Page 126 of A Wolfe in the Woods

JONATHAN

The fire department sirens wailed faintly somewhere far below the ridge. They’d reach the property soon and deal with the cabins and greenhouses. May would handle it when they arrived. She always did.

What mattered now was ahead of me.

I turned toward the mountain. The climb was brutal. The terrain rose sharply, the forest thinning as stone began to punch through the soil. I pushed harder, breath steady but strained, muscles burning as I gained elevation. It wasn’t enough. Not like this. Not with time bleeding away.

So, I made the choice.

Not a full shift. Partial. Just enough.

Fully shifting would’ve been a risk. I needed control when I reached Erik, and I wasn’t sure I’d have it if I gave myself over completely.

My balance dropped. My gait changed. My spine adjusted, center of gravity lowering. Calves and thighs tightened, stride lengthening unnaturally, covering more ground with each lumbering step. My senses sharpened, especially my night vision, the dark resolving into clean edges, depth and motion snapping into focus.

I moved faster than I ever could as a man, stone and root blurring beneath my feet. Heat signatures lingered faintly in the air where others had passed. Fang had come this way before breaking off. Erik’s trail cut clean, straight toward the mountain’s crown.

Before long, the Circle of Thornblood opened before me like an old wound that had never healed. From the distance I could see the seven monolithic stones that jutted from the ground in a rough, uneven ring. Tall and jagged, as if they’d been dragged violently upward, pulled from the earth by an unseen hand. Ever watchful, they were half-veiled in low-lying fog. The air inside it was heavy and hard to breathe. The pale moon hung directly overhead.

Erik was already there.

He stood at the edge of the circle nonchalantly, wardrobe immaculate despite the hike, hands clasped behind his back. Two groups flanked him at a distance. Skoll security, Lycans in human skin, spaced evenly, disciplined. Not like Fang’s clique. These ones were leashed tighter.

Blanchette wasn’t with him. My chest tightened.

When I made it down to where he stood, my breath rough, my half-shifted body quaking the earth when I leapt into the clearing, Erik smiled and offered smoothly, “You made excellent time. Seems there’s still some wolf in you yet.”

He wasn’t complimenting me. He was taunting me, toying with me.

“Where is she?” I demanded, stopping short of the circle, my voice taking on the deeper timbre of the beast within.

I didn’t step close to the stones, nor did I even cross the faint line where the granite began to meet the soil. The Circle of Thornblood was still sacred, albeit dangerous, and deserved my reverence, however wary. Even my father had treated it with respect.

Erik noticed. He tilted his head, studying me with curiosity. “Somewhere else,” he said smoothly. “Safe. Until our deal is complete.”

I didn’t trust him. Not for a second. But did I even have a choice?

His gaze flicked to my feet, then back up to my face, a faint smile touching his mouth. “Relax, I won’t hurt her. I’m not a savage,” he said. “I’m a negotiator.”

“Then bring her here,” I snapped. “That was the deal.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I knew I’d misstepped. I was defensive. Reactive. Exactly what he wanted me to be and exactly what I was trying to avoid. It was why I hadn’t fully shifted. One wrong gesture or move and I’d be putting Blanchette in further danger.

Erik rasped, “Careful, Jonathan. You wouldn’t want to insult your guests at such a critical juncture and have everything go up in smoke.Poof.”

Something flickered in his eyes.

“You know, I really can’t figure you out,” Erik said thoughtfully. “You’re an odd one…just like your old man.” His gaze traveled over me, to my boots, my straining shirt against my larger body, the ash covering my hands, then back up to my soot-covered face. “Once upon a time, you were exceptional. A killer in the courtroom. You outgrew these dirty little woods once…now look at you.”

A pause. A smile.

“You cosplay as a hermit, hide in the trees, and pretend you’re something simpler. But you’re not simple, are you?” His eyes sharpened. “A wolf without a pack is nothing. You know that. Yet you stand alone. No elders. No council. No community. Just a lone wolf…or should I say a lonely one?”

I felt the words hit me harder than I wanted. He saw it. Something in my face must have shifted, given me away, because his grin widened.

“Ah,” Erik murmured. “There it is.” His voice dropped, gaze more intent. “A wolf hiding in the dark, hoping the world forgets him.”

I forced my voice steady. “This place isn’t a stage for your grand performance, Erik. Let’s finish our business and leave. This forest doesn’t take kindly to being disturbed.”