesting life.”

“I strive to do so. Traveling the world is far preferable to the alternative.” Duncan slid a square of chocolate into his mouth before climbing into the back of the van.

“Staying at home and having a steady job?” I unbuckled my seat belt to follow him.

“That was never my alternative.” He gave me a wistful look as he slid open the side door so we could ease out that way.

Something about his words and look made me wonder if he’d been running from something when he first left home. A fight with his pack? He’d once said he’d neverhada pack, but there must have been at least a mother and siblings at some point, surely.

I thought about asking, but voices sounded nearby, couples and groups walking past on the sidewalk. To follow Duncan, I had to squeeze past a driver-side mirror jutting out and almost clipped my chest on it.

“This is why I don’t go downtown often,” I muttered.

“Difficult parking conditions?” Duncan led me past shops and a sushi restaurant, then around a corner toward an entrance in the building, presumably for the upstairs apartments.

“An overabundance of people.”

“Your wolf side makes you crave the vast solitude of the wilderness? I understand completely.”

“Yes. Also not having my boob mashed against oversized vehicles.”

“It may be yourfemaleside that makes you crave that. I understand that less.”

“I’m sure you don’t like having your male parts mashed either.”

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