Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Silence didn't even come close to describing the absolute stillness of their group.
Was Kellen even breathing? Samara couldn't bring herself to look away from the gun-wielding wolf shifter.
She was dressed in everyday clothes—blue jeans, black jacket, and brown hiking boots.
Her dark-blond hair was pulled back in a loose bun, with tendrils framing her face.
Even from twenty-ish feet, her pale gray eyes looked haunted.
Kellen whispered something, but the words were too quiet.
"I can't hear you," his mother said.
"Why are you here?" This time his voice was too loud.
"I should ask the same of you. I thought for sure one of those two," she jutted her chin in Stephen and Leo's direction, "had killed you."
"Obviously, they didn't." Kellen was sounding more like Kellen now, his voice stronger and more confident. "I thought Samara had killed you."
"Obviously, she didn't."
They stared at one another for another moment, then to Samara's surprise, Kellen's mother lowered the rifle and placed it on the ground.
With slow steps she walked toward her son.
They stared at one another. Samara wanted to give them room, but was afraid any sound from her would ruin the pivotal moment.
After more than a century, did Kellen's mother still care about him?
The staring contest continued until his mother shook her head. "I mourned for you. When it became clear you weren't coming back, I found moments during the day when Josiah and the rest of the pack weren't watching me to pray for you."
"Samara came into my life a week ago." Kellen didn't move any closer to his mother. "We know some of what she went through before she escaped. I didn't know if you'd survived the fire, but if I found evidence of your death, I too would have mourned you, despite everything."
More silence, until Kellen's mother slowly reached up and pulled her son into a powerful hug. Kellen leaned into the gesture and buried his head on her shoulder.
The quiet had passed, so Samara backed up to where Leo and Stephen stood.
She hated leaving Kellen alone with the woman who’d refused to help her escape and did her damnedest to make her a good little wolf, but the powerful emotions rolling off the two of them were personal and private.
Kellen didn’t need her to protect him. Stephen and Leo didn't need to signal one another to leave the ruins and let mother and son have some alone time together.
Once they picked up their packs and stepped outside the boundaries of the mansion, Stephen tapped her on the shoulder. "Come with me."
"Where are we going?"
He pulled out a thermal sensor from his backpack. She only knew what it was because she'd seen the crew from her fire department use them. Leo did the same. "Around the perimeter, just to make sure there's no one else hiding."
Samara let loose the breath she’d been holding.
Both Leo and Stephen were as suspicious as she was about Kellen’s mother suddenly reappearing.
Leo headed in the opposite direction from her and Stephen.
They walked slowly, using as much cover as the mansion offered to keep themselves hidden from the surrounding woods.
As far as Samara could tell, nothing larger than a rabbit appeared on the screen.
They paused when they reached the circular driveway at the front. Leo appeared a few minutes later.
"I got nothing." He looked like he was trying to brush off his concern by running his fingers through his hair, now looking black with ash instead of blond.
"She must have just arrived, which is why we didn't see or smell her earlier.
And she's alone, which could only mean that she knew we were going to be here, but Josiah didn't."
Stephen must have thought the same, but his concern still reflected in his blue eyes.
"No way." Samara shook her head, more to convince herself than the other two. "How could she have gotten away from the pack without Josiah noticing? He must have been on high alert ever since I escaped. This could still be a trap."
"He's been on high alert ever since we walked away from our packs.
Whatever super-secret plans he had in mind were disrupted when he failed to subdue Moonclaw and Firebrand.
" Stephen pushed the thermal sensor back into his backpack.
"When Kellen walked away, he may have told the pack that Kellen was dead, but I'll bet you my next poker winnings that he's always known that Kellen was alive. "
Leo snorted. "You never win at poker."
"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.