“So she’s new in town?” Kim asked as Kristina told the gathered Lycans about what she’d seen. They were gathered near the helicopters, Kristina helping them load their bags back into the cargo area. “Like, how new?”

“My friend Melissa says nobody’d seen her before two months ago,” Kristina said, shaking her head. “It’s weird, because I don’t remember her at all. Even if I’d had my head plugged in the greenhouses the whole time, I would have remembered a new human like that around town. Especially if she were nosing around the Aklark.”

Kim thought, and Kristina could tell as she glanced around at the other members of the Waldwyck family that she was conferencing with them. Kristina wondered what it felt like to have that all-time chat room going on in your head, and she glanced at Magnus, who was helping Keith with the Ka-62. Keith said something quietly to Magnus, who stopped and nodded, reaching into the chopper and grabbing his duffel bag out of the back. “What’s going on?”

“The Kenai need help, and obviously, so do the Aklark,” Kim said quietly as Keith turned with Magnus and headed back into the heliport. “Keith’s going to go play Alpha Male. The Kenai can’t really say no to him right now anyway. I want you and Magnus to stay here and watch. Find out who this Pauline is, and find out what the hell is causing all of this. Obviously, I can’t order you, Kristina. You’re not Lockwood, but I’m asking you. Edward’s asking you. His friend is dead, and nobody’s answering any questions about it.”

Kristina thought for a moment, then reached into the chopper and grabbed her bag. Edward wasn’t the only one who had questions, and there were no answers coming from anyone. “Magnus can stay with me if he doesn’t have a place to stay with the Kenai. You’re right, this needs to be dealt with. Because sickness doesn’t just affect high-ranking people.”

Kristina took her bag inside, where she saw Keith talking with Rob Jorgenson, who looked both surprised and relieved. “You mean it, Lord Lockwood?”

“Yes. Peter was someone I liked, and the Kenai helped me when I had family issues. So I’d like to leave Magnus behind in order to directly coordinate the assistance with you and the Kenai. He’s going to be reporting directly to me. The only way I could make things closer would be to leave a member of my family behind. Unfortunately . . .”

“You’ve got a lot on your plate as is,” Robert said, still flabbergasted. “Lord Lockwood, you know I cannot speak for all the Kenai—that’s not my position—but I’m sure that we can appreciate your offer of friendship. I’ll speak with the other elders of the clan and have a place for Magnus tonight.”

“No need,” Kristina said. “Lord Lockwood, I have a two-bedroom house in the zone between Kenai and Aklark housing. Why not have Magnus stay with me?”

Keith nodded, as if he’d just heard the idea, and turned to Robert. “I think that’s a fine idea, as it’ll allow Magnus to stay out of your hair and be closer to the heliport. What do you say, Robert?”

Jorgenson nodded eagerly. “That is more than welcome, Kristina Darksky. By that, it means Magnus is fully welcome in Kenai lands, as Peter’s invitation is still valid. I’ll notify the clan elders, and we can talk about what the Kenai can use. And I offer you my personal thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Robert,” Kristina said. “Magnus, if that’s okay?”

Magnus nodded, his eyes gleaming as he looked over at Kristina. “Of course. Thank you for the invitation. Um, do you have a truck?”

“At my place,” Kristina admitted. “Come on, it’s not that far a walk. We can go there after we help the Waldwycks take off.”

Twenty minutes later, the two helicopters took off, Kristina watching as they circled and flew south. She looked over at Magnus, who looked at her with a gleam in his eye. “So, your house?”

Kristina nodded, smiling a little. “I wasn’t trying to pressure you. We’ll have to share a bathroom.”

Magnus chuckled and shook his head. “Not a problem. How’s the rest of the house?”

“A normal house. You’ll probably find it pretty low-class,” Kristina admitted as they went inside and grabbed their bags, slinging them over their shoulders. They left the heliport, crunching their way through the mixed snow and mud to the main road to town. “Being an outcast, I didn’t exactly get the well-paying jobs among the Aklark, and the regular companies around town are sort of . . . well, not too well-paying either.”

Magnus nodded, looking down the road. The main town wasn’t much, a gas station, a few normal looking office buildings, and that was about it. All in all, Magnus had seen smaller small towns, but not too many. “Just how big is this place, anyway?”

“A little over two thousand, if you include the loggers who are in a camp up on the north side of town,” Kristina said. “That’s the whole reason the heliport exits. It was built by the Kenai and Aklark after people started getting hurt logging. About sixty percent of town is human, fifteen percent your people, and the rest mine. Your people control most of the big money, the professional stuff, while my people do what you’ve seen, lots of working class stuff. The humans are the middle class around here.”

They kept walking, Kristina waving amiably to people she knew, and she was surprised when Magnus reached over, taking her hand. “Magnus?”

“People are giving me the hairy eyeball,” he explained simply. “If I make it clear that I’m with you, it’ll be easier.”

Kristina felt a moment of disappointment, then shrugged. It was what it was, even if part of her wished that he was holding her hand for another reason. “Okay, that makes sense. So when do I get my date?”

Magnus blinked, then laughed. “Well, first, let’s find out what your house is like. You’ve been gone a few weeks, remember?”

They kept walking, and when they reached Kristina’s house, the sun was low in the sky. Kristina opened the door, glad when she wasn’t hit with the smell of rotting food. She’d been worried that Ben had lied to her when it came to taking care of her house. “It’s cold, but it’s home. I’ll get the furnace going.”

Magnus looked around, thinking that while Kristina’s house was small, it wasn’t as bad as she’d made it sound. In fact, in terms of square footage, it was bigger than his apartment in the Lockwood Tower, although the furniture was certainly dated but sturdy. He heard a whoompf sound and turned to see Kristina fiddling with a set of circuit breakers. “Good, he just threw the main breaker, although I hope they cleaned out my fridge.”

The fridge and freezer were in fact cleaned out, and Kristina thought about what they needed to restock. While she made her list, Magnus looked at the kitchen thinking it spoke more to her single status. Small table, two chairs, but only one place setting, like she’d done a lot of eating alone. He looked up as Kristina closed her fridge and cabinets, biting her lip. “Well, guess we need to make a run to the store.”

“How about we split up for that?” Magnus asked. “I wanted to make a quick run out to Container Village to get another look, try to figure out what’s going on with this girl Pauline. But I saw the sign on the store window when we walked through town, and there isn’t time for both. They close in . . . looks like a half hour.”

“Okay, I guess,” Kristina said, looking disappointed. “Just . . . well, I was kinda hoping we’d have dinner together.”

“It’s a dinner date,” Magnus said with a chuckle before stepping close to her. “Listen, I know it’s weird, and I know we sort of played around once with the whole bathroom thing. And I’m going to admit, I’ve been attracted to you. Kimberly and Melanie have been sort of telling me to admit it. So I’m looking forward to this.”

Magnus looked Kristina in the eyes for a moment before leaning over and giving her a kiss on the cheek. She blinked in surprise, her eyes widening. “What was that for? We’re not in public.”

He grinned and kissed her cheek again. “We’re not. Now, I’ll be back in a bit.”

He left the house and tapped partially into his Lycan abilities as he started running along the road toward Container Village. He would have preferred to go cross-country, but there was too much snow on the grounds, and it wasn’t until he was a half mile away that he started cutting between the trees. While his full wolf form would have been easier, he wanted to be able to use his hands if he had to.

As he approached Container Village, he reminded himself about the layout. Ben Stormstout had chosen a house for himself in the village, of course somehow arranging for himself to have the biggest and best house, and it was easy to find as he approached. It was one of the buildings that looked the most like it had never been a shipping container.

Magnus circled the house, which stood slightly off on its own from the rest of the village in a nice-sized plot of land of its own, a good quarter-acre of cleared yard before the trees started cropping up again.

“So what’s your deal, Ben?” Magnus asked as he squatted in the tree line, watching the house. The lights were off, but that didn’t mean the house was empty. He was certain of it—someone was inside. “Why do you have a regular human girl in your house a week after your wife died?”

He watched, trying to listen, when suddenly, the back door to the house opened and Pauline Dejardins stepped out. The only light visible was starlight and moonlight, but the glow of the moon off her hair and her pale skin made Pauline easy to spot as she crossed the snow. Somehow, Magnus noted, she didn’t seem to sink into the snow at all. Instead of floundering like even he would in human form, she walked normally, not toward the road but directly toward the woods, back in the direction of town.

Magnus was up in an instant, circling the yard toward the spot where Pauline walked into the woods, but when he got there, he couldn’t find anything. Not a single footprint disturbed the snow, and when he sniffed the air, there was nothing at all. He crisscrossed the area three times, trying to find something, anything. Finally, just as he was about to give up and resume watching Ben’s house, he saw a silvery thread caught on a tree branch, and he looked closer. It was a long blonde hair, caught on a low-hanging pine needle and just barely catching a glint of moonlight. Magnus plucked the hair from the tree and held it, perplexed. He looked carefully, but the only footprints he could see were the heavy combat boot prints of his own feet.

“What the fuck is going on?” he asked, looking around again. He put the hair in his pocket and headed back toward the road, knowing that he had to talk with both Kristina and with the Waldwycks.