We brushed ourselves off, then I looked around for any sign that our local werewolf had found Clay or Antonio. Nothing.

"Do we wait?" Nick asked. "There's only two of them, and it sounds like there will be more soon."

"Not too soon. They're talking about their comrades, who are in the Lower 48 on business." I looked from the house to the gray woods. "As long as the Teslers stay put, we should wait."

AGAIN I TRIED to do the right thing and wait for backup. Again, an interruption made me rethink the wisdom of that. This time it wasn't a sound, but a scent.

When I lifted my face to catch it again, Nick inhaled, too.

"Mutt," he said. "Is that Joey's boy? Maybe he escaped."

For a moment, I hesitated. I don't know why--the scent clearly wasn't Noah's--yet something in it made me pause before shaking my head.

"Those Shifter things?"

"No, they smell different. And very distinct. Their cave was well appointed, but I don't think it included hot showers."

Nick made a face, then sniffed again. "So it's not the Shifters. It's not Joey or his boy. It's not Reese, not the Teslers, not the wolf-guy ... Exactly how many werewolves and werewolf-like critters are running around out here?"

"Too many." I pushed to my feet and looked at the cabin. The lights were still on and I could hear the faint clatter of dishes, as if they were making breakfast. "Let's go see who's sniffing around."

MISSION

WHAT WE FOUND were two werewolves dressed in full winter walking garb, from boots to gloves to parkas that covered their faces. One whiff told me I'd never met these mutts before. I had, however, smelled them--or traces of them, earlier tonight, in the cottage.

When Tesler told Eddie they needed to call their men in, he didn't mean bring them back to Alaska. They were already here.

It's a testament to my exhaustion that even as we tracked the two mutts downwind, I held out hope that these weren't actually the rest of Tesler's gang. Even when we got close enough to hear them speaking English with thick Eastern European accents, I thought maybe Roman hadn't heeded my assurances that we didn't need help and sent some of his "Russian wolves" to help, and they'd been nosing around the cabin earlier. But why would they be speaking English? That only made sense if their leaders were English-speaking, and insisted on that as their common language. Their next words confirmed that suspicion.

"Fucking Eddie thinks he is such a fucking hotshot. Thinks he fucking runs this outfit."

"That is where you always get into trouble, Marko. You still think it is Travis in charge. It is Eddie... letting his brother think he is leading."

"Travis would have let us steal a snowmobile."

"And that is why he is not in charge. Eddie is careful. Two stolen snowmobiles are enough."

"Because it is enough for the two of them. We have to walk through the fucking snow, looking for some fucking werewolf girl they let escape."

"You can be sure it was not Eddie who let her get away. You are just angry because we did not find her, which is good, or you would be in more trouble than you were when you killed that hiker."

"I just wanted a poke."

"You think Travis would not notice? Would not smell you on her?"

"I have condoms."

The other man, whose accent sounded Ukrainian, snorted. "You think that would cover all the smell?"

We were crouched behind bushes, keeping our distance.

"If they get to the cabin..." Nick whispered.

"It doubles the odds in their favor. We should take them out."

I wasn't in top-notch shape, but still feeling no pain, and Nick was fresh and raring to go. With the element of surprise, we could take them. Nick slipped back to cut across behind them and come up on their left.

Marko was still complaining.

Tags: Kelley Armstrong Otherworld Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net