Moonwood Mill was Jake's home, but Mill Lane still held a special place in his heart.
Smiling, he breathed in the scents of the farmhouse... the green smell of the hedge, the sweet smell of flowers, the deep scents of old wood and stone, the pong of the chicken coop. He caught trails of honey and herb (a particular body wash Aadi and Jordan shared), the red, she-wolf scent of Demarco and the shimmering aura not quite hidden under Etta's homemade herbal soup. Over everything, he caught the heavy, wet smell of the fog clinging to mountains and the hint of rain that always seemed just over the horizon in Henford-on-Bagely.
As the farmhouse's back door swung open, a wave of herb and flowers rolled out, almost hiding the rising scent of honey and herb that announced Jordan and Aadi before the lovers stepped out onto the back porch.
"So, clothes, cash, water bottle, granola bars... what else did she say?" Aadi was saying.
"Matches, knife, string," Jordan replied. "It's like camping."
"Boo, I grew up in the City," Aadi laughed. "The closest I got to camping was crashing on a friend's couch."
"Etta has you two putting together escape kits," Jake observed.
It wasn't really a question. Etta never went anywhere without an escape plan, never entered a room without looking for all the exits, never walked down a street without looking for threats. When other girls were playing with dolls, the quiet woman had been learning how to be a spy and assassin, among her other talents. Jake would have called it child abuse, but he had to confess it had given her some frighteningly useful skills. Skills she gently encouraged others to learn. The pack looked out for its own, even those without the Wolf.
"Hey, puppy. That she does," Aadi said, clearly a little amused. "We're setting up packs in the barn. She has a whole escape route planned."
"Hopefully you won't need to use it," Jake said, "but it's still good to have in case of trouble."
"I know," Aadi sighed, a little more serious.
"I don't like the idea of running," Jordan added, a little hotly. "This is my home. I shouldn't be run off by a bunch street toughs from the City, or a bunch of monsters." Suddenly abashed, they shot Jake an apologetic look. "I didn't mean..."
Jake smiled, dismissing the unintentional insult. Living with Demarco, Jordan had finally been forced to confront the reality behind Aadi's stories about werewolves and, by implication, vampires and witches too. They were actually handling the revelation of the monsters that lurked in the shadows pretty well.
"Well, we'll do what we have to, to keep you both safe," he said simply. The pack looks out for its own, he thought again. "Hopefully, that won't mean running."
"Anyway, you're not just here to be social," Jordan said.
"Your friend Genie called me," Jake said.
"Us too," Aadi said. "They have A Plan. So, Etta has us finishing up our escape kits... just in case Armageddon comes a'knocking."
"That's what I thought," Jake nodded. "Well, while you do that, I'm going to check in with Etta and Demarco. Then we should all talk."
"We'll be back," Jordan said in their best Terminator impression.
The farmhouse kitchen smelled heavily of herbs and flowers, over the scents of cooking - eggs, peppers, onions and greens - that had long ago sunk into the wood. Mixed within those, Jake smelled Etta's shimmering scent and Demarco's strong wolf musk.
Strangely, he only saw Etta.
"Brewing up another potion?" he said.
"Herbal tincture," Etta corrected. She adamantly denied anything she did involved more than a common, everyday kind of magic that Jake knew was neither common nor everyday. "A little something for energy. Might be helpful."
"Getting ready for trouble," Jake observed.
"Always," Etta said ruefully. "I take it you heard... Aadi's friends have A Plan. I hope this one goes better than their last one."
"So do I," Jake sighed. "Any news on the neighbors."
They'd been aware for a while that the farmhouse was being watched.
"Demarco's checking on them," Etta said.
"Where is she?" Jake asked, a little confused. He could smell her, as if she was right in front of him.
"Behind you," Demarco said, chuckling.
With a snarl, Jake jumped, ready for the ambush that didn't come. With the ease of long practice, he took a deep breath, calming his Wolf.
"Sorry," Demarco said, lowering her head in a gesture of deference but not the submission she might show her own pack leader.
Jake inclined his own head, wordlessly accepting her apology.
"I was checking out the abandoned house in the woods," Demarco continued. "We were right. They've been using it as a base. Kiril is there, but there was no sign of Bianca or Wolfgang."
Jake suppressed another snarl. Kiril and Bianca Barov were renegade werewolves, former packmates of Demarco's, who had betrayed the Wildfangs and endangered all of Moonwood Mill. Now, they were clearly working with Max V and his henchman Wolfgang.
"It was dangerous scouting the house alone," Jake pointed out sternly. "What if Kiril caught your scent?"
"He couldn't," Demarco replied with a defiant grin. "Just like you couldn't... because Etta is brilliant."
"The poppet," Etta said, gesturing at a crude doll on the kitchen counter. "I enchanted it to hold Demarco's scent instead of her. As long as she doesn't get too close," Etta added, clearly repeating a warning, "the charm should hide her scent."
"Brilliant," Demarco repeated, proudly.
"That is truly brilliant," Jake agreed.
"Well, it was just an experiment," Etta said, clearly proud in spite of herself.
He sniffed the air again. They were right. This close he could catch Demarco's scent coming faintly from her body but more strongly from the crude doll a few feet behind her. At a distance, she would be hidden, provided she wasn't seen. More, he thought, another Wolf scouting the farmhouse would think she was here, in the kitchen.
"Etta," Jake said slowly. "Could you do that charm for someone else?"
"Probably," Etta nodded. "Provided I had their scent to imbue into the poppet."
"I'll see what I can arrange," Jake smiled.
"What are you thinking," Demarco said, puzzled.
Etta just looked at him, suspicions clearly forming behind her dark eyes.
This might be the solution to another problem, Jake thought. Out loud, he simply said, "Later."
A moment later, the back door rattled open and, heralded by honey and herbs, Aadi and Jordan burst in.
"Jake, I just got a text from Genie," Aadi said excitedly. "More details about The Plan. Look."
Letting himself get caught up in Aadi's enthusiasm, Jake looked down at their phone. Slowly, as he wasn't the strongest reader, he read through Genie's text. Then, while Aadi practically vibrated with excitement, he read it again just to make sure he'd understood it.
"OK," Jake said at last. "Let's talk about what we need to do for our part."
