“Yes. It’s clear water, not that deep. Look at what lives there. Then you can draw a picture of it when you get back.”

She gave him the same brilliant smile that she’d given him when she’d told him her name was Hope.

She put on socks and sneakers before bounding out of the room ahead of him. Grace, in Wolf form, held a straw hat between her teeth and blocked the outside door until Hope took the hat and obediently tied the ribbons under her chin.

They watched the girl leap off the porch and run to catch up with the pups, who raced back to meet her.

Jackson showed the drawing to Grace. “I need to go down to the communications cabin and call Simon.”

<It’s Earthday. He won’t be at the bookstore.>

“I have the number for his mobile phone. Even if he doesn’t answer, he’ll call back as soon as he gets the message.” He ran his human hand over her white head, enjoying the feel of her fur against the naked skin. “As soon as I get back, we’ll go for a run, just the two of us.”

Laughter filled her amber eyes. <You’ll have to find me first.> She ran out of the cabin.

He wanted to forget about drawings and visions and pesky humans. He wanted to run with his mate and have fun. But he would go down and make the phone call because he wondered what Meg Corbyn might have told Simon about the images in Hope’s drawing.

•••

Simon trotted to the back door of Howling Good Reads and shifted a paw just enough to turn the knob. He’d had an enjoyable morning, even if it was spent with humans, and the Wolves who had accompanied Kowalski, Debany, and the gaggle of girls had learned the Squeaky Dance game, which was great fun even if it didn’t last very long.

The Wolves from the Addirondak Mountains were arriving tomorrow, and Vlad had been a bit sharp about not getting help restocking the shelves. John Wolfgard had made the mistake of pointing out that Vlad was the one who had decimated their stock before this visit, which was why Simon was spending a couple of hours at the store helping Vlad instead of John coming in to work. Verbally nipping at Erebus Sanguinati’s most trusted weapon here in Lakeside was beyond foolish.

And even though no one said anything, Simon figured Vlad was concerned about Tolya and Nyx being so far from any Sanguinati stronghold.

Simon shifted to human form and reached for the pair of jeans he’d left on the chair next to the door. He growled at the empty chair, then did a quick search. Damn females! There was a reason he left clothes on that chair! They had to stop taking things and “putting them away.”