As Debany and Kowalski answered their mobile phones, the looks on their faces told him that Simon’s problem would be his too.

•••

Ready to snarl and howl about idiot puppies, Simon rushed into the office, startling Vlad, who was monitoring e-mail and marking up a map to indicate the towns that were still out there.

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.