Chapter 11 Road Trip
eleven
Road Trip
*FELIX*
The last couple of weeks before the summer break feel like hell.
They always have been for me, as someone who doesn’t study easily, but now at college, it’s even worse.
I have cut down on all my extra activities and now focus on studying.
Dario helps me where he can, and even Arden – after I swallowed my pride – helped me with two of my papers.
I managed to get a passing grade on the papers and just barely passed on two of my exams. However, I failed two classes, and as for the last remaining one - the statistics one - I already failed twice. I had studied for it day and night, but on the day of the exam, I knew I wouldn’t pass.
With that, I have officially failed the whole course. Although I handed in my homework, it’s just not enough. I will need to retake the whole class next term.
There is no use in prolonging it any longer. I talked to my professor, and we agreed on me dropping the class for now. Well, at least this means I don’t have statistics lectures anymore.
Dario has some more exams, which he dives into with a quiet confidence I admire him for.
For me, the summer break starts earlier due to this pathetic reason.
To distract myself from being a failure, I focus on the pack by picking up my training and helping Aurelia and Arden with their work.
Mom is still focusing on Titan and researching his demon heritage, so I try to make myself useful there, too.
She is currently researching with the help of our broad library, and oddly, I do well with helping her.
The letters don’t seem to jumble in front of my eyes as much as they did during my classes.
I don’t get this. Why can’t I be like that when it actually matters?
The sun is high in the sky when I make my way through the forest path to my favorite spot at the pack lake. We just had lunch, and around this time, a lot of the pack members are taking a break. It’s a rather quiet time, perfect to sneak away and be by myself.
Sitting here and watching the smooth surface of the blue lake is so peaceful. It makes it seem like every problem in the world is solvable.
“I thought I would find you here.” My father’s voice makes me almost jump up in surprise. Spinning around, I look at his amused expression. “I really shouldn’t be able to sneak up on you like that.”
“That’s not fair,” I say. “You are an alpha.”
“You are of alpha blood, too.”
“But you are reigning and have more experience.”
“Fine,” he chuckles. “I will give it to you.” He pauses. “Mind if I join you?”
“No, there is room for two.”
He sits down next to me, handing me a pastry he bought along.
“I really tried,” I say into the silence.
“I know.”
“You pay all this money for our education, but I just can’t deliver. Why are you not more disappointed?”
“You have always worked hard,” he says. “And I have always appreciated that. I still do. You are a very dedicated and hard worker, Felix.”
“But I don’t see results.”
“Maybe that’s because you look at the wrong things. If you shift your focus from school to other things, you do see plenty of results.”
If only it were that easy. I groan. “I talked to Charlie. She isn’t big on studying, but she knows exactly what she wants.”
“You don’t need to rush anything,” he says to my surprise. I thought he would want me to make immediate decisions instead of being so pensive and indecisive. “Your summer break lasts almost three months. Why not recharge your batteries and give your brain a rest?”
Something in his voice piques my interest. He usually talks like that when he- “What are you plotting?”
He laughs. “Plotting, huh?” He takes something out of his bag.
I didn’t even notice he was carrying one.
“Here, your mother and I wanted to give a present to Dario and you for the hard work you have put into the last two years. You are both very helpful and never turn any of your siblings down if they need help.”
“What is this?” I blink when he hands me a small book and an envelope.
“It’s a map,” he says. “In the envelope is a credit card. I am not giving you an endless budget, so make sure to spend it wisely. If you do it well, you will be able to travel around for two to three months.”
“What?!” I exclaim.
“I have talked to the other packs, and they know you will be passing through. Liam has recently upgraded his car to a bigger one. He offered for you to take his old one. It’s sturdier than what you are driving now.
How about you take a friend or two with you?
” he offers. “There is definitely enough space for Charlie, at least.”
“Wait a moment, Liam is in on it, as well?”
He grins. “All of them are, actually,” he says.
Man, my siblings are amazing!
“Make this a road trip and see something of the country.”
“What…what… what!? Dario and I always wanted to do that!”
“I know,” he chuckles.
There are times to act modest and there are times to accept an amazing gift.
I grip it tighter, before pumping a fist in the air.
“This is fuck-“ I clear my throat. “-freaking amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I tackle him in a hug before I grab my bag.
“I need to talk to Dario and start planning. Oh, and I need to thank Mom. This is amazing!”
I dash off, running right back to the packhouse, when I spot Dario running towards me at full speed. “Here you are!” he yells. “Did Dad already-“
“He did!”
“Can you believe it?” Dario brushes through his hair. “It’s only going to be us, and he said we could invite Charlie along, too.”
In a family so big, it’s rare to be completely on your own. This is a completely new experience for us. For the first time ever, it’s just going to be the two of us, maybe with some friends, for more than just a day. It almost sounds too good to be true. “Maybe he will send warriors with us?”
“I asked him,” Dario clarifies, as usual, thinking of everything. “But he said, he talked to other packs and made sure their warriors keep an eye on us without following us around.”
I gape. “No way!”
“He said, he actually trusts us to look out for ourselves,” Dario says, tilting his head to the side. “Still can’t even grasp it.”
“But it’s true,” I grin. “Let’s start planning!” I pause. “Wait, you are done with your exams, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, completely done. I am ready for this.”
Dario and I immediately throw ourselves into planning everything. The first person we contact is Charlie, and she is instantly on board. Seems like her parents are very pleased with the opportunity for her, too, which says a lot, because her dad tends to worry a lot.
We don’t have the time to plan every detail, as we want to make as much use of the time we have. Dario holds onto the credit card and will keep our budget in mind, while I will be handling the map. We have planned the route, roughly, and booked two hostels on the way.
“How about we take a tent with us?” Charlie offers. She has just dropped by to help with the planning. “I bet a lot of places allow camping, and it would cost us less, plus it’s more private.”
“Not a bad idea, actually,” Dario says. “Finn likes camping. I bet we can borrow his camping gear.”
He is right. Finn is one of our brothers, and currently, leading a pack far in the north. Maybe we can actually visit him on our tour. He likes camping, but left most of his stuff behind.
“I will give him a call,” Dario says.
“Pity that Gisela won’t join us,” Charlie sighs. “But I get it. She is here for warrior training. She obviously can’t skip three months of it.”
“What about your other friends?” I ask. “I guess we could take one more person along. Anyone else would obviously blow our budget.”
“Austen or Ty?” she asks.
I nod. They are fun guys. Ty is a bit of a rebel and a year older, but he is fun and shares my love for outdoor activities. Meanwhile, Austen is slightly calmer, but a really good friend to all of us.
“I don’t know,” she sighs, her voice trailing off. “I don’t want to lead them on,” she finally says.
I blink at her words. “Wait… what?”
“I think Austen likes me,” she says.
“You never said anything!” I exclaim.
“Because I wasn’t sure if it’s true,” she admits.
“So, how do you know now?”
“He was disappointed on my birthday when it was obvious we weren’t mates,” she pauses. “I like him as a friend. But he isn’t my mate, you know?”
I get it. She wants to be with her mate, and she certainly doesn’t want to hurt her friend’s feelings.
“We had a brief talk,” she explains. “In which we pretty much awkwardly danced around the topic, but in the end we both said we wanted our mates,” she pauses. “As for Ty, I am not sure. He is learning a trade now and will be pretty busy this summer, anyway.”
“Then it’s just the three of us,” I say with a grin. “This is going to be fun! And I can say with certainty that I won’t hit on you.”
Charlie laughs. “That’s why it’s easy with you and Dario.”
“What’s easy?” Dario asks. He puts his phone aside and nods at us. “Finn is happy to lend us his camping gear. He actually said we could keep it if we find out we love camping.”
I beam. “Awesome!”
“So, what’s easy?”
“Being with you two,” Charlie says.
“Because she doesn’t need to constantly friend-zone us,” I explain.
“So, it’s true, Austen likes you?” he muses.
Charlie and I exchange a look of disbelief. “Goddess, how could you tell!?”
“Just a feeling,” he says.
“I told him I am waiting for my mate,” she adds.
I sigh. “Aren’t we all?”
“Are you?” She looks at me curiously. “You never seemed to be in a rush.”
“I really want to meet her,” I admit. “I mean, I am not stressing over it, but I do want to find her. It’s only natural to want that, right?”
“I guess so,” Dario mutters.
The tone of his voice catches my interest. Why does he sound so somber?
“I hope my mate will like me,” Charlie says.
“Why wouldn’t they?” I blink. “You are a catch!”
“We all know I lack on the femininity front,” she admits.
“Bullshit!” I say. “You are as much of a girl as any other girl.”
She smiles. “Thank you.”
“What would happen if the opposite occurred? Just imagine we didn’t like our mates?” I muse.
“Goddess, that would suck,” Charlie exclaims. “I really don’t give a shit about his rank or anything else, I just need him to be a good person.”
Her words settle on me for a while, even after we shift our talk back to planning our road trip. I don’t really have any expectations towards my mate. Charlie said she wants her mate to be a good person, while I just hope my mate will like me.
He just isn’t deep.
My chest clenches, my stomach quivering slightly.
I am just not deep.