Yeah, that part he’d already figured out. “But how?” He leaned forward. “I need details.”
“I could give you a ton of them, but it won’t matter. You are a fairy-fruit werewolf. None of the rules apply to you.”
“And those rules are….”
“Individual.”
Sounded like a recipe for disaster. Or the standard bullshit con artists used to cover their dirty deeds. He just couldn’t figure out if Laddin was one of the brainwashing cult leaders or another guy caught in someone else’s charismatic orbit. He certainly seemed nice enough, but Bruce would need a lot more to go on before he could trust Laddin.
“Fine,” he said. “Let’s start with Josh, then. How did he join your ranks—?”
They both looked up as the barn doors started rolling open. Someone was coming, and Bruce didn’t want to be sitting here half-naked when he met whatever foe decided to stroll in. Plus, it was cold outside, so he pulled on the wolf T-shirt and jumped to his feet.
Laddin was much more casual. He tilted his head to look through the growing crack in the door; then he smiled at Bruce. “Why don’t you ask him yourself? That’s the team coming back. We’ll get your assignment from them.”
Bruce frowned. “Myassignment? I didn’t join your team.” It was a knee-jerk response. He never joined anything without triple-checking the small print and doing an exhaustive internet search for scams. His father had drilled distrust into him from the day he was born. Unfortunately, Laddin was smart enough to point out the flaw in his statement.
“You ate the fruit, you joined the team. Wulf, Inc. is responsible for all the lupine shifters in the world, and the bite marks on my jeans prove you qualify. Ergo, you get assignments from us.”
“Is that so?” he challenged. “I have to obey you. No loophole, no way around it, no—”
Laddin cut him off with a wave of his hand. “Of course there are workarounds. We’re magical creatures. The only rule about us is that there are no rules unless we make them.” Then he leaned forward. “Which we do, because it makes everyone safe, including you.”
That was bullshit of the first order. Only abusive people spouted,We make the rules, and you have to obey for your own good.But he didn’t say that. Instead, he turned toward the car just now heading inside, and blew out a relieved breath. Josh sat in the front passenger seat, alive and apparently whole.
Good. His brother was alive.
Now came the hard part—rescuing him from this whacked-out cult.
Chapter 5
EVERYBODY LOVES WULFRIC
LADDIN WATCHEDas Bruce tried to straighten up, something that was hard to do in slouchy sweatpants and a too-tight T-shirt. The guy was big, that was for sure. He had shoulders that could lift a car and probably had, given that he was a firefighter. But he was also a grouchy sourpuss who tended to look on the dark side of life.
Laddin knew the type. Bruce had probably been disappointed too many times by people who had promised something and failed to deliver. Welcome to the club, buddy. But going through life with a growl was just a waste of energy, and Laddin had no time for people who wasted anything that could be put to better use. His mother had taught him that the first time he’d whined about his messed-up hand. Every time he grumbled, she made him do chores until he discovered that he could do twice as much as people with two normal hands, simply because he didn’t waste time complaining.
“Your clothes are in there,” he said to Bruce as he gestured inside the van. Then he did his own bit of getting ready.
He checked his cell for messages from Captain M (none), reported via voicemail on Bruce’s progress (wolf back to human), and then prepared to meet the most awesome man in Wulf, Inc. history. Because the car that was pulling into the barn had Nero and Josh in the front seat and Wulfric, the two-hundred-year-old founder of Wulf, Inc., in the back.
Laddin didn’t know much about Wulfric except that he was incredibly reclusive, everyone wanted to be his friend, and he only came out when the world was ending. He and his witch mother had deployed to Wisconsin when the lake had turned to poison, but he’d been as ineffective as everyone else at finding the demon. And now Laddin was going to get a chance to meet him, all because he was at the pizza farm along with the other members of Wulf, Inc.
It wasn’t until Nero had thrown the car into Park that Laddin realized Wulfric, the man of shifter legend, looked like he’d been chewed on by an ogre. Half his face was swollen, and the other half was ripped into shreds. There was blood everywhere, and he’d slumped sideways in the car with his mangled face pressed up against the window.
Laddin rushed forward, intending to open the car door, but stopped, realizing the guy would fall onto the ground. So he stood there looking awkward, his hands hovering uselessly near the door handle. Meanwhile, Nero and Josh both got out. A closer look showed that they too were worse for wear. Or at least their clothes were, given the tears and blood splatter. They, on the other hand, appeared completely healthy despite their anxious expressions.
“What happened?” Laddin asked.
“Hellhounds,” Josh said as he opened the back door and gently reached inside. “Don’t trust your eyes with him. He’s got a fairy glamour that makes him appear beautiful.”
Laddin frowned. Wulfric looked anything but beautiful right then. More like a special effects monster gone bad.
“We got Wiz to dispel the magic for now,” Josh continued. “But if he suddenly looks like the picture of health, it’s an illusion.”
Got it. “Why didn’t Wulfric shift?” That was the fastest way to heal.
“Too exhausted,” Nero answered. “He should be in a hospital, but they’re overrun with regular human casualties right now. Besides, he’s better off resting here and waiting for one of the clerics to magic him better.”
