"No, I just let you win because you're the only one without a full-time job."
"Bullshit! I make plenty. Just because I set my own hours, doesn't mean anything. I have never once asked for a handout."
"True enough and we want to keep it that way."
The look on Leo's face promised retribution, but Kellen appeared and motioned them all to come back inside. Sure enough, the safe was open, and his mother was scooping out books and papers into a large canvas bag smudged with soot. A half dozen smaller lock boxes with combination locks lined up next to her.
"We'll take all of this back to the motel," Kellen said. "I suggest we get on the road and head back home now and not examine it until we're back in?—"
Samara stiffened. "Uh, Kellen. I would feel more comfortable if we didn't bring your mother back home with us." No way did Samara trust her. Even if mother and son buried the hatchet, this wolf still had a lot to answer for.
If his mother cared what she thought, didn't show it. Instead, she kept her eyes on the canvas bag as she zipped it.
"Stephen, Leo, what do you think?" Kellen asked.
"I'm with Samara," Leo answered immediately. It heartened her to know that he was on her side. "I'm happy for you knowing your mother is alive, but it doesn't mean..."
"....that Josiah hasn't tracked her," Stephen concluded. "Whether this is a set-up or not, we'd all be safer if we found another place to stay for a few days. Just in case."
Kellen's mother gave Stephen and Leo a curious look. "You let them decide for you what you're going to do?"
"We're a brotherhood, not a pack." The hardness in Kellen's voice had returned. "We make all decisions together. It's what has kept us alive over the past century and a half."
"I’m glad you haven’t been alone this whole time." His mother stood up and tossed the bulk over her shoulder. "Let's get out of here. We'll carry the canvas bag, then come back for the safe and lock boxes."
No one said anything as they hoisted their backpacks with Kellen taking charge of the canvas bag. The lack of conversation continued even after they crossed the yard and into the woods, careful to enter at the same point they left from.
While they walked, Samara struggled to understand Kellen's mother. A part of her wanted to demand an answer for why she hadn’t even tried to help her escape. Only her desire to protect Kellen from what must have been the most emotionally confusing day of his life held her back. Though she realized that she couldn't keep thinking of this other woman as just Kellen's mother.
"What's your name?" Samara asked, fighting to sound polite.
If the woman had secrets, her name wasn't one of them because she answered right away. "Grace."
"Grace." She said it out loud just to get used to hearing her own voice refer to this woman as something other than a housekeeper.
Once they passed the area where the wolf traps were set, they covered the ground faster. No one spoke, not a word. Her backpack, heavy to begin with, felt heavier with every step, Samara gritted her teeth and kept pace. If Grace had the stamina to keep pace with the brothers, then Samara would prove she could too, even without increased wolf shifter strength. Leo and Stephen made the occasional hand signal to let everyone know if there was a low hanging branch or buried stone in the middle of the path, but otherwise, silence.
By the time they made it to the van, Samara's back felt more twisted than it had after freight hopping for six weeks. Once Kellen opened the back doors, they all tossed their backpacks inside one at a time. Grace attempted to sit next to Kellen in the first row of back seats, but Samara placed her hand on Grace’s arm and made it clear that she would sit next to Kellen.
Samara thought she could see Grace's wolf for a moment, but it didn't matter. Samara bared her teeth to make her point. You do not abandon a man like Kellen for more than a century and expect to not suffer any consequences.
At least Kellen didn’t see the altercation as he climbed into the van on the other side, behind the driver's seat.
Samara swung herself inside, avoiding a showdown in the parking lot. Grace squeezed herself behind Samara into the second row of seats.
Within five minutes they were back on the road, heading toward the Riverstone estate. After picking up the safe and lock boxes, they hit the back roads until they reached Wyoming, then jumped onto the highway. After twenty hours and a pit stop in Salt Lake City, they'd reached Prescott, close enough to Winterbourne if they needed to get home fast, but still far enough away to keep Grace from figuring out where they lived. It was odd how in a single week Samara's feelings had shifted from discarding Winterbourne as a backwoods town where she could score some quick cash, to a town she would protect if it came to that.
All because Kellen had given her more than just a job. He'd given her a home without even realizing it.
By the time they crossed the Prescott city limits, they'd finished off the food in the cooler and needed a good night's sleep. Leo called ahead and reserved a two-bedroom suite at one of the fancier hotels. Other than asking if anyone needed a comfort break or what type of sandwich or snack they wanted, no one had said much. The driver still controlled the music.
While Leo got their keys to the room and Stephen found a couple of dollies, Samara helped Kellen remove their backpacks and the canvas bag with Josiah's documents. Grace waited nearby, observing them, looking a bit lost and confused. A few minutes later, Samara tried to follow Kellen onto the elevator, but was body blocked by both Leo and Stephen. Stephen smoothly pushed one of the dollies into her hands, signaling her to follow him onto a different elevator, not giving her a choice but to join them without creating a scene.
"What the hell?" she demanded as soon as the elevator door closed.
"They need more time alone," Stephen said. "After one hundred and sixty years, let them have whatever time they need. They don't need our judgement about their relationship."
"I think I have just as much right to judge her as Kellen does after the way she treated me."
