Everyone was curious about her and probably also about the fact that the farmer was with them and hadn’t shot her.
“Tom’s new dog,” Kemp said to the sheriff. And so it was. Elizabeth became Tom’s new pet dog for the duration of the trip into town. She would be there already, if she hadn’t had to move at the humans’ slow pace.
“Get the word out to the alert roster. We’ve found Tom, his dog, Elizabeth, and CJ has a broken leg and is being brought in on a toboggan,” Sheriff Peter relayed over his phone as they got near enough to town and had reception. “Yeah, hold on.” He handed his cell to Tom.
“Yeah? Hey, Lelandi. CJ has a broken leg from an animal trap. He’s in a lot of pain. Conscious, but barely. Have Doc ready. I’ll tell you the rest when we get there. Bill Todd’s with us.”
Elizabeth knew that said it all. They had a human with them, and Tom couldn’t tell Lelandi everything that had happened, including how Elizabeth came to be with him.
“They’re calling off the search teams. We’ll be to the road in about half an hour. If you can have a car pick us up and an ambulance for CJ, that would be great. Peter will accompany him.” Tom glanced at Elizabeth as she waited for them to catch up to her. “Yeah, Elizabeth is fine. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you, too.” He gave coordinates of where they’d meet up at the road. “Okay, talk to you in a little bit.”
He ended the call and handed the phone to Peter. “Lelandi says she can’t wait to give you a hug, Elizabeth.”
She woofed.
Smiling, Bill shook his head. “She’s one smart dog. I don’t care what you said about the obedience training. Sometimes you just need to give them a little extra leash. You can tell she’s intelligent.”
She woofed at Bill and wagged her tail. He grinned. “See?” He turned to Tom. “If you ever need a home for her, I’ll take her in.”
The guys laughed.
“You’d have a fight on your hands over that one,” Cantrell said.
“I don’t doubt it,” Bill said. “A really good dog is hard to come by.”
She enjoyed the teasing. Everyone made her feel as though she was part of the pack.
When they reached the road, several vehicles waited. One of the men waved to Bill and said, “I’ll take you to your truck.”
Elizabeth swore everyone held their breaths until Bill left. Then the questions began in earnest.
Tom said, “We’ll talk later. I want to get Elizabeth to Darien’s house so she can shift and dress, and we’ll figure out where to go from there.”
They loaded CJ into the waiting ambulance. Peter was on his cell. “Yeah, I’ll tell Tom.” He ended the call and said to Tom, “Darien and Jake are on their way to the hospital to meet with Doc and CJ. All the search teams have been accounted for and are on the way back here. I’ll see you all later.”
“See you in a bit,” Tom said, opening the back door of a black SUV.
Knowing Darien would question CJ, Elizabeth didn’t want to be in his place for anything. She jumped into the SUV and hopped over the middle seat to sit in the rear one. She was glad someone had draped blankets over the seats. She wasn’t muddy, but she was a little wet. She smiled to see the driver was Bertha, owner of the B and B.
“My,” Bertha said, “you’re back. Not that I doubted it for a moment.” She gave Elizabeth a heartwarming smile.
Tom got into the vehicle and saw her panting in the very backseat. “Good dog, my ass, Elizabeth. You nearly gave me a heart attack when I realized you’d run into Sam and Trevor with Bill. We’re just lucky the farmer didn’t shoot you when he saw you before someone could stop him.”
She woofed and wagged her tail. He was right: she wasn’t anyone’s obedient little dog. But she knew she had scared him—and herself—when she came upon the farmer armed with a rifle, so she wasn’t annoyed with Tom for scolding her.
Tom wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug of an embrace. She licked his face. He chuckled, and she snuggled the upper part of her body against his lap.
Sam, Kemp, and Radcliff climbed into the SUV.
Sam glanced over the backseat and said to Tom, “You’re keeping her for real, aren’t you, Tom? I wouldn’t let her slip away again.”
Elizabeth wagged her tail, wanting to tell Sam it was the other way around. She was keeping Tom for herself; no other she-wolf need apply. She wanted to tell him that he should see what he had in Silva and do something about it!
Tom stroked Elizabeth’s head and back in a loving way, as he explained to Sam and the other men what had happened. He left the part out about them being mated wolves. She wondered if they had all guessed as much.
She sighed and promptly fell asleep on the ride to Darien’s house, despite worrying about what was coming next.
***
As soon as they drove around the circular drive to the front door, Lelandi hurried out of the house to greet them. Elizabeth raised her head and woofed. Watching her playacting, Tom knew he loved her.
Sam got out of the vehicle so that Tom and Elizabeth could leave the backseat. “I’m staying,” Sam said, “for Elizabeth’s protection.”
“Me, too,” Radcliff said.
Kemp followed him out of the car. “Thanks for the ride,” he said to Bertha.
“Sure thing. If any of you need a lift later, just holler. My guests are all at the ski resort, so no need for me to be home at the moment.” She drove around the circular drive and the long way through the trees to the main road and then headed to Silver Town.
Lelandi gave Tom a hug. “I’ll take Elizabeth up to the guest room and get her some clothes. Get anything you’d like to eat or drink. I’ll be down in a little while.”
Elizabeth had already raced up the stairs.
“Come on, guys. Let’s make some sandwiches for everyone,” Tom said.
“I’ll make them.” Sam was so used to doing so at the tavern that no matter who offered, he always took over the task. “What will we do about your cousins?”
“I wish it was anyone in the world but them,” Tom said. “But it’s Darien’s call.” Tom said so, though he knew his brother would ask Jake and him what they wanted to do since they were all blood relatives.
When Elizabeth came down dressed in clean clothes from Lelandi, Sam and everyone were making sandwiches, but Tom looked distracted, a contemplative look on his face. Elizabeth pulled him aside.