I shifted my attention back to the two fuckheads who were crouched by the front door and working on the lock.
“It can’t look like a break-in,” Seth said..
His buddy grumbled. “I know, dipshit.”
Movement to my right snagged my attention. A huge dog raced over the snow. No, not a dog. Hell, it was a wolf. I’d heard they weren’t uncommon around here, but I’d never seen one this close.
“Shit,” Priest whispered. He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his keys.
“What the hell is that?” I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the wolf. He was headed toward the porch, straight at the two dickheads who were still fumbling with the lock.
Priest shoved a small silver whistle in his mouth.
“What are you doing?” He was about to ruin everything. If we scared these guys away, there was no telling when they’d make another attempt.
He blew into the whistle but there was no sound. The wolf stopped dead in his tracks and swiveled his head in our direction. Shifting course, he trotted toward us, looking more and more massive with every step that brought him closer.
“What the fuck, man?” Priest must have lost his mind. That was the only reasonable explanation. I’d never backed down from a fight, but the odds were clearly stacked in the wolf’s favor. I shrank back, wondering if it was too late to try to make a run for it.
“Come here, Hades.” Priest reached out and motioned for the wolf to join us. “He won’t hurt us. He’s like the town mascot, or sometimes like the town’s vigilante.”
The wolf shoved his giant muzzle into my gut, his nose working overtime.
Priest let out a soft chuckle. “What’s in your pocket, dude?”
I pulled out half of a protein bar.
“Give it to him,” Priest said.
Before I could unwrap it, the front door creaked open. The two men entered the house. Hades cocked his head and looked at Priest like he was waiting for some sort of direction.
“Patience,” Priest whispered. “Bear ought to be here in just a few. He’ll be able to get them to talk.”
We stayed low and made our way over to the front porch. I could hear the two idiots walking around inside, talking about options for hiding whatever it was they planned on leaving behind.
“You sure they don’t have any cameras around here?” the short guy asked as they neared the door.
Seth laughed. “He can barely afford gas for his work truck. You think he’s invested in some high-dollar security system?”
They stepped out of the house and started shoving their feet back into their boots. At least they were bright enough not to trail snow and slush across the floor. Hades let out a low growl from where he’d been sitting between me and Priest. The two men turned toward us at the exact same time.
“They might not have an expensive security system,” Priest said. “But they do have us.”
The short one clenched his jaw. They must have taken off their goggles inside, because I recognized him as the guy who’d approached me at the Merc.
“Fuck.” Seth scowled as he reached into his snowmobile suit.
Hades leapt, knocking Seth off the porch.
The man let out a high-pitched shriek like a bobcat in heat. “Get it off me!”
“Hades, let him go.” Priest patted his thigh. Hades laid down on top of Seth and looked up at us like he was waiting for further instruction. Priest turned to the other man. “You want to tell us what the hell you were doing breaking and entering our buddy’s house?”
“It’s not wha-wha-what it looks like,” he tried to explain as he struggled to tear his gaze away from Hades.
“Hold that thought.” Priest pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it to his ear. “We caught two of them breaking into the house. What do you want us to do with them?”
I assumed he was on the phone with Shane. While I waited to find out what we needed to do next, a couple of the Mustang Mountain Riders pulled into the drive. I didn’t doubt that Priest, Hades, and I could contain both of them, but it was always good to have backup.
