“He’s a friend,” Lola said, her voice harsh. “That’s all you need to know. It’s safer for me that way and safer for you too.”

He didn’t like that answer but didn’t object again.

“Fine. I’ll trust you know what you're talking about,” he said. “Where are you headed after here? Up north?”

“Eastward,” Russel answered before Lola could say anything. “Toward the Venkoff River. We’re going to hire a boatman to take us toward Harrington. Not sure after that.”

“The Venkoff is three days travel on horseback. You have supplies?”

Both of them shook their heads no.

“Then let me help. I can get some things together for you,” he said.

“We can pay,” Russel told him.

“If it’s for Lola, then don’t worry. Just make sure whoever is after her doesn’t succeed. That’ll be payment enough.”

Lola grabbed his hand.

“Thank you, Bren,” she said.

He nodded quietly, his eyes pensive.

They spent the next few minutes talking quietly to themselves as Lola and Russel finished eating. Brenner had a lot of questions about what happened but they gave him only the basics. When asked how she managed to survive, Lola simply told him she ran away. They didn’t mention Russel being a werewolf for obvious reasons and just said she ran into him later and he had agreed to help her. That was it.

Brenner didn’t seem all that satisfied with their answers but he didn’t argue the point either. As far as he was concerned, Lola was alive. That was good enough for him.

“Just answer me one thing,” he said, looking back and forth at both. “Will they come here? These werewolves? Is Howlton next?”

“No,” Lola told him. “I think you’ll be fine. The response from King Harrison was swift. I don’t think they’ll try anything now. It’s too risky.”

She decided to leave out the part about her being the werewolves' primary target. If anything they would be coming after her. Well, they would be if Russel wasn’t protecting her. If she had to guess, she figured Drake and his band of killers were heading back to Harvenk.

“You’re sure?” he asked.

“They’ll be hiding or running back to whatever hole they crawled out of,” Russel said, his voice firm. “They won’t want to pick a fight with armed soldiers.”

Brenner finally seemed satisfied with that and let them finish their meals and ale. When the last scraps of food and the last swigs of ale were gone, they got up and followed Brenner through town. He stopped at a few different vendors and picked up some things. Some cheeses. Some meats like salami and sausages. A bag of grains. Two skins of water. And a few other things they might need like new boots for Lola since hers were pretty much worn down to nothing. Russel didn’t balk at any of the pricing and paid for everything. The last stall they got to was the bread stall Brenner’s father kept stocked. He grabbed a few loaves and stuffed them all into a sack together. When they had everything they needed, he handed it to Russel.

“Take care of her,” he said.

“I plan to,” he replied.

Lola gave him a hug and a soft kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you,” she told him.

Then the two walked away, heading toward the spot they left Serk tied. As soon as they got to the horse, Russel tied the sack of supplies to his saddle. Then they headed out of Howlton, quickly putting the town behind them.

Lola couldn’t help but feel deep sadness hit her as she did. Leaving the place behind felt like leaving everything she’d ever known behind.

Then she remembered the horrors of what happened and the sadness burned away.

Rage was the only thing left behind.