Lynn glanced at him. “Well. Yes. She’s my sister. I’m not going to abandon her if she really needs help.”
“Some people would say that she made her own bed, and she should have to lie in it,” Ken said darkly.
Lynn experienced a flash of insight—she wondered if this was how Ken felt, when he seemed to be reading her mind sometimes. “Like your parents?”
A startled pause. “Well,” Ken said finally. “Yes.”
“What was it like growing up with them?” Lynn asked softly.
Ken was quiet for a minute. “It was tough,” he said finally. “I think I’m naturally more like your sister than like you. I like to go with the flow, I don’t tend to make plans too far in advance. But my parents weren’t having any of that. No sense of humor—my dad especially. He wanted to know exactly where I was at all times. And they were both terrified of what might happen if they didn’t have everything locked down months or years in advance.”
“That sounds even more frustrating,” Lynn said. “My sister and I can argue with each other, and neither of us can really tell the other what to do.” Although she tried sometimes. “But if it was your parents…”
“Yeah,” Ken said. “There’s a reason I ran away and joined the military.”
Lynn felt her mouth quirk a little. “Where they told you what to do and wanted to control every aspect of your life?”
“Hey.” There was laughter hinting at the edges of Ken’s voice. “I never said it was an especially smart decision.”
“But it worked out for you.” Lynn was honestly curious.
“It did,” Ken said, thoughtful. “I think I ended up kind of a hybrid. My parents and the Marines trained me to be prepared for every possibility, always be ready in a crisis, know what was going to happen next. And I’m good at that, when I have to be. But I still like to go with the flow, when I can. I never thought I’d end up as an environmental scientist, after all. I just figured that I’d go back to school and do something that let me be outside a lot.”
“Well,” Lynn said, “I’m glad you did.”
His voice was warm. “Me, too. Although I bet we’d have ended up finding each other, no matter what I did.”
“I hope so.” Lynn didn’t like to think about the possibility that they might not have. That she could’ve been driving out to face a wolf pack alone…she shivered.
“Hey.” His hand was warm on her thigh. “I’m here, don’t worry about it. Tell me more about your family. Stella has a daughter?”
Lynn broke out into a smile. “Eva. Eva’s a great kid. Although—” She had to laugh at herself a little. “It’s possible I’m saying that because Eva’s more like me.”
“Oh, man. A planner daughter and a flighty mom? I’m picturing the epic fights now.”
“You’re not wrong.” Lynn gave in and laughed a little. “It’s not as much of a disaster as it could be, I don’t think. Stella has an easier time listening to Eva than she does listening to me, for whatever reason. But Eva’s still a kid—seventeen—and so she can’t always know what the best thing to do is. And, of course, sometimes Stella’s just going to do what Stella’s going to do.”
“Like getting with this guy?”
“Like getting with this guy,” Lynn confirmed.
“Do you know anything about him?” Ken sounded more serious now. “Or his pack?”
“Not much,” Lynn admitted. “I only met him once. He didn’t seem dangerous or anything, just kind of—whiny and unimpressive. The sort of guy who gets captivated by Stella because she’s pretty and funny all the time. I don’t know why she picked him. He’s attractive, I guess.”
“You guess?” Ken’s voice was teasing again.
“I don’t like them little and weedy,” Lynn said pointedly. “I want a guy with some substance to him.”
“Aha,” Ken said. “I better not quit lifting, then.”
Lynn didn’t dignify that one with an answer. “Anyway, I’ve never met the rest of his pack at all. There’s a lot of wolves in the forests up here, and I’ve never gotten to know most of them very well. They stick together.”
Ken nodded. “Wolves are like that.” He leaned back in his seat, thinking. “Okay. Well, let’s figure that first we text or call Stella when we get there, see if she thinks it’s safe for her and her daughter to just come out on their own. Say they’re going out for food or something.”
Lynn nodded. That would be easier, for sure.
“Then, if they think that isn’t a good idea, or if someone tries to stop them, we can go in. I’ll go first.”