Wolfsbane (Howl #3) (17 page)

Chapter
22

The white house at 492 St. Charles Lane was vacant, just as Grandpa Joe had described on the index card that he’d left Samara. What he had forgotten to mention was how huge it was, though. The four-story house, which sat high on a hill, had burgundy shutters, a white picket fence, a four car garage, and a grassy yard that appeared to have been mowed recently
(which struck Samara as odd).

“Wow,” she whispered, as they climbed out of the car, when the realization that this was her house, that it belonged to her now, hit
her. “This house is gorgeous.”

“It is really nice,” Luke admitted. She glanced over at him. He, too, appeared to be in awe at how impressive the h
ouse looked from the outside.

She just stood there, admiring the house, for so long that she had be tugged on the arm by Colby. “Come on, let’s hurry up and get this over with.” He grabbed the shovel that they had bought
from Home Depot
on the way to the house, as th
ey all headed to the backyard.

As they stepped into the backyard
, which was complete with an in-
ground swimming pool and a flower garden and was just as stunning as the house itself, Samara couldn’t stop thinking about the news report that they’d heard on the radio on the way over.
There had been an announcement about an arctic wolf getting inside the hospital and biting one of the patients, who was n
ow being issued a rabies shot.

The news report also mentioned that there seemed to be a growing wolf problem in the area over the past few months, but that an arctic wolf, which was not indigenous to the area, had never been spotted. Th
e newscaster had analyzed that ‘it’
must have migrated from Canada or may have been someone’s pet that got loose. Or perhaps everyone who had seen it was mistaken and it really wasn’t an arctic wolf at all, but merely just a large white dog that resembled a wolf.

Samara only hoped that Emma wouldn’t hear the news story or that she wouldn’t figure out that Samara was the one who had bitten her stepfather before she got a chance to tell Emma the truth.

“There it is,” Kyle told everyone, pointing to the marble bench, which was diagonal to the rose garden. The crab apple tree, barr
en of fruit, loomed above it.

Samara grabbed the shovel from Colby and strolled over to the bench. She crouched on the ground and began digging through the cold, ha
rd ground. As she dug up the ground
, she wondered w
hat the talisman looked like.

When she hit a cardboard box, she pulled it out of the dirt. Glancing at the ground, she found that it wasn’t alone—there was a second box just underneath
it. She dug that one out, too.

She pulled the first box open, careful not to rip the cardboard that held it together. Once she was inside, she pulled out a letter which consisted of her grandfather’s neat hand
writing and read it out loud:

“Samara, I have left most of my belongings to you, but I wanted to leave a little something behind for your cousin and for your brother. Both of them are destined to be powerful werewolves, as well—though not quite as powerful as you. Please give Kyle the gold watch that is contained in this box. It tells more than just time.” She pulled out the gold watch, which was encrusted in di
amonds, and handed it to Kyle.

“That’s a cryptic message,” Kyle muttered, as he placed the watch around his wrist. “It doesn’t say anythi
ng
else
about what the watch does?”

Samara glanced back down at the letter, and shook her head. She continued reading the letter. “I ask that you please give this pin to Seth. It will help guide him to make the right decisions.” She pulled out a tiny pin, which had a red paw print similar in shape to the ones that the Vyka had as their tattoos, and tucked it in her purse. “I have to give this Seth, guys.
My grandfather wanted me to.”

Colby nodded in agreement. “I think you should honor your grandfather’s wishes, Sam. He left th
is stuff behind for a reason.”

“My biggest concern is that Jason will try to hurt Seth if he finds out that you’re speaking to him. There’s also the risk of Jason trying to claim the pin as his own, in hopes that it will make him more powerful,” Luke replied. “If you’re going to do this, you need to be really careful about it. Maybe send it to him in an anonymous package or something, so that he’s the only one who ever finds out a
bout it.”

Samara thought about this option. “That should work. Declan might find out, but I doubt that he would rat Seth out to Jason.” Actually, she
knew for a fact that her best friend wouldn’t say anything; he had already betrayed Jason once to protect her.

“You’re really going to help the enemy?” Chris questioned. “I don’t think you should do that. Do you really think he would do that for you if Joe McKinley left all o
f this to him instead of you?”

“Considering he saved Luke, yes, I think he would do the same for me,” Samara snapped at him. “And to be honest, it’s not really something you should be concerned about. I’m Alpha, not you.” As soon as she said the words, she immediately felt bad. She had never wanted to be the type of pack leader who used her authority to her advantage, but that was just what she was
doing.

Chris’ face hardened, and he turned a shade of beet red. “Whatever. Do whatever you want.” She expected him to stomp away from her angrily, but he just stood there staring at the
ground, his
hands in his pockets
.

“What’s in the next box?” Luke asked, and Samara knew that he was just
trying to change the subject.

She picked up the box, and immediately, she could tell that it had already been opened.
The lid to the box was left ajar; its hinges had been bent as tho
ugh someone
had pried it open.

Once she had the box open, she reached inside. The first thing she pulled out was a tiny gold key. The second thing she found was the letter from her grandfather. She opened it and read:
Samara, in this box, I have included the key to the house and the talisman. Take care of it, and wear it at all times. Its powers will help you on your jou
rneys through life.—Grandpa Joe.

Samara tucked the key inside her pocket and felt around inside the bottom of the box. Her hand hit the velvet
fabric.

The box was empty.

“The talisman isn’t here,” she whispered, looking up at her pack members, who were all watching her anxiously, waiting to see the legendary talisman.
A nauseous feeling formed in the pit of her stomach.

“
What do you mean?” Chris asked, the argument he’d had with Samara already forgotten.

She showed him the empty box.
“Look, someone was already inside this box.” She held it up for comparison with the second box,
which wasn’t damaged on the outside like the first one was.
“And it’s empty.”

“Are you saying somebody stole the necklace?” Steve asked,
a look of concern in his
brown
eyes.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Samara dropped the box to the ground and looked inside the hole again. She couldn’t see anything else inside the dark hole. This wasn’t some sort of trick; Grandpa Joe had left his talisman inside
the box, and it was gone now.

Luke tapped his chin with his finger. “Let’
s go inside and look around.”

Samara raised her eyebrows at him.
“We just found out that the talisman is missing, and you want to go inside so we can look at the house? That’s all you can
think of at a time like this?”

Luke shook his head. “No, no, no. That’s not what I’m saying at all. What I’m saying
is . . .” He lowered his voice
.
“Maybe there’s some sort of clue or something inside that will help us figure out what happened to the talisman. Maybe it’s in the h
ouse somewhere.”

Colby looked up at Samara thoughtfully.
“Actually, that doesn’t sound like such an unreasonable idea. Think about it. If you wanted to hide something really powerful, where are you going to put it? Outside in the backyard in the ground where anyone could dig it up, or would you make it look like it was in the ground . . . but actually hide it somewhere els
e and make them search for it?”

Samara shrugged. “I guess, but if that’s the case, I really wish that he would h
ave left some sort of clue in one of his letters to help me figure that out
. How are we supposed to know w
hat he planned ahead of time?”

“Well, luckily for you, you’re with one of the best scavenger hunt planners in all of Grandview,” Col
by replied,
grinning proudly
.

Kyle shook his head at Colby. Running a hand through his coppery hair, he added
, “And he couldn’t leave you a letter about that. If he did, there was that risk that someone might have found it
. And if someone would have found it,
I can guarantee you that they woul
d
have found the talisman by now, too.”

“Well, I really hope you guys are right because if you’re not, someone really does h
ave the talisman right now.” Samara
stood up, wiping the dirt off her knees, and strolled over to the back door of the house. Inserting the key inside the lock, she turned the h
andle and pushed the door open.

“This place probably doesn’t even have electric,” Luke muttered, as he looked for a light switch on the wall.
When he turned it on, the lights in the house lit up, revealing the dining room, a spacious room that was painted a soft shade of violet. A long, rectangular vintage-looking dining room table sat in the center of the room, surrounded by cushioned chairs. There was a sparkly, crystal chande
lier hanging from the ceiling.

“It’s already furnished?” Samara whispered, surprised by this revelation. She had been e
xpecting the house to be empty or
boarded up, even, but since it was furnished . . . maybe there was a chance that the talisman wa
s somewhere inside, after all.

“With nice furniture, too,” Colby said, pointing into the next room. Samara glanced inside; there were three large, expensive-looking upholstered sofas with oak frames, a granite coffee table, and the largest flat screen TV and
the most extensive
DVD collection that she had ever seen. Apparently
whoever had lived here before had more than just vintage tastes.

“It must have all belonged to th
e woman who used to live in this house,”
Samar
a commented. “Mollie Archer.”

“Yeah, it must have been hers,” Kyle agreed. “You should sell this furniture. I bet it’s worth a bundle. I wonder if all the furniture in the whole house
is
this
expensive.”

Samara shrugged. “I don’t know, but it’s staying. For now, at least. I haven’t even decided wh
at to do with this house yet.”

“I think you should keep it,” Luke said, eyeing the granite countertops and the stainless steel refrigerator that sat in the kitc
hen. “We need a house, right?”

“
We
?” Samara asked with a smile. It was the first time he had ever mentioned their future together—even though it probably should have been obvious by now that she would live with her mate
one day
, once they got married
and marked with one another. Even so, hearing him talk about it
made her feel happy inside.

Luke nodded. “Yes, we
. It will also give us another place to hang for now instead of being a
t Colby’s house all the time.”

“But there’s nothing wrong with my house,” Colb
y protested.

“Nah, there’s nothing wrong with it, except that your parents are always there, up our asses, watching us like hawks,”
Steve said, shaking his head.

Samara had to stifle the laughter that she wanted to let out; Steve’s description of it was perfect. Even though Colby’s mom was a really nice woman, his dad still gave her the heebie jeebies.
Just thinking about the way he watched her with those dark, unwelc
oming eyes made her skin crawl.

Colby’s face revealed that he was hurt by what Steve had said. “My parents are cool,”
he muttered under his breath.

“They are cool, Colby, but I have to agree with them,” Kyle admitted. “It would be nice to have a place where we can get away and just be teenagers sometimes. I feel weird talking about girls or anything in front of your parents—or in front of my mom when we hang out at my house.
This will just be someplace to go sometimes where we can be on our own.
Somewhere besides the woods.”