My Girlfriend Bites (Young Adult Paranormal Werewolf Romance)

Chapter 41

Bree

My parents freak when I call them. Dad leaves his financial services office immediately and picks me up on the way home. We rush into the house, where Mom has everything ready: food, cash, water, everything we need for a road trip. It's sad that my family has always been prepared for this. Dad grabs his things while I race upstairs to snatch some of my clothes. The pillow on my bed looks naked, and I realize Rocky and Bullwinkle are still in the back seat of my car at school. Piss on the sun. Wish I could go back and get them, but that's totally out of the question.

Aiden will take care of them if I ask him. I could also send him the keys to the Oldsmobile if he wants it. Maybe he could box Rocky and Bullwinkle and send them to wherever we end up.

No, I can't. What if that Demon Skin tracks down Aiden and tortures him for the new address? Who knows what those awful things will do to hunt us down? I'm not putting poor Aiden in danger. No, I'm better off not telling him where I am.

"Bree," Dad calls out, his alpha-male side coming out in full. The protector of the pack.

"Coming." I pick up the handle of my suitcase and my coat and do a final look around. I have nothing to hold on to. Nothing to remind me of the old pack. And if I leave this house, I'll leave behind my memories of Aiden too.

I'm so sick of having nothing stable in my life.

"Bree?" Dad tries again, his voice frustrated.

I'm the last one out the front door as I throw my things into the back of Dad's Range Rover and hop in. Dad backs up and throws the car into drive. Soon we're cruising on the turnpike, heading west out of the city of Tulsa. Heading west towards an uncertain future I don't want to be any part of.

* * *

Dad stops at a service center on the turnpike to fill up. There's hardly any gas in the Rover since today's mass escape wasn't planned. Dad insists that Mom and I go inside the McDonald's and try to relax. I think it's more for me since I haven't stopped shaking since we left Tulsa.

My new phone rings, and I check the number. Aiden. I bet he heard about what happened. Should I answer it? The plan was to have a clean break, and I already told him goodbye. Demon Skins or not, I can't see him ever again.

The note inside my locker. Oh, piss on the sun. I never got a chance to read his note. Is that why he's calling me?

It rings again. What should I do?

I show Mom the number. "Should I answer?"

"He's probably worried about you," Mom says. "You should at least tell him you're okay."

She's right.

"Aiden?"

There's silence on the other end. Super weird.

"Don't worry. I'm all right," I say. "Everything's cool. We're leaving now so—"

"Bree?" Aiden's voice wavers. He sounds terrified. I sense it. Something's not right.

"Bree?" Aiden repeats.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"It kidnapped me."

It? My heart freezes. The Demon Skin. Aiden doesn't even have to say anything else. I know. That thing must have tracked him down using that note in my locker. No one knows why, but the Demon Skins have a werewolf-like sense of smell.

"Are you hurt? Are you all right?" There's panic in my voice, and I can't hide it.

There's no answer.