Page 57 of Father of the Wolf

“He’s heading west with five others,” Dàn added.

With a nod, Sgrios shifted into wolf form and shot off toward the South at a steady lope.

Chapter Eighteen

Overcoming the Scars

Learning a New Trick

Athair watched Sgrios leave. Now came the challenge of getting Hope over her fear.

Ella stood up. “I am going to study the records.”

Dàn looked longingly toward Ella’s side of the house.

She shook her head at him. “No, I’ll continue to look for you. You go with Hope and learn to drive with Rath and Athair.”

“No better time than the present,” Athair said, trying to encourage Hope. He gently dragged her from her seat. “So, where is this wagon?”

“We actually call it a car, not a wagon.” Hope answered quietly.

“Steve drives a station wagon, does he not?” Athair asked.

“Yes. That’s the kind of car,” Hope said. “Sometimes cars are called automobiles. Or autos, for short. But usually not a wagon, unless it is one.”

“But you said you have a volks wagon. Is that the kind?”

“Yes, sort of. That is who makes my kind of car. Mine is a Volkswagen Beetle. A Bug.”

“A bug? We are to learn how to drive an insect?” asked Rath. “Your language is very strange. See Athair, we should have kept using Gaelic.”

By now, they had reached the garage at the side of the house. Hope led them inside to see the Bug rather than try to explain.

Athair looked at the vehicle inside the garage. It was like the bright yellow one he’d seen in Lakeside. This car was small and pale blue in color. Surely it wouldn’t hold all four of them.

“I forgot the keys,” Hope mumbled. She turned and ran through a door into the house, but in only a moment she was back and began to explain the basics.

“These are the keys to use to open and start the car. Each set is different and will only work for one particular car. These are the door locks.” She opened the doors and stepped back to let them look over the inside, while she explained how to adjust the seats and what the other parts did. Rath wanted to know what made the car move. She showed him the engine under the rear hood.

When she couldn’t answer all of his questions, she gave him the manual. He and Dàn went over the car together, checking the book for definitions and explanations.

Athair took Hope’s hand and pulled her away from the car.

How are you managing? he asked silently, but he really already knew. She was tense, scared, and worried about disappointing him. He was proud of her for trying despite her fears.

All right, she answered. Hope was trying so hard. He soothed her in the only way he knew how, empathically sending her wave after wave of positive emotions. His gratitude for her doing this, his pride in her attempt to overcome her fears, his belief in her strength, and his love for her, no matter what.

You are much better than all right. You are amazing. He pulled her into his arms, planning to show her just how deeply he cared for her. What began as a gentle kiss quickly burst into a long, heated moment.

Whatever his original intentions had been, he found this method of distraction to be very pleasant and would have continued if Rath hadn’t interrupted them.

“Hey! You two had better stop that before the lights start blinking again,” he said, just before he started the car up with a rev of the engine. “Hope, how do we get the Bug out of here?” he shouted over the motor.

Laughing, she pulled up the garage door and gave Athair another short, but very hot kiss. “Do you think it’s safe to let them try to drive after only reading the manual?” she asked, reclaiming his hand and weaving their fingers together.

“Both are sensible, and Rath is very good at figuring things out.” He squeezed her hand and led her outside to give the boys more room to back out. “We can watch them from the porch, if they can use the field to practice.”

Hope looked very glad to put off having to get into the car. She said, “Great idea! You tell them where to take the car and I’ll get us more coffee.” She took off into the house.

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