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“And will you? Take a life for them? Would you stand there and kill someone who pointed a gun at one of them?”
“You don’t want to put me to that test, Sadie. You may have powers, skills or whatever you call what you can do, but I have something you don’t.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m trained to kill.” Oakley spoke the quiet part with strength, looking directly into Sadie’s eyes. “And I am good at it.”
“That’s troubling, Oakley.”
“Maybe. But it’s what we do as a people. We train some to sue for peace, to learn the art of diplomacy and negotiation. We train others to take by force what peace couldn’t accomplish. And most of all, we train our people how not to hesitate pulling a trigger to save the life of an innocent.”
“And you’re okay with that?” Sadie started walking again, this time a bit faster, as if eager to be done with the walk.
“I reckon I have to be. It’s what I’m trained to do.”
“But you’re trained to do more than that, Oakley.” Sadie glanced at her, and for a split second there seemed to be lights dancing in her eyes. Oakley blinked and passed it all as an option illusion created in the shifting between light and shadow as they walked.
“You’re a teacher, Oakley. You have an affinity with wolves, probably with all canines. It’s inherited from your line of people, your father’s people.”
“How do you know anything about my people?”
“I’m a writer, remember? I research and search. Sooner or later, the information comes to me.”
Oakley chuckled. “That was a masterful evasion, and it’s okay. Maybe you’re right. I don’t know. But then, that’s where we are right now, isn’t it? I made a decision based on selfish desires. I wanted to see if this kind of training could work. I didn’t think about the wolves. Well, I did, but in a manner that was self-centered. Now I am starting to see that if I move forward with this, it will put them in more danger. They will be hunted and caged, force-bred, and if people like my old enemy have their way, they will be cloned into an army.
“And then the gray wolves, as we know them, will cease to be what nature intended. And it will be my fault.”
She paused as the truth of her own words slammed into her. “So, what do I want? I want to prevent that from happening. I want to know that when I take these wolves into the wilderness, they will find their pack, and that’s where they’ll want to be.”
“And you?”
“And I’ll step back, give them total freedom, hoping every day they live long lives.
“Then what?”
Oakley shrugged. “Then I figure out what’s next.”
“And that will make you happy?
“I guess I’ll find out when I get to that place.” The answer to that question was a bit more complicated than Oakley had words for. She had a lot to work outin her mind, a lot of soul searching to do, and a lot of preparation for the day when she released the wolves back into the wild for good.
She had to make sure everything she did was in the best interest of the wolves. And that Gunner was aware of the danger if Samir decided to move against her. She’d try her best to ensure that no one knew where to look for them. But if things went sideways and someone did come after them, intended to trap or harm, she had to be there to make sure they never succeeded, and no one ever knew where and how they vanished.
The conversation with Sadie turned Oakley’s thoughts to her next step. Go somewhere the people here didn’t know about. No one could reveal anything about her or the wolves if they didn’t know where she was. She thought of Gunner’s friend and made up her mind that as soon as she was back at the cottage, she would call the man. Gunner told her during their last conversation that all she had to do was call Matt Brickman.
Now she felt she needed to make that call, because her gut told her she was about to enter a whole new chapter, and this one might prove more challenging than she imagined.
PART THREE: CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
YOU CAN ONLY FIGHT ONE WAR AT A TIME.
“Are you sure?” Oakley felt herself shift without conscious choice into combat mode, making her hyper aware of her surroundings. It was something that happened before battle. Now she felt the same sense of pending danger taking shape in her reality.
“Unfortunately,” Charli’s voice in her ear sounded eerily like Oakley’s. Clearly, the news had also put Charli on alert. “I just got off the phone with Mason. The mysterious investor wants to meet with him and the trainer in person and see the wolves for himself. If impressed, he has unlimited resources.”
“Did he tell Mason his name?”
“No.”
