WE stayed idle in the car for at least an hour before Wade put the map down and turned the ignition on. He remained tight-lipped about our destination, even though I was bound to find out where we were heading upon arrival. His secretive manners no longer alarmed me, but they did continue to frustrate me.
There must be a reason he doesn't want me to know, I thought. But why?
As long as our destination did not include sacrificing myself in any form, I didn't see why he wouldn't rope me in the loop. I posed no threat to his plan. He was an Alpha, and I was just one of his pack members.
Unless... unless he thought I would think less highly of him if I found out.
What are you up to? I wondered when Wade had finally set the map down. He was not elegant in folding the map up, but after trial and error, he was able to slip the map back into his pocket.
"For your information, I can read a map," he said, pulling out of the parking lot.
"Okay," I said, my voice full of skepticism. "Then tell me where we're going."
In a much better mood than earlier, Wade answered, "A forest."
Blinking with a dull look on my face, I commented. "If you haven't noticed, we've been surrounded by the forest for hours now."
"I've noticed."
"And?"
"I didn't say we were going to just any forest, Violet," I hated the way my name felt so right on the tip of his tongue, like it was meant to belong there. Not only was it destined to be there, but the distance between us should be closed.
I turned my head to the side, stifling my breath. I didn't want Wade to see the effect on me, even if it was a result of the budding rash on my neck.
"Well," I sighed, "You haven't exactly told me where we were going in the first place. I didn't have much to work with, Wade."
From the reflection in the mirror, I could see Wade's hands tightened against the steering wheel as he relaxed his shoulders. "A forest."
"But not just any forest," I explained with a slight smile.
"See," he exhaled. "You're catching on."
Shrugging my shoulders, my smile widened. "I'm a quick learner."
Clearing his throat, Wade started to say, "I'm curious."
He paused, looking over at me. I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to continue. He took a breath in and explained, "I'm curious." He bit his lip. "I've seen your placement results."
My breath faltered. He saw my placement results. He saw that I only received a 71% match. He knew I did belong; he just knew it. I felt as if some of my worst nightmares were being realized: he was going to confirm the suspicion that I had not been good enough to be placed in Training.
"You looked at my results?" My voice shrunk.
He nodded his head. "Back when I thought you were here to bring down Bluestrike, I did a background check on you. A thorough one."
"So, you basically know everything about me, then?"
"No." His head bounced side to side. "Like I said, I'm curious. If you don't mind telling me, why did you choose Training?"
I contemplated the different ways I could phrase my reasoning. "I want to be a part of Patrol."
"I remember you mentioning that to my family. Is it... is it because of the Reapers?" he asked.
"Reapars," I answered, and he understood. Letting a few moments of idle silence fall over us, I turned toward Wade, "On the topic of futures, you never did say what kind of Alpha you wanted to be."
He closed his eyes and relaxed back in his chair. "It's ironic. I wanted to be an Alpha who was always there for his pack. An Alpha that really listened, but, well, it's been two years of me being an Alpha, and I haven't even made an official appearance."
"There's still time," I offered as comfort.
"There might not be," he responded, his eyes focused on the road as he stretched his fingers.
Did his doubt have anything to do with what his grandfather said to him a couple of nights ago? Could it truly be too late for Bluestrike?
Halting my breath, I dared to ask, "Do you ever wonder... do you ever what would have happened if we met first?"
He turned toward me and slowly nodded. He whispered, "Yes."
Tearing his gaze from me, he said, "I talked with my grandfather. He was the reason we stopped at The Pit. He knows too much for his own good, but I asked him about you."
"About me?"
"More specifically, you being my..." the words choked in his throat. "My second chance mate."
"He knows?" I feigned naivety.
"He figured it out on his own," he snickered. "Like I said, he knows too much for his own good. But, I asked how it was possible to have two mates, and he has a theory."
"Care to elaborate?"
"When's your birthday?" he asked, and I scowled.
"November twelfth," I said. "Shouldn't you know this from the background check you did?"
"Your date of birth was not my top priority when conducting the background check." He raised his hands up for a moment. "Born November twelfth, sometime in the late evening?"
"Yeah," I nibbled on the inside of my lip, "At eight—"
"Thirty-two P.M.?"
"How did you—"
"It's the same day and time Willow was born," he responded with difficulty. "It's the exact same time and date."
"What does that mean?"
He twisted his lips in thought. "My grandfather doesn't think it's a coincidence. Have you ever heard of a Celestial Event?"
In disbelief, I said, "Yeah, yeah, I actually have."
"Good," he mused. "My grandfather thinks you and Willow may have been born on a Celestial Event, which might have caused the mate pairing to fall through the cracks."
"It would explain a lot."
"It's just a theory," he said.
I nodded my head and crossed my hands over my chest. This theory gave me a lot to think about. If I had met Wade before he found Willow, where would I be in life? Was our mate pairing just a result of a glitch in the system?
Regardless of how much I wanted answers, I knew I was not going to get any. Wade turned the music on, and my eyes started to droop. It wasn't long before I was whisked away by dreams.
My dreams were all the same.
Wade was in every one of them.
They would start off normal. Wade and I would be talking—more like bickering. To get his point across, Wade would inch closer to me. He kept coming closer until there wasn't any room left to divide us. His breath would be hot on my face as his lips hovered over mine before planting feather-light kisses along my neck.
His hands soothed my shoulders before gently trailing my body, slithering further and further down my body until his hands snaked around my thigh. His hands would then climb to the base of my thigh, and I would have to bite my lip to keep from screaming or moaning—I couldn't decipher which.
But then the dream would start all over again, just as things were about to progress.
It was an endless cycle. An endless cycle I did not want to ever stop.
But it all came crashing down when I was slowly rustled awake, "Violet."
I remained unmoved, groaning instead. I heard the sound of someone exhaling loudly, and then my shoulders were shaking. A satisfying warmth radiated from my shoulder as my name was repeated, "Violet, wake up."
"Hm?" I slowly riled awake, vision blurry. I stretched my arms out and then whipped the hair off my forehead. My hair had begun to stick to my skin as it trickled down my neck.
Why was it so hot in here?
"Exciting dream?" Wade asked but then quickly said, "Shit."
Not paying too much attention to Wade, I rolled the window down and stuck my head out. I welcomed the cool air on my face. My body instantly relaxed, and I could think more clearly.
I sighed in relief and muttered, "It's hot as fuck in here."
"Violet," Wade's voice was sterner this time. "Put your head back in the car."
Angling my head to the side so I was still receiving the relief of the air while being able to see Wade, I smirked. "It feels good, though."
"Shit," his eyes dilated, not an ounce of amusement could be seen on his face. "Violet, put your fucking head back in this car. Don't you know how dangerous that is?"
Grumbling to myself, I reluctantly sat back in my seat as Wade rolled the passenger side window up with the control on his side of the car. I groveled, nestling into my seat with a flare for the dramatics. No matter how hard I tried to get comfortable, I was unable to sit still. My body ached all over. It felt like a thousand pins and needles were stabbing my skin.
"It hurts, Wade," I breathed, pushing my feet against the dashboard to sink into my seat. I waited for relief that never came.
"I know. I'm sorry—just hold on," he gushed as I heard his foot slam against the gas pedal.
The car lurched forward, and my stomach along with it. "I think I'm going to be sick."
But the onset of nausea never developed further. The aches in my body continued, and I had to squeeze my thighs together for some semblance of relief. Every so often, a groan would escape my lips.
I had resorted to leaning my head against the window, but the burst of satisfaction was short-lived. Wade blasted the air conditioning, but the cool air was no match for my internal body temperature. I was still burning up.
Eventually, the car pulled in front of a steep-looking building. From my vantage point, I could not get a good view of where we were. But I wondered why we had even stopped in the first place.
Squinting at the building, I inquired, "Wha—where are we?"
"A hotel," he explained, moving at lightning speeds as he was at my side of the car in a blink of an eye. "Your heat has started."
"Fuck," I exhaled, toppling into Wade when he opened the door.
I could feel the tension between us rising, and Wade said, "We've got a long night ahead of us."