Page 39 of My Fugitive Wolf
"It's too bulky to drag through the woods." Clearly, she was Captain Obvious today. "One of us should go back, get the van, and bring it here. We could either drag the safe into the van or just crack the combination here."
"Or you could ask me what the combination is."
That voice.
The four of them whirled around in unison. The housekeeper leaned against what used to be a doorframe to the front of the mansion.
Kellen's mother was alive and had a rifle pointed right at her son.
Chapter
Fifteen
Silence didn't even come close to describing the absolute stillness of their group. Was Kellen even breathing? Samara couldn't bring herself to look away from the gun-wielding wolf shifter. She was dressed in everyday clothes—blue jeans, black jacket, and brown hiking boots. Her dark-blond hair was pulled back in a loose bun, with tendrils framing her face. Even from twenty-ish feet, her pale gray eyes looked haunted.
Kellen whispered something, but the words were too quiet.
"I can't hear you," his mother said.
"Why are you here?" This time his voice was too loud.
"I should ask the same of you. I thought for sure one of those two," she jutted her chin in Stephen and Leo's direction, "had killed you."
"Obviously, they didn't." Kellen was sounding more like Kellen now, his voice stronger and more confident. "I thought Samara had killed you."
"Obviously, she didn't."
They stared at one another for another moment, then to Samara's surprise, Kellen's mother lowered the rifle and placed it on the ground. With slow steps she walked toward her son. They stared at one another. Samara wanted to give them room, but was afraid any sound from her would ruin the pivotal moment.
After more than a century, did Kellen's mother still care about him?
The staring contest continued until his mother shook her head. "I mourned for you. When it became clear you weren't coming back, I found moments during the day when Josiah and the rest of the pack weren't watching me to pray for you."
"Samara came into my life a week ago." Kellen didn't move any closer to his mother. "We know some of what she went through before she escaped. I didn't know if you'd survived the fire, but if I found evidence of your death, I too would have mourned you, despite everything."
More silence, until Kellen's mother slowly reached up and pulled her son into a powerful hug. Kellen leaned into the gesture and buried his head on her shoulder.
The quiet had passed, so Samara backed up to where Leo and Stephen stood. She hated leaving Kellen alone with the woman who’d refused to help her escape and did her damnedest to make her a good little wolf, but the powerful emotions rolling off the two of them were personal and private. Kellen didn’t need her to protect him. Stephen and Leo didn't need to signal one another to leave the ruins and let mother and son have some alone time together.
Once they picked up their packs and stepped outside the boundaries of the mansion, Stephen tapped her on the shoulder. "Come with me."
"Where are we going?"
He pulled out a thermal sensor from his backpack. She only knew what it was because she'd seen the crew from her fire department use them. Leo did the same. "Around the perimeter, just to make sure there's no one else hiding."
Samara let loose the breath she’d been holding. Both Leo and Stephen were as suspicious as she was about Kellen’s mother suddenly reappearing. Leo headed in the opposite direction from her and Stephen. They walked slowly, using as much cover as the mansion offered to keep themselves hidden from the surrounding woods. As far as Samara could tell, nothing larger than a rabbit appeared on the screen.
They paused when they reached the circular driveway at the front. Leo appeared a few minutes later.
"I got nothing." He looked like he was trying to brush off his concern by running his fingers through his hair, now looking black with ash instead of blond. "She must have just arrived, which is why we didn't see or smell her earlier. And she's alone, which could only mean that she knew we were going to be here, but Josiah didn't."
Stephen must have thought the same, but his concern still reflected in his blue eyes.
"No way." Samara shook her head, more to convince herself than the other two. "How could she have gotten away from the pack without Josiah noticing? He must have been on high alert ever since I escaped. This could still be a trap."
"He's been on high alert ever since we walked away from our packs. Whatever super-secret plans he had in mind were disrupted when he failed to subdue Moonclaw and Firebrand." Stephen pushed the thermal sensor back into his backpack. "When Kellen walked away, he may have told the pack that Kellen was dead, but I'll bet you my next poker winnings that he's always known that Kellen was alive."
Leo snorted. "You never win at poker."
