Page 36 of Witch’s Wolf (Bound by the Howl #2)

36

SAM

A casual chat between siblings? No such luck. A nice breakfast in the front yard, sharing pancakes, jam, and orange juice? Not even close. This morning isn’t about comfort or laughter. Instead of plates and coffee mugs, the thing dominating my table is the layout of Acacia Drive.

All of us lean in and study. None of us are familiar with this place. The silence stretches between us, thick with silent uncertainty. Raul’s eyes scan the map with unreadable focus. Ray, on the other hand, exhales in disbelief.

“Damn,” he mutters, shaking his head. “Look at the size of these places.”

He’s right. Acacia Drive isn’t just another street. It’s an empire of wealth, a stretch of pristine estates nestled deep in one of the richest suburbs of New York. Everything looks perfect. Too perfect. The houses sit on sprawling plots of land, distanced from each other just enough to give their owners privacy, definitely enough space for screams to never be heard.

“I bet this house has a huge rose garden,” Nora muses, tilting her head to one side as she points at one of the homes.

“ There’s probably an orchard on this one,” Ray says pointing at a different estate.

I grit my teeth, trying not to growl. Seriously? We’re planning for a fight, and they’re fantasizing about flower beds? It shouldn’t surprise me. We grew up in the country. Open space is our freedom.

The city with its high-rises, close built apartments, and closer built houses that are more like cages than homes. There’s no time to get lost in what-ifs or imagining what life would be like if we’d been born rich. I need to pull them back. I need them here.

Because while they’re picturing orchards and roses, what I see are the shadows lurking between those perfect, sprawling homes. And if we don’t focus, don’t prepare, those shadows will swallow us whole.

“Will you both shut up?” I snap, glaring at Ray, then Nora. Frustration boils in my head like a volcano ready to erupt. “Tonight, this place will be full of bloodsuckers whose sole purpose is to kidnap Erica. What the hell do I have to say for you to take this seriously?”

Raul, who’s been silent until now, finally speaks.

“We should be doing this at Joe’s bar,” he says in a calm, unreadable tone. “Would be good for the whole pack to see this.”

“The pack?” I ask, blinking as my stomach clenches. We just lost two, what in the hell is he thinking? “You think that’s smart? You want to bring them in on this?”

“Yeah,” Raul says, lifting his gaze from the map and meeting mine head-on. “You said it yourself. This place will be swarming with vampires. There’s no way in hell I’m doing this with just the four of us. Besides, after… everything, it will be good for them to hunt. They need this as much as we need to protect Erica.”

He may not be wrong, but that doesn’t make it any less reckless, or dangerous. I stare at the map for a minute longer, hating the idea of putting them at risk. The memory of the funeral pyre and more, the smell of it, is too fresh.

“I appreciate the offer, but look,” I tap the map, pointing at a house marked 2463 . “It’s a bottleneck. One way in, one way out. If we roll up in numbers, it won’t be a rescue, it’ll be a damn parade. A motorcade down Acacia Drive? We might as well truss ourselves up for dinner.”

Raul doesn’t flinch or visibly react. He exhales, slow and measured, but it’s clear he’s not changing his mind.

“Sam, I’ve been to Westchester. It is a rich suburb, but there are also empty lots. Here and here and here. We ditch our cars in one of them and go in on foot. That’s not the problem I’m worried about.”

“Then what is?” I ask, staring at the lots he pointed to then looking at him with narrowed eyes.

Because if Raul, our calm, level-headed strategist, has a bad feeling then I damn well want to know why.

“How far apart are these?” Raul asks, pointing at the house nearest to Jenkins’s.

He’s frowning and I can see his thoughts racing ahead. I bend down over the paper, squinting at the tiny figures.

“Twenty-four yards,” I say.

“Shit…” his fist slams onto the table, rattling the map. A sharp exhale follows, frustration filling the air between us. “The weather’s nice and warm. Neighbors will be outside. Grilling, drinking wine, and enjoying the evening.” He locks his gaze on mine, and I know exactly where he’s going. “You see the problem?”

My stomach drops and I clench my jaw, trying to see a way around it. Ray says it out loud.

“We can’t use the wolf,” Ray mutters, arms crossing over his chest. “Not outside, anyway.”

“Exactly,” Raul nods, his expression grim. “Helena’s potions can mask our scents. We can move in small groups, stay out of sight. But shifting? Running the streets in full wolf form?” His lips press into a hard line. “No. It’s too risky.”

“Is it riskier than taking those vampires on in human form?” I say, quieter than I mean to.

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Raul says, shaking his head as tension tightens his jaw. “We can’t take the fight outside. Period. Whatever happens, it has to stay contained. If even one neighbor spots a giant wolf tearing through their suburban paradise, we’re screwed. Royally.”

He doesn’t need to say it. I already know. One sighting, one viral video, and it’s over. The pack. The town. Everything. And yet… I can’t shake the feeling that keeping this fight in the shadows might be the real trap.

“There’s something else, too” I say, keeping my voice steady despite the knot forming in my gut. “We’ll have to cover our tracks. By the time we’re done in there, that house is going to be a mess. We’ll leave prints. Hair. Blood.” I glance at him, watching the realization set in. “And the bodies. This isn’t a low-rent area where things will get overlooked. The cops in that part of town are going to have questions. Lots of them. First one being, how the hell is a stiff ice-cold outside of a freezer?” I pause, letting that sink in before I deliver the inevitable. “We’re going to have to burn them.”

“Agreed. We have to keep this clean,” Raul says without hesitation.

Ray’s chair scrapes against the floor as he shoves back from the table, anger rolling off him in waves.

“What the fuck are you two talking about?” His eyes darken as they snap to Raul. “I get that you want to help Sammy out. I do, too. But this? This is goddamn crazy. You can’t just roll into a human neighborhood and torch a house. People will notice. How the hell do we get out without being seen if we blow the place up?”

Finally. He’s thinking.

“Glad you finally decided to use your head,” I say, lowering my voice just enough to demand his attention. “But before you lose your shit, know this, we’re not blowing the place to hell. We’re setting it ablaze . Big difference.”

“Well, thank God for tiny favors,” Ray snarks. “I’m so relieved, burning it is so much better.”

“Ray—” I say.

“No, don’t ‘Ray’ me,” he snaps. “This is fucking nuts. Why not go the simple route? She doesn’t show up. End of story. If they want her, they can fucking come here where we control the narrative, not them.”

Anger hits so hard and so fast I’ve raised my fist and am growling before thinking. Nora steps between us, trying to keep us both on our leashes.

“Enough,” Raul barks.

Ray and I glare, but neither of us will disobey the Alpha’s orders. He narrows his eyes, his lips curling back into a snarl.

“You son of a?—”

“Stupid insult, dumb ass, she was your mother too!” Ray cuts me off.

“Jesus, will you two stop your shit,” Nora says.

“I said enough,” Raul says. He doesn’t yell, or even raise his voice, but it cuts through the emotions, nonetheless. “Ray, we can’t keep Erica here. The witch wants her gone and we’re not ready to face her.”

“Fine send her to the city,” Ray says. “Not our fucking problem.”

“God damn yo?—”

“Stop,” Raul says. “Ray, I mean you. You think that through and tell me you mean it. And I don’t want your flash, I’m right, motherfucker, answer. Think about it. You want me to treat you like that when you fall for someone?”

Ray opens his mouth halfway through Raul’s speech, but Nora reaches over and puts her hand over his mouth, shaking her head. He glares at her, me, then finally at Raul. He does pause and then lets out a breath as the tension bleeds from his shoulders. He closes his eyes and his shoulders slump.

“Right,” he says, muffled by Nora’s hand. She pulls it away. “Sorry, Sam.”

“Fine,” I say, feeling pent up and trapped. I need space. Need to get away from him and all the angry emotions swirling in my head. “Sit tight. I’ll get the potions from Helena.”

I keep my steps slow and controlled, as if I have everything under wraps. As if my mind isn’t churning with a single, gut-twisting image. Thirty vampires packed into that house, their cold, dead eyes locked onto Erica. Her trapped, outnumbered, and helpless.

In that case, all our careful planning would mean shit . There’d be no secrecy. No containment. We won’t even fit in that house, let alone fight. A muscle jumps in my jaw. I shove the thought down, locking it away where it can’t unravel me. I can’t afford to imagine failure. I have one job. Protect Erica. I won’t do that by picturing worst-case scenarios. I’ll do it by winning.

I will keep you safe Erica. Somehow, I will protect you.