by Lou Grimes
Louvette followed Ian to Arsen’s room and paused at the doorway. She let out a soft laugh before entering.
His room had simple log furniture. The walls had more wild game trophies from his human hunts. There was a small collection of books. He had a huge stereo tower and there were four other, smaller towers placed strategically throughout the room, completing the surround sound system. No TV, though.
Arsen returned from his first trip, carrying some hardware.
“Why no TV?” she asked.
“I don’t have time for it, to be honest. If I did, I’d rather be doing something else, like listening to music, hunting, or changing into my wolf to run,” Arsen revealed. He left to grab the remainder of the computer equipment.
“Ian, can I help you with anything?” Louvette asked unsurely.
“Nah, I got this,” Ian responded comfortably. He was plugging in everything, deftly suggesting to Louvette he had set up many times before.
“Thank you. I don’t know if Arsen told you, but I appreciate this. If there is any way I can ever repay you, tell me,” Louvette said.
“No, I can’t tell you how much I enjoy this stuff. This is a little more hardcore than I usually go, so I’m so stoked to have the chance. I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity. If you need anything hacked, call me. Arsen doesn’t even have to be told,” Ian told Louvette, sending her a scheming wink.
He quit setting up the equipment and dug into his pocket. He handed her a card.
Louvette snickered at the little green internet man on his card.
“Don’t let Arsen see the card. He’s been telling me to quit, but I can’t. Hacking is an addiction,” Ian said, proudly beaming at his business card in her hand. She shoved the card into her own pocket.
“Your secret’s safe with me,” Louvette said. She understood all too well about choosing to keep certain things personal.
“I think you’re terrific for him, for what it’s worth. He wouldn’t have asked me in a million years to do something like this. He thinks the FBI will catch me one of these days and I’ll end up on their list,” Ian pointed out.
“Thanks, I appreciate that,” Louvette said, almost at a loss for words.
Arsen came back, carrying the final load. Ian turned on the computer.
“What is all this, anyways?” Arsen asked, confused.
“Majority of the equipment is cooling towers,” Ian clarified.
“Good to know. So, how is this going to work exactly?” Louvette asked.
“Well, I’m going to write a code which will hopefully fall in line with their own code and slip in unnoticed,” Ian said.
“How will we tell if they spot you?” Louvette wondered. Ian stared at her for a second and then his eyes fell away.
“We won’t until the FBI or someone else shows up on my doorstep,” Ian explained. The room went silent at the weight of those words.
“Well, if doing this is that much of a risk, then don’t do it. We can find out a different way,” Louvette said, not wishing to land anyone in trouble on her account. Neither of the boys spoke for a second, then both howled. Louvette hesitated, bewildered at their mirth.
“He’s teasing you. He’s too skilled for a bank to detect him. I wouldn’t have asked him if he wasn’t,” Arsen told her, placing a comforting arm around her.
“Y’all are terrible. I’m not going to worry about y’all anymore. You clearly don’t deserve it,” Louvette announced, playing her scorn up. The guys flinched. She turned her back to them and sighed dramatically.
“I’m sorry. We were only teasing,” Ian said.
“Yeah, how can we make it up to you?” Arsen asked.
“There is one thing that will make that kind of betrayal better,” Louvette judged, her thoughts working as fast as she could to think of an appropriate form of punishment. “Do we have to stay here for your code stuff to work?”
“No, this is a loop that keeps looping,” Ian explained.
“Let’s go for a run, then. I haven’t been since the pack meet,” Louvette decided. The two of them looked at each other, contemplating.
“Deal,” Arsen said. The room went quiet for a second. The kind of quiet in an old western movie right before a gunfight, conveniently located in the middle of town for all the townspeople to gawk at. Louvette’s eyes narrowed. Pushing them out of the way, she barreled down the hall and out the front door, giggling. Loud footsteps thundered behind her. She checked over her shoulder for a second as the two of them were fighting to exit the house first.
Her body split into a thousand pieces and newly-formed wolf paws hit the earth. The reshaped muscles worked at maximum efficiency to reach the forest before the boys.
Louvette was conscious of her dark chestnut hair turning white. Her limbs, snout, and ears grew long.
All the human stress that had weighed her down dissipated. She had needed this more than she could have imagined. Everything faded away. Arsen’s and Ian’s presence were no longer known to her.
The one thing she did comprehend was that running, hunting, and being a wolf were the best things she had ever experienced. She could tell it would be an effortless thing to get lost in. It would be such a freeing concept to keep going into the forest, farther and farther. The need to find where the forest ended was so prominent that Louvette kept going. The sole thing on her mind was running. Not any thought of her family, friends, or Arsen missing her if she kept running. She could do it forever.
A giant furry mountain knocked her off her feet, forcefully making her bones ache. Louvette unsteadily stood up and took in the offender, recognizing it had been Arsen. Though the impact was rough, he had held back some.
Assuming that a wolf could look worried, Arsen’s wolf achieved that and more. Being a grey wolf gave him the appearance of appearing far older than he was with his worry. In comparison to her smaller, stockier wolf, Arsen was twice her size. She took in her surroundings for the first time since she first started running. A large river flowed past her, but Louvette had no idea where she was. Wherever she was, it was far from Arsen’s home.
Arsen’s wolf flicked his nose away from the river. That was all the instruction she needed. Louvette shook her fur and took off back in the direction he had pointed.
The two of them ran for a while to their starting point where Louvette had run miles away from. She thought it was a bit odd she had made it so far, so fast.
A smaller light brown wolf fell in beside them about halfway through their run back. The wolf had to be Ian. He was in the middle between Louvette and Arsen’s weight. Amusement filled Louvette because his coat color matched his freckles.
Louvette tried to be playful. She bit at their legs only for Arsen to growl at her. She flinched. Something was wrong, but she had no idea what.
Immediately after they got back to Arsen’s, Ian shifted. “I’m going to check the hardware,” he mumbled before he went in. He walked inside immediately. She changed as well, not aiming to receive a reprimand again.
Louvette started following Ian, but Arsen grabbed her upper arm and pulled her back.
“What’s your problem?” Louvette demanded. She had finally lost it. He had shut down her fun of running, playing, and now her walking. It was enough.
“You don’t even get what you almost did?” Arsen said, laughing a sharp barking laugh. The anger in his tone was evident.
“No, what did I do? Enjoy myself for once? What’s wrong with that?” Louvette snapped.
“The problem is you almost turned into a rogue,” Arsen shouted back.
“What?” she stammered.
“You nearly let your wolf have complete control,” Arsen said.
“I needed to find where the forest ended,” she whispered.
“You can’t do that. It is an animal that was built to run. If you give it control like that, it will run away and, if you’re not careful, you will let it. Running is a part of you because it’s a part of the wolf,” Arsen explained. She opened
her mouth, but nothing came out.
“What’s worse is that I watched it happen. I almost just watched you turn into one,” Arsen explained.
Louvette was silent. This wasn’t exactly how she had pictured a rogue becoming a rogue. She figured it would be crazier; that some act of strong violence would be involved.
“Don’t go running alone for a while,” he said.
“I’m fine. I didn’t have any idea what I was doing,” Louvette said, not wishing to lose her running privileges. She was not so sure she’d be running alone, though.
“Louvette, please listen to me, don’t go alone for my peace of mind. We can run together any time I can. If I can’t, I’ll find someone who can,” he promised.
“I promise,” she told Arsen, exhausted by the new rule.
“I’m only saying it because I can’t let anything happen to you again, Winter, especially while I’m watching,” he responded.
“I know,” she said gently. He threw his arm around her, and they went back into his house together.
They entered the room, and Ian shot them a glance.
“Well now that that’s done, would you like to hear the good news or the bad news first?” Ian asked them.
“What’s the bad news?” Louvette probed, choosing to get it out of the way first.
“The bad news is I am done hacking into the bank,” Ian proclaimed gloomily. Louvette shook her head and then rolled her eyes. Arsen hit him on the arm before Louvette lost her cookies and did it herself.
“Please be serious. This is sensitive information, Valleys,” Arsen said.
“Ouch,” Ian whispered, rubbing his bruised arm in circles to work out the pain.
“What’s the good news, then?” she asked, not giving him any time to lick his wounds.
“The good news is I now have Thomas Hollows’s bank statements since your grandfather died,” Ian said, pulling out a warm packet of paper fresh off the printer. He handed it to Louvette.
She scanned the documents. Her eyes paused on a date. She scoffed softly.
“He was in Eureka when the pack meet was called. He didn’t have an emergency with some client. He was there,” Louvette announced, handing Arsen the packet. He gazed at it for a minute or two.
“We need to show my father,” Arsen said.
“No, he won’t believe us without any proof. This isn’t proof. We need that phone,” Louvette pointed out.
“How about I tell him he lied to him and see how he reacts?” Arsen asked.
“No, because the next question will be, how did you come by his bank statements? We aren’t throwing Ian under the bus,” Louvette responded. Ian sent a grateful look her way.
“You’re right. I didn’t think about that,” Arsen said.
“We need to find that phone before he does because if there’s anything on the phone that will incriminate him, he’ll destroy it,” Louvette pointed out.
“So, he thinks the phone is in Eureka where your grandfather was before he was killed.” Arsen laid everything out.
“I guess we are going there to check it out. Though he’s been back several times. How are we going to find what he can’t?” Louvette asked.
“Ian, can you find the location somehow?” Arsen inquired.
“He died a couple months back. I can’t track a turned-off phone,” Ian informed them. Louvette couldn’t help but smile at the comment. A tiny seed of hope grew in her soul. She might find out what happened to her father.
“It is not turned off. At least, I don’t think so. I called it the day I came to Whitefish. I needed the chance to hear his voice for the first and perhaps last time. Let me call it again,” Louvette explained. She got on her phone and searched for the business page where she had found the number the first time.
“I don’t like you hacking into something so public as a cell phone company, Ian,” Arsen said. Louvette glanced up in time to watch Ian’s face fall. He had desired to.
“Is there maybe another way to find it?” Louvette asked.
“Give me a second to think,” Ian said, starting to pace the room.
Louvette found the number easily enough. She copied it to her dialer, then pressed the call button.
“Hey, you’ve reached Wilder Blackwood. Please leave a message and a call back number.” Relief washed over her when she heard Wilder’s gruff voice again.
“It’s still on. Could we track the phone’s scent or my grandfather’s scent?” Louvette asked, believing scent to be the way to go.
“No, too many months have gone by and too many rains since your grandfather was murdered,” Arsen said.
“I have an idea. We could attempt pinpointing it using four ground satellites,” Ian suggested.
“So, we are going to triangulate the entire city of Eureka?” Arsen asked, pointing out the flaws.
“Not the entire city, just the general area of the forest he was in when he was killed,” Ian said.
“What are the chances he even had his phone on him?” Louvette wondered.
“I don’t know about you guys, but if I was looking for my missing son on foreign ground, I’d keep my phone rather close so I’d have the ability to tell someone,” Ian answered.
“It may be a long shot. Regardless, this is still the only one we have,” Louvette agreed with Ian. The two of them glanced at Arsen, waiting for a response.
Still Arsen appeared hesitant. Louvette added, “This will also keep Ian out of trouble.”
“When should we go? We have Thanksgiving at my parents this weekend,” Arsen reminded Louvette.
“I can’t either this weekend,” Ian said.
“Does the first week of Christmas break work for everyone? Because it will work for me,” Arsen asked.
“Yeah. We just have to hope he doesn’t go get it before we can,” Louvette said. In truth, Thanksgiving would have worked for her, but she had no way to find the phone on her own other than searching. Hunting, a method which appeared to be failing Mr. Hollows.
“Yep, works for me, dudes,” Ian settled. His wristwatch beeped. “Time for me to go,” he said, turning his watch off.
“I’ll help you pack up this time too if you’ll unplug the equipment. I don’t intend to break your gear,” Louvette volunteered.
“Sweet, this will be done in no time,” Ian proclaimed. The three of them packed up in record time.
“I’m going to have to hire you two as my roadies from now on,” he said, smirking.
“There are worse job positions. Bye, Ian. Again, thank you so much,” Louvette teased.
“Any time. See you two at school,” Ian said.
“Thanks, man. Please stay out of trouble until then,” Arsen recommended.
They gazed after Ian as he pulled out in his silver hatchback, its back window covered in stickers.
Louvette sneaked her hand into Arsen’s, which was more of a paw than anything. She squeezed tightly.
“Thank you. I get you didn’t want to encourage the hacking, so I understand the weight of what you’re doing,” Louvette said.
“All of this is for you, Winter. I’d do it again, too,” Arsen responded, squeezing her hand back. A pit of sadness built in her stomach. She didn’t think he would feel the same when he found out she had kept her Gift from him purposely. Eventually, she’d have to tell him, and when she did, she wasn’t going to lie about the fact she had. Louvette would come clean about everything.
Right now, she needed to savor leaning into him. He pulled her into a consuming kiss. Louvette forgot how to breathe.
A blaring ring broke their kiss. Arsen groaned.
“That can only be my father. I know it is,” Arsen said, digging around his pocket. He stepped away from her before giving her another squeeze. He answered his phone.
“Hey, Dad, what’s up?” Arsen asked. Louvette was too far to hear the conversation, but she realized he needed to leave.
“Can’t it wait?” Arsen asked. He sighed. “No, I’m coming right now.” He hung up.<
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“Duty calls,” Louvette said sadly.
“We forgot to cancel a meeting with an ally, so we are going to meet them in Bozeman,” he explained.
“Have you ever met anyone in Bozeman?” Louvette asked.
“No,” Arsen answered.
“Don’t you think that will be an indicator of something? I don’t mind telling everyone about my wolf. I don’t mean to be such a problem for y’all,” Louvette said.
“No. You being a Lupine will come out whenever it’s meant to. Now is not the time, especially with us sneaking off to California to find your grandfather’s phone. Maybe after that,” Arsen said.
“I didn’t think about that.” Louvette realized the added danger in telling the world she was a Lupine could potentially spawn from going to someone else’s territory in Eureka, California to search for her grandfather’s phone, not to mention they needed to beat Hollows. She didn’t desire to be cut off from her answers, and she didn’t wish for her mother to be dating the man who had possibly killed her father.
“I’ll text you later if I have time. If not, I’ll see you at school, Winter. Please be safe and don’t run without me,” Arsen said, enveloping her in a tight hug.
“Bye, Arsen,” Louvette said, pulling away to bestow one fleeting peck.
Aware of Arsen’s eyes following her, Louvette got into her car and headed home. The drive was surreal, but it wasn’t the breathtaking location she was living in. It was getting closer to what happened to Declan Blackwood. It was the one thing standing between her and her peace of mind.
Her mother was still working late when she got back, though the day had grown dark during her drive. She had the house to herself once again. Louvette ascended the stairs to her room for some privacy if her mother did return home earlier than usual like she sometimes did when work was slow, or when the weather was rough. Worn out from a school day, run, and watching some hacking, Louvette didn’t feel like answering any of her mom’s questions tonight, even if her heart was in the right place and she was only checking in on her daughter’s life.
Louvette took this opportunity to relieve some stress. A stress relief which didn’t come in the form of a wolf. Tonight, she’d sketch. The application deadline to the Art Institute of Chicago was hastily coming up. The promise to at least seek to be accepted in the same college as Cara had her starting early on her exhibition piece.
