The Dark and Hollow Places; Book Two

Getting Closer

            “Why don’t you let me drive?” I ask Will. We have been driving village through village and on hundreds of miles of dirt roads. Things were taking longer than expected because animals tended to sit in the middle of the road. Will and I had to get out multiple times to get them to move.

            “I’m fine.” Will says just as he starts to yawn. I give him a hard look. The last thing we needed was to get into a car accident. He finally nods and pulls over to the side of the road. I get in and we start driving again. Mortain was in the back just sleeping like the lazy cat he was.  

            As I drove, I couldn’t help but think about my pack and family back in Russia. Being a werewolf was a huge part of my life now and I guess it sort of always has. I was worried that Garth had maybe done something to them. I know the weather was all haywire because of the Stone’s movements. The stone needed to be destroyed and Garth needed to be killed.

            It was almost sunset when we reached our destination. This place was sort of like the suburb type living. Houses spread evenly apart with stores and strip malls. It look a lot like America, but as we traveled forward, the suburb life turned right back into rural. I knew we were close. The preserve that we had to go to was just a half hour away and in the tropical forest was the temple that held the stone. I was ready to destroy it and I just wanted to go back home and sleep for a long time. I also wanted to do normal things. Yes I did “graduate” high school, but I wanted to go to college or something like that. I wanted more than just this.

             I was an alpha with Will to a very large pack and yet, I felt like we weren’t even doing our jobs. I was scared that we would fail and all our efforts would be for nothing. That we would all die and I would never have kids of my own. Or even have my birthday…In fact, I think I might have missed my birthday. It was in the summer and I had no idea how long we were in Arcadia. I search in my pack for the mini-cell phone that was given to me by Faheem. The date read August 10th. The car came to a halt and Will jolted awake. I missed my freaking eighteenth birthday.

            Tears just started streaming down my face. How did I miss two months of my life? My birthday was July 13th and I missed it. People say it was a special day to turn eighteen because you were officially an adult. Will looks at me and furrows his brow. He puts a hand on my shoulder.

            “What’s wrong?” He asks. I look at him.

            “I missed my birthday. We have been gone for two months and I am now eighteen.” I say to him. I knew that we were not in arcadia for two whole months. That didn’t make sense. I counted each day and I was sure we were only there for maybe two weeks or less.

            “Oh babe. I’m so sorry.” He pulls me into a side type of hug and I wipe the tears away. I was more angry by how much time passed and I was so oblivious to it. He pulls me back to look at me. “Happy belated Birthday though.” Will says with a smile. We both laugh and I kiss him fully on the lips. Will always made me feel better. I take a deep breath and start driving again.

            “Where are we?” Mortain asks all while jumping into my lap. Knowing that he was once a Bascal Fey, I was surprised that Will let him do that. He had feelings of affection and love and lust even though he was a cat.

            “Almost at the preserve. Then the real fun begins.” I say. Mortain rolls his eyes and Will laughs. I smile and continue driving onward. By the time we reach the preserve it is closed, but will just exits the car, breaks the chain and opens the gate up. I drive on through and park on one of the spots. There was warning signs everywhere in English and Hindi. They say to not enter the preserve without a guide and all this other stuff on how dangerous the animals were. Tigers and all these other dangerous animals out there. Will and I were wolves and I was pretty sure we could fight off anything.