Evil is looming on the horizon.
Matthias can feel it. The rest of the pack senses it too. Their duty is to protect those who can't protect themselves, but how can they do that when the monsters they hunt are changing? After an increase in human dis...
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The anticipation was nearly killing me as we continued to drive. Matthias had pulled off the main highway about 10 miles ago and we'd been on a small gravel road ever since. He and I had been in the jeep for nearly an hour already and I didn't have the faintest clue as to where we were going. I wasn't too familiar with the area that surrounded the pack house yet, so it didn't take much driving to get me confused about where I was.
I'd asked Matthias where we were headed, but he refused to even so much as give me a hint. His mood had changed a little since we left and I could tell he was lost inside his own head. Typically, he wasn't a very expressive person but his brows had been drawn together in a near scowl the entire ride. He reassured me that he was okay, but I wasn't convinced.
Part of me was afraid that maybe I had upset him by bringing up his sister, but I knew Matthias, and I knew that he would tell me if I had. So, there had to be something else that was troubling him. Knowing him he was probably thinking about all the work he still had left to do before the other alphas arrived. He definitely took all his duties seriously and I admired how focused he always was. I wished that I had to ability to concentrate that way, but my mind seemed to be going in a thousand different directions all at once.
I took a deep breath and stared anxiously out the passenger side window, trying to figure out where we were going. It wasn't near civilization of any sort, that much I had figured out. If anything, we were going further away from it. Dense trees lined both sides of the road as we continued up a gradual incline and it didn't show any signs of clearing off.
We came to a sharp turn and the jeep slowed a bit as Matthias downshifted. The sudden deacceleration caught my attention. He'd taken turns just like this one must faster and now he was starting to slow down. Something stirred in my stomach and that all too familiar ache was beginning in my chest. I knew we had to be getting close. I sat up, fixating my eyes on the road in front of us.
My heart was racing as Matthias and I rounded the corner. Sitting in the middle of where the road split was that big black Dodge truck I'd seen sitting in the garage last night. Alaric was leaned up against the brush guard on the front as we pulled up. He had a cigarette pinched between his two fingers and was taking a long drag as the headlights from the jeep shone on him. Matthias flipped the lights off and crawled to a stop several feet from where Alaric stood.
"Better not keep him waiting," Matthias said lowly, giving me a little grin.
I leaned over and kissed his cheek, thanking him before climbing down out of the passenger side.
From the moment my boots met the gravel, Alaric had my full and undivided attention. I couldn't tear my eyes from him, even if I wanted to. Matthias pulled away slowly, leaving Alaric and me alone in the dark. The only bit of light we had was the dim yellowish glow coming from the marker lights of his truck. Luckily, being able to see in the dark came in handy during a time like this.
