Legend of the White Wolf (35 page)

   Hilson gave him a sour look. But Kintail knew his brother well. If he really had wanted her, he would have taken her. Which meant the woman was up for grabs. Although, he was seriously considering giving her to one of his other bachelor males, any of whom would be eager to have the woman. "You shouldn't have gone after Cameron against my orders."

   "I couldn't let him have her. But damn it, someone had already turned her."

   Kintail suspected Cameron had done it, but of his own free will, or by accident?

   Whitson limped over to the couch. "What do you want me to do?"

   Kintail shook his head. "Babysit my brother. The two of you are a pair." He stalked out of the house, hoping to hell he could end this nightmare once and for all in

Owen woke from the worst nightmare he'd ever had about being pursued by wolves on snowmobiles, to a nightmare he was still living as he realized he, David, and Elizabeth were caged and locked in a basement. Not Kintail's either. He poked his snout at David, who looked up sleepily at him. Then they both considered where they were, a large cage in a moldy wet basement. David hurried to nose Elizabeth's face, trying to wake her.

   And Lila?

   Eyes widening, Owen stared at her. How the hell did
she
get here?

   Sitting on the bottom step of the stairs leading out of the basement, she leaned against the wall, her eyes closed. It looked as though she was every bit as much a hostage as they were. Which was probably good. Kintail would want her back, even though they seemed to share a lot of animosity. Still, she was his pack member, and he seemed really protective and possessive of everyone in the pack.

   Everything was dark in the room, but they could see as if it was a cloudy day. Traffic noises could be heard, not a lot, but a horn blew, and cars speeding up at a traffic light, slushing through melting snow on the roadways rushed nearby. They were in town. Maybe Millinocket? It wasn't far from the cabin resorts, maybe an hour and a half at most.

   What they needed was a window. Well, that and a crowbar. Too bad their pursuers had taken only Lila hostage. She had some wicked teeth when she was in her wolf form, but they needed a couple of more guys with muscle instead.

   Owen stood, stretched the kinks out of his wolf's body, then walked over to the padlock on the cage. Looked like an old one, slightly rusted, and… it was a combination lock. Like an old school lock. If he could shapeshift, although he was rather reluctant in the event he couldn't shift back before the killers returned, he figured he could decipher the combination. But if they caught him in his human form, he'd have proved their theory if they had any doubts. But also, he'd be naked and freezing.

   He made a little woof sound. Lila didn't stir. He did it again. David and Elizabeth joined him and looked at the padlock.

   Lila's eyes snapped open. "Jeez, it's about time you three woke up."

   Owen poked at the padlock. She stared at him, then the lock. "I can't open it. I tried."

   He poked his nose at the lock again and looked at her.

   "All right, but it won't work."

   She crossed the floor and lifted the lock, then twisted the knob around real slowly. As soon as he heard the telltale click of the tumbler being in place, he nudged her hand with his nose.

   She smiled, then twisted it in the opposite direction for the next number. Closer this time. He nudged her hand again. "Good boy," she said.

   He growled and she chuckled. She turned the knob in the same direction as the first time. When he heard the click, he pushed her hand, but he was afraid either he'd moved too slowly or she was a little too enthusiastic and moved too quickly this time, not allowing him time to react.

   She paused and looked at him. He shook his head, but she pulled on the lock anyway. Nothing.

   "It's okay, I've got the first two numbers down, and the third was just a couple before that I think." She tried again, but twisted the knob even slower on the third number.

   He bumped her and this time when she pulled, the lock opened, and she jerked it off the cage. He wanted to howl! Howl. That's how they could get word to the others. If anyone heard them it would most likely be Kintail's people, but only if any of them were nearby and could hear a wolf howling from a basement without windows. If the men who took them prisoner heard them? Either they'd shoot them with tranquilizers or shoot them with silver bullets. Neither a good scenario.

   She pulled the cage door open and motioned for them to come out. "I haven't really been a good pack member as far as the two of you are concerned, but believe me right about now, all of you are the closest thing to a dream come true." She gave each of them a hug, and they licked her cheeks in response.

   One thing about wolf pack members is they make up easily enough, and since she was the one with the human hands, Owen felt pretty good that she was in the same boat with them. Well, served her right for being one of the ones who kept them in captivity, too. Now she knew what it felt like.

   "Except to bring you here after they dumped me here, I haven't seen any of them. I don't even want to think about what they plan to do with us."

   Kill them, if what the murderers did with the others was any indication. But Owen didn't plan to die anytime soon. And he doubted David, Elizabeth, or Lila felt that way either.

   But what to do now?

   "Someone's walking around up there. Someone's making gingerbread. Otherwise, I haven't heard a soul talking. I think we're in Millinocket. We've been here about an hour. I'm hoping Kintail will be sending the cavalry soon."

   But to where? Unless Lila had left a trail of wolf tracks, Owen doubted Kintail would ever find them. Or if he did, it would be too late.

As soon as Faith, Cameron, and Gavin reached Leidolf's cabin, he hurried outside, but before they explored the renovated cabins for evidence the hot tub guys had been there, she wanted to speak with Leidolf,
alone.

   "I have to talk to you." She grabbed his arm and led him back inside his place. She glanced at Cameron and his expression said he understood and would stay with Gavin while she had her little discussion.

   Her heart was beating so hard with concern over her father, she was sure Leidolf could hear it. She closed the door and moved across the sitting area to the other side of the cabin to ensure that Gavin would not hear their conversation.

   Sure of himself as usual, Leidolf crossed the floor to join her. "If this is about your father…"

   She scowled. "It is."

   Leidolf shrugged. "He should've kept the
lupus garou
secret until the day he died, Faith. As a sociologist, he should have been aware of how important keeping our identity hidden is to us. He should have realized we couldn't have allowed him to publish his research or give a lecture on it."

   The blood drained from her face as her eyes watered and her stomach hit the wood floor.

   "He's not dead. I didn't mean that. But he is in my jurisdiction, and I couldn't allow him to threaten our kind with exposure. He was working on the speech again after you left, still hoping you'd get the flash drive back to him because he was afraid he might have omitted some important details."

   "So… what are you going to do? About my father?" Her voice sounded ghostly faint, as if she hadn't the strength to fight him on this.

   "It's done, Faith. He was a loose cannon. Now he's one of us."

   It took a minute or more for that particular news to soak in. "A red?" she squeaked. "You made my father a red wolf?"

   Leidolf smiled in his arrogant way. "It's the best kind of wolf there is."

   Her head swam with the notion as she tried to gather her wits and recall previous conversations with her father. "But I talked with him. He seemed himself."

   "I gave the order once you arrived here. Once I realized you were still in pursuit of the flash drive. That was the reason you wanted to see Hilson. I tried to warn you he wasn't in a good mood. I wanted to prevent you from seeing him, afraid he'd turn you. But as it was, he'd already left the area for the time being."

   She didn't give a damn about Hilson. Her father was who meant the world to her. "Where is my father?"

   "One of my older females is staying with him, taking his classes at Portland Community College, a devoted listener. He's really quite all right with it."

   Faith leaned against the wall, not comprehending any of it. Her father. A werewolf. A red werewolf. And she was an Arctic wolf? And on top of that he had a girlfriend? Who really served as a guard to keep him in line?

   "She genuinely cares for him, Faith. And he adores her. Who wouldn't when a woman acts like the ground the male walks on should be worshipped?"

   "But it's all a lie."

   "Catherine lost her mate ten years ago. None of the males in my pack have impressed her in all the years she's been with the group, according to others. I haven't been in charge all that long. But she truly cares about your father. She has one of those nurturing personalities and she needs to feel needed. So they're perfect for each other. He's worried about you, though, knowing now that Hilson was an Arctic wolf, who had stolen his research. Catherine's reassured him I'm looking after you."

   "You could have told me, damn it. You could have let me know what you'd done."

   "You weren't a
lupus garou
at first, although I suspected Cameron would soon change that. Not on purpose. That's why we don't like to have newly turned
lupus garous
running around on their own. Too unpre dictable. They make dangerous mistakes."

   "My father's a red werewolf," she said, her voice soft and rife with disbelief.

   Leidolf touched her arm. "He's going to be just fine. Better than fine. He's giving a speech on the observa tions of a group in search of Bigfoot in the wilds of Maine instead. And he's really happy, although he wants to hear that you're all right."

   Faith glowered at him, then headed for the door. "You could have let me turn him. Then he would have been an Arctic
lupus garou
like me. What's he going to think when he learns I'm a white wolf when the urge swamps me?"

   "I'm sure he'll love you just the same."

   She growled and paused at the door. "If he's disap pointed in me…"

   "If it's any consolation, he talks nonstop about you to Catherine. And she's dying to meet you."

   "But your kind don't mix. You said so."

   "We'll make an exception just this once."

   Faith watched Leidolf's expression for any hint he was lying to her. "He really is all right?"

   Leidolf smiled. "He's fine."

   She frowned again and grabbed the door handle. "He should have been an Arctic wolf." Because then he would have joined Cameron and her newly formed pack. Now he was going to be in Leidolf's pack? She told herself if he was happy, she was happy, but it wasn't really sinking in. Until she realized what the matter was. She always took care of him. He'd expected it of her ever since her mother left him. And now Faith had been replaced by another woman.

   Faith looked back at Leidolf. "I'm not needed anymore."

   "I'd say someone else needs you more now." Leidolf shrugged. "It's just the way of things."

   "He'd better be as happy as you say." Then she yanked the door open and when Cameron and Gavin saw her scowl, she figured she'd better let them know everything was all right in a hurry, and smiled. "Ready to find the killers?"

   But both Gavin and Cameron looked like they'd missed one hell of a conversation, and she knew Cameron would be dying to find out what she learned once Gavin wasn't listening in.

   When they reached the first of the cabins under renovation, the party climbed onto the porch where the windows were all boarded up.

   "Charles said they'd had some vandals come in and break the windows and tear up the cabins, which is the reason for the renovations." Leidolf peered through a couple of slats.

   "Ah, there," Faith excitedly said as Cameron lifted her high enough that she could peek between the upper slats of wood covering one of the picture windows. "There's all kinds of stuff in there."

   "Renovation materials," Leidolf said.

   "No, there." She poked her finger at the window. "See on the floor next to the sofa. An empty package of chips."

   "I don't see anything from this angle. And besides, the workmen could have left it," Leidolf said.

   Faith didn't believe it. Well, Leidolf could be right, but she didn't want to believe him. "Let's find a way in."

   Before Cameron could put Faith down and use his lock picks on the door, Leidolf pulled out a set of his own.

   "Standard keyset?" Cameron asked.

   Leidolf gave him a warning look, then opened the door.

   Both Cameron and Gavin pulled guns. Leidolf and Gavin entered first while Cameron stayed with Faith on the deck. Then Gavin shouted, "All clear."

   Faith entered with Cameron, but before she checked out the potato chip bag, she smelled something else. The redhead, named Chris. She turned to Cameron, but the look on his face said the same thing. But not only him, the other two men, and the woman, and the smell of gingerbread.

   "Sense anything?" Leidolf asked.