Chapter 173
It takes three hours to get the truck fixed, but we’ve run into a tiny dilemma.
Actually, it’s not very tiny. At least to Caine.
“Damn it,” he curses, running a hand through his hair. “I didn’t think about this.”
“I didn’t, either.”
Andrew and Caine are both staring at the set of keys on the dinette table, which they’ve been doing for the past
five minutes since we got the call the truck was ready.
| rest my hand on my chin, watching their impasse with mild frustration.
Caine lets out another huge sigh, and Andrew follows suit.
“I should have gone with him,” Andrew says, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Didn’t even think about the
logistics.”
“We’ll be fine for thirty minutes without you guys.”
“No,” they say in unison.
| roll my eyes at their stubborn veto. “So, how are you going to pick up the truck then? Caine, even if you shift,
you’ll take at least an hour to get there, right? Wouldn’t it be more dangerous for you to be gone for so long?”
“I could shift,” Andrew offers.
“It’ll still take you at least an hour to get there,” | point out. “This is ridiculous. It’s not even a big deal. The drive
there will take ten, fifteen minutes at most. Just go and cback. Thirty minutes and you’re done. What do you
think is going to happen in thirty minutes?”
Caine grimaces. “Leaving you here is dangerous. Any crazy person can coff the road—”
“So leave Fenris here. He’ll scare anyone off.”
“But—”
“Just Fenris is fine.”
“If there’s a—”
“Just. Leave. Fenris. And go get the truck. Please.”
Caine rubs at his forehead, the hard line of his jaw twitching beneath his stubble. “Fine.”
The air between us shimmers, and suddenly his wolf is there—the slightly-less-terrifying “dog” version of him,
anyway. And the first thing he does?
He swings his head toward Sadie and snarls.
Sadie—all golden retriever friendliness until now—yelps and leaps onto the couch in a rush of honey-colored fur,
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practically climbing behind Jer for protection.
So she’s afraid of Fenris, but not afraid of Caine or Andrew. I’m more convinced than ever Sadie’s a shifter child
who won’t return to her human body for sreason.
The wolf, meanwhile, apparently satisfied with establishing his dominance, belly crawls under the dinette table
until he reaches me, then sits up to plop his head into my lap in silent demand for pets.
“Good boy,” | murmur, scratching behind his soft ears.
Caine snatches the keys off the table and stomps to the door, and | swear the man is sulking.
Is it possible for the great and powerful Lycan King to sulk? Because—he is.
He slams the door open, then hesitates at the threshold. His shoulders tense before he whips back around, fixing
each of the kids with his steel-gray gaze.
“Not a single one of you sets foot outside while I’m gone. Unless this thing catches on fire, you stay inside with
Fenris. Understood?”
“Yes,” all three chorus, sounding mildly exasperated in the way only children can.
Satisfied with their obedience, Caine turns to me. “Lock the door behind me.”
Oh, my God. The man’s ridiculous. “I know how doors work, Caine. Just go already.”
His jaw clenches, but he turns and walks out. | follow, watching him and Andrew go before closing the door and
flipping the lock with an exasperated sigh.
Like an RV’s lock will do much if someone really wants in. Fenris is the real defense here.
* kK
Fifteen minutes after they leave, Sadie won’t stop pacing by the door and growling. Even Fenris’s snarls don’t
faze her. The growls evolve into high-pitched barks, and all the kids cover their ears. The noise makes Bun stir in
Ron’s lap.
“She’s going to wake her up!” the boy hisses.
“She probably needs to go potty. I’ll take her out. You guys stay in here.”
“But Caine said—” Sara begins.
Sadie barks again, and | snap on her leash and open the door. She bolts out, nearly pullingdown the stairs.
“Hold on!”
She frantically barks again, spinning on the end of the leash as Fenris comes out with us. I close the door behind
him, and Sadie yanks so hard she’s choking herself with her collar.
“Calm down, Sadie!”
Sadie dragsacross the asphalt like a dog obsessed. | loop the leash twice around my hand to keep from
losing it, trying to yank her back. “Sadie! Con. What’s wrong with you?”
The golden retriever doesn’t acknowledge me; just keeps choking herself against her collar, each desperate bark
coming out strained and phlegmy. We hit the grass, and | expect her to squat immediately, but she doesn’t. She
keeps lunging forward, draggingtoward the open field beyond.
“Sadie!” | dig my heels in, yanking back on the leash. “Just potty here. Right here. Con!”
She ignorescompletely. Not even a glance in my direction. Her bark turns frantic, high-pitched yelps,
sounding more like an alarm than nature’s urges.
Maybe | was completely wrong about this dog. Would a kid do this to themselves?
Looking at her now, she’s acting exactly like a dog. A really, really fucking annoying dog who won’t listen to
basic commands, even though she was an absolute angel in the store.
Fenris stalks forward, his lips curling back as he snarls at Sadie. It sends a shudder through my bones, even
when | know he would never hurt me.
Sadie doesn’t even flick an ear his way.
My skin prickles uneasily. “Con, Sadie. Let’s go back inside.”
A sharp tug barely budges her an inch back.
She barks again, fixed on the distance. | squint, struggling to see beyond the green sea of grass.
Something’s moving out there.
Fenris’s ears perk forward, his entire body tensing beside me. Then he prowls forward, head hunched low.
Whatever’s out there, it’s caught his attention too.
Sadie suddenly calms, her frantic
barking quieting to occasional yips.
Her ears stand at atfettiort6nghe
lafiing Alshe Witches Fenris take
point. The black wolf stalks forward,
and the familiar ethereal blue glow
appears beneath his fur. The content
is on novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
With a lightning-fast pounce, Fenris lunges into the tall grass. Something white and fluffy bolts out—a massive
white cat, streaking across the field with Fenris in close pursuit.
“What the—”
The cat changes direction, darting
straight towardwith Fenris
closing in behind it. pies
into myrsay gut be el can move,
the Eat slides to a stop precisely at
my feet and begins winding around
my ankles, its loud rumbling purr
sounding like a small engine and
hearty enough to vibrate my legs.
Sadie barks excitedly, bouncing
forward to box at the cat with nen
front paws. The goltlek detfievers
ehtite hearer has changed—now
she’s playful, like she’s greeting an
old friend. The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
This is no ordinary cat. It’s massive, nearly the size of a bobcat, with pristine white fur and blue eyes and—
Son of a bitch.
Is this that cat?
Fenris snarls, saliva dripping from his jaws as he lunges for the cat.
“Stop!” | shout, throwing my hand out. “Fenris, no!”
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