Blessed Thaisia! Why would Sam go running off just as a storm was about to hit? And why take Skippy with him?

“Simon, what . . . ?” The phone rang. Vlad answered it. After a moment, he said, “Yes, I’ll tell him.”

Vlad hung up the phone, but Simon didn’t give him time to say anything. “Sam ran away from the Wolfgard Complex. You’ll have to deal with the humans until I find him.” Assuming he would find the pup. He’d been trying to reach Sam through the terra indigene form of communication but hadn’t received any response. That was bad. Very bad.

“Sam is fine,” Vlad said. “So is Skippy. So is Meg.”

“Meg? But Meg is . . .” Not in A Little Bite, where he had expected to find her. His fangs lengthened to Wolf size. “Where are they?”

“With the ponies and Jester in the Pony Barn. Jester thinks Meg was overwhelmed and too close to cutting, so she ran away from the other humans.”

“The pack’s nanny thinks that Sam ran off because he wanted to be with Meg during the storm.” Simon scratched behind one ear, then made an effort to shift the ear—and his teeth—back to human form. “She almost died the last time a storm hit Lakeside.”

“I remember,” Vlad said softly. “But, Simon, except for staying with Grandfather Erebus, I can’t think of a safer place for the three of them to be than in the Pony Barn with the Elementals’ steeds.”

Tense muscles began to relax, and he began thinking past finding Sam. “Did Meg pack anything?”

“No. Mist is on his way to the Market Square. Jester doesn’t have enough food for the four of them—and certainly not enough human food. We can ask the female pack if Meg kept any spare clothes at the office.”

He could sniff out any clothes that belonged to Meg. But if there weren’t any, the females would be better at guessing what to pick up from the Market Square stores. And Meg and the brainless Wolves would need something to do, especially if Sam shifted to human form. Which meant packing shirts and shorts for Sam too.

As if I don’t have enough to do, Simon thought as he bounded down the stairs. Someone was going to get a sharp nip for the worry those three had caused—even if the worry hadn’t lasted more than a few minutes.

Turning toward the stock room, he almost slammed into a human male he didn’t know. He bared his teeth and snarled a challenge before realizing there were two females with the male—one of an age to be the mate and the other a grown pup.

“You must be Mr. Wolfgard,” the man said with a smile that wobbled. “Michael told us to come through the back door of the coffee shop, but there’s a pony blocking that door, and he didn’t seem inclined to get out of the way.”

“Michael . . . ?”

“Debany. I’m Michael’s dad. This is his mom and his sister.”

Simon gave the younger female a quick but thorough look. This was the sister who wanted to work with animals—the sister who might be suitable to go to Bennett and work with Tolya.

Wishing he hadn’t been quite so quick to snarl, he ran a tongue over his teeth before he tried a smile. “Sorry I snarled.” He wasn’t, but that seemed like the right thing to say.

“You’ve got a lot on your mind,” Mr. Debany said.

“You can come this way to reach A Little Bite.” He led them to the archway that connected the two stores and almost ran into Officer Debany.

“Dad. Why did you . . . ?”

“Mist is in the way,” Simon said, figuring he could distill an entire conversation with those few words. “Where are Ruthie and Merri Lee?”

“They’re here. Any word from Meg? Karl and I were about to go out and help you look for her.”

Touched that Meg would matter to them enough that they would leave their own pack, Simon felt easier about having Debany’s family in the Courtyard. “She’s with Jester at the Pony Barn. Sam and Skippy are with her. Mist is here to bring supplies.”

Debany turned and raised his voice enough to be heard over a buzz of human voices. “Karl! Lieutenant! They found Meg. She’s okay.”

Now Merri Lee and Ruthie rushed toward him. “She’s okay? You’re sure? Does she need anything?”

“Change of clothes. Clothes for Sam. Books. Food for Meg. Boone Hawkgard will make up a package of meat for Sam and Skippy. Mist will deliver it.”

They stared at him for a moment, blinking. Maybe thinking. Then they both rushed past him, calling out greetings to Debany’s family and leaving him feeling less sure of who was in charge. At some point, he was going to have to take the time to establish dominance.

First he would see just how big a human pack he was dealing with now.

<Boone?> he called to the Hawk who ran the butcher shop. <I need some meat for Sam and Skippy. They’re at the Pony Barn. Mist is waiting at A Little Bite.>

<Give me a couple of minutes. I’ll bring it over.>

The sky darkened. Wind tossed a fistful of hail against the coffee shop’s windows.

Vlad walked into the shop leading Commander Gresh and what Simon assumed were the man’s mate and offspring. Behind them were Captain Burke and Agent O’Sullivan.

And pushing past them came Merri Lee and Ruthie. They dodged everyone else crowded into the coffee shop, had a hurried discussion with Nadine Fallacaro, who was behind the counter, then headed for the back door, where Mist waited.

“Arroo!” Even from a human throat, a Wolf howl silenced humans quite satisfactorily. “There is food here and at Meat-n-Greens. There are books in the library, and you can read anything in the store.” Simon gestured toward the archway to indicate Howling Good Reads. “Pups are staying in one of the efficiency apartments with Miss Twyla and the Sierra. They have books and movies and food up there. You humans need to pick a place where you’re going to wait out the storm and then stay there. When the storm arrives, we’ll be locking the doors because anything in the open is prey.”