My sister lifted her head from Mom’s shoulder and wiped at her tears. “Be careful, Xander, okay? There’s a reason we don’t have anything to do with the covens in this state. Those witches hate us. And their magic... it’s as dangerous as it is powerful.”
I clenched my hands into fists and nodded at her. “Well, the hatred is mutual. And wolf shifters can be just as dangerous, especially when there’s good reason to be riled up.”
I headed over to the bed once again, and kissed my family goodbye. Then I quickly made my way home again. Kyle was already there, packing for our trip.
“We’re driving, yeah?” He lifted our sleeping bags into his arms.
“Yeah. Good idea. Then we can take food and camping shit.”
I’d considered just shifting and running. Three hundred miles wasn’t that far. We’d be able to do it in a couple of days. Three or four at most. But if the witches hated wolves as much as I expected, then a car would be a better option. Give them the idea we were human when we neared their territory, before we revealed all.
“I’ll pack up the fridge, then we’re done,” Kyle said, before heading into the kitchen.
I grabbed a week’s worth of clothes and stared around my bedroom, a strange sense of premonition washing over me.
I had the weirdest feeling I wouldn’t be seeing this place for a long time to come.
***
KYLE
This plan was just plain crazy. I knew it, and my parents knew it. In fact, when I went to say goodbye to them, they begged me not to go.
But Xander was my Alpha, the wolf I would follow to the ends of the earth, and beyond if it was necessary. He’d been my best friend since the moment we could both walk, and when he decided to take on the role of leader of our pack—as I knew he would, one day—then I would be there, right by his side.
I packed food into bags and coolers, then threw everything into the back of the truck.
When I went back inside to grab pillows and my clothes, Xander was standing in his bedroom, looking around like he was lost. “Hey man, you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. Yeah, all good.” He rubbed a hand through his already-mussed-up dark hair, then turned and carried his bags to the truck.
I looked around too, just in case we weren’t back for a while, but didn’t get any hit of nostalgia. All I saw was a small log cabin. We’d built this place, but it wasn’t a real home, as such. It had provided comfort and warmth, but not much more.
Both of us had hoped to find our mate, then build them a real family home. I always joked about adding an extension on to our little cabin, but we both knew that if we ever found our mate, we’d be building them the grandest of homes to live in. Far better than all the other dismal little houses that made up the bulk of our village.
I always imagined something a little more grand—somewhere my children could be proud to grow up in. Somewhere to create a life, and memories, with the woman I loved.
When and if that ever happened, I would happily move out of here, leaving the small cabin for another pair of bachelors—or Xander if he wanted to stay.
“You wanna drive first?” Xander called out as I approached the truck
I shook my head and threw him the keys. “Nah. You go for it.”
It’d take us at least five or six hours to drive three hundred miles, depending on how tough the terrain was and what the roads were like. I glanced at the clock on my cell phone. Three p.m.
Assuming we stopped to eat and fill up on gas, we should be at the first coven before bedtime. “Let’s go then.”
We hopped in the truck cabin, and Xander started the engine before heading along the dirt road that led out of the village and through the forest surrounds.
“So, what’s the plan, exactly?” I asked as we waved at a few pack members on our way toward the main road.
“Find the witch. Make her reverse the curse,” Xander said, as though that was actually a plan.
I laughed. We were alone now, and I could say whatever I wanted.
“You know that’s not really a plan, right? That’s an objective. A goal. But a plan would have a few more steps in it, about how we’ll achieve that goal.”
“Like?”