Page 45 of Curse of the Wolf
“Tell me about it,” I muttered.
Anyway, I wanted to write to warn you that I talked to Cam. I wasn’t sure if… Well, I guess youdidn’twant us all to know since you never said anything, and that was also weird, but I should have talked to you before I left. Next time, I will if you want to say anything. Or if you don’t, that’s fine. I am… a little confused though. Does this meanIcould turn into a wolf one day? Is it genetic? Like Huntington’s disease or something?
Write me back, okay? I’m kind of busy with training, and they take our phones sometimes.
Bye.
Austin
I read the letter a couple of times. A poet, my son was not, but I was glad he’d reached out. That he wanted me to reply in a similar form made me think he still didn’t know what to say and didn’t want to talk on the phone. But this was something. He was curious, if only about whether he’d spontaneously turn into a werewolf.
What would Cameron’s response be? Would he research it further and reach out to me? Or brush it off, believing, as he’d said, Austin was nuts?
I missed my oldest son and wished hewouldreach out. If not for checking his social-media sites, I wouldn’t have known what state he was in, or if he was in the country at all. We’d barely spoken these last two years.Hewould be the more likely one to call Chad. But Chad already knew, so it didn’t matter, did it? As long as my ex-husband didn’t show up, looking for the wolf case. He had been, after all, the one who’d originally brought it to the Seattle area and hidden it in the heat duct under my bed where it had lain dormant for months—no,years—until Duncan had arrived in search of it.
The memory of him smiling and whistling as he ran his metal detector over logs and leaves in the woods adjacent to Sylvan Serenity came to mind. I’d thought him terribly suspicious but also handsome. And I still thought him handsome. I wanted…
“For himnotto die, damn it.” I thought about the translation on the wolf case.Straight from the source lies within protection from venom, poison, and the bite of the werewolf. Too bad nothing suggested it would help with curses. The medallionmight—if we could figure out how to draw upon its power. “Would Mom know more about that?”
Thus far, she hadn’t known that much when it came to her medallion, just that it had been passed down from one alpha female in the pack to the next. Still, it might be worth consulting her on this. Maybe if we brought together the case with its mushroom-shaped artifact and the two medallions and the witch talisman, they would have a magical powwow again, and Duncan would get another vision. One that told him how to fix himself.
I sighed wistfully, resolving to drag Duncan up to Mom’s cabin. Even if she didn’t know anything helpful, the pack’s wise wolf or archivist might.
It was late, but I texted Lorenzo. Since Mom didn’t have a cell phone or even a land line, he was my conduit to her.
Duncan and I have some questions about the medallions and what they can do. Will you ask Mom if it’s okay if we come up in the morning?
It didn’t take long for an answer.Your mother is always willing to see you and the one she hopes will become your mate.
I just call him Duncan.
Never one to be drawn into snark and sarcasm, Lorenzo only replied with,Umbra will be here when you come.
Thank you.
15
I kept glancingat Duncan’s forehead as I drove us through the foothills outside of Monroe and into the woodlands around my Mom’s cabin. I’d picked up my truck from the shop, and it once again had both fenders and was running agreeably. Its passenger was less agreeable.
“The gouge isn’tthatdeep, is it?” Duncan hid his scar with the heel of his palm. “Rue’s needle was the size of a feeding tube, but the mark it left should heal quickly.”
“It’s fine. I’m admiring your profile.”
“You’re eyeing my scar like it’s a viper that’ll leap out at you.”
“I can’t help it. It concerns me. It’s not glowing, the way it did when the device was trying to summon you, but it seems…”
Duncan sighed and dropped his hand. “Like an angry red welt, I know. Despite being largely oblivious to my looks and not having a touch of vanity, I do occasionally peek at myself in the mirror.”
“Oblivious to your looks? Didn’t you tell me you trim yourself assiduously to make sure your naked body is appealing to anyone who looks at it?”
“I prefer a tidy mien becauseImust look at it.”
“But without even a touch of vanity.”
“Precisely.”
“Did Rue have any ideas?”
