by River Ramsey
“We’re agreed on that,” says James.
I hesitate. “Were you two coming here to talk me into leaving?”
“More or less,” Christopher says carefully. “If we didn’t succeed, we were basically going to…”
“Kidnap you,” James says flatly. “With great affection.”
I should be furious, but all I can do is laugh. “Of course,” I say, rolling my eyes as James takes my bag. “Well, that won’t be necessary. I’m eager to get out of here, but I have to say goodbye to Aspen first.”
They exchange another troubled look. My self-appointed guardians seem to have bonded while I was busy.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Christopher says.
“Why not? I can’t just leave him. I promised.”
“He’s safer with Liza than he is with us.”
“I know that, but—”
“He’s right, Danica,” James says gently, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Saying goodbye is only going to make this harder on him.”
I know he’s right, but my heart still aches at the thought of Aspen thinking I’m just another adult who abandoned him. Even if that is the best thing I can do for him right now. I know having any connection to me will just put a target on his head, and the kindest thing is to let him forget me, but it still takes all I have to walk out that door with them.
“How are we going to get past the guards?” I whisper. There aren’t any on Mace’s street, at least not any I can see, but I know we’ll never make it past the territory unnoticed.
“I’ve got a plan,” James assures me, leading the way into the woods on the other side of the property. We barely get a quarter of a mile before a guard’s flashlight shines on us from up ahead.
“Shit,” Christopher growls.
James moves faster than my eyes can see, proving the rumor that hybrids are, indeed, faster than we are. He grabs the back of the guard’s head and slams it forward into a tree. The man is unconscious instantly and James motions for us to follow him.
“Some plan,” Christopher mutters under his breath, trudging forward.
If I didn’t already know James intimately, that performance would have made me even more afraid of him. All I can do is be grateful that he’s on our side. As we continue on, the sound of commotion coming from the direction of town makes it clear my absence from the party hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“Come on,” Christopher urges. “Time to run.”
“We could shift,” I say, struggling to keep up with them.
“Not yet, your scent would be even easier to track,” James warns.
“You said you had a plan?” I ask hopefully.
James nods up ahead. I can barely see it, but sheltered in the leaves is a black SUV. He pulls something out of his pocket and the lights flash. “Get in!”
I waste no time doing just that. Christopher piles into the seat behind me and before all the doors are closed, James takes off at a speed that makes my heart lurch.
“Buckle up,” he warns.
Even Christopher follows his advice as we barrel through the spindly new growth of the forest.
“You know there’s a road,” Christopher growls from the back seat.
“Yeah, and that’ll get their attention even sooner,” says James. “If you wanna backseat drive, you’re gonna take the wheel.”
That makes him fall silent.
“Just get us out of here,” I plead, committed to not looking at the road, or lack thereof. The forest clears out and it’s a downhill shoot for a few harrowing minutes, but James seems to somehow stay in control of the vehicle even at the most bewildering angles.
We reach the base of the hill and the road comes into view. It’s a small dirt path, but it’s a far cry from the rough, steep terrain that we just crossed. We don’t have long to enjoy it before the sound of a motorcycle coming up from behind us fills me with dread.
The driver is wearing a helmet, so there’s no way of telling who it is, but I’m sure there are plenty more where he came from. “Look out!” I cry as he zips past us in an attempt to divert our path.
James swoops past him without losing focus, and Christopher unbuckles.
“What are you doing?” I cry when I see him peel off his shirt.
“That’s a scout,” he growls. “They send them out all over the territory to catch runners, and I’m not gonna give him time to alert his friends.”
James glances at him in the rear mirror, giving him a curt nod. Before I can protest, the door swings open and Christopher dives out, already in his wolf form by the time he hits the ground and rolls.
“Christopher!”
James turns sharply enough to pull the door shut on that side, skidding to a halt as Christopher’s wolf descends on the unsuspecting rider. His scream cuts off, barely audible over the sound of his out-of-control bike as it flies overhead, just past the SUV.
I wince as blood sprays the window even from a distance, and Christopher’s wolf doubles back toward us. James takes off driving again, with Christopher easily keeping pace alongside the vehicle.
I can hardly breathe, but for the time being, it seems like their spur-of-the-moment plan worked. I hear more bikes in the distance, but there’s a highway sign visible just up ahead. The fact that our pack is on the border of the outlands with a thin strip of vampire-controlled territory in between is one of the only reasons it took Eternus as long as it did to take over. Now I know that my father was the one responsible for showing them how to navigate the tumultuous terrain that separates us.
We drive for what feels like an hour, even though my mind was too frazzled to check the clock when we left, and James finally pulls over long enough to let Christopher back in. I try not to look as he struggles into his clothes in the backseat as James takes off again.
“Hear any more of them?” Christopher asks. James’ hearing is slightly more sensitive than ours, so at least we should know if there’s another attack incoming.
He shakes his head. “I’m still not going to stop until we’re out of vamp territory, though.” His dark tone reminds me that he’s no more at home among their kind than he is among ours. I can’t imagine what it’s like to feel like you don’t belong anywhere. My pain has always stemmed from feeling trapped, not unwanted.
As the road grows quiet and long, the adrenaline fades and exhaustion takes over. I start to drift off despite my best efforts, and when I come to, James and Christopher are talking quietly.
“Why would he have that locket?” Christopher growls. I realize he’s talking about Mace and pretend to keep sleeping so they won’t change the subject.
“I don’t know, but he obviously wanted her to find it,” James answers thoughtfully. He’s still driving fast, but less so.
“You think he’s working with Ryland?”
“I doubt it. Mace left before anyone even knew he was coming back, so he at least knows more about all of this than we do.”
“Then if we want to find out the truth about Dani’s parents, we have to find him,” Christopher murmurs.
“You don’t remember anything?”
“I was only two when she was born. I just know Ryland and his mate left to visit family in the Visath pack and when they came back, they had Dani.”
I listen intently, realizing he means the pack next door. Is that where my real parents are? Through all of this, I’ve only been able to focus on the shock of my father not being the man I always thought he was, but the possibility that my mother wasn’t my real mother is too much to handle.
“There’s a hotel not far from here,” Christopher announces. “We should stop for the morning and regroup.”
I open my eyes a sliver and realize he’s right. The sky is turning pale blue, and while James isn’t as averse to the sun as his full-blooded vampire counterparts, the long drive seems to have taken a toll on him.
When we finally pull up to a mostly empty motel parking lot, I pretend like the sound of James closing the door to g
o inside and book a room is what wakes me up.
“Hey. How’d you sleep?” asks Christopher.
“Okay, I guess. Where are we?”
“Nowhere in particular, which is why we stopped,” he answers. “I see you’re still a bad actor.”
I blink innocently. “What are you talking about?”
“I know you didn’t just wake up,” he says, pausing as if he’s waiting for me to admit my bluff. When he realizes I’m not going to, he sighs. “How are you holding up?”
“As well as can be, I guess,” I say, hugging myself. “It still doesn’t feel real.”
“I know,” he says, his voice softening with sympathy. “I’m sorry. Believe me when I say I had no idea about your dad.”
“I know.” I clear my throat. “He fooled everyone. But all that matters now is making sure he can’t hurt anyone else.”
Christopher watches me worriedly. “Dani, what matters now is keeping you away from him. That’s gonna be a full-time job.”
“We need someplace to stay,” I remind him. “He’s got connections all throughout Eternus at this point. The only place we can take refuge is the outlands.”
“Based on what you heard him telling the General, it’s only a matter of time before Eternus goes after every pack that touches Marok.”
“I know, and that’s going to start with Visath,” I insist. “All the more reason to warn them. Maybe we can get the Alpha Lord on our side.”
To my relief, he actually seems to be considering it. James comes out before he can shoot me down, at least. “Hey,” he says, offering his hand to me. “I got us a room.”
“Only one?” Christopher protests. “This place is deserted.”
“It’s also in the middle of being renovated, so it was either a single or sleep in the car. Besides, we should stick together. We’re not out of the woods yet.”
Literally or figuratively. There are thick woods surrounding the rural motel and the only thing that comforts me is knowing that most of us aren’t desperate enough to cross into vampire territory without good reason. I just have to hope that I’m not good reason enough.
Once we’re inside, the smell of dust and old carpet makes me sneeze, but it’s better than being on the road one more hour.
“Guess we’ll sleep in shifts,” says Christopher, looking at the queen bed.
“No point in that. We’ll just be here twice as long and I don’t sleep soundly enough to miss anything,” says James.
“Are you sure?” Christopher asks warily.
“Trust me, if another wolf gets within a mile of this place, I’ll know.”
I can’t help but wonder if he finds other wolves’ scents as repulsive as most vampires do, and I’m kind of afraid to ask. I take off my jacket and boots, feeling like I’m peeling off a layer of skin since I ran in them for so long. Even though I slept in the car, my exhaustion knows no depths.
I climb into the middle of the bed and realize the guys are both staring at it like it’s made of lava. I roll my eyes. “We’re all adults here. I think you can handle sharing a bed for one night.”
James doesn’t look sure, but he’s the first to reluctantly slip in beside me, even if it is only on top of the covers. Christopher lies down on my other side, and I feel their warmth even though he’s keeping enough distance between us to avoid touching me.
I find myself wondering if he knows James and I slept together. He seems to have some awareness that we’re an item now, but I know James wouldn’t ever talk about it.
I decide it’s better not to think about it tonight and close my eyes, feeling safer than I have in a long time between them. If only life could always be this simple.
Chapter 21
When I wake up, I’m delightfully squished between two hard bodies putting off enough warmth to heat the entire room. I enjoy the cuddling without consciously questioning whose arm is wrapped around my waist and whose face is buried in the crook of my neck. In that sleepy, blissful state free of introspection and social norms, it feels so right I don’t want to question it.
My eyes pop open and I realize that we all ended up in a tangle of limbs during the night. Christopher is curled up against my back, his muscular arm draped protectively over my left side while James’ nose is buried in the crook of my neck, his cool breath falling in even measures against my collarbone. I realize I’m the first one to wake up and for a moment, I lie still, afraid to disturb them. I know as soon as they realize what’s going on, it’ll be over, and I want to enjoy it for just another moment.
As much tension as there has been between Christopher and me lately, I miss being affectionate with him. I miss the safety and security of his embrace, and his soothing scent. When I’m with the both of them, it just feels right. Normal.
All good things must come to an end, and so does this. James wakes up first, and his glazed eyes meet mine. He smiles tiredly, but as soon as he realizes how close he is to Christopher, he jumps up. Christopher is soon to follow.
“Oh. Shit,” he mutters, moving his arm off me like I’m radioactive. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I say, stretching out. “The room was cold last night.” We may be in our human forms most of the time, but wolves like to snuggle and we still have those instincts. Not that that’s enough to convince an alpha male that there’s no shame in cuddling.
“We should move,” Christopher mutters.
“Yeah,” James says, growing somber all of a sudden. “Wait.”
“What is it?” I ask, immediately on edge.
“I sense something.”
“A wolf?” Christopher asks in a darkening tone.
James nods, gaining focus like he’s listening for something. I’m not quite sure how his wolf radar works, but I’m going to let it do its job.
“We need to move,” he says suddenly, grabbing my jacket. He puts it over my shoulders as Christopher follows close behind us, our things in his arms. The rest of our stuff is in the SUV, so we all pile in and barely make it onto the road before James mutters, “Shit.”
“Where is he?” I ask, looking back to see through the rear window. There’s nothing on the open stretch of road behind us, but I don’t doubt James’ instincts.
“He’s close,” Christopher says. “I sense him, too.”
I close my eyes and try to focus through the panic so I can listen, too. The hum of the road is distracting, but once I manage to tune it out, I can feel the familiar vibrations of footfalls not far from the road. I turn to face the woods in the direction the vibrations are coming from, my heart surging. “There!”
Just as I call out, a dark shape emerges from the forest. As far as I can tell, it’s only a single wolf, but he’s huge. His dark brown fur has a reddish tint in the light, and he takes up most of the narrow road. James barely manages to skid to a stop before we collide. Despite the size of the SUV, that’s not a collision anyone would come out from unscathed.
“What the hell?” Christopher snarls, reaching for the door and looking like he’s ready to shift.
“Wait!” I cry to stop him. I recognize the wolf in the road, staring us down with his bushy tail raised in a dominant yet non-threatening position, his golden eyes locked on us with a familiar intensity. “That’s Rowan!”
James squints. “She’s right.”
“Stay here,” Christopher orders, climbing out of the car to approach the living roadblock alongside James. I see Christopher waving his hands in agitation as he chews the shifter out and ignore his command, opening the door.
“Rowan!” I cry, rushing to him just as he shifts back. He’s easily a foot taller than I am, and I try not to look below his thick yet ripped torso. “What the hell are you doing? You almost ran us off the road!”
“How else was I supposed to get your attention?” he grunts.
“Literally any other way,” James snarls.
Rowan shrugs it off, turning his focus back on me. “Man, am I glad to see you. When I saw the search party, I fig
ured you weren’t back home, but I was sure they’d have caught you by now.”
“You went back?” I ask, thoroughly confused. “Why?”
He hesitates, rubbing the back of his head. “I heard some stuff while I was on the run and I couldn’t just leave you there. I had to at least warn you.”
“You came back to warn me?” I ask, strangely touched. “About what?”
Rowan grows uncharacteristically serious as he looks down at me. “Your father. Dani, I don’t know how to tell you this, but —”
“He betrayed the pack and blamed it on Mace,” Christopher interrupts. “We know.”
The look of surprise on Rowan’s face tells me that wasn’t the revelation he came all this way to give me, but I’m not sure I can take another. “Huh? I’m talking about Dani’s mother.”
“My mother?” My voice breaks. “What about her?”
“I’ve been staying with some old family friends in a pack further up in the outlands,” Rowan explains. “One of them knew Gia pretty well when she was younger, and she gave me some interesting insight into Ryland’s character. Shit I thought Dani should know about if she’s gonna give up her life to make the guy happy.” He frowns. “What’s all this about betraying the pack?”
“It’s a long story,” James mutters. “Before we exchange news, we need to get somewhere safe.”
“No argument there,” says Rowan.
“Rowan, you must know the Alpha Lord of the Visath pack, right?” I ask hopefully.
“Sure, but why?”
“It’s hard to explain, but the pack is my father’s next target,” I say gravely. “If we can warn them, maybe they’ll give us shelter.”
Rowan considers my words, and I can tell he’s got as many questions as I have for him, but one of my favorite qualities about him is that he just rolls with things. He nods. “Yeah, alright. I can lead you there.”
“This is risky,” James warns.
“As far as the pack knows, we kidnapped an omega promised to one of the highest officials in Eternus,” says Christopher. “Everything we’re doing is a risk, but Dani is right. We need allies if we’re going to do this.”
