Chapter 29
We drove through some of the remote mountain roads before we turned onto a gravel road and pulled into a forestry gravel lot.
There were already cars here. Hyder pulled in right behind us, parking next to us.
Quinn looked over at me and flashed me a gentle smile.
The kind that told me he was worried but was trying to make me feel better.
We both got out of the car and walked toward the gathering group in a small open field. I counted eight of them already standing there. Some of them must have carpooled. Only two of them were females.
“About time we get rid of this prick,” one of them said.
“Glad to actually see you alive and in person, Quinn,” another said, before looking past us at Hyder. Quinn looked over his shoulder at Hyder.
“Ahh, did you not believe my buddy?” Quinn said.
He did a half smile and a quick tilt of his head. “He’s an Umbra… after all.”
“Ehh, you know I detest acting like Umbras aren’t of importance,” Quinn said.
All of the terms that were being used, I wasn’t super familiar with, but I had heard them in other conversations. I stood slightly behind Quinn, present but not part of the discussion. I saw the female lean to the right to look behind Quinn.
“So, she isn’t dead?” she said.
“Wait? Then why are we waging war?” one of the men said.
“Tell us what’s going on, Quinnlyn,” one of the older men said.
“I’d like to wait until the rest of us are here, so I don’t have to repeat myself,” Quinn said.
Callie had walked up and stood right next to me, shoulder to shoulder. Her way of showing me solidarity.
Within ten minutes, everyone who was expected was there. Most of them had stolen long glances at me.
“Alright,” Quinn said, then clapped his hands together. “It’s time to end someone’s run a little early.”
“How do you think we’re supposed to do that?” one of the men asked.
“Well, Leroy, after he shifts back in the morning, he will go to bed, like he has been doing, because it has been reported that he’s exhausted after shifting, especially after the first moon sliver. Then several of us will move in,” Quinn said.
“And what about the rest of us?” another said.
“You’ll be there to control anyone who doesn’t stand down and wants to remain loyal,” Quinn said.
“And the Nova?” one of the females said.
“Off. Limits. Other than if she needs to be subdued, no harm comes to her,” Quinn said. The way he dropped his voice a couple of octaves made me crumble a bit.
“Who’s the Nova?” I whispered to Callie.
“My aunt, Ravik’s wife,” she whispered back.
I nodded slightly.
“The plan is simple, really. From my intel, no one has been staying at the pack house after shifting, except Ravik and the Nova. We need to make sure Benji or Daxyn don’t catch wind, or don’t interfere until after Ravik is dead,” he said.
“I don’t get why we’re still going after him if the girl is still alive and no crime was committed,” one said.
Before my brain fully processed, my mouth started moving. “Sure, I’m alive, but my child is not, and that is Ravik’s fault. Secondly, the only reason I live is that he thinks I’m already dead. I can’t go back to my family until he has been taken care of.”
Everybody fell into an awkward silence. All of them dropped their eyes to the ground. The truth I spoke wasn’t what they expected.
“Maybe I don’t agree with all of it, but now she knows our secret,” one of them said.
“She does because she's seen Daxyn shift because he's careless… but it doesn’t matter, she would have figured it out anyway… as I’m bound to her… so all of that is irrelevant,” Quinn said.
Everyone’s eyes locked onto Quinn, and shock painted most of their faces.
“Ravik doesn’t know this?” one shot out.
“No… he doesn’t,” Quinn said.
“Don’t you think if you had told him from the get-go, he would have gone about this differently?” the older man asked.
“And what? Do you truly think he would have been willing to let his nephew raise his grandson?”
“We won’t know now, will we?” the old man replied.
“He made his intentions clear pretty quickly. Ravik is not the man you think he is. Either you're in, or you’re not,” Quinn said.
“I’m in,” he groaned.
“Anyone else not want to be a part of this? This is your time to get out.” Nobody moved, all of them staring at Quinn. “Didn’t think so.”
“What do you need from us?” one of them asked.
“You’re our backup plan. Y’all need to stay out of sight, unless needed. This way, none of you are looked at sideways for turning against the Novo,” Quinn said.
“Hyder, Quinn, and I will take care of Ravik. It should be an easy three on one,” Callie said.
“I prefer we not kill any other member of the pack,” Quinn said.
Everyone nodded in agreement. Quinn went over a few other things, and we all broke off and left.
The plan seemed simple, but my gut told me something wasn’t right.
They would leave me in the hotel tonight, they would all shift in the woods near where we were staying, and then start making their way back to Ravik’s.
We went back to the hotel, where Callie and Hyder went back to their rooms, and we to ours. We laid on the bed, cuddling, neither of us saying anything. We both drifted off into a nap, something we both needed after our restless night.
A knock on the door woke us both. The clock read four-thirty. Two hours before sunset. We’d slept for several hours. They wanted to grab some fast food before they went off into the woods. We all piled into the Civic and grabbed some chicken meals. Once we finished, we went back to the hotel.
“Last shift, you really have to be away from me,” he said, before pulling me into him. I melted into his arms.
I was terrified of being alone here, but I didn’t want to tell him that. At the cabin, I knew he was right outside. I’d never really been alone. He leaned back a little, putting his finger under my chin, lifting it.
“Tomorrow, we will be free, Zay.”
“I’m… terrified,” I whispered.
“I know you are, but I got you,” he said.
“We gotta go,” Callie shouted.
He placed a slow and gentle kiss on my lips. “Tomorrow.”
He let me go, his eyes piercing into mine, flashing me a half smile.
I headed up the stairs and went into the room.
I set the chain and deadlock. It took me a bit to settle in.
I paced the room quite a bit, then I finally grabbed my book.
I’d hit the midpoint where I was sucked into the story.
Once my eyes started feeling heavy, I put the book down and grabbed the other pillow to cuddle.
The alarm I set went off at five. The sun rose around seven this morning, and Quinn said they would start shifting back around six.
He wanted me to drive the truck to this road that was near Ravik’s.
We would all get in the truck and drive to the house.
My stomach was flipped upside down, and my throat burned.
Every bad scenario played into my head as I drove to the spot. What if Quinn got hurt? What if they hurt me? What if nothing went right? Callie? Everyone who was aiding this? I fought the urge to puke.
My knee bounced as I sat on the dirt road.
My eyes glanced all around until Quinn walked out of the corner of the woods, only his hand covering himself, because they had traveled here in their wolf form and didn’t have any clothes.
In the truck was a backpack filled with outfits for the three of them.
He opened the door, unzipped the bag, and then pulled on his clothes and shoes.
He leaned in, gave me a quick kiss, and then grabbed the bag and ran back into the woods.
Within a minute, he was already running back.
I slid over to the passenger seat, and he climbed into the driver's seat.
“Everything is going as planned. It looks like Ravik and Iva were the only ones who went back to the home,” he said. He reached over, grabbed my hand, and placed a kiss on my knuckles.
I nodded at him.
Within a few minutes, Callie and Hyder came from the woods, dressed.
Callie opened the door, I scooted to the middle, and she got in.
Hyder jumped in the back. We continued down the dirt road, making a couple more turns.
It felt like a maze in these parts. We parked before the woods stopped, close to the house.
Quinn pulled into the ditch line, parking closer to the trees.
We could see the house from here; it was quiet with only two vehicles parked near the house.
“Stay here, and lock the doors,” Quinn said.
“Okay,” I said.
“If anything seems off, drive as far as you can. There is a map and money in the glovebox. Go back to Lina’s, there’s a note on how to get there,” he said.
Callie sprang forward and stared at him, but nothing escaped her lips.
He pulled me into him and held me for a few heartbeats before pressing his lips onto my forehead. Then he and Callie stepped out and started walking toward the house. Hyder jumped out of the back of the truck and joined them.
My knee bounced faster and faster. My stomach was in a million knots.
Puke was at the back of my throat. They walked into the house.
My heart pounded in my chest. I started breathing faster.
I threw my head back, closed my eyes, and started breathing in through my nose.
I needed to control this; it wasn’t allowed to control me.
Awoooooo.
Awoooooo.
Howls immediately grabbed my attention, and my eyes started darting around. I didn’t see any of them, but I could hear them. The panic that Quinn was in trouble started setting in. I wanted to see what was going on. It was taking too long. What would I be able to do? Fuck it.
I unlocked the door and jumped out of the truck.
I started walking up the drive, and my head was jerking to every sound.
Every leaf movement. Every twig crack. My legs started moving faster.
As I got closer to the house, I could make out that someone was yelling.
No, multiple people were yelling. I wasn’t sure who.
More howls filled the air.