Page 82 of Quest of the Wolf

The wolf paused and cocked his head, one ear flickering.

“You’re probably lonely without any friends to play with. If you come with us instead of working for them, I can introduce you to some of the young wolves in my pack.” I hadn’t seen any of the kids since returning, but I had little doubt that some of myyounger half-siblings or maybe nieces and nephews had children. “What are you? Eight years old? You should be playing instead of working for bad guys.”

That elicited another growl. Maybe he didn’t believe Abrams and Radomir werebad guys?

“You should have a chat with Duncan about them. Have you met him yet? Spoken to him? He can tell youallabout Abrams. He’s your brother, you know.”

The statement drew another pause and head cock.

“The age difference is probably confusing, but you could ask him all about it. He’ll talk to you. I’m sure of it.”

The wolf looked to the south. In the direction of the park. Did he know Duncan was down there?

From here, I couldn’t detect him, but if the kid had the same kind of power as Duncan, he might have a longer range when it came to sensing magic.

“Have they been feeding you well? I have some salami and summer sausage. Would you like one? You might enjoy a meat snack better than dark chocolate. That’s an acquired taste.”

The wolf looked back to me, nostrils twitching. Sniffing?

“It’s in the van. I can get it.” I imagined tossing a sausage log into the woods to distract the kid while I ran for the front door. That might work with a Rottweiler. And Emilio. But I didn’t know Duncan’s clone well. “I’ll be right back.”

Hand raised, as if that would prompt him to stay, I backed into the street and strode toward the van. My senses told me that he remained in the driveway. I set the case down and grabbed a sausage log, but, as I turned to walk back, a whisper of magic crossed my skin, raising the hair on the back of my neck. It felt similar to what I’d sensed before when someone had been using the device to summon Duncan—tocontrolDuncan. They wereusing it on the kid.

When I reached the start of the driveway, I waved the sausage.But the magic plucked at my senses again, and it seemed to wrap around the wolf. The fur on his back rose, and he snarled and charged at me.

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I tossedthe sausage log into the driveway between the wolf and me, then ran back to the van, shoes slipping in the snow. Snarling and driven by coercion magic, the kid ran past my offering and came right after me.

Heat flushed my body, and magic made my skin tingle with the promise of a change. At least Austin wouldn’t see if I did it in the street.

I jumped into the van to block the wolf from reaching me but also so I could buy myself a moment. I yanked my jacket off, leaving my phone on the seat, and reached for my shoes.

A thump on the hood startled me—the wolf.

Claws scraped on metal, gouging the paint. Jaws snapped as he tried to bite the glass windshield. That wouldn’t work, but he was smart enough to figure out another way in.

I tore off the rest of my clothing as another wave of magic swept through my veins. Before I morphed completely and lost the ability to grab things, I flung the van’s side door open. When I leaped out, I landed on four legs—four paws.

The wolf jumped down from the hood but faltered when he saw me in my lupine form.

The change stole my human thoughts and my memories, and all awareness that this was Duncan’s clone fell from my mind. His aura and scent were somewhat familiar, but I saw only an enemy and snarled at him, crouching and ready to spring.

He’d come after me when I’d been in human form, but he hesitated to face me as a wolf. He backed a few steps and glanced toward a log of meat lying in the snow. He half turned away, but more magic whispered through the air, seeming to come from around a bend in the road behind me. The power brushed me, making my hackles rise, but it flowed into the wolf.

Snarling, he spun back toward me and crouched to spring.

I charged before he could, rushing at him. With my powerful legs, I reached him in an instant, jaws snapping through his fur and flesh. I tasted blood.

When our bodies crashed together, my greater size let me bowl him over. He rolled into the snow and down a slope at the side of the road. I leaped after him, biting and taking a chunk out of his flank. He yelped, a pitiful cry that floated through the trees and out over the lake.

In this form, it wasn’t in my nature to show mercy, but I paused anyway. This was a young wolf, one who wasn’t truly a great threat. If he didn’t attack again, I could let him go.

Leaving blood in the snow, he rose, but only halfway. He kept his head low and backed away from me in a sign of submission.

The creak of a door opening reached my ears. It came from the human den, a place that was of interest to me because enemies lurked within. No, I remembered. More than that gave it significance. The humans within had taken one of my offspring prisoner.

Growling, I stalked through the trees toward the structure, barely registering that the young wolf had slunk away. He pausedonly to pick up the meat log in the street, taking it in his jaws and padding into the trees on the other side of the road.

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