Page 55 of Triumph of the Wolf
The vision swept me down one of the garden paths, showing me a hazy darkness with Izzy and Jasmine in the center, tied inside cages in their wolf forms. A wispy-haired figure in medical scrubs stood in the shadows. Abrams.
The wolves tilted their snouts upward to howl mournfully. Abrams advanced upon them with a dagger.
I lurched into a sitting position, the vision shattering like a nightmare. My heart pounded with the certainty that I’d experienced reality, not a dream. Maybe because Jasmine was part of the pack, the magic of the cave had deigned to show me her location.
Beside me, Duncan stirred.
“Wonderful,” he murmured.
I pushed hair out of my eyes. It was damp from the exertion of our lovemaking. No, we’d made love before, on the mossy forest floor without the medallions manipulating us. This had been… savage, wild sex with nothing tender about it. I couldn’t say I hadn’t enjoyed it, but the next time I got horizontal with Duncan, I intended to do it without manipulative magical hardware around our necks.
Thoughts probably still muzzy with sleep, Duncan patted my leg and issued another, “Wonderful.”
Maybe he hadn’t minded the manipulation.
“I have an idea about where Jasmine and Izzy might be,” I said, the vision haunting me. What if those events were happening right now? While Duncan and I lay in this cave, dozens of miles from Seattle?
“Oh? Did the cave tell you?” He lifted his head but then frowned toward the entrance.
Had he heard something? Sensed someone?
Other than the faint gurgle from the stream, I didn’t see or hear anything out there in the dark, but Duncan rolled away from me and patted around for his clothes.
“We’ve got company,” he said.
“Vile enemies hellbent on our destruction?” I thought of the real estate developers. Or what if Chad had come back?
“Your mother.”
“Oh.” I slumped.
I would rather have dealt with enemies.
“And the wise wolf. They seem to travel together.”
“Rosaria did say she would keep an eye on my mother.”
Duncan and I dressed and stepped outside. Now, I could also sense Mom and Rosaria. They stood on the rise across the gully, mostly hidden by the trees, but a partial moon shone through a gap in the branches, and I could make out Mom, standing on a log or boulder to gaze down toward us.
Thanks to the privacy of the cave, I knew they hadn’twatchedus, but my cheeks heated as I remembered how noisy we’d been. If they’d arrived in time, they would have heard us. Hell, they might have heard us from the cabin.
Over the ferns and the distance, our eyes met. Mom looked… pleased. Her gaze shifted toward my stomach—no, mywomb. Then she nodded at me and mouthed something.
Goodbye?
I opened my own mouth, debating on yelling that I didn’t appreciate her interference, but she turned, letting Rosaria help her down. They disappeared into the woods and soon faded from my senses.
Aware of Duncan beside me, thinking who knew what, I said, “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to… Well, I knew she wantedthis, but I wouldn’t have gone along with it of my own accord. Itriednot to.”
“It’s all right. It’s not your fault she wanted you to enjoy the pure delight of having such a fine wolf as myself mate with you.”
“Yeah, it was mydelightthat she was concerned about.” I lay a hand on my abdomen, wondering if… Had the magic ensured I would become pregnant tonight? Did it have that power? “She manipulated us. And so did those medallions.”
Could I trust them or the vision from the cave when it came to Jasmine and Izzy’s location? Since the magic was determined to protect the pack, itshouldwant Jasmine saved. I hoped it had known and given me their accurate location so we could find them.
“It’s all right,” Duncan repeated. “We had sexbeforethe manipulation started too. I’m hardly disappointed. I’ve been trying to lure you into my bed for weeks.”
“The sex isn’t the part I thought you’d object to.” I patted my abdomen, though I would wait until I could take a pregnancy test before assuming anything had happened there tonight.
