Tied With a Bow

who have talked with an Old One, I mean.”
    Actually, she knew people who had fought an Old One. Not face-to-face, maybe, but they’d fought her and continued to do so. In her own way, Arjenie was, too.
    Uncle Clay turned into their lane. “I’m bothered by one thing.”
    “Only one?” She smiled at him. “That’s less than I expected.”
    “This mate bond . . . I could have sworn you and Benedict were in love.”
    “Oh, I didn’t tell it right! We are. The bond makes us lovers, but it doesn’t make us love each other. We did that part on our own.”
    “Ah.” His face creased in a smile that made his beard look much happier. “That’s all right, then.”
    “You know where he is right now,” Aunt Robin said suddenly. “Can you tell what’s happening to him?”
    “No, I only get a sort of directional sense and a really rough idea of how far away he is.” She pointed. “He’s thataway, more than five miles but less than twenty.”
    Her aunt’s face took on a severe cast, one that went well with the Voice of Authority she used next. “Arjenie, you aren’t planning to go looking for him, are you?”
    Arjenie’s eyes widened in surprise. She had to ask? “Of course I am.”

Chapter Eleven
     
    The wind had died. The temperature had dropped. Fat white flakes drifted down, reflecting light as they pirouetted toward earth. Benedict limped up yet another hill and snarled at the air.
    His leg had gone from painful to searing every time something pulled on the damaged muscle. He moved it as little as possible, but why couldn’t the damn bear have gotten his foreleg instead?
    A foolish thought. The bear had meant to kill him. He’d twisted in midair and taken the blow on his haunch, which was vastly better than the gut wound he would otherwise have gotten. Pain was making him stupid as well as cross.
    It didn’t help that he didn’t know where he was. He’d gotten spoiled. He could see that now. Back home he could have oriented himself easily anywhere within a couple hundred miles of Clanhome. Here . . . well, he’d looked over a couple maps before they came, but that, it turned out, wasn’t enough. Had he stayed two-footed it might have been, but wolves don’t orient themselves spatially the same way men do. At some point, he’d gotten lost.
    We’re about five miles from the south border of the Delacroix land, Coyote told him cheerily.
    I wasn’t thinking at you.
    Then don’t think so loudly.
    Benedict glanced at the little dog trotting tirelessly beside him. How could fifteen pounds of terrier keep going for mile after mile? How are Havoc’s pads holding up?
    They’ll do. I may not have enough power to maintain my own body, but I try to be a good guest.
    Did that mean Coyote was extending some kind of magical assistance to the little dog? Benedict hoped so.
    The terrier stopped. Cocked her head. And something very like a sigh, coated with sadness, washed over Benedict. I was afraid of that.
    What?
    I’ll tell you as we go. We have to hurry now.
     
     
    There was a great deal of commotion when they got home. Arjenie expected that. She expected her aunt and uncle to try to talk her out of going to find Benedict, too, and so they did.
    She did not expect to find the twins on her side.
    “We’ll go with you,” Sammy said.
    She looked up from lacing up one of the custom-made hiking boots she’d recently added to her wardrobe. “You will?”
    “Of course we will,” Seri said.
    “You most certainly will not,” Robin said crisply, then frowned as her phone tolled. Her ringtone sounded like cathedral bells. She pulled it from her purse and her frown deepened. “Don’t anyone go anywhere until I take care of this.”
    “I’ll go with you, too,” Uncle Stephen said quietly.
    Arjenie beamed at him. Uncle Stephen would be excellent backup.
    Clay turned to his brother, frowning. “I don’t appreciate—”
    “She’s going to go, Clay. Whether anyone goes with her or not, she’ll go. Best if one of us is with her, don’t you think?”
    “It’s not as if I’m going alone.” Arjenie pulled on the other boot. “Remember Josh and Adam?” Who were in the kitchen now. She’d briefed them when she called, including instructions to eat plenty of dinner first. “They’re going with me. Or perhaps I’m going with them, because the big reason for me to go is so I can bring Benedict’s men to him. He’ll need them.”
    Stephen’s eyebrow cocked up. “You think you can find