Emmitt turned toward me.

“Let’s go inside.  The kids heard some of the noise and are scared.”

I whirled and ran to my brothers.  Already dressed in their pajamas, they both huddled on Jim’s lap.  He continued softly speaking to them when I entered.

“Sometimes wild dogs come into the yard and fight over a bone.  It doesn’t mean they are bad, just that they are misbehaving.  Nana will set them straight.  You’ll see.”  He looked up and met my eyes with relief.

The boys got up and ran to me.

“I’m here,” I said dropping to my knees to hug them.  My shaking remained.  Emmitt stayed by the door.

Jim stood and picked something out of my hair.  When I looked at him questioningly over the boys’ heads, he showed me a piece of cardigan.  My mouth popped open in a quiet “oh” as he strode to Nana’s bathroom.  He came out carrying a robe and went to the hallway.

I hadn’t thought about Nana Wini’s clothes.  It was a good thing he had.

“Are they gone?” Liam asked, his face still buried in my hair.

“Yeah, buddy.  Nana chased them away.”

A few moments later, Nana strode in, unharmed.  I assumed she chased them off, but her next words worried me.

“Chasing away those dogs gave me an idea,” she said looking at the boys with a calm smile.  “You haven’t yet met Jim and Emmitt’s parents.  They live with several other families in a house bigger than this one.  Paul and Henry live there, as do some much nicer dogs.  So, I think we should take a vacation and visit them.  In fact, we should make it an adventure and go tonight.  Should we let Jim come with us?”

They both nodded, but didn’t let go of me.

“Should we have Jim and Emmitt race to see who can pack first?”

This time Aden pulled away a little, slightly interested.  I wondered what he thought of Nana’s sudden appearance in a robe.

“To make this fair, we’ll have Emmitt pack for your sister and Liam.  Jim, you go pack for Aden and grab all personal affects.”

Aden cheered in approval and began telling Jim where his things were so he could win.

Nana met Jim and Emmitt’s gaze for a moment then they both walked out of the apartment, leaving the door open.  Silent communication.  My anxiety grew.  We were running.  Again.  A wave of panic almost pulled me down.

“Michelle, let’s take the boys into the bathroom and wash them up before we leave.  It’s a long trip.”

She closed the three of us in the bathroom, saying she’d pack for herself while we waited.

I went through the normal motions but didn’t open the door when we finished.  Instead, I sat on the toilet lid and asked Aden and Liam about their time with Paul and Henry.  Liam, for a change, didn’t say much and let Aden do most of the talking.

Emmitt opened the door a few minutes later.

“It was a tie,” he said to the boys.  “Ready to go?”

We all nodded.  Emmitt met my gaze over the boys’ heads and sent them out to Jim and Nana.

He held out a hand.  “You’re not alone this time,” he said.

A bit of the tension eased.  He understood.  I wrapped my fingers around his, and he pulled me into a quick tight hug before we joined the others.

In the living room, Jim already had Aden up in his arms.  Emmitt scooped Liam up in a way that flipped him in the air, eliciting a shocked squeal and bringing a smile to his small, and otherwise serious, face.

Jim and Emmitt carried my brothers out on the pretense that they didn’t have shoes on.  They buckled the boys into the back seat of Nana’s car while Nana stood near me.

After closing the back doors, Emmitt took my hand and led me to the truck.  He held the door for me, waiting until I buckled.  I heard Liam quietly tell Nana Wini she had something in her hair.  I didn’t look up to see what it was, but I hoped it wasn’t blood.  Emmitt closed the door on her response.

I kept my eyes on the trees lining the driveway while Emmitt drove out.  What once seemed so quiet and peaceful now menaced.  I imagined Frank and his friend watching us from the shadows.  How long before Blake joined them?

Leaving the driveway, Emmitt turned north.  Jim, driving Nana’s car, followed.  I knew we were heading to Canada and the mysterious Compound of Emmitt’s childhood.  The thought of going to a place with even more werewolves churned my stomach.  What would we find there?

“You’re killing me,” Emmitt said, pulling my attention from the trees.

“Excuse me?”

“Your fear.  I can smell it.  Even when you were facing down David in the parking lot of that diner, it wasn’t this bad.”  He reached across the seat and wrapped his hand around mine.  “It will be okay.  I promise.  There is no need for this fear.”

“No need?” I said in soft disbelief.  “Werewolves are real.  One of them kept me locked away for four years and wants me back.  The infallible laws, which your people can’t ignore, no longer seem to work.  After all, Richard’s murderer hasn’t stepped forward.

“I’m heading to an unknown place filled with an unknown number of werewolves who will think I smell delicious and may or may not treat me like Blake has.  If I don’t want to go, my only other option is to run again, zigzagging scent trails across the North America Continent, waiting to be stumbled upon.  How exactly am I supposed to get rid of my fear?”

Emmitt lifted the hand he held and brought it to his mouth, tenderly kissing the knuckles.  My heart flipped.  I wasn’t upset with him.  I was angry with myself for believing there could be an easy answer.  Emmitt kept my hand in his and remained quiet.

Nothing had been easy since Blake entered my life.  I needed him out of the picture for good.  The premonition of me biting Emmitt should have assured me everything would turn out all right, but Frank’s reaction worried me.  Why had he laughed when I told him?

And how was I a tool for Blake?  The way Frank spoke, it had to be more than just stock market information.  Frank’s comment about wiping out humanity scared me.  How many werewolves looked at humans like that?  It had to be a select group because I didn’t get that vibe from the three werewolves I lived with.

I stilled, recalling his exact words.

“If not for the curse that causes you to be born to humans,” I whispered.

I looked at Emmitt with chills skating over my skin.

“They knew I would be born?  How had Blake known I’d be born?”

He squeezed my hand reassuringly, but I caught his quick frown.

“Nana’s hoping to find answers at the Compound,” he said.  “Another Elder is there waiting for us.”

I had serious doubts she would find anything useful.  Blake held the answers I—we—needed.  How could I get them, though, without going back?  If not for Nana, Jim, and Emmitt, Blake’s men would have me, and I might know the answers.  But I didn’t want to go back like that.  And, now that Blake knew who I had protecting me, I doubted he would risk exposing himself again.

We lapsed into silence for so long I started to drift to sleep, still trying to think of a way to get answers.  Next to me, I felt Emmitt move in his seat.  A moment later, his jacket, which he’d brought with him, settled over the front of me.  I curled my legs under me, snuggling under the jacket.  It smelled like him, and it was all I needed to drift off to sleep.

*    *    *    *

I vaguely registered the sound of a car door opening.  Even the sudden chill as the jacket left me couldn’t completely wake me.  I turned toward the seat’s warmth, trying to get comfortable, already sinking back into sleep.

The feel of a thick arm sliding behind my back and another under my knees tickled my awareness.  Emmitt’s smell surrounded me, and I shifted to snuggle against him.  Then, he lifted me.  The air born, weightless feeling yanked me from my sleep.  I let out a yelp and wrapped my arms around him, prying open my unwilling eyes.