serious glare for good measure.
“No. Of course, you don’t,” Brandi said, unable to hide her wide grin.
“Before I piss on floor like dog, what is your burning question, Agent Nano Wolf?”
Brandi sipped her coffee and nodded at the bed with her chin. “Does the rest of him look as good as the half that’s showing?”
Katarina narrowed her eyes. “That is not proper question for female who says she is like daughter to him.”
Brandi lifted a shoulder. “Just my natural curiosity. Reed is supposed to be centuries old.” She waved a hand at the bed. “He looks as good as Gareth.”
Katarina narrowed her eyes. “If you must know everything… yes, Temptation is magnificent fuck. Better than young wolf because he knows how to please female in many creative ways. His six hundred years of life was well spent.”
“Ewww… don’t tell me the details,” Brandi ordered, making a face as she giggled. “Are you always this cranky in the mornings?”
Rolling her eyes, Katarina stomped into the bathroom.
Once she was clean and dressed, she and Brandi went outside and sat on the porch steps. Katarina ate two breakfast sandwiches from the bag between them before she could talk. “Sorry. I refused to eat drugged food while in cage. Bears did not serve meat in village. Fish here was good but gone from stomach soon. This is ambrosia.”
Brandi nodded. She was on her second cup of coffee, which she secretly called “nectar of the gods” most days. She was trying to leave some for Gareth, who had taken the small patrol they brought with them and gone scouting for any signs Katarina’s kidnappers had pursued her. So far there was none.
“Eat your fill. I ordered twenty of them. We’ll pick up more food on the way back to the plane. I can’t handle eating raw meat yet, not even in wolf form. So I stock up on things I can eat every chance I get.”
“You enjoy life on run?” Katarina asked.
“Not as much as I once did. Now when I’m gone, I miss the kids. I call them several times a day. It’s like something happens with them every second. Stewart has basically grown up in two weeks, which is a ton of pressure on him and us. Kent and Aggie are the same as when we left them. With a nearly grown son and two resentful eight-year-olds who haven’t yet changed, things will get even more interesting when we get home.”
Stewart had begged her to let him go back to Alaska, but not to go home to see Kent and Aggie. He wanted to be with the bears and Gareth has convinced her to let him have his way. With his success in scaring off the last set of attackers, Stewart believed he could help defend Reed’s pack. His absolute surety about his abilities was scary as hell, but Brandi wasn’t stupid. Her son was anxious about Terra, who was still in a coma state from the bear tranquilizer. Her son had already called his brilliant sister and asked Aggie to see what could counteract the drug safely in a human.
Brandi forced her mind away from her family and back to what was happening where she was. “Ready to talk?” she asked the well-fed and much happier she-wolf next to her.
“Da. I am recovered. Ask your agent questions.”
“How did you escape from the kidnappers?”
Katarina shrugged. “Lucky break. Ghost of Nicolai still looks out for me.”
Brandi laughed. “You’re a superb storyteller. I’ve heard you telling stories before. How about a few details? I know for damn sure you’re not shy about offering them.”
Katarina stared at the lake. It helped her think. “Two kidnappers intended to steal me from their comrades and sell me themselves. My lucky break was that they were both idiots. Getting away from them was not big challenge, but they inject me with small amount of very strong tranquilizer. I ran and then fell down unconscious. For rest of story, you must ask Reed. I wake up here with him. I thought seeing him was dream.”
Brandi nodded. “See anybody you knew while they had you in a cage?”
Something in Brandi’s tone bothered her. Katarina’s head whipped up to stare. “You know who was there, don’t you?”
“Maybe. I still need my inside information confirmed,” Brandi said as she took another sip.
Katarina turned to stare at the lake again. “Bastard father was there and he was not alone.”
Brandi turned to look fully at Katarina. “Reed’s grandson, Joshua, was there.”
Nodding, Katarina hung her head.