She couldn’t remember the last time she ran free like this. Had fun like this. They could run back home in the parks at night, but they had to drive and park their cars and hope they weren’t seen. To be able to just leave through the back door and run, or swim, without a care in the world? It was too good to be true. She couldn’t wait to go swimming in her human form too.
As soon as they were back in the house, they shifted in their respective rooms and then dressed. David threw on slacks and a dress shirt rather than jeans and a T-shirt, so she slipped into a summer dress and found that Sheri had done the same, both of them thinking so much alike it was like they were twins.
“I was thinking that after I take you over to check out the office, I might see if they need me for anything, and if you would like, you could come home and finish unpacking your things or you can just relax, look around, get comfortable,” David said. “Sheri can get settled too.”
“Okay, sure,” Elizabeth said. “That would be lovely.” She wanted to help at the office, but she figured she might as well get organized here and keep Sheri company.
It was great having her best friend staying with them, but she wondered what they would do long-term. They’d just gotten there, though, so she wouldn’t worry about it right now.
“And anytime you want me to take you ladies shopping, just let me know. Both for the garden plants and supplies, but also for clothes or anything else you might need.”
“That would be great,” Elizabeth said, and Sheri agreed. “Oh,” Elizabeth added, “I’ll need to open a bank account here. I’ll be closing out my checking and savings accounts in Yellowknife.”
“Me too,” Sheri said. “I’ve been anticipating this for a long time. I’ve pinched every penny I could, getting ready for when we were on the run.” She laughed. “Guess I didn’t need to after all. Here I thought we’d need to rent cars, stay in hotels, be the on lam for a while, you know? I never planned to go high class in David’s own private plane.”
Elizabeth laughed with her, though it was tinged with a sense of deep gratitude. So many things could have gone sideways, but they didn’t. Thanks to David and the pack.
David chuckled. “Only the best for you both.”
Shopping, swimming, hiking. What a life. And Elizabeth was perfectly willing to take care of things around the cabin while David was working, if he really didn’t need a lot of help at the office. She didn’t want to force herself on him there. Maybe if they only needed one person to help out, Sheri could, because no matter what, Elizabeth didn’t want her to feel like the odd man out.
“You ready to go?” David asked, getting enthusiastic nods in reply. It turned out to be only a short walk through a wooded area to reach the building. Elizabeth remembered the scent of it from their run: a specific mix of different pack members, all blended together, that was both comforting and new.
A hand-carved wooden sign with the logo of Arctic wolves and the name WHITE WOLF INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES hung over the front door.
Elizabeth pointed at it. “Do you ever have shifters contact you to do investigations for them because they think you’re shifters like them?”
“A couple of times. But we don’t have that many wolves in the area. No wolf packs but ours. Still, we’ve had a couple of cases like that. It’s interesting because they have to come in and actually see us to learn by scent if we’re wolves or not. Once, we had a red wolf shifter family drop by who were moving from North Carolina, visiting this area, and they wanted to know if we knew where any red wolf packs were located. They were thrilled we knew about the pack out of Portland, Oregon.”
“Leidolf’s pack,” Elizabeth said. “I remember when he aided you against the werewolf hunters and my pack.”
“Yeah. Once they confirmed we were who they thought we were, we met the whole family. We ended up having a feast for them before they left the area.”
“Oh, how nice,” Sheri said. “I doubt Kintail would have done that for a wolf family passing through. In fact, I know he wouldn’t have done that.”
“I agree,” Elizabeth said.
“It never hurts to make friends with other wolves. You never know when it can come back to you in a good way,” David said. “But we get cases from nonwolves all the time too.
“There was a man who asked us to help him locate his wolf dog that kept digging out or jumping his fence. He figured since we ‘loved’ wolves, as evidenced by the name of our company, we would be sympathetic to his cause. Or that we even had some wolf dogs we were raising of our own.”
“And you found the dog?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yeah, easily. We took one of our ‘wolf dogs’ and tracked him down in the country. It’s easier as a wolf to track a missing dog.”
Inside he showed them around a spacious reception area surrounded by individual offices for each of the PIs. The rooms had windows looking into the reception area, but with blinds they could close for privacy. There was also a bathroom and a kitchen, a couple of supply closets, and an empty room that looked like it could be office space if someone else joined them.
It really was a nice setup.
David took some stairs leading down, talking over his shoulder. “And here’s the basement. It’s full size and furnished for guests who come to visit, families, and for us when we want a big indoor room for parties, especially in the winter. Most of the time in the summer, we just all meet outdoors. But it has a full bathroom, and we’ve even been known to come down here if we turn into our wolf halves when we least expect it.”
The lights switched on, showcasing a lodge-like recreation room. The walls were white paneling, the sofas all in light blues, making the huge expanse airy and light, even though the basement had no windows. But a couple of framed paintings of views of the lake made it appear as though they were looking out at a shimmering expanse of water.
“Oh, wow,” Elizabeth said. “This is beautiful.”
A table for eight and a kitchen was down here, too, as well as a big-screen TV on one wall. They checked out the bathroom, which was standard-sized with a shower and tub combo, a single pedestal sink, and a toilet.
“This is a really lovely space for guests and family,” Sheri said.
“We have a separate entrance through there, and a wolf door too. We also have one upstairs on the side door I forgot to show you, just in case one of us needs to come and go as a wolf,” David said.
Elizabeth was thinking that if Sheri got tired of staying with her and David, she could come here, maybe, unless they wanted to keep it available for other emergencies.
On the way back up the stairs, David explained that Gavin and Owen were out on a couple of jobs but were expected back soon. Cameron was on the phone in his office, and David checked his messages. “It looks like the guys are handling everything, but with only one person in the office, I’ll stay here for a bit.”