The Society II

Part 5

"You own a lot of stuff," Caleb comments. 

We had been sitting in silence for about forty minutes before he cracked. 

"I didn't live at home for almost eight years. It accumulated. There's even more in a storage unit," I inform him, turning my head to check on Pellet. He fell asleep while we were still packing my stuff, and he hasn't moved since, even when I put a little dish of food into the carry cage. 

"You moved out when you were eighteen?" He asks, glancing at me. It's the only time he has looked away from the road, which makes me feel incredibly safe in a vehicle with him. He seems like a safe driver, and he hasn't gone over the speed limits once - which I'm guilty of. 

"Well, technically seventeen. I started college a year early, I couldn't wait to start my life," I sigh, unable to stop the sound leaving my mouth.

"I'm not surprised after meeting your parents," he chuckles, turning the car pretty sharply onto a quieter road.

"I thought that we might stay at my step-father's pack this evening since it's going to get dark soon. If you would prefer to keep driving, we can do that, but I thought it might be easier to break up the journey into two. We've been on the move for a long time today, and I don't want you to be exhausted when we get to the capital," he explains. Something about how he says it sounds almost nervous to me, which surprises me. He seems very self-assured, and he moves with quiet confidence, never a hint of anxiety around him. It must be nice. 

I contemplate this for a moment. I know that the capital is around a six-hour drive from my pack, and we've already been driving for almost four hours total. I got the timing wrong between my home and the hospital, so that skewed it for me. I suddenly realise that he's probably tired from all of the driving that he's been doing.

"I can drive if you want to get there during the night, but I'm okay with staying over, either," I shrug, looking out the window.

The road is surrounded by fir trees, and I can see the shadows of wolves weaving in and out of the trunks as they race to keep up with the car. Most of the light remaining is blocked out by the shadows of the branches, and the scene looks like something from a fairy-tale or, alternatively, a horror movie. It wouldn't shock me if zombies burst out of the tree line and tried to eat my brain. 

"I think it might be best to stay overnight, but we'll see how it goes after we eat," Caleb murmurs.

I take my phone out, checking on all of my social media. Nobody is posting anything, mostly because my circle consisted of my ex, my dead best friend, and my mourning other best friend. 

I really need to try branch out.

But do we?, Christy asks, and I take a moment to think about it. I quite enjoy my own company, and it's a bit of a problem. I spoke to one person in the entirety of my nursing school experience, purely because I was happy to work away on my own. Friends are important, though, and I should probably make an effort to get to know the people who are going to be around me.

I suppose that this includes a certain High Alpha.

With this in mind, I turn my body to face him, tucking my phone under my leg on my seat.

"So, do you have any hobbies?" I ask, clasping my hands. I probably look like I'm about to start praying, but I'm envisioning crushing my awkwardness between my clammy palms.

"I like running, reading, and I enjoy volunteering with charities for kids," he lists, making another turn.

"What do you do at the Council?" I question. I should probably know that, but I never took any government classes in high school. I was on an almost purely science track, because my father interfered and sweet-talked the principal into changing a rule for me.