Green - a werewolf story

34. Tailgate

They drove in silence, cars belonging to Mario's pack both in front of and behind them. Vanessa focused on the darkness outside the windows and did her best to keep the memories at bay. Green cleared his throat a couple of times as if he wanted to ask her something, but then he quietened again.

She could imagine what he was wondering and was grateful for the silence. Vanessa had always known that if she chose to stay with Green she would have to tell him about her past. That alone was enough to send her running for the hills. Only the certainty that he would come hurrying after her kept her in place. That and the part of her soul she'd rather not acknowledge that cried out in pain at the thought of leaving him.

Green cleared his throat again. "Do you... do you want to listen to some radio?" he asked.

Vanessa nodded and Green tuned into a station that played upbeat country.

"Er... Ted said to tell you he's sorry about what he said the last time you talked and that you're welcome to New Orleans."

"Right," Vanessa said. It was hard to concentrate on meeting Green's family when she'd just have the memories of her own reawakened.

"And I –" he cut off when the sound of cell phone cut through the song.

To her great surprise, Vanessa realized that she recognized the signal. She dove into her bag and pulled out her phone.

"Hi, Lettie! I was just..."

"Stop the car!" Letitia yelled.

"What? What are you..."

"It's a trap! You're heading into a trap!"

Vanessa felt her heart skip over a beat. She'd never heard Letitia like this.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"I had a god damned vision, that's how! Stop the car!"

"Lettie, you don't get visions, it's your mom who..."

"Not this time! I saw it clear as day, a red wolf talking to a white wolf and you and your mate lying dead in a pool of blood. That was followed by the most realistic version of the apocalypse I've ever seen. Fire, brimstone, fields of naked, dead bodies. The whole shebang."

Vanessa took a deep breath. The image of a red wolf talking to a white wolf was eerie. Did that mean someone in Mario's pack had switched sides? Or was Letitia just imagining things. Vanessa knew a witch's talent could kick in at different ages, but for Letitia to develop full on seer abilities over night was improbable and...

"Vanessa, if you don't stop that car right now, I'm putting a hex on you."

"You wouldn't!"

"See if I don't! I'll have you hiccup to the point of injuring yourself. You know I can do it too."

Vanessa absolutely knew she could. She'd done it several times before. Not to her, but to generally awful people.

"Alright, alright," she said, fighting her instinct to get as far away from here as fast as possible. "Green, stop the car."

"What? Why?"

"Lettie says we're heading into a trap."

Green turned to look at her.

"Mario's setting us up?" he asked her.

"I don't know if it's Mario or someone else, but Lettie says..."

"Stop the car! You don't have time to explain!"

"Fine we'll stop the car," Vanessa said and motioned for Green to do so before Letitia gave herself an apoplexy.