Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 47: Caine: Knock Like a Normal Person

The campground entrance is easy to miss, hidden in the darkness without any streetlights to mark it. Thankfully, many of the campers parked here have LED lighting strips along their rigs, and I slow before I miss the turn.

"Where?" I demand.

Thom closes his eyes, concentrating. "Keep going. She’ll be on our left. I’ll know when we get closer."

I drive deeper into the campground, wheels crunching on gravel. Rolling my window down seems like a mistake at first. The place reeks of humans—their food, their waste, their cheap alcohol. But beneath it all, I catch hints of her scent, growing stronger.

"That interference," Thom mumbles, seemingly to himself. "It’s stronger here. Almost like..."

"Like what?" I snap.

"Like something’s deliberately masking her." He opens his eyes, pupils dilated. "Something old."

Jack-Eye opens his own window, shoving his head outside to breathe in deep. "There’s a shifter... Blue Mountain."

I can smell him, too.

"There." Thom points to a large RV. The lot next to it isn’t empty, but only holds a blue sedan and a tent. "She’s there."

I park the car on the opposite side of the road and kill the engine, and Jack-Eye slides out of the car with languid ease. "I’ll deal with the traitor."

I grunt at them both, reaching for Grace’s pillow with fingers that itch to crush something. One brief caress over the soft fabric. One deep breath of her scent—blueberry muffins, mixed with fabric softener.

My chest loosens as the pillow’s scent cuts through the noise in my head.

"Stay here," I tell Thom without looking at him.

warlock slumps in relief. "Yes,

into the night, vaguely irritated

take now isn’t filtered through the car’s ventilation system,

glance he appears to be a large black dog rather than a monstrous wolf. Even his ethereal blue glow has dimmed to almost nothing, just the faintest shimmer visible only if you know to look for

pads beside me. She’s

I mutter through clenched

you? Your

force my features to relax, though the effort feels like trying to reshape stone. If I approach her with all the rage burning inside me, I’ll

her boyfriend. I wanted to, but I

rises, just in time for the crunch of gravel to draw

scent far

Fenris growls, the sound carrying

movements are cautious, deliberate; he’s not

his eyes land on me. His body

approaches with his head slightly bowed, then drops into

King," he murmurs, voice

is all over the area and around the camper—all over Grace’s space. The rage bubbling beneath my skin threatens to spill over. My fingers itch to tear, to

trembled when she walked

fragile to understand the violence underpinning our society. I must hide it

will be time to

back to Blue Mountain," I tell Jack-Eye, not wanting to linger. Not with Grace within reach. "We’ll deal with his punishment

"Got it, boss."

between me and Jack-Eye, weighing his options. Smart enough to know there aren’t many. "Alpha Wilder asked me to protect her," he says quietly. "To make sure she reaches

you’re not in

the sour smell of fear. "She... she decided to come with