Chapter 4
Followed.
Henley
We leave at four o’clock in the morning. Parker’s mom, Amanda, is the only one who wakes up early enough to see us off. And she sends us all off with a very large latte each and breakfast, of course. Even Parker, who usually doesn’t drink coffee, accepts one.
Will and Blaine follow behind us in Will’s black sports car. Parker drives—we’ve agreed to switch off driving whenever he gets tired. I have hope that our long road trip will make me feel more comfortable behind the wheel.
Parker starts the Jeep and glances over at me. “Are you ready?”
I take a deep breath and nod. “Yeah.”
He grabs my hand and brings it up to his mouth. He gently kisses my fingers. “We’re in this together.”
His words comfort me.
We’ll be okay. I know we will.
This isn’t a big deal. I’m just going on a road trip to Florida to see my uncle. It’s a normal summer thing to do. Except… my uncle is a king.
Parker puts the Jeep in drive and takes off. “You’ve seen your uncle so many times.”
“Yes. I’ve seen him here, where he’s just Uncle Ferno. He’s the cool guy who teaches me how to use my powers. There, he’s a king.” I pause to breathe and take a sip of my latte.
Maybe I don’t need caffeine. My anxiety is bad enough.
Eh, who cares? It’s too good not to drink.
“I love your mom,” I tell Parker, putting my drink back into the cupholder.
As our wedding gift, she bought me an espresso machine and she made copies of all my favorite latte recipes. The machine is still in the box while we wait to move into our home, but I’m excited about using it when we get back.
“She’s a good mom,” Parker says. “And I’m pretty sure she bought that espresso machine for us.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Because you love coffee.”
He lifts his drink and takes a pointed sip from it. He wrinkles his nose, and I can feel how much he doesn’t like the taste through our mate bond.
I laugh. “Right. It’s totally for us.”
“Fine. It’s for you.” He puts the drink back in the cupholder. “You can drink that.”
“If I drink two large lattes, we will have to stop a bunch so I can pee. Can you imagine how much that would annoy Will?” I pause. “On second thought, I will drink your latte.”
Parker snorts. “After all the crap he gave you when you first moved here, I’m not going to object. Besides, I want to stop soon to get an energy drink.”
I grin, loving that my husband is on my side of the argument.
“I’m always on your side.” He reaches over the center console and grabs my hand with his free one.
“Even over your childhood friends?” I ask, feeling skeptical.
“Yes!” He chuckles. “Henley, you’re my soulmate—we’re mated. Do you not get that I’d choose you over everything and everyone?”
I am starting to get it. I know that this mate bond is all consuming, and I know how I feel about Parker, but it is easy for me to feel that way. I don’t have anybody else, but he does.
“You’re not alone anymore.” He lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses the back of it.
I relax into my seat and take another sip of my latte. I jerk up right when I remember that I brought a sock to knit while we’re on the road. I have to unbuckle my seatbelt to reach behind us. I end up putting half of my body in the back, trying to reach it.
Parker puts his hand on my back. “I think you should put your seatbelt back on.”
“I’ve almost got it.” I stretch a little further and am finally able to grab the small bag I put my sock in. I sit back down in my seat and put my seatbelt back on.
Parker warily eyes me. “Another sock?”
“Gemma asked for a pair,” I say, reminding him that his younger sister had requested socks. I’m going to make her a drawer full while we’re gone.
“Yes. A pair. A singular pair of socks. You’ve already knit her five pairs since she asked.” Parker raises an eyebrow.
I grin. “I want to make sure she has plenty before winter.” I hold up the bright green yarn that has speckles of neon pink, yellow, and orange. “And this one is her favorite color.”
“You’re too nice,” he says.
“You think I’m knitting her socks because I’m nice?” I laugh. “Please, this is me totally being selfish. I will take any excuse to knit socks.”
He chuckles. “Fine. Knit your socks.”
“I will.” I stick my tongue out at him as I unzip the project bag and pull out the sock. The first one is finished, and I have just started working on the second one.
Parker rests his hand on my thigh as he drives. I grin, loving that he always has to be touching me. Even before we found out we were mates, he would always touch me. Though maybe some part of him deep down knew that we were destined for one another.
We have been on the road for about thirty minutes when Parker’s phone rings. I glance at the screen on his Jeep and see Will’s name. I smirk. He must’ve drunk all the coffee Amanda made for him, and I plan to tease him endlessly about already needing a bathroom break.
“Hello—”
Parker is cut off by Will. “We’re being followed. A black sedan. It is staying exactly four car lengths back from me. They’ve made the same four turns as us. And maybe it’s a coincidence, but my wolf is on edge.”
Parker is quiet for a moment before responding. “Okay. I’m going to take a few random turns. If they are still following, we’ll lead them out to the middle of nowhere and take care of it.”
I sit up straighter and try to look out the rearview mirror. Parker puts his hand on my head to stop me.
“I don’t want anybody seeing you,” he explains. “Just stay still.”
I try to relax, but my sock is abandoned in the center console.
Parker turns the Jeep onto another road. The GPS updates, showing us that he’s going the wrong way. He makes three more turns until he eventually pulls onto a gravel road. I have no idea where we are, but I know we’re not that far from home yet.
“Are they still following?” I put a hand to the base of my throat.
“Yeah,” Parker answers, looking in the rearview mirror.
I can feel how antsy his wolf is through our mate bond. I reach my hand over to touch his leg, trying to comfort him. I’ve learned, since marrying him, that wolf shifters enjoy physical touch, especially from their mate.
He grabs my hand with his free one, his shoulders relaxing. “I promise I will protect you.”
“I know. I wasn’t worried,” I say, making sure he knows that I trust him.
Wolf shifters are fiercely protective of those they love. And being loved by a wolf shifter is greater than anything I’ve ever felt.
I get now why Parker pushed me away when we first met. Because nothing tops this feeling. And he saw his parents share a mate bond. He knew it would be worth waiting for.
Parker glances from the road to me for just a second. “If I could go back in time, I would’ve kissed you the day I met you.”
I wrinkle my nose. “I’m glad you didn’t—I had just thrown up into the trash can when we met.”
He laughs. “Yeah, okay. The second day, then.”
Parker’s phone goes off again. He hits a button on his steering wheel to answer the call.
Will’s voice comes through the speakers. “You should pull over soon. We can take care of these guys real quick.”
“Can you tell how many there are?” Parker asks. “I can’t sense them from here.”
“Three,” he answers. “One of them is a wolf shifter, for sure, but I can’t tell with the other two.”
I gulp.
Three men.
Parker glances at me, then at the road. “Okay, I’m pulling over.”
He slows the Jeep, pulling to the side of the gravel road.
“You stay here.” Parker takes off his seatbelt. “Blaine, Will, and I can take care of this. If something happens, use your teleportation powers to get out of here.”
My eyes widen. “You think something will happen?”
“No.” He squeezes my hand. “I will be back, I promise.”
I chew on my lip. “Be careful.”
He gets out of the Jeep, and I turn to watch out the back window.
Parker, Will, and Blaine stand together as they face three supernaturals.
I can easily spot the wolf shifter—he’s the one with the golden eyes.
Two other guys stand with him, one is extremely short.
He can’t be over five three. The third guy, only a few inches taller than his short friend, holds a ball of flames in his hand.
“We only want the girl. Leave her, and nobody gets hurt,” the wolf shifter demands.
That’s all it takes for Parker to go after him.
I close my eyes, unable to look. All I can do is pray that Parker doesn’t get hurt. Everything in me wants to jump out and protect him, but I know that I would only get in the way. Besides, those guys are only here for me.
Because I’m a phoenix.
I swallow hard as I realize these people hate what I am because my ancestors were so feared. And now, I’m headed to a colony of them. And Uncle Ferno seems nice enough, but what if these supernaturals are right to come after us? What if we are evil?
The sound of the door opening makes me jump. I swivel around to see Parker standing by my open door. He doesn’t speak. He just unbuckles my seatbelt and pulls me into his arms for an embrace.
“You’re not evil,” he says, squeezing me tighter.
“You’re okay?” I try to pull back so I can look at him, but Parker doesn’t budge on his hold. I relax into him, knowing that I would be able to tell if he were injured through our mate bond.
“I’m fine. Will and Blaine are hiding the bodies, and then we’re getting back on the road. The pack will come and take care of the cleanup for us.” Parker puts his forehead against mine. “They were here for you. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.”
I squeeze his arms. “I’m fine, Parker. You protected me.”
“But what if I can’t next time?” He rests his forehead against mine. “What if they get past me? It would kill me if something happened to you.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me,” I tell him firmly. I back up and look him in the eye so he knows that I mean it. “You’ll always protect me. I trust you.”
He nods, but I can still feel his anxiety through our bond. I stand up on the tips of my toes to kiss him. He melts against me.
“I love you, Henley,” he says, once we pull back.
My stomach twists as it always does when he says that. And it’s because I can feel how much he means the words through our mate bond. “I love you, too.”
Parker and I will be okay. We’re in this together.
“We need to get out of here,” Blaine says from behind Parker.
Parker nods and slowly backs away from me. “Okay. I’ll call Dad. Can you send him the coordinates for this place?”
“Will do,” Blaine says, moving to get back in Will’s car. Will is already waiting in the driver’s seat.
Parker holds the door to the Jeep as I get in. He watches me carefully through eyes that are still golden. Once I’m inside, he shuts the door and walks around to get in. His shoulders are tense, and his wolf is close to the surface.
Once we get on the road, Parker hands me his phone and asks me to dial his dad’s number. The call goes through the speakers, and his dad answers on the second ring.
“What’s wrong?” Adam asks.
Parker explains everything that happened and asks him to send pack members to take care of the bodies.
“What kind of supernaturals were they?” Adam asks.
“A wolf—he was an alpha. And there was a fire elemental and a dark fae,” Parker answers.
“That’s a very varied group of supernaturals,” he says.
Parker runs his fingers through his hair and sighs. “I’m more worried about the fact that they’re after Henley.”
“You already knew they were after her, son. Just be vigilant. Don’t make any stops. Drive straight through. You can take turns driving and get there faster.”
“Yeah, okay.” Parker sighs. “We’ll do that.”
“Keep me updated,” Adam says. “And be careful. Call Henley’s uncle—he’ll want to know, too.”
They say their goodbyes, and Parker ends the call.
He glances at me. “It’s going to be a long drive.”
I nod my agreement as I pull out my phone to call Uncle Ferno. My hands are shaking as I dial his number. My phone isn’t hooked up to Parker’s Jeep, so I put the call on speaker so he can hear.
“Henley, hey. Are you on your way?” Uncle Ferno asks. “It’s early there, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s early. We are on our way.” I pause to take a deep breath. “We, uh, had some complications.”
“What kind of complications?” he asks.
I let Parker tell him about the other supernaturals that were following us. When Parker is finished, Uncle Ferno is quiet. It takes him a few heartbeats to reply.
“You should drive straight through. Don’t make any stops,” Uncle Ferno says. His voice is firm and authoritative. It reminds me that he’s a king, even if I’ve never seen the kingly side of him.
“We will be driving straight through,” Parker promises. “My dad already told us not to make any unnecessary stops.”
“Keep my niece safe,” he demands.
“I vow to always protect her. She is my mate and my entire world. She will always come first.” Parker grabs onto my hand with his free one.
“Good,” Uncle Ferno says. “I will see you both soon.”
I end the call, taking a shaky breath as I look toward Parker. “Uncle Ferno is kind of scary.”
Parker snorts out a laugh. “You’re not wrong. I think he may be even scarier than King Basilicus. I get the feeling your uncle has always held back his powers when he’s been around us before.”
I shiver at the thought. “Maybe we should just go home.”
“Not a chance.” He squeezes my hand. “You need to meet the rest of the phoenixes. Besides, I get the feeling you’ll be safer there.”
“You promise you aren’t just taking me there to leave me, right?” I chew on my bottom lip.
“I should injure Will for putting that thought into your head,” Parker grunts. “I am not leaving you. We’re mates, Henley. And we’re married. That means where you go, I go. So if you stay with the phoenixes, so will I.”
I can feel the truth of his words through our mate bond. I relax into my seat. “Good. Because if you tried to leave me, I’d come after you.”
Parker grins. “Now you sound like a wolf shifter.”
I shrug. “Well, I was raised by one.”
“I wish I wasn’t driving so I could kiss you right now,” he says.
And now I wish it too.
The fun road trip we planned is gone. There will be no stopping for the night or sightseeing, but hopefully, the trip home will be more fun.