Thompson nodded. "If it doesn't work, we'll switch them back."

As soon as the men took Leidolf in a cage into the hall, he overheard their plans to move him in with Ca.s.sie. Even though he didn't want to be on exhibit for the zoo staff, he had to show them Ca.s.sie was his mate, not the mother with her pups.

When they rolled Leidolf's cage into the room, Big Red's ears perked up. Leidolf exited the cage and hurried for Ca.s.sie. But Big Red made a move toward her, and Leidolf growled low and got in between them.

Big Red bared his teeth, but Leidolf advanced so suddenly, Thompson said, "Holy s.h.i.t, get one of the males out of here, now!"

Brandishing tranquilizer guns, the men stalked into the room. Leidolf backed off and corralled Ca.s.sie against the wall. h.e.l.l, he didn't want the men to shoot him and make the mistake of keeping Big Red with her.

She quickly licked Leidolf's face in a show of affection. And again.

"Him. Take Big Red out. These two are together." Thompson smiled. "Hot d.a.m.n, looks like we'll have more wolf pups soon--if not this year, next for sure."

Joe slapped him on the back. "I swear the way they gaze into each other's eyes, they're speaking volumes in wolf language."

"They are." Thompson motioned to one of the men. "They've been checked out. You can move them into their exhibit."

The earlier nightmare had Ca.s.sie worried about when Thompson and Joe first tranquilized her and talked about putting her in the zoo had now come true. A lion roared in the distance, and Ca.s.sie snuggled next to Leidolf, sleeping on a bed of straw. How in the world were they going to get out of this mess?

At least they had a pen free of other wolves, and she had Leidolf to cuddle up to. In Bella Wilder's case, her hero had come to her rescue. In Ca.s.sie's? Her hero needed rescuing just as much as she did!

Ca.s.sie rose to her feet and stretched. Sleeping on a bed of straw was not her idea of fun, even in her wolf form. She'd have much preferred having a dog bed.

As she walked through the faux rock tunnel leading from their cement cave to the outdoor part of the wolves' exhibit, she noted a fingerprint-smudged window for zoo visitors to watch the poor wolves in their cave. It was almost closing time at the zoo, and soon no one would be poking their noses at the window, spying on Leidolf and her. She hoped.

At the end of the tunnel, she peered out. She looked above and all around the opening. And took a relieved breath. No cameras. Thompson must not have had the clout to have them installed in such short order.

Shade trees covered some of the sloping terrain, while other areas were exposed to the elements. Boulders and mounds were dotted all over the place.

She jumped on top of a boulder and leapt to an even higher one to have a better vantage point to see the layout of the exhibits and plan how they might make their escape.

Behind them, elk were sleeping on sloping terrain covered in gra.s.s and other plants. A barn and paddock were located at one end. A chain-link fence between them was the only thing that separated the wolves from their natural prey.

Across the moat, a raised platform, covered to protect visitors from the rain and sun, would provide a view of Elk Meadow and all its inhabitants. That platform, the key to freedom, was where she'd love to be.

She lifted her nose and smelled. Next door, more wolves lived. She stretched her neck, trying to see what she could. Two juvenile gray wolves, both lying on their gra.s.sy terrain, watched her.

She headed across the exhibit to an eight-foot wall with a fence on top to keep the visitors to the zoo out of the pen. And to keep the animals in.

From an author's account of the story, Bella had slipped into a moat and then tried to climb out. But once she was in the moat, she couldn't crawl out, no matter how hard she tried. So they must have changed the exhibit since then. Ca.s.sie looked back at the elk exhibit. Surely she and Leidolf could leap over the fence in their wolf forms. The height was... about twelve feet. Or... was it taller?

So now what? Ca.s.sie glanced back at the den. Leidolf was standing in the opening, watching her. He stretched and then loped across the exhibit to her, hopped up on the one boulder, then higher onto the one she stood on. He licked her face, and the way his fur lay flat, his ears perked up, his tail raised high, he didn't seem in the least anxious or concerned.

She wasn't either. Yet.

Leidolf nuzzled her face as if rea.s.suring her, and she nuzzled him back, letting him know that if he needed rea.s.suring, she could handle it. She swore he smiled back at her.

He lifted his snout high, and she knew he intended to call for help. He howled.

How would that aid them? His own people were at Mount Hood National Forest, way too far away.

The gray wolves stood and watched Leidolf. Then the two of them lifted their heads and howled. If she could, she would laugh. Not only did Leidolf have a magnetic personality where she and his people were concerned, but he could draw real wolves to his aid.

Inside, wherever they were keeping Big Red and the she-wolf and her pups, a new pair of howls erupted.

What the heck. Ca.s.sie might as well join in the chorus. Throwing her head back, she released her own special one. Leidolf joined in again.

Footfalls ran in their direction. Rescuers? She doubted it. More likely visitors to the zoo who wanted to see the wolves howling and find out why.

Leidolf nudged her to leave the boulder. She leaped down to the lower rock and again to the gra.s.sy slope. Leidolf joined her and licked her face, then pointed with his nose toward the cave. He had something in mind.

As soon as they made their way through the tunnel where a couple of kids raced to see them through the viewing window, Leidolf encouraged Ca.s.sie to return to their straw bed. Between the window in the tunnel and another in the "bedroom," she noted a small area where no one could view them.

In the worst way, she wanted to communicate with Leidolf, present an escape plan, and hear what his was. But, no way did she want to shift and be caught as the second naked woman found in the wolves' exhibit at the zoo, the wolf long gone, just like before.

Leidolf nestled beside her on the straw and put his head over her back, but from the way his heart continued to beat with steady, strong thumps, it didn't sound like he was going into sleep mode.

He was waiting for the zoo visitors and staff to leave, and then? She was sure he had a plan.

Chapter 23.

As soon as Alice heard Leidolf howling in the distance, she raced, heart pounding, into her sister's bedroom where Sarah was lying on the bed, reading Romancing the Wolf by Julia Wildthorn, headphones piping music into her ears. "Sarah! I was standing on the back porch watching a squirrel scurry up a tree when I heard Leidolf howling. And another wolf, too. Then more. Lots more, only I'd never heard the other wolves' howls before."

She slipped backpack straps over her shoulders, prepared for any eventuality. Clothes for Ca.s.sie from her wardrobe and clothes for Leidolf from Dad's. Just in case they needed them.

"What?" Sarah asked, her eyes round as she bolted upright and yanked off the headphones.

"Ca.s.sie. Maybe it was her howling also. I don't know about the other wolves."

"What are you talking about? Dad said Leidolf went after Ca.s.sie in the woods at Mount Hood National Forest. They wouldn't be here."

"I heard them! They were howling for help."

"From nearby? Which direction?" Sarah's mouth gaped. "The zoo," she whispered.

"Yes, the zoo. Come on, we've got to go."

Sarah jumped from her bed and tossed the book aside. "Did you try calling Dad?"

"He's still deep in the forest along with most of the other men. No phone reception. The women are tending to Felicity's babies. A couple of the men are watching Sarge and those twin brothers who keep causing so much trouble. So we're it. Evan said so."

"What?"

"He's on his way here. Since we live next to Forest Park and the zoo is here, we're the closest ones to the scene of the crime."

"This is not one of your mystery novels," Sarah warned.

"No, it's worse. We're to go to the zoo, sneak around to the wolf exhibit, and scope out the situation." Pulling on a sweater, Alice headed down the hall.

"You've got to be kidding. Dad will kill us."

Alice ignored her sister's prediction of impending doom. They didn't have any choice. "Evan's pickup isn't working, and the only vehicle he still had keys for was the Jag's."

Sarah stopped halfway down the hall. "Which means?"

"He's driving Leidolf's Jag. It was the only way."

Sarah groaned.

"He drove it already. He knows to be careful."

"Yeah, and he'll speed all the way here, have a wreck, and be charged with stealing Leidolf's car..." Sarah shook her head and hurried after Alice. "Where are you going? Dad said for us to stay here while he was away."

"When Leidolf is calling for us to come rescue him and we're it, we have to do something." Alice jerked open the kitchen door, hurried outside, and stalked through the backyard. When she reached the rock wall that separated their property on the dead-end street from Forest Park, she climbed over it and slipped through the Douglas firs.

Sarah raced after her. "Forest Park is closed at this hour." She chewed on her lip and then looked at Alice. "Why did you call Evan?"

Alice smiled.

Sarah groaned again. "I supposed you've been seeing him without any of us knowing."

"He's nice."

"He's trouble. Dad said we weren't to get near him. Besides, the zoo is closed at this hour. We'd never be able to... oh, yeah. We haven't sneaked in there since we first moved here, afraid if Dad caught us... What if the zoo staff catches us?"

"If we get caught, we get caught. We'll just be two teens having a little adventure. Nothing bad."

"Unless we get... how in the world did the zoo people catch them? Leidolf will really be mad. Maybe we can sneak them out without the pack ever knowing." Sarah rushed after Alice. "Aren't we waiting for Evan?"

"He'll park at our house and join us. He knows where to meet us."

"We're not allowed to shift without an adult being present, you know. I mean, we can't shift around a boy when we're not supervised." Sarah blushed. "You know what can happen."

"We're not shifting, Sarah. Just going as humans."

"Promise?"

"Listen, of course I know what can happen." Frowning, Alice stopped and faced her sister. "How do you think Mom got pregnant?"

Sarah's jaw dropped.

Alice began stalking through the woods again, staying away from the human trails and headed straight for the zoo.

"That's not true," Sarah said, her voice rising. "Take it back."

Alice let out her breath. "Sarah, you have to know why they kicked us out of Dad's pack. His uncle was furious that Dad and Mom went off on a hike when they were teens, got lost, stripped, but before they shifted, they got... distracted. After they found their way home, everything was fine, for a while. When Mom started showing..." Alice shrugged and started walking, slower this time.

Sarah didn't say anything for a long time. Then she asked, "That's why we weren't accepted at three other packs? They learned we were a mistake?"

Alice raised her brows. "Don't ever say that to Dad. Of course, we weren't a mistake. We just came... a little earlier than we should have. And it all worked out. Now we're in a pack that accepts us just like we are."

Sarah harrumphed. "How come I didn't know?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "You don't make it a habit to eavesdrop on others' conversations."

"No wonder Dad doesn't want us around Evan. He's afraid we'll end up like Mom." Sarah's eyes grew big. "Has Evan kissed you?"

Alice smiled.

"If Dad finds out..."

"Sarah, I already told you, we won't say anything, and neither will Leidolf. No one ever has to know."

"If we don't get caught. And what about Evan? What if he wants to tell everyone how he helped rescue our pack leader?"

"He won't." But Alice didn't sound as sure of herself as she wanted. What if Evan did tell the rest of the pack how he rescued Leidolf? He might. He'd leave Sarah and her out of his rescue version if she asked him to, she was fairly sure. "He won't tell anyone," Alice said, with a little more conviction.

"Yeah. Whenever you're unsure of a situation, you repeat yourself."

Alice ignored Sarah, hating when she was right.

They stalked through the woods toward the zoo with another mile to go before they reached the perimeter. What next? They'd have to sit tight until Evan arrived.

"How long do you think it will take until Evan gets here?" Sarah asked.

"Two hours. That's how long the drive is from Portland to Leidolf's ranch. Zoo closes at seven, and probably not much staff will be here after that."

"I wonder how Leidolf got caught," Sarah said again.

"Rescuing Ca.s.sie." Alice put her hands to her chest in a dramatic gesture. "True love. Nothing will separate them. The zoo men took her hostage. He came to rescue her, and he got zapped with tranquilizers. That's what had to have happened."

Sarah chewed on her bottom lip. "What if Leidolf got shot first, and Ca.s.sie came to his rescue instead? Julia Wildthorn writes how her heroines save pack leaders sometimes. So maybe Ca.s.sie was trying to rescue Leidolf and then she got shot."

Alice tried to envision the scenario. "She did try to aid him the first time he was tranquilized."

Sarah nodded.

Alice shook her head. "Nah. Got to be the other way around this time. This time, Leidolf was rescuing her when..."

A branch snapped several feet away, and the girls came to a dead stop. Her heart racing, Alice listened, trying to identify what had made the noise.