Captain M stared at him, her nose twitching as she thought. “There’s something more.”
“Yes.” And now he came to the real sticking point. “I’m not going to disappear from my family’s lives. I won’t.” Because that’s what people at Wulf, Inc. had to do. The paranormal had its place, and it wasn’t with the vanilla normals.
He saw her absorb his statement, her expression going grim, but there was understanding in her eyes. Not every werewolf worked in Wulf, Inc. Many had regular lives, assuming they could keep their natures under complete control.
“So the only reason you’re still here is because you’re trying to figure out how to control the moon madness.”
It wasn’t a question, but he answered it anyway with a nod. Not every werewolf went psycho with the full moon, but he’d drawn the short straw and would have to work extra hard to control himself. Good thing he was used to overcoming obstacles.
“The next full moon isn’t for another few weeks. Do you mind helping us out until then? It won’t involve you killing anything.”
“What have you got?” he asked, investing his voice with a perkiness he didn’t feel.
“Josh’s brother ate a fairy fruit—”
“What? Why?” He’d been reading up on magic, and nothing was more unpredictable and guaranteed to bite you in the ass than fairy magic.
Captain M shrugged. “Because he’s an idiot? Because he wanted to play in the weird pool too?”
Laddin shook his head. “No. I mean, what was he promised?”
“Well, that’s what I’d like you to figure out. The rest of the team is going up to run support for the bigwigs. They’re still trying to find the demon that is poisoning the lake and Wisconsin in general. The problem—other than the obvious—is that the paranormal energy is so thick around the lake that it’s attracting every paranormal wackadoodle in the world. They can’t find the demon if they’re constantly fighting ghouls and goblins gone wild.”
“I’m to run support?” he asked.
“You can coordinate with me, but mostly I need you to handle Bruce. That’s Josh’s brother.” She held up her hand before he could object. “I know you’re a puppy yourself, but there isn’t anyone else. The others will be around to help if needed, but they can’t take out a nest of angry pixies if they’re babysitting a fairy werewolf.”
He nodded, though the idea of taking out a fairy nest made him sad. He knew that the little fae were usually a menace, but they were also just having fun. There had to be a way to work with the tiny fluffs of magic without killing them. But it was a losing battle. After all, cockroaches weren’t evil either, but that didn’t stop anyone from fumigating their house.
“Come on, Laddin. Don’t bail on me yet. Give me a chance to prove that there’s a place here for you.”
He nodded, because he’d been trained since birth to respect a powerful woman’s wishes, but she also had to respect his choice. “I’ll help out now, but after this, I need to go back to my family.”
“We’re family too, if you want us.”
He knew it was true, but he didn’t want to give up one family for another. He wasn’t built that way.
It didn’t take long for him to pack up. After all, he’d come here with nothing, not even his clothes. Before long he was on a short eight-hour drive to a pizza farm in a tiny town in Wisconsin. How did they farm pizza, anyway?
The signs along the road explained it—the place used its own locally sourced ingredients for its five-star pizza. Great. Except business must be crap since the owner, Mary, had rented out her entire home to the Wulf, Inc. crew.
There wasn’t time to ponder pizza farm economics as he pulled into a big barn designed for farm equipment but being used as a garage. He saw Nero’s car next to a Wulf, Inc. van that had seen better days. And it obviously hadn’t been washed since its time in the swamp, because boy, did that thing stink!
He got out as Wiz and Stratos, another member of the team, arrived. Like him, they turned up their noses at the stench from the van.
“What the hell is that?” Stratos demanded as she covered her nose with her tee.
Yordan—a big guy with a loud mouth and a fondness for putting them through calisthenics—pointed at Laddin. “That’s his problem. The new wolf is asleep in the back. He’s probably hungry and has to go potty, but don’t let him do that as a wolf. The first task is to get him to switch back to a human.”
Laddin nodded. He’d been briefed.
Bing hopped out of the other side of the van, his expression set in that same bland mask he’d had on the set. Laddin had been surprised to find out that his boss had also turned werewolf, but in the end they’d settled into the same trainee level. They’d both been yanked from their lives, had to learn how to live as a werewolf, and eventually they’d both have to decide what to do about it. “Listen up,” Nero boomed using his alpha voice. “We’ve found a way to kill the demon that’s poisoning Wisconsin. It’s a complicated maneuver, and there’s no room for new recruits. You all are here to help keep the nasties away while Josh and I do what needs to be done.”
Wiz folded his arms. “Have wefoundthe demon that’s killing Wisconsin?”
Nero winced. “Not yet. We’ll report to Wulfric, tell him what we know, and he’ll decide how and where to use us.”
Josh’s head snapped up. “Wulfric as in the immortal founder of Wulf, Inc.? That—”
