“Thursday night. I drove her, in her car.”
“And was this her choice?”
“Of course.”
Officer Davis, a tall bald black man, shook his head. “Her parents are claiming otherwise.”
“What, like I kidnapped her?”
“That’s right.”
“That’s ridiculous.” From his folks’ place to his left, footsteps and a familiar scent approached. “My dad’s on his way over here to check on me.”
All three men peered into the dark. If his hands were free, Ezra could point, help them out. But he didn’t have to. His dad’s voice rang out.
“My name is Robert Sterling, and I’m approaching you at three o’clock.”
The officers looked to their right as Dad neared them. When they spotted him from the darkness, West’s hand jumped to his sidearm, and Ezra’s pulse jumped too.
“Willow Fitzgerald is at your house?” Kelly said.
“She is. Why is my son in handcuffs, Sergeant?”
“Safety precaution.” At his side, Kelly’s left fingers twitched.
“Is he suspected of a crime?”
“Not at this time.”
“Has he shown any physical aggression?”
“Not so far.”
“So does every non-suspect you interview get handcuffed for safety?”
“We need to get to the bottom of this, Mr. Sterling. As I was explaining—and I guess you heard me—”
“I did,” Dad said.
“When we get a call that a young lady was taken from her home by her boyfriend, we follow up and verify her wellbeing. If she’s allegedly been taken onto lupine land, we have to show up here.”
Dad opened his mouth to respond, but as he did, a heavy musk hit Ezra’s senses, spiced with concern, authority, and strength. It hit Dad too: he met Ezra’s eyes and was quiet. The scent was a few thousand feet away, but Malachi was moving at a full run. Straight toward them. And another wolf crept across the road two houses down, his essence sharp like gunpowder, like iron. Beside their common gamey wolf-scent, the individual signature of other wolves resembled something natural—wood, salt, stone, spice. No telling why Rhett smelled full-on industrialized metallic instead. Trevor joked it was because he was half wolf, half war machine.
As long as he didn’t start a war here and now.
West said to Dad, “Look, you need to go back home for now, and we’ll be over to speak to you when we’re finished here.”
“Sir, with all respect, when you come for a wolf, the pack doesn’t wait at home for the outcome. This is my son’s private property, and I’m not leaving.”
“Sergeant,” Davis said, pointing down the driveway. “We’ve got another male approaching.”
West spotted Malachi, who walked now at a casual pace, and flinched so hard he seemed to jump. “Holy—!”
“Easy, Dave,” Kelly said. “Sir, please stand where you are and identify yourself.”
Mal halted about twenty feet from the group. “Malachi Fuller.”
At his rasping voice, West flinched again, then said, “Do you have some reason for showing up at this house at midnight?”
