Kol

Chapter 10

Kol maintained a tight grip on my hand as he handed me a blue box but I didn't take it. I glared at him until he turned to face me.

He seemed confused, "what?"

I sighed, "Don't you think we've got enough stuff." I pointed at the red basket overflowing with Tylenol, Advil, ten other kinds of Ibuprofen, pain-relieving creams, bandages and even band-aids. 

At this point, he was just trying to make fun of me for being human. 

"No, you might need this." He proceeded to throw the blue box into the basket.

"You're joking. Is this your way of ostracizing me for being human?" I playfully accused him.

His expression remained serious. "I am not ostracizing you, Alice. I simply like to be prepared."

I sighed and let him continue browsing. At least I wouldn't run out of my car-sickness pills.

Maybe my comment made him realize he was overreacting because he walked straight towards the cashier a minute later, pulling me along with him.

He payed for the drugs and we walked out, his hand slowly leaving mine as he opened the passenger door for me. 

When he starts the car I ask him how long the drive back is.

"About 30 minutes." He pulled out of the parking space.

"What? Then why did Ava drag me so far away?" How dare she willingly put me through that horrid nausea.

"She doesn't know about this gas station. It's fairly new. Remember she hasn't lived here for a few years. And it's far enough from the usual path to town that she wouldn't have been able to sense it."

"Oh, right."

An awkward silence filled the car.

"Why did she decide to leave?" Maybe I was being nosy but it was easier to continue talking with him about Ava than it was to initiate the conversation about us being mates and what that meant.

"You should ask her that." His response was short, almost sharp.

"O-kay." My response was low. 

I turned to face the woods, admiring the richness of the colors as we breezed by. It was still early, and the sunlight would show through a couple branches before hiding away behind the thick bark and leaves. I'd never even gone camping. The city was always where I'd lived so the woods held mystery and I found myself wondering what my life would've been like if I had grown up in the country. 

Maybe I'd be wearing cowboy boots rather than sneakers.

"I know you don't want to talk about us, but there are a lot of things you have to understand, Alice. I also know you have many questions. And I don't want to wait any longer. You're only going to get more nervous. Talk to me right now."

He'd probably heard my racing heart beat. That wasn't fair.

I turned to face him, "Ava told me a lot. I just don't even know how much more there can be. I mean, the pain thing was something I didn't know about. How much more is there?" I could tell he understood I felt overwhelmed.

 Ava had told me so much yesterday and apparently that wasn't all I should know, there was more, but how much more could I really wrap my head around before I went crazy?

He stole glances at me but kept his main focus on the road.

"I promise, we can figure this out together. It may seem strange now but I know this can work. You're not the only human who's been mated to a lycan so I know we can do this." He sounded hopeful.