Page 18 of Triumph of the Wolf
“Should be able to? You’ve lived in the area your whole life, and you’ve never been?”
“It’s out of my price range.”
“But not tonight.” Duncan waved to the envelope. “And, after a scenic dinner in pleasant company, I imagine you’d be in the mood for a romantic encounter.Withoutintervention or compulsion from magical medallions.”
“I might be. Will you be bringing your bed on wheels?”
“I always bring that.”
“And will you be distracted by needing to magnet fish in nearby Puget Sound?”
Duncan hesitated. “Nearby, you say?”
“Very much so.”
My phone rang, and Chad’s name popped up. I growled at it. I’dknownhe would intrude on the day.
“Are you going to answer?” Duncan asked after several rings—and several seconds of me glowering at the screen.
“Absolutely not.Hedoesn’t put me in the mood for romantic encounters.”
“Having met him, I can agree to having similar feelings.”
I almost pointed out that Duncan’s impression of Chad hadn’t kept him from being willing to work for him, but I didn’t want to bring up the past. As I’d been thinking, Duncan had become a good friend—morethan a good friend—and I trusted him.
An alert popped up. Chad had left a voicemail message.
“I’ll regret this,” I muttered but hit play. It would be better to know what he wanted than to be blindsided. After he’d reached out so many times, I knew he wantedsomethingand wasn’t calling simply to say he was in the area. “As if.”
“Evening, Luna,” Chad said on the recording. “I hear you’ve been traumatizing our sons by getting feral and furry.”
I growled.
Duncan raised his eyebrows.
“Justoneson,” I muttered, andtraumatizedwas a strong word. Austin may have found his Christmas vacation a little disturbing, but he’d been cool and collected during the kidnapping. He could handle finding out his mother was a werewolf.
“I’m a little disappointed that you never got furry forme,” Chad continued, “but I’ve given up on that. I do need to talk to you though. I’m in town with Cam.”
Yes, Austin had mentioned Cameron would be in the area too. And, shoot, Ididwant to see my other son. It had been almost two years since he’d left for parts unknown, angry that he hadn’t been able to attend any of the universities he’d gotten into because his college fund had been drained. I hadn’t helped the matter when I’d told him not to go into debt to go to school. In the throes of paying off my own debt at the time, I’d informed him that it would ruin his life. That might have been melodramatic, but I’d never been able to rescind that advice—that lecture.
“We’d like to see you,” Chad added after whispering an aside to someone. Had he beenwithCameron when he’d called? “Are you available for dinner tonight? Or lunch tomorrow? It won’t take long. Cam has a few questions, and I… Well, I’m curious about how you’re getting along too.” He lowered his voice into what was probably supposed to be a sultry tone, but the wordsleazycame to my mind, and added, “I’ve missed being with you, my sexy wolf.”
I cringed, reminded of when he’d called me that, of how, after learning about my secret, he’d often urged me to stop taking that potion. He’d wanted to see me turn into a wolf. For all I knew, he might have known about my heritage from the beginning. It could have been what had drawn him to me all those years ago. All I’d known back then was that, after Raoul’s death, I hadn’t wanted to be involved with a werewolf. I’d wanted a normal human husband and a normal human life. It had only been recently that I’d learned to appreciate my heritage.
“Does he think you’ll jump into his arms after all the pestering he’s done?” Duncan asked. “Including the pestering he hiredme to do?”
I well remembered the conversations I’d overheard between him and Chad, back when Chad had still believed Duncan might retrieve the case for him. He’d spoken crudely of me, and eventhough I remembered that Chadcouldturn on charm when he wished, I knew his true colors now.
“I doubt it.” I erased the voicemail and didn’t call back, though I was torn. I didn’t want to seeChad, but if my son was in town, I would like to see him. If nothing else, I wanted to apologize for that lecture two years ago. The missing college fund wasn’t my fault, something Ihopedhe knew, but if he still wanted to go to school now, maybe I could find a way to help him. Somehow.
I glanced at the envelope, but sadly, college tuition was even more expensive than a cluster mailbox.
“Do you think he’s still after the case?” Duncan asked.
“I suppose that’s possible. Unlike the medallion, I don’t have any claim to it, but… I’ve always had a feeling it would be wrong to give it to him.” I remembered the vision I’d had, suggesting that the case hadwantedto be brought up here, that it had magically engineered Chad finding it, somehow knowing that was a way for it to be taken to the Pacific Northwest.
“He doesn’t deserve it,” Duncan said firmly.
