Free Wolf on the Road by Lynn Red Page B

from the 90s. For the record, those were the ones that weren’t ever funny.”
    Erik though was still in a world very centered on being very proud of his joke. He was looking at the mirror, buttoned his shirt, and was just about to start singing to himself as he lifted the brush to his hair, then paused, Fonze-style, and dropped the brush on the counter.
    “I love you, Erik,” Izzy said with a laugh. “You are completely ridiculous. Anyway, I gotta run. See you at the courthouse in a... well, a while.”
    They kissed again quickly, and Izzy hurried out of the house. She opened the door just as Petunia was starting to come around the corner of the green natural-wood siding house. The little bunny started hopping, trying to get her attention. Izzy waved to her. “How ya doin’, Petunia?” she asked.
    Petunia was completely disarmed. She’d almost forgotten that the vast majority of the people in Jamesburg saw her as reformed. Reformed , whatever that meant. She almost forgot that Erik was the one who signed the probation order that let her out of the lockup. “Uh, hi,” Petunia said. “Doing okay I guess?”
    “Good! Erik’s getting dressed, I’m sure he’ll be out in a second.”
    As Petunia opened her mouth, trying to formulate something that would come out, she raised a hand, lifted one finger, and found herself completely, totally, absolutely dumbfounded. Izzy trotted to the car, stuck Frederick in his car seat and waved as she pulled out of the driveway. Petunia just watched her until the car disappeared over a hill and out of view. She scrunched up her forehead, trying to make sense of what had just happened. The uncomfortable reality was right in front of her face, though: people just didn’t see her as a threat anymore. She was a mascot, she was a symbol of the things that Jamesburg did right. She was nothing but a Muppet that no one paid attention to past patting her on the head and waving at her from across the street.
    Her teeth ached. Her brain felt like it was twisting inside her head, and her guts were boiling so hotly that she could taste bile. Grinding her teeth eased the pain slightly, but there was so much heat radiating through Petunia’s body that she felt like at any point, she might actually burst into flames and rocket off into the stratosphere. She lifted her hand and touched the doorbell with her fingertip before snapping out of her trance and shaking her head to clear the cobwebs.
    “Doorbell? Come on, Petunia, you’re better than that.” A grim smile spread across her face. Instead of politely hitting the doorbell, she instead balled up a fist and thumped it against the door as hard as she could and kept going until her hand felt like a giant bruise. “Danniken!” she screamed. “Open this damn—”
    “Oh hey Petunia,” Erik said as he opened the door in between her heavy fist falls. “What’s shaking?” His shirt was only partially buttoned, and his hair was perfectly unkempt. The act of looking at him made Petunia absolutely seethe with anger.
    “I,” she started, but was shaking so hard she was almost vibrating. She felt like a giant ball of kinetic energy just waiting to explode.
    “Petunia?” Erik asked, not unpleasantly. “Sorry, I just have a bunch of meetings today, and—”
    “I have your brother and the girlfriend he changed from human to werewolf! They’re in my basement and the only way you’re getting them is by giving me a million bucks and the town helicopter so I can get out of here and go somewhere that no one will look at me and pat me on the head and—”
    Erik scowled. “You... what?”
    “You heard me,” she said, breathing heavily. Her heart was pounding and she wanted nothing more than to bite him right in the face, or maybe boot him in the ass. She couldn’t decide exactly but she knew she wanted to do something . “I have your brother. And he turned a human into a shifter to keep her alive. He broke the law, Danniken, and if you