Page 81 of Quest of the Wolf

“Three more houses, and we’re there.” Bolin pointed through the windshield. “That should be the driveway down there.”

There were car tracks on the snowy road ahead. We weren’t the only ones driving around out here tonight.

I turned off the headlights and pulled over before we reached the driveway, then cut off the engine. The odds of us sneaking up on those guys, especially with a werewolf helping them, were low. But if we drove right up to the cabin, they might open fire immediately. There was no way they would give me my son after I dropped off the case. It wouldn’t be that easy.

“Bolin and I will go around to the back and come in from the lake.” Jasmine reached for the door handle. “We’ll try to surprise them and give you an advantage. Or at least a distraction.”

Potions clinked in Bolin’s pocket as he climbed out of the van with her.

“Be careful,” I warned. “They may have guns with silver bullets.”

“Those… shouldn’t be extra harmful to me.” Bolin frowned and looked at Jasmine.

“They wouldn’t be anylessharmful than normal ones,” she pointed out.

“True. We will attempt to avoid them.”

Wishing I had bulletproof vests to distribute, I hopped out of the driver’s seat, the chill night air startling after the warmth of the van. I debated whether or not to grab the case. Leaving it in here wouldn’t be safe, but neither would taking it up there. If they didn’t see it in my hands, they might shoot Austin.

Grimacing, I grabbed it and headed for the driveway. Already, adrenaline flowed through my veins—adrenaline and magic. Taking a deep breath, I willed the latter to subside.

If I turned into a wolf in front of my son… I didn’t know what would happen. Would he be shocked? Disgusted? Feel betrayed that I’d kept the secret from him his entire life?

The snowy driveway curved between trees as it led to a timber-sided A-frame cabin with a covered porch. A light was on by the door, and more lights glowed inside, but the curtains were drawn, keeping me from seeing in. A shadow stirred at one of the windows. Someone looking out? Another window was dark, but I could make out the muzzle of a gun in a gap in the curtains. The thugs must not have believed my text that I was an hour away.

I walked slowly to give Jasmine and Bolin time to get around to the back of the cabin. But not too much time. These guys would be watching the backyard too.

I passed a lit mailbox shaped like a snow-capped mountain and walked up the driveway, the snow crunching softly under my shoes. It covered ferns and salmonberry bushes dotting the front yard between the trees.

With my eyes focused on the windows and doors, I almost missed a furry wolf padding out to stand in the driveway. Duncan? A warning growl emanated from his throat.

Anger rather than fear suffused me. How could he be working for those assholes? And why couldn’t he fight the magic?

As the wolf turned to face me fully, my thoughts of betrayal halted. It was too small to be Duncan. Besides, I knew him well and would have sensed him this close. Maybe the GPS tracking app had been correct and he was back down at the park. This was another powerful werewolf, one as strong as—and oddly similar to—Duncan, but…

“Oh.”

It was his clone. The kid I’d traded a chocolate bar with in exchange for my mom’s medallion.

Maybe those growls meant he didn’t believe it had been a fair trade.

He padded toward me, jaws parted, and I tensed, the urge to change coming over me. The urge to defend myself, tofight.

Could I take him? Maybe. When the kid was full-grown, he would be as strong as Duncan, but I doubted he was now.

But I didn’t want to fight Duncan’s clone. What if I lost control and killed the kid?

“Are you under their magical coercion too?” I held my arms out to appear unthreatening. “I know you’re young and probably haven’t been out in the world much, but you don’t want to work for those guys.”

The wolf padded closer, growling. I backed up the driveway, debating how to get him out of the picture without changing to fight him.

Still gripping the case, I wondered if the lid would open if the kid drew close enough. Probably not unless he changed into a bipedfuris. Even if it opened, the artifact inside would only heal me from a bite or poison, not help in a fight.

At the cabin, one of the curtains stirred. A familiar face peered out. Austin.

I could make out someone big looming close behind him. It wasn’t one of his friends.

“They’re jerks, and they don’t want the best for our kind,” I told the wolf. “Have you met other werewolves, or have they kept you isolated?”

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