Pack

Chapter Twelve

After years of my mother telling me never to get into cars with strangers, I'd thrown all her precious advice out the window and done just that. And not just any stranger, I'd jumped right into the passenger seat of a plush black Range Rover driven by a smoking hot werewolf. If by some fluke, I ever made it back to my pack in one piece, Jonathan would rip me apart for this.

As I stared out the passenger window into the dark night, I was at least happy we'd driven away from the smut club. Thank God for small miracles. 

"My name is Logan."  

"Avery," I answered, without turning my head away from the window. Up to this point, we hadn't said a word to each other. A good twenty minutes had passed since I'd jumped into his car and he'd sped off down the gravel drive away from the club. A lot of thoughts took precedence in my head, and small talk wasn't one of them.

"Can I ask you something, Avery?"

"You can ask." I turned to face him. "Doesn't mean I'm going to answer you."

He smirked, shooting me a sideways glance. "Why didn't you shift, when you hit the tree line?"

I shifted my gaze back to the window. "I can't."

"You've never shifted?" The disbelief leaked from his voice. His eyebrows were probably up in his hairline, in complete and utter shock.

I twisted fully in my seat to face him and crossed my arms over my chest. "Look, Logan, I just found out I'm a werewolf a couple days ago after my biological father abducted me from the only family I've ever known. This whole shifting into a wolf business is something I'd rather not have to deal with right now. I spent my whole life feeling safe and in a matter of seconds, everything I knew changed. Now I'm stuck with a pack of werewolves who don't believe in women's lib and apparently I can never go home."

His expression softened. "Where's home?"

"Pennsylvania."

A few beats of silence passed before he spoke again, "Do you need to call someone? You said you had to find your brother. Do you have a cell?"

I shook my head. "My father didn't give me one. He didn't want me calling my family."

"Here—" He reached into his jacket pocket. "You can use mine."  

I waved him off. "I can't call my family. I have so many questions to ask them and I don't even know where to begin. Not to mention, I think it's something I need to do in person, anyway. And I can't call my pack. They never gave me their phone numbers. I wasn't supposed to leave Wyoming."

"Is that where you were heading when those idiots grabbed you, back to Pennsylvania to see your family?"

"Yeah." I sighed, dropping my arms and slumping in the seat. "I need some answers from them. And I miss them. I also want them to know I'm okay." I turned away from him to stare out the window into the passing darkness again. "I never got to say good-bye."

"Well, if your alpha found you once, doll, I promise, he'll do it again, but until then, you're welcome to stay with me."

I looked over at him. "What about my brother, Scout?"

"Is he a werewolf?"

"Yes, but he hasn't shifted yet either. He was with me when those guys drugged me. What happens if they took him too? He could still be back at that nudie bar."

"I doubt it," he snorted. "They're not really into guys. And besides you,  I never smelled another werewolf on their property. Chances are they left him where they grabbed you. Does Scout have a cell phone?"