Page 49 of Triumph of the Wolf
“Hello?” I answered.
The hint of a man speaking came through, but the call ended. There was indeed only one bar of reception, so it wasn’t surprising. I tried playing the voicemails.
“Luna Valens? It’s Ivan MacGregor. Are you there?”
I frowned at the phone and glanced at Duncan, hoping Ivan hadn’t called to ask for a date. I hadn’t mentioned to Duncan that he’d been interested.
“I’m looking for my sister, Izzy,” Ivan continued, and guilt swept over me.Of coursethat was what he’d called about, not dates. How had I forgotten that? “I showed her that you were kind enough to send back my bracelet—you’ll have to let me know what reward I can arrange for that—but she wasn’t… Well, I understand you two have some history. She’s still holding a grudge over that, and even though I, as the stern and authoritative older brother, forbade her from pestering you, her daughter said she’d mentioned going to your apartment complex. That was yesterday, and she’s not back yet. Normally, her comings and goings wouldn’t be any of my business, but it’s strange that she would leave Olivia here without making arrangements if she was going to spend the night somewhere. And she hasn’t answered her phone today. I called the Sylvans to see if they knew anything about her disappearance, but they saidthey haven’t been over there lately. Anyway, you might not have seen Izzy, but if you could let me know, I’d appreciate it.”
The second voicemail message had come in hours later and was a shorter update saying he was still looking for Izzy and checking with everyone again.
“Hell.” I rubbed my face. “I should have called him as soon as she was kidnapped.” I’d forgotten about the daughter. Even if Izzy hated me, making me disinclined to worry that much about her, I didn’t have anything against the girl or Ivan.
“You were almost passed out from those vapors yourself at the time,” Duncan said.
“Tell me about it.” I grabbed my jacket and shoes. “I think the cave visit is going to have to wait, but I want to ask Mom and whoever is at the cabin tonight if they’ve heard about anyone kidnapping werewolves. I’m sure that had to do with Abrams and you and me, but… I don’t know. Maybe my kin have heard something.” I looked at Duncan. “You haven’t gotten any updates, right? Nobody has told you where Abrams is and if he might have Izzy?”
“Sorry, no.” Duncan spread his arms, then pointed to his van. “Let me drive you to the cabin and offer you some clothes.”
“You think I should show up in more than a jacket, my purse, and shoes?” With those items in my arms, I headed for the road.
“Werewolves ought to understand if you’re missing a few garments, but I do have plenty to share. You were even kind enough to bring me extras recently. Clearly, you foresaw this day coming.”
“Lately, this day comes almost every day.” I gestured to encompass our nudity.
Duncan grinned. “This day was particularly unique in a historical sense, but I do hope that many of the events repeat themselves in the future.Regularly.”
“I did enjoy some of the events.”
We reached his van and climbed inside.
“I should think thatmostof the events appealed. You took a sizable bite out of your ex-husband’s hip.”
“I was just trying to keep him from shooting me. I didn’tenjoythat.”
Duncan slipped into the back and opened a cabinet to pull out clothes. “Imight have enjoyed it. He was deserving of a few bites.” When he handed the stack of clothes to me, his face grew more serious. “Had he succeeded in shooting you, I would have killed him.”
“Had he succeeded in shooting me, I wouldn’t have minded.” I smiled, even if that wasn’t quite true.
Face still sober, Duncan said, “I almost lost it. It was right as I was arriving, and I was on the verge of springing down there, but you were charging him by then. Ducking his bullets and taking him to the ground.” His expression lightened. “At that point, I knew I could sit back, take some popcorn out, and watch the show.”
I snorted as I unfolded a shirt to put on. “You didn’t have any popcorn. I know that for a fact. There wasn’t any grease on your tail.”
“True. I wanted to keep my tail in pristine condition for our inevitable and exhilarating sexual encounter.” He tugged on his own clothes as he headed to the driver’s seat. “Ourmanyexhilarating sexual encounters.”
“Don’t tell my mom about them, or she’ll be smug.”
“You don’t think she might get the gist of what happened when you walk into her cabin in my clothes?”
“Maybe I’ll tell her that I fell in the frog pond after we scared away the developers.”
“I might also struggle to keep the contented satisfaction off my face.”
I considered his features as he turned the key in the ignition. “I’ll bet that’s a similar expression to the one you wore after tearing up those vehicles.”
“That was also quite satisfying.”
“As wanton destruction so often is.”
