Page 53 of Triumph of the Wolf
“I could get zapped and knocked on my ass,” I muttered as we descended a slope toward the stream that meandered through the gully.
That had happenedlasttime, the magic hurling me back and knocking me unconscious. Poor Duncan had been worried and rushed back to get my mom and Rosaria. Would those events repeat?
He must also have been thinking of that night because, when he looked at me, he didn’t ask for clarification. “I’ll be ready this time and catch you if there’s zapping or knocking.”
“Thank you. You’re a good werewolf.”
“As I’ve been assuring you for some time.”
“Well, I’m convinced now.”
“I assumed from your enthusiastic lovemaking.” He winked at me, then led the way along the stream.
This time, I noticed a hole in the rocky slope on the opposite side and thought of old mine shafts and the real estate people who’d swarmed all over the nearby land. Would the cave be destroyed if they got their wish and developed the place? No. I wouldn’t allow that. As my mom had said before, it had held meaning to our people for a long time, ever since the pack originally left the Old World and settled in this area.
When we reached the entrance, tucked into the steep rocky incline on the far side of the stream, I stepped across the waterway and took a bracing breath before walking inside. Thanks to the glow of the medallion, I didn’t need to activate my phone’s flashlight app. The illumination shone onto the rocky paw prints painted on the sides and roof of the cave, and it also reflected in the pool in the center.
On the way here, we hadn’t seen any animals with glowing eyes, but I trusted they were out there, drawn to drink the magical water. I caught Duncan eyeing it when we stood still to look around. My gaze was drawn to the paw prints, specifically the one I’d touched before. The one that had knocked me unconscious.
A thrum emanated from my medallion, and it gave me the impression that I should head toward it. “Better than drinking the water, I suppose.”
Duncan looked at me.
“I’m chatting with my medallion and mentally bracing myself,” I said.
He cocked his head. “Does your medallion chat back?”
“No. But it sometimes gives me vibes.” Like the come-touch-the-painted-rock vibe.
“Yes, that’s what I’ve received from this one too.” Duncan tapped the wolf head on his chest. “And it was also the source of the… intense urge to join with you yesterday.”
“Yeah. I got that too.” I headed for the paw-print painting, flexing my fingers at my sides.
Duncan had promised he would catch me, and he stayed close.
The paintings glowed warmly, inviting me to touch them. I drew a deep breath, hesitant to reach out.
Duncan rested a supportive hand on my shoulder. Both of our medallions flared brighter, and I sensed… satisfaction, at least from mine. This was what it wanted.
Though the manipulation made me uneasy, I had to trust that the medallions were looking out for the pack. Of course, they might not be as concerned about looking out forindividualsin the pack, but…
“Here goes,” I whispered.
Duncan brushed his fingers along the side of my neck—a gesture of support?—then returned his hand to my shoulder and bent his knees. Bracing himself? Just how hard had the magic thrown me last time? Since it had knocked me out before I’d landed, I didn’t know, but he’d mentioned me being in the pool several feet away.
“All right, tell me where I can find Izzy and Jasmine, please,” I said to the wall or medallion or maybe both. “Someone’s been kidnapping werewolves, and Mom thinks you can help.”
I gripped the medallion with one hand and rested the other on the wall. The stone should have been cool, but tinglingwarmth spread from it to my hand, then flowed up my arm. It infused my entire body. The edges of my eyesight flickered, and a dream swept over me. A vision.
In it, I stood atop a cliff overlooking the forest with the snow-capped Cascade Mountains to one side of me. Below, I could make out the shingle roof of Mom’s cabin as well as a couple of small homes owned by Rosaria and other pack members in the area. Between them, the road meandering back toward civilization was visible.
In the vision, the medallion glowed on my chest as I held up the wolf case, the lid open. The mushroom-shaped artifact, glowing even more than my medallion, floated into the air.
It beamed a feeling of dismissal at me. At least it hadn’t zapped me. After the dismissal, a sense of resignation came from it, and the artifact descended toward the ground. A foot from the edge of the cliff, the mushroom stem nestled itself into the earth. Once settled, the artifact pulsed waves of energy—or maybemagic—outward. They had a purple tint, making them visible as they flowed out, one concentric circle after another stretching over the land for several miles in all directions. Eventually, the magical and visual disturbance ceased, the forest returning to normal.
Or did it? Insects buzzed, squirrels chattered, and birds chirped, as if nothing had happened, but I had a sense that something had changed. The cabins and cottages and trees appeared the same, but the road had grown… fuzzy. It was still there, but something hazed it, making it hard to make out.
Strange.
