Page 7 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Fire

If the wolf man finds it odd that Jonah has held onto his hand, he doesn’t show it. “Pleased to meet you both. I’m Vane Wildfang. I’m part owner of the Wilding Way Ranch just on the other side of this ridge.” He nods toward our car. “Are you two having car trouble?”

“Oh, no. We were just enjoying the beautiful view and wanted to take a few pictures. There’s not been anyone through this way, so we thought it would be cool. I hope that’s ok?” I realize belatedly that if we weren’t on monster territory, we would be awfully close and wonder if we’re messing with some local traffic rules.

That’s the last thing I want: to create an incident.

Vane’s smile is an echo of the dog’s. “Absolutely nothing wrong. I enjoy hearing that you like what you see.”

“Do I ever,” Jonah says under his breath.

“This is the way toward Avalon Vale, correct?” I ask brightly, hoping to cover up Jonah’s comments. I quickly pull up the invitation on my phone to show Vane. “We were invited to go to the arts festival.”

Vane’s ears twitch. “You’re here for the festival? That’s great news. You’re the first visitors we’ve received. Outside of the few residents from nearby human towns, of course. “

“Ever?”

“So far! Here, let me escort you to the inn. I believe that is where most of the invited guests for the art festival will be staying. It’s been newly remodeled, so it should be comfortable for humans. It’s off the main road into town, so we don’t want you to miss it and get lost.”

“We?” I ask.

As if on cue, several pickup trucks appear roaring out of the woods along with an entire pack of wolves loping toward us.

Correction. Wolfmen.

Where did they come from? And were they all hanging out in the woods just watching us?

Jonah places his hand to his heart. “Well, huff and puff and blow my house down.”

“Jonah,” I warn.

“What?” he says with the innocence of a smirking devil.

“We’re here on a special invitation. Let’s not wear out our welcome before we even get there. Besides, the festival is an entire weekend. Pace yourself.”

“Hmph! I’ll have you know I have plenty of stamina, thank you very much. But I get your point.” Jonah sashays over to his side of the car.

Some of the trucks roll on ahead, a few of the wolf men hopping into the open truck bed with a practiced ease. I try not to gawk at them.

Vane gets my attention. “My pack was just finishing up some work just south of here. Going to go on ahead toward the ranch. We’ll get you right to the inn. Ready?”

I glance at the remaining wolf-men lingering, trying to look nonchalant but failing. “Uh, sure. You know, you all really don’t need to escort us?—”

“—Yes they do!” Jonah yells from inside the car. “You get lost in your own gallery, baby girl.”

“I’m sure we can find our way just fine,” I finish lamely.

Vane waves away my words. “Don’t worry about it, miss. I insist. Come on, Kenzan. Get in.” He pats his leg at the dog, then points to the truck.

Instead of heeding the extra large dollop of wolfy man, Kenzan ignores him and looks up at me expectantly. The dog’s got nerves of steel. I’ll give him that much.

How can I turn down that face? I open my door, and Kenzan leaps in. He gets into the back seat without jostling Jonah or the coffee tumblers in the cup holders.

Vane’s jaw drops. “That little stinker...” He crouches down to speak to a grinning Kenzan through the window. “You’re lucky that we’re going in the same direction. Otherwise, I would haul you outta there so fast.”

“Your dog likes to poke your buttons.”

“Hmph. He’s not my dog.” With one more growl from Vane, he strides toward his truck that’s big enough to carry my SUV rental in its bed.

Well, that’s weird. If Kenzan isn’t his dog, then whose is he?

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