Page 35 of My Fugitive Wolf
"1845," Kellen said.
"So, you all remember the Civil War. Were any packs involved with that?"
Kellen snorted. "Not Riverstone. Josiah would have killed any wolf who tried to leave."
"I don't remember anyone from the Firebrand pack talking about it. We did help a few former slaves who were moving west and somehow managed to stumble into our territory, but as far as I know, no pack members left to fight," Leo said.
Stephen looked over his shoulder at her. "My parents migrated from Germany to the U.S. when they were still human. They settled in Des Moines first, then headed west. Moonclaw pack alpha changed them. Even after I was born, the actions of regular humans didn’t interest them much."
Samara made mental notes of each answer. "Why did you all join the Army?"
"The world was changing." Leo signaled them to slow down because of a hidden slope he'd started to slide down. "But we weren't. We needed to find a safe way to become modern men, to understand how all the new technology worked. We'd been hiding out in the boonies for so long, we'd only heard about airplanes, telephones, transistors...all of that stuff was just unimaginable to us."
Kellen took a step down the slope, then dug his boot in and held his hand to give Samara extra leverage. She grabbed it since falling on her ass was not part of her plan for the day.
"We also needed to know if our packs could use any of that against us or if we could use it against our packs if we had to," Stephen said, picking up pace now that they were on steadier ground. "That's why we bought and learned to use a drone."
All their decisions made sense. "Have you ever thought of joining the military again? Are you still worried about falling behind?"
"We have," Stephen said. "Navy SEALS in Vietnam and Air Force pilots in Iraq."
Kellen gave a slight shake of his head. "Killing people isn't what our brotherhood is about,” he said. “So, we served for no more than four years before we faked our deaths."
The pressure of Kellen’s palm against hers increased. She squeezed his hand, grateful he hadn’t let go.
His gaze was distant as he continued. "We left killing behind when we walked away from our packs but changed that pledge when we served in the military. All we want is to carve out a life that suits us. A quiet peaceful life that doesn't involve assassinating other wolf shifters. But like Leo said, we need to grow and change with the times if we're to survive. The military, believe it or not, offered the safest way we could do that without Josiah finding us. We were so isolated that World War I was done and over with before we realized what it was all about. World War II was too big to be ignored, and we had access to newspapers and movie news reels by that point. Vietnam and Iraq were more about keeping our skills sharp."
"Did you ever shift while in combat?" she asked, fascinated by Kellen's story.
"Sometimes. It was easier to do in the jungle than when we were pilots. Still, we learned what we needed to learn to survive back here in the States. As for those bounty hunters who threatened you...I would do the same thing to anyone who hurt my brothers, friends, and anyone else I care about."
Oh, heavens. She could feel the possessiveness just from his quick glance in her direction. He cared about her. Well, that was nice. It was too soon to talk about deeper emotions, but still...she'd done some damage to herself in the past by getting involved with men who cared, but didn't love her. Had she made the same mistake again? At least her grandfather wasn't around to remind her of all of her relationship mistakes.
Now she was getting mired in her own mental muck. Time to think of a less serious question. "What modern marvel is your favorite?"
"Toilet paper," Stephen said with a luxurious sigh.
"Toothpaste," Leo piped in.
"Electric razors," Kellen added.
"Crayons," Leo said with a smile widening with memories.
"Milkshakes," Kellen said and licked his lips as if tasting one at that moment.
"Bubblegum," Stephen countered.
"Records," all three at the same time.
"Movies," Stephen and Leo said as they stopped to look at each other with Stephen jabbing Leo in the ribs.
"Marilyn!" Stephen yelled at Leo and started laughing like a little boy before starting to walk again.
"Marilyn?" She had to think about it for a second. "You mean Marilyn Monroe?"
Leo threw his arms up toward the sky. "God had a very creative imagination when he brought her into the world."
"I see. What about you, Stephen? Did you fall under Marilyn's spell?"
