New Age Werewolf Series Book 1: Taming A She Wolf

Part 41: Fierce, Fast & Furious

He was different, in a good way.

As I drove us through the wilderness, Ian just seemed more at peace. When I reached Terra Prima in search of my runaway mate, Zuri, I felt so much turmoil between him and Amber. That was gone now, and I was expecting my first pup! I found myself chuckling at our positive changes and silently thanked the Goddess for all of it.

"What, Dar?" Ian asked, a small smile on his face.

"Just thinking about this time last month."

"Oh," He blinked, and then chuckled. "Goddess!"

We both started laughing. "I'm just so glad things turned out okay."

He nodded in agreement. "They need to be for what may lie ahead. We need to be solid for this."

"Can I ask you something?"

He shrugged, "Sure."

"What is it between you two?" I asked. "I understand that whatever you and Zuri have has nothing to do with what we have, but--"

"I wish I could explain it, Dar, I do." Ian shook his head. "Ever since  I met her, I just want to protect her, is all. It might have to do with this prophecy."

 "It might," I agreed, but I wasn't sure about that. I didn't feel threatened by Ian, but that connection was almost like they knew each other somehow. At first it irked me, now it quirks my curiosity. Again...changes... "I'm thinking about driving through the night. You up for that?"

Ian frowned. "Why?"

"I was just thinking that--"

"You are king of paranoia, you know that--?"

"And it has served me well," I frowned back. "Our decoys will have reached Wisdom by dinner at the  latest. That is when they will know--"

"Who will know--"

"Whoever shot the tire," I answered, going on. "They will know we are still en route. I just feel like we should be moving at that time. They will think we're on our way out late, or sleeping somewhere for the night. We should be moving targets, that's all."

Ian thought about it. "If you think that's for the best, but how about we just check into a hotel--" He smiled as I raised a brow at him. "Pay cash for the night, and stay in the van?"

"You want to see if anyone tracks us?"

"Exactly."

"You know if I hadn't brought weapons I'd be against this," I smiled. "I'm impressed."

"By what?"

"This idea of yours," I told him. "I thought you were a diplomat, a counselor--"

"But I have to be ready if negotiations don't work, or if I am attacked," he said with a grin. "I thought you were a shoot first, ask questions later kinda guy."

I laughed at that. "No, I'm actually more tactical and covert, but if someone starts it, I will finish it."

"So the difference is a gun cock."

"What?!"

"Well, you are cautious and calculating, but you operate with a cocked gun-ready for battle." He said. "I walk in ready to negotiate and observe before I consider even arming up."

"You know, I'm just getting more and more impressed?"

Ian laughed hard at that.

*************

That night we pulled into a motel at about midnight. We checked in, slipped the front desk guy a hundred to let us park in employee parking, showered and changed, and headed back to van.

"Change of plan," Dar announced, grabbing a backpack from the back.

"What?"

"You stay in the van, watch the front from the back of it," He said. "I'm going to see what happens staying inside."

"What are you going to do?" I asked. "I had a feeling you had something up your sleeve when you asked for a second floor room with a window. And what's in the security box?"

He winked. "Trust me." He took out a walkie talkie, and went inside. 

We sat and talked about absolute crap for hours, staying awake. Then at two-thirty, it happened:

I saw two men in a dark sedan. That didn't look right in a place like this. Most people are in vans, SUVs, wagons, older model cars or on motorcycle. When they got out, I saw they were in jeans with sports jackets. Sports jackets? Blazers--out here? Oh, no. "Uh, I think we got company." I told Dar over the com.

"You're kidding!"

"No, I'm not," I said sadly. 

"Hold on."

I could hear him doing something, shuffling things. "What's going on?"

"Just putting the last touches on a booby trap."

"What?"

I suddenly heard running water, but he said, "Calm down." before I could ask another thing. 

I barely breathed. I just sat, waiting for any sound-footsteps, a change in the shower stream, a click of doorknob-anything that might help.

"Okay--" Dar said softly. I heard him move something. "Heading out the window." He grunted, and I heard his claws dig into something. "Closing the window." Then I heard him grunt again. "Ugh. Wet grass. They have sprinklers for this little patch of nothing?"

"What's--"Then suddenly I saw smoke. "The hell did you do?!"

He was growling. He had fully transformed now. If not for his eyes, I would have not seen him coming from the brush. I got in the driver's seat and opened the passenger door. He jumped in back of the van, his clothes in a drawstring bag on his back, and changed into human form. "Home made tear gas. They triggered it the second they closed the door." 

"What did you do?" I asked as I pulled out of the parking lot slowly. 

He started getting dressed. "Used the extra blankets and pillows to make it look like one of us was sleeping, and turned on the shower to make it seem like one of us was taking a shower." 

"The deposit box?"

"Dropped the key next to the phone," he shrugged. "It's just a note saying that the money in the envelope is theirs." He was quiet for a moment. "How much longer to Wisdom?"

"If we floor it, before dawn." I saw the look on Dar's face with my peripheral vision, and put the pedal to the metal.

"Phone?"

I felt my heart leap. Dar said he didn't want to use cell phones, so this was bad. I handed him my phone. He took a picture of his backpack and watch and sent it. "What was that?"

"Zuri will understand," he said. "I just told her that the pack may be in danger. She'll tell Amber, and she'll know what to do next."

"Watching the pack's back?"

"Pretty simple." He took a breath. "Stop the car, I'm driving."

I pulled over and switched places with him. I was going eighty! 

"Strap in, alpha." He said, strapping himself in.

"But who--"

"No, what, Ian, what," Dar frowned, slipping into the passenger's seat. "What is in Wisdom they don't want us to have? What is it they don't want us to know?" He took off and hit a hundred. I decided to stay silent for the rest of the trip for obvious reasons.