Feral | ✓

FERAL: chapter eighteen

"Let me drive."

I briefly looked over at the councilman and snorted before shaking my head.

"Not happening," I told him.

It was a little irrational to believe that he would do something like crash the car to kill both Onyx and I, but I didn't like this man and I knew he felt the same.

"You can barely keep your eyes open, at this point you're gonna end up killing us all," he rolled his eyes.

I scoffed at him. "You're not driving my car. I'll stop at the next hotel and we'll stay there for the night."

The councilman shook his head. "I have this planned out. If we want to reach the Solar Moon Pack by midday tomorrow, then we need to drive a little further."

I ignore his words and he groaned in frustration.

"What's the worst I can do?"

"Crash the car and us both," I answered seriously.

He stared at me as if I was stupid before shaking his head. "You'd most likely heal for one and in a scenario where you did die, I would too, dumbass."

Scowling at him, I looked back at Onyx who was resting against the window peacefully. As much as I hated Councilman Steele, he was right and I didn't want to put Onyx in danger.

Grumbling to myself, I feel pulled over and slid out the driver's seat and made my way around to passenger's side. Once we were both strapped in, the councilman began to drive again.

"Get some sleep," he told me. "I'll wake you up when we arrive at the hotel."

Part of me wanted to say no and watch him to make sure he didn't try anything, but the sleep deprived part of me outweighed the others. My eyes began to feel heavy and the last thing I saw was the councilman adjusting the mirror.

...

"Get up, we're here."

Groaning to myself, I blinked a few times before slowly getting off the door. I winced slightly as I felt the soreness in my neck and looked out the window.

We were at the hotel.

Councilman Steele unhooked his seatbelt before opening the door.

"You get him," he gestured to Onyx. "While I check us in."

Still half asleep, I nodded before rubbing my hand over my face and unhooking my seatbelt. I climbed out the car and opened the back door slowly to not hurt Onyx.

"Onyx," I shook him slightly. "Onyx."

Onyx groaned and tried to push my hand away but I shook him again. With a scowl, he sat up and stared at me. I couldn't help but smile amusedly; he looked like an angry puppy.

"We're at the hotel. Come on, you can sleep when we get inside."

Mumbling to himself, Onyx let me help him out of the car and we walked into the hotel. The councilman glanced at us before gesturing for us to follow him down the hall and into an elevator. He clicked the third floor and when it stopped, he led us to room three-thirty-six.

"This was the best we could get on such short notice," he explained when I saw the double beds. "You two share that one."

His words left no room for argument and for once, I didn't bother to disagree with him. I helped Onyx lay down and watched as he fell back asleep.

"It's unbelievable to me," Councilman Steele shook his head.

"What is?" I asked with furrowed brows.

He took a seat on his bed and gestured to Onyx. "How you're willing to go through all of this over that."

Anger flooded through me and I glared at him. "His name is Onyx and I wouldn't expect you to understand when you don't have a mate," I snapped.

Something flashed through his eyes, but I ignored him and went to the conjoined bathroom to shower. Stripping, I stepped into the shower and turned on the water before leaning up against the wall.

Even through all of this, he still hates Onyx. He's done nothing but be nice to him this whole time.

When I was finished with my shower, I dried myself off and got dressed before returning to the room. The councilman sat in the same place I left him only now he was holding a locket in his hand.

When I sat down on the bed Onyx and I shared, I saw a picture of a woman inside the locket.

"Her name was Gracella," he mumbled lowly, his voice full of pain.

"She was an Omega in a neighboring pack. Loved exploring, seeing new things, and flowers," he laughed humorlessly. "Goddess, she loved flowers."

"What happened to her?" I asked quietly.

His eyes closed before a single tear fell down his face. "She was out collect flowers for me one day, I was coming to visit later. A feral snuck up behind her and before she could realize, he attacked and killed her. The only thing he left behind was her head."

My heart dropped at his story and I moved to reach out for him but he quickly wiped his face before standing up.

"I did have a mate at one point and she was snatched from me," he glanced over at Onyx and I saw a twinge of hate fill his eyes. "Get some sleep, we have a long day tomorrow."

With that, he walked into the bathroom and shut the door. I stared at it silently and thought over what he had told me. So that was why he was so against Onyx; because a feral had hurt him in the past. His reasoning didn't make me like him any more than I already had, but it made me understand him better.

I stared at the door for a few more minutes before shaking my head and turning off the lights before laying down. Onyx rolled against me and I pulled him closer before sighing. Closing my eyes, I tried to go to sleep but my thoughts kept drifting back to the councilman.