21

Chapter 21

Kayla's POV

I woke up with a stiff neck, wondering why, until I realized I was in the back seat of my dad's SUV. Sitting up to see our location, I knew we were no longer in our hometown. Mom was eating a small bag of BBQ chips with water, and Dad was drinking a soda. I reached back into the cooler to grab a bottle of water; I was thirsty. I wondered how long I had been asleep, as I had no idea where we were. I noticed the gas light was on, indicating we needed to stop at a gas station to fill up.

"Dad, where are we?" Looking in the rearview mirror, he chuckled at my sleepy eyes.

"We're in Virginia right now, just four hours away from home. We're stopping for gas up ahead, so if you need to use the bathroom, go while I pump gas." Four hours away from home? That meant he would need to stop for gas again. I had been asleep for hours; geez. When we finally stopped at a gas station, I could smell wolves; they worked here. I wondered if they would cause trouble, hoping they wouldn’t as we didn't have time for it. All I wanted was to reach our destination, finish our business, and head back home. I was anxious about shifting during our stay, especially considering that our pack doctor would be eighteen hours away and unable to help me in case of any emergencies.

"Don’t worry, humans. We will help you." I realized that it wasn't my lycan speaking, as she sounded friendlier than my lycan usually did. Lycans are usually more ruthless, so I decided to ask her name.

"Oh my goddess, are you my wolf? What's your name? Mine is Kayla. I am sorry if I sound overly excited; I have been talking to my lycan for a week now, starting to think you were sleeping forever," I heard her chuckle.

"My name is Aurora. I wasn’t going to sleep forever, silly. I wake up when it's almost time to shift. I come to the surface to talk, so we can get close. Sometimes we wake up when our mates are near, but he's not near yet. I have a feeling he is close."

"Come on, Aurora, if our mate is near, he will find us. Let's not make it too easy for him, as my lycan Queen once said." They started laughing, creating a party-like atmosphere in my head. I chuckled as I walked to the bathroom. My parents looked at me like I was crazy; I guessed they would ask what was funny. Maybe I saw something they missed, but I knew the questions would come once we got back into the car. I didn't sit on the toilet; I squatted, completed my business, washed my hands, and hurried out of the spooky, slightly smelly bathroom, which seemed to be cleaned only a few days a week. I couldn't wait to get back on the road. Finally, Dad finished putting gas in the SUV when a tall man approached him. I could tell he was a wolf from a pack, not a rogue. I was on edge as they talked; the windows were rolled up, but remembering my lycan and wolf ears, I let them hear.

Why are you in my town? Are you just passing by, are rogue? You don’t rogue, you smell of Aura; you're an alpha, aren't you?”

“Yes, I’m an alpha. We are the Black family. I'm Mercury Black's son. You probably haven't heard of us. We're on our way to see King Lucas; he has asked us to come.”

“Yes, I have heard of you, alright. You're the most powerful pack around. If King Lucas asked for you to come, then it must be very important. I will see to it that you're not harmed by anyone while you are leaving this town.” I heard my dad chuckle as he looked the guy in the eyes. I knew he felt threatened when the guy spoke to him. He responded in the most threatening alpha tone he had, which was quite scary.

“I tell you what, if anyone tries to harm my family, they will have hell to pay. We are not starting trouble. We stopped to get gas and use the bathroom. If there is a problem with that, then someone here has a huge problem. We are leaving now. Do not try to start a fight because we will finish it, as we always do.” The man backed up, bowing his head.

“Excuse me, Mr. Black, I wasn't threatening you. I meant no harm. Go and have safe travels.” I watched as he backed away slowly, looking over my dad's shoulder. I slowly turned to see what he was staring at: four wolves ready to attack. I was glad I had kept a gun out; the bullets were laced with silver and wolfbane, capable of killing a wolf instantly. I reached for the button to roll down the window. My mother saw what I was doing. These were not regular wolves; they were rogues in a pack, doing as they pleased. When they came charging out of the woods towards my dad, I screamed to alert him.

“DAD! LOOK OUT!!!” My dad shifted, so did my mom and the warriors. I aimed at a wolf running towards my mom and pulled the trigger, shooting it in the head. The wolf dropped instantly upon hitting the ground. As the fight ensued, I noticed the man watching me growling. He then looked up as if he saw something and hastily ran off for his life. The fight ended as quickly as it started. My parents shifted back, got dressed, and got back into the SUV. Dad drove off while the rest of the pack followed. We were furious. I knew something like this would happen. I don’t understand why we couldn't just stop, do what we needed to, and leave. Instead, some troublemakers tried to ambush us because they had heard of us and wanted to test us. Well, they got a taste of their own medicine. Dad and mom finally calmed down. Dad started yelling at me until mom told him to stop.

“She was trying to protect us, Isiah. She killed two that were coming after me; so just chill out.”

"I know that, Ava, but she needs to be more careful. Those bastards could have crashed into the car and gotten her. She hasn’t shifted yet, so she needs to be more careful."

"Hmm, Mom, Dad, my wolf talked to me today. Her name is Aurora, and she's pretty cool. She said I will be shifting at the castle." When I told them that Dad almost lost control of the car, then he got back control before we ended up on the side of the road upside down or on the side, geesh, what's going to happen next? I better not say that. I don't want anything to happen. I just want to get there in one piece.”