“Now you’ve decided we’re having another daughter?”
“Absolutely.”
Desmond sighed. “You’re something else, Nicolina. Declan, are you all right? They didn’t try any of that branding nonsense with you, did they?”
“I’m fine. I made sure to dodge when they do their branding, but they basically view werewolves shifting at the full moon as evidence they’re going to go mad, and they brand the wolves they discover once a month. I’m sure some of them are willing participants, but let’s just say I live here to avoid it, and I have made a point of leaving the city before nightfall every day.”
“Smart. Good. Dante told me he’d warned you I’d be bringing you into my pack.”
Nicolina hopped off my porch and headed for the vehicles. “And that’s my cue to go check on Richard before he creates more trouble.”
I couldn’t tell if Richard ignored his wife or hadn’t heard her, but his lack of response spurred the woman into making a mad dash across the yard to pounce on him. Richard caught her with one arm, pinned her against him, and continued his conversation. “She seems rather excited.”
“She is under the influence of sugar.” Desmond sighed. “She survived the flight, so she celebrated with anything she could get her hands on that contained sugar. Add in the excess amount of flying we’ve done, and I give it ten minutes before she passes out, probably where she’s standing. I didn’t even bother suggesting she attempt any form of dignity, as she made it through all of the flights without a single whimper.”
“That sounds like an improvement.”
“For her, yes. Richard flew between Yellowknife and Seattle, and she fretted the entire flight, and then Dante flew the next leg of the trip with Richard as his co-pilot, and she fretted during that flight, too. Dante needed the airtime and practice, and Richard’s a good instructor. At that point, Nicolina fretted herself right into unconsciousness. Getting flights here on short notice is about impossible, so Richard flew his jet until the oceanic flight, which his bird isn’t rated for. A friend loaned us a larger jet, and then we took a smaller bird to here. We didn’t notify the locals we would be arriving by the airport instead of the train station until after we were here, got our vehicles, and had everything we needed to come find you. It limited their advantage.”
“The flight was otherwise uneventful?”
“My daughter’s fretting was the only event we needed. While she didn’t whimper, she fidgeted. It was otherwise quiet.” Desmond considered his daughter, who squirmed against her mate in an effort to escape him. Richard ignored her struggles while talking with Dante, Elliot, and Amber. “Dante informed me of his plan to abuse a loophole to allow Amber to undergo the ritual.”
I opened the door to my cabin and waited for Petra to retreat to her favorite corner with one of her bones before gesturing for Desmond to come inside. “Well, as the asshole who blurted a random proposal, it makes sense. I’m not familiar with the rules, however. Add in my ignorance about the ritual, and while I’m willing if she wants that, I have no idea how I can help.”
Desmond took off his shoes and explored my cabin. “You’ve done good work on this. How much of this did you build yourself?”
“All of it.” I pointed at my new fireplace. “That’s the most recent addition. Coffee? You’re out of luck if you want drip brewed or an espresso, but I make a good Turkish.”
“Serkili.”
“I didn’t take you to be the type to want coffee-flavored syrup.” Chuckling, I went to my stove and began the process of making us both some. “I’ll live dangerously today and try it that way. What’s involved with becoming part of your pack?”
“Usually, it would involve a fight, but it’s as simple as me biting you and working the pack bonds to bring you in. Since you don’t know how pack magic works, I expect it’ll be easy enough. Your wolf likely craves company, and you know I’ll provide that for you. Ideally, we’ll do this without a tussle, but if you’ve been stressed, you might end up taking an unexpected nap. Rogues who have been left alone for a long time are often overwhelmed, even when coming into a small pack. You don’t look as thin anymore, which is good. The others will wait until I’m finished before coming to say hello. Anthony and Lane are here, but they’re jet lagged. I thought about leaving them at the hotel we’re staying at, but I opted against it. I didn’t want to invite any trouble with the Russians.”
While Desmond poked around my cabin, giving Petra space and generally ignoring her, I made our coffees and poured them. “I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I have a bad feeling about it. The brands tipped me off something here is really weird, but the entire city is aware of witches and werewolves.”
Desmond’s brows furrowed, and he took his coffee and sipped at it. “And they’ve managed to dodge the Inquisition’s awareness of them the whole time, too. You would think someone would have spread word about it, especially as they brand their Fenerec.”
“They have different names. Wolves like me are called vucari. If a vucari doesn’t shift, they become some hound of heaven. I haven’t learned the name for them yet, but I have the feeling they think I’m that. I’ve been avoiding shifting during the full moon, but they’ve seen me a few times around the new moon.”
“And they’re superstitious, and you glow.”
“Right.”
“Your glow is blue-white, which would likely be viewed as a heavenly light to the particularly superstitious.” Desmond sighed and shook his head. “What are the other types?”
“It’s complicated, but the wawkalak are the favored wolves, and their brands are on the center of their forehead. Bodark and sumasshedshiy volk have their brands on their cheeks. Bodark have theirs on the left, and the sumasshedshiy volk have theirs on the right. The sumasshedshiy volk are the mad wolves, and the locals claim one of them is killing people. I’ve been avoiding the city since the wawkalak started haunting the woods and keeping a closer eye on me. Petra used to hunt in the woods nearby, but she stays close to my cabin now to avoid them.”
“We’d call the sumasshedshiy volk wild wolves in America. We don’t have distinctions like that otherwise beyond the roles within a pack. Do you know if they have the same roles?”
“I have no idea. I’d only met my first wolf here not long before I called Dante. I figured he’d be a good person to call about this.”
“You’re right. He talked to his brother first, and then he contacted me, and we started making plans. It’ll be tricky to bring your wolf back to America, but I heard my daughter promise you she could come, so it’ll happen. How have you gotten away with having her here?”
“I called her a Siberian husky, and the locals absolutely love Siberians, so I guess they believed what they expected rather than see there’s nothing really Siberian husky about her.”
“She’s a beautiful wolf, but she’s a wolf from her nose to the tip of her tail. What are you feeding her?”
“I take her on a hunt once a month usually, and I freeze the leftover meat, I hunt some, and I go to the butcher for the rest. She makes a good excuse to buy too much, as I take very good care of her. She needed some training, and she has a fairly classic husky personality. She seems smarter than the average dog, too. That’s why I was wondering if she’s a wild wolf.”