Free The Wolf You Feed Arc by Angela Stevens Page B

don’t know how to thank you.”
    Liam waved his thanks away. “I thought I’d lost my family. Not going to turn my back on you now I’ve found you again. Ah, here she is.” Liam kissed Jessie on the cheek and draped his arm over her shoulder. “Jessie, let me introduce you to my youngest brother.”
    The following Saturday, Liam gave Tore the grand tour. The main building was a massive fourteen thousand square feet. It was built of stone and housed a cozy bar, restaurant, games room, and five star guest rooms. “We have twenty studio style log cabins with kitchenettes and luxury bathrooms,” Liam said.
    Walking along the back terrace, Tore was surprised how huge the place was. “Impressive!”
    A picturesque lake set against manicured lawns provided an idyllic view from the Lodge. They walked along its shore, Liam pointed towards the other side. “Over there, we have a small camping ground, tents and RV standing. There are two shower blocks, and another games room. There’s a state of the art, do-it-yourself meat prep and storage area so guests can prepare and store their kills. You should see the refrigeration units, they’re bigger than Dad’s cave!”
    Liam pointed towards the Lodge restaurant.
    “Guests often ask us to cook what they catch. It’s a nice little money maker. Costs me nothing. They pay the chef directly to prepare the food, and the leftovers feed my staff.
    “That’s what I call win-win.” Tore said.
    “Too right!” Liam took the left fork down a small track and led Tore into dense woods that surrounded the property. After five hundred feet, they stopped by a small lock box. On top of the box was a notebook and pencil, slipped inside a plastic bag. “There’s one of these at the head of each trail. I give a different route to each guide, spreading the parties as much as possible to avoid any accidents. Only one group is allowed on each trail. No exceptions, ever. Each goes in a different direction from the Lodge. Once you are a mile out, the trail ends and you’re safe to hunt in the marked area.”  
    Tore confirmed he understood.  
    “Once you get to the trail head, you have to follow standard procedures. Fill in this book so we can locate guests, if necessary, or in case of emergencies.”
    Liam unlocked the box.
    “Before heading off from here, you need to mark the trail as occupied and then radio in.”
    He reached in the box and took out a small flag, which he attached to a long flexible pole that stretched out from the top of the box.
    “You see a flag on your allotted trail, don’t go in. Radio in the discrepancy, we’ll find you another trail while we clarify its status. Last thing I want is anyone getting shot because they crept up behind another group. We have an excellent safety record here and want to keep it, and my license.”
    “Mark trail, record in book, confirm by radio. Got it.”
    “When you come back, you radio in again, remove the flag. Right, that’s the business side done, how about we explore my grounds au naturel?”
    “Okay, but what’s that?” Tore pointed to a spray bottle in the lock box.
    “That?” He pulled it out and passed it over for Tore to look at.
    “Scent Killer?”
    “Yup. We spray the clients and then even the white tailed deer can’t smell them. If you cover yourself in this, I couldn’t smell you standing next to me. It’s dynamite stuff.”
    “Damn. Wish I’d known about this when we ran from the clan.”
    “You mean you didn’t use it? How the hell did you make it out of there? Jeez, their trackers could find you here. You must have left a trail halfway across America.”
    “We’re good, Liam. It was touch and go for a while but I’m positive we lost them in Nebraska. Hopped aboard a train and didn’t get off until Tulsa.”
    “That was smart thinking. You ready to take that run now?”
    They stripped and put their clothes into the lock box before shifting.
    They fell into an easy lope down the trail. After a