He made a little woof sound. Lila didn't stir. He did it again. David and Elizabeth joined him and looked at the padlock.
Lila's eyes snapped open. "Jeez, it's about time you three woke up."
Owen poked at the padlock. She stared at him, then the lock. "I can't open it. I tried."
He poked his nose at the lock again and looked at her.
"All right, but it won't work."
She crossed the floor and lifted the lock, then twisted the knob around real slowly. As soon as he heard the telltale click of the tumbler being in place, he nudged her hand with his nose.
She smiled, then twisted it in the opposite direction for the next number. Closer this time. He nudged her hand again. "Good boy," she said.
He growled and she chuckled. She turned the knob in the same direction as the first time. When he heard the click, he pushed her hand, but he was afraid either he'd moved too slowly or she was a little too enthusiastic and moved too quickly this time, not allowing him time to react.
She paused and looked at him. He shook his head, but she pulled on the lock anyway. Nothing.
"It's okay, I've got the first two numbers down, and the third was just a couple before that I think." She tried again, but twisted the knob even slower on the third number.
He bumped her and this time when she pulled, the lock opened, and she jerked it off the cage. He wanted to howl! Howl. That's how they could get word to the others. If anyone heard them it would most likely be Kintail's people, but only if any of them were nearby and could hear a wolf howling from a basement without windows. If the men who took them prisoner heard them? Either they'd shoot them with tranquilizers or shoot them with silver bullets. Neither a good scenario.
She pulled the cage door open and motioned for them to come out. "I haven't really been a good pack member as far as the two of you are concerned, but believe me right about now, all of you are the closest thing to a dream come true." She gave each of them a hug, and they licked her cheeks in response.
One thing about wolf pack members is they make up easily enough, and since she was the one with the human hands, Owen felt pretty good that she was in the same boat with them. Well, served her right for being one of the ones who kept them in captivity, too. Now she knew what it felt like.
"Except to bring you here after they dumped me here, I haven't seen any of them. I don't even want to think about what they plan to do with us."
Kill them, if what the murderers did with the others was any indication. But Owen didn't plan to die anytime soon. And he doubted David, Elizabeth, or Lila felt that way either.
But what to do now?
"Someone's walking around up there. Someone's making gingerbread. Otherwise, I haven't heard a soul talking. I think we're in Millinocket. We've been here about an hour. I'm hoping Kintail will be sending the cavalry soon."
But to where? Unless Lila had left a trail of wolf tracks, Owen doubted Kintail would ever find them. Or if he did, it would be too late.
As soon as Faith, Cameron, and Gavin reached Leidolf's cabin, he hurried outside, but before they explored the renovated cabins for evidence the hot tub guys had been there, she wanted to speak with Leidolf, alone.
"I have to talk to you." She grabbed his arm and led him back inside his place. She glanced at Cameron and his expression said he understood and would stay with Gavin while she had her little discussion.
Her heart was beating so hard with concern over her father, she was sure Leidolf could hear it. She closed the door and moved across the sitting area to the other side of the cabin to ensure that Gavin would not hear their conversation.
Sure of himself as usual, Leidolf crossed the floor to join her. "If this is about your father…"
She scowled. "It is."
Leidolf shrugged. "He should've kept the lupus garou secret until the day he died, Faith. As a sociologist, he should have been aware of how important keeping our identity hidden is to us. He should have realized we couldn't have allowed him to publish his research or give a lecture on it."
The blood drained from her face as her eyes watered and her stomach hit the wood floor.
"He's not dead. I didn't mean that. But he is in my jurisdiction, and I couldn't allow him to threaten our kind with exposure. He was working on the speech again after you left, still hoping you'd get the flash drive back to him because he was afraid he might have omitted some important details."
"So… what are you going to do? About my father?" Her voice sounded ghostly faint, as if she hadn't the strength to fight him on this.
"It's done, Faith. He was a loose cannon. Now he's one of us."
It took a minute or more for that particular news to soak in. "A red?" she squeaked. "You made my father a red wolf?"
Leidolf smiled in his arrogant way. "It's the best kind of wolf there is."
Her head swam with the notion as she tried to gather her wits and recall previous conversations with her father. "But I talked with him. He seemed himself."
"I gave the order once you arrived here. Once I realized you were still in pursuit of the flash drive. That was the reason you wanted to see Hilson. I tried to warn you he wasn't in a good mood. I wanted to prevent you from seeing him, afraid he'd turn you. But as it was, he'd already left the area for the time being."
She didn't give a damn about Hilson. Her father was who meant the world to her. "Where is my father?"
"One of my older females is staying with him, taking his classes at Portland Community College, a devoted listener. He's really quite all right with it."
Faith leaned against the wall, not comprehending any of it. Her father. A werewolf. A red werewolf. And she was an Arctic wolf? And on top of that he had a girlfriend? Who really served as a guard to keep him in line?
"She genuinely cares for him, Faith. And he adores her. Who wouldn't when a woman acts like the ground the male walks on should be worshipped?"
"But it's all a lie."
"Catherine lost her mate ten years ago. None of the males in my pack have impressed her in all the years she's been with the group, according to others. I haven't been in charge all that long. But she truly cares about your father. She has one of those nurturing personalities and she needs to feel needed. So they're perfect for each other. He's worried about you, though, knowing now that Hilson was an Arctic wolf, who had stolen his research. Catherine's reassured him I'm looking after you."
"You could have told me, damn it. You could have let me know what you'd done."
"You weren't a lupus garou at first, although I suspected Cameron would soon change that. Not on purpose. That's why we don't like to have newly turned lupus garous running around on their own. Too unpredictable. They make dangerous mistakes."
"My father's a red werewolf," she said, her voice soft and rife with disbelief.
Leidolf touched her arm. "He's going to be just fine. Better than fine. He's giving a speech on the observations of a group in search of Bigfoot in the wilds of Maine instead. And he's really happy, although he wants to hear that you're all right."
Faith glowered at him, then headed for the door. "You could have let me turn him. Then he would have been an Arctic lupus garou like me. What's he going to think when he learns I'm a white wolf when the urge swamps me?"
"I'm sure he'll love you just the same."
She growled and paused at the door. "If he's disappointed in me…"
"If it's any consolation, he talks nonstop about you to Catherine. And she's dying to meet you."