“You haven’t had chest pains, or any sudden
weakness?”
Clara shook her head.
“That’s good. I’m sorry if I frightened you
before.”
“It’s fine,” she replied.
“Do you think she’s alright to move?” Tyson
asked.
“I wouldn’t unless you think it absolutely
necessary. The best thing would be to let her rest another
day.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Tyson agreed
with a nod.
“I’m well enough,” she said with a scowl.
“You don’t have to stick around this place because of me…but I
don’t want to go anywhere unless it’s closer to Jothram.”
Tyson growled and wheeled to face her. “Why
can’t you forget about him?”
“How can I?” She yelled too and returned his scowl with one of her
own. “You promised you would take me to him.”
“I won’t allow it, not now.”
“I’m not going anywhere until I’ve met
Jothram.” She crossed her arms and sat on the bed.
“There is no way that will happen!
Especially not now! Forget him!”
Clara shook her head and looked away. Tyson
growled a string of strange words under his breath and glowered
before leaving the room, slamming the door behind him. The room
shook then fell still. The others had been holding their breaths in
anticipation and exhaled to relax after he’d gone. Mesha went to
sit next to Clara, putting an arm about her shoulders.
“You shouldn’t push him so strongly,” she
said.
“Yeah,” Callan agreed. “Give him time.”
Clara shook her head and opened her mouth to
argue, but Jack cut her off. “I think our patient has had enough
excitement for today. Clara, you should try to get as much rest as
you can before we leave tomorrow.”
“I’ll stay with her,” Mesha said.
“So will I,” Callan added.
“Great,” Jack said and rubbed his neck,
glancing about the room as if it might collapse on him. “I don’t
know how much more of this place I can take.”
Jack left and Dawn followed.
“Sis, I…” Callan’s sentence trailed off. He
knew enough, by the look on her face, that he should keep his mouth
shut. Tears brimmed her eyes and she yanked the covers back only to
hide in them a moment later. In a rare display of camaraderie,
Mesha and Callan exchanged worried expressions. Neither of them
could think of anything to say and listened to Clara until she fell
asleep.
Despite her spoken determination to stay in
one place until she’d met Jothram, Clara did not mention it again
the next morning as she endeavored to practice patience. Tyson did
not return until the morning after. She was packed and ready to go
when he stormed in looking cross.
“We’re leaving,” he announced. Dawn and
Callan got to their feet. Jack and Mesha had been out since the
night before. Clara knew better than to ask where they were going.
Tyson had secured yet another vehicle for their transportation.
Jack, Dawn and Mesha decided to run and Clara was left to travel
with Tyson and Callan. As before, Callan insisted she ride in
front.
Traffic kept them in the city for two hours,
in which time Callan spread out in the spacious rear compartment of
the SUV and fell asleep. Tyson remained tense as they slowly made
their way out. Clara thought he might be trying to strangle the
steering wheel. When they eventually emerged from the populated
area, he seemed less on edge. He finally breathed a sigh of relief
when they drove beyond any sign of life and there was none to show
for miles.
“You have been unusually quiet,” Tyson said
as they passed rows and rows of desiccated corn stalks. She glanced
to her brother to ensure he was asleep before answering.
“You left me with little choice,” she said
and turned from him to gaze out the window.
“I don’t do these things to hurt you.”
“I understand, but I don’t disagree for the
fun of it either. I want…” She paused when his eyes flashed,
sighing in frustration. “Never mind.”
“Perhaps we should discuss it further when
we’ve found a safe place to hide.”
“Are we running out of hideouts?”
“Not quite yet. I have a friend who will
hide us in her pack for now.”
“How long will it take to get there?”
“I reckon two or three days. They live in
Colorado, in the mountains.”
“Your hideout was in the mountains too. I
had no idea wolves love mountainous ranges so much.”
“
Were
wolves love anyplace they can
roam where the chance of them running into an innocent is very
small.”
“Listen, Tyson, I…I never really got to
thank you for—”
“It’s fine, you don’t have to thank me.”
She swallowed another sigh and returned to
watching fields zing by.
Late that night they met up with the others
at a hotel where Clara was given food and made to rest. Mesha rode
with them when next they started off, allowing Callan a chance to
run. They switched places again the next day, but Tyson was always
behind the wheel.
He drove them over the Colorado border while
Clara napped. She woke as they passed through a small town called
Ridgway and kept driving toward the beautiful blue mountains ahead.
The road was a bit too familiar. Once they left the asphalt, it
reminded her of the road Mark had taken before setting wild dogs on
her. Rocks and dust spewed behind them as the wheels ground in the
dirt road. The steady clinking of stones hitting the undercarriage
was the only sound aside from the whine of the engine. The SUV
climbed higher and higher, driving by long grass that had turned
yellow in the late season and the aspens that were speckled with
red.
“How far is this place?” Callan asked,
giving Clara a slight shock. The last she’d checked on him he’d
been asleep.
“We’ll have to go on foot some of the
way.”
“Don’t tell me we’re going to ditch our car
again?”
“Maybe we’ll just hide it,” Tyson said. “We
may need it if we have to leave here in a hurry.”
They rounded a fork in the road, taking the
less traveled of the two, the one marked with a sign warning
trespassers to keep out. The vehicle bounced and lurched as the
road became steep and uneven. Tyson guided it to a point where the
ground leveled off and the road fell under the shade of trees.
There was another steep ascent about five hundred yards ahead. He
pressed the gas pedal to the floor to gain speed and they shot
forward. There was flash of color on the road and he slammed the
brakes just before Clara screamed a warning. They were covered in a
cloud of dust by the time the car jerked to a stop. As the dust
settled, a woman could be made out. She was standing with her hands
on her hips. Her white-blonde hair was pulled back in a tight
ponytail secured with a few bands down her back. The skin tight
clothing she wore revealed her rippling shoulders and strong trunk.
She strode easily to them on her powerful legs, marching directly
to Tyson’s door. He popped it open and stepped out.
“Felina! Were you trying to get yourself
killed?” he barked.
Felina’s strong jaw jutted forward and she
scowled at Tyson from under her stern brow. “A car could not kill
me. This you know. You cannot come any further,” she said in a
heavy Russian accent.
“I don’t understand,” Tyson said. “I called
you last night.”
“You did not say you would bring a mortal,”
Felina gestured toward Clara. “I cannot allow a mortal near my
pack, Tyson.”
“She’s with me, Felina, she can keep our
secrets.”
“I do not doubt your friends. I have five
pups…
five
of them! Your mortal would be in danger here.”
Tyson leaned against the car with a heavy
sigh. “Five?” he asked in disbelief. “Where did they come
from?”
“Who knows? They have scarcely learned to
communicate. I was hoping you could help tame them, but I see you
have your hands full. Take the mortal somewhere else. Rodger is not
far from here and he can be trusted.”
“I’ll look in on it,” Tyson said with a nod.
“I wish I could help.”
Felina shrugged. “I’ve learned some taming
tricks in my time, the pups will be fine.”
“I hope so. Thanks anyway, Felina.”
“Of course, I only wish I could help
more.”
Tyson slid back into the car and Felina was
gone.
“Wow, Ty,” Callan said under his breath.
“She looks even meaner than you.”
Gripping the steering wheel hard, Tyson let
loose a slow growl between his teeth and a string of strange curses
tumbled out under his breath. His eyes bore into the road ahead as
if he could see through rock and tree. “Five pups,” he whispered,
more to himself than anyone.
“Do you think it means anything?” Callan
asked.
“Yeah,” Tyson said and jerked the wheel,
cranking it to reverse and turn the SUV around. “It means there are
five more werewolves that never should have been.” A raging storm
surfaced in his eyes and his face fell. The brooding silence that
followed encompassed the entire cab.
The journey down the mountain was not as
quick as the one up, nor as pleasant. With Tyson glowering at their
path ahead, it was a wonder the road did not up and run off in pure
fear. As if his foul mood was not bad enough, the overheated brake
pads were letting off an acrid stench that seemed to burn through
their skulls. The smell soon passed when they left the mountainside
and returned to the paved road. It wasn’t until then that Callan
dared lean forward to address Tyson.
“So, what’s the plan?”
“We’ll hide with Rodger for a few days,”
Tyson said. “Just until Mesha, Dawn and Jack have caught up.”
“Then where to?”
“Perhaps it would be best if we left the
country for now.”
Callan’s emerald eyes glittered with
excitement. “We could go to the Bahamas!”
Tyson’s laugh was half a bark. “The Bahamas,
Cal? A bunch of little islands strung together with nowhere to
really run?”
“We could swim instead,” Callan pointed out.
“I can just imagine swimming in the warm water while the waves
reflect the shine of the moon. Doesn’t that sound tempting?”
“Not really, there are too many
innocents.”
Callan sighed and leaned against his seat
with a smile on his face. “I know you’re right, but it would be
awesome.”
Clara twisted in her seat to better see her
brother’s wistful smile. “Did you get to travel much before you
were bitten?”
“Not really. I was infected only a few
months after I left home and what money I came by before then, I
threw away.”
“You’ll get a chance to travel,” Tyson said.
“You’ll have lots of time to do whatever you want.”
She sat back hard, never so conscious of her
mortality than in that moment. She bit her lip to keep from crying
yet again and pretended to be interested in the scenery. Callan’s
hand snuck to her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. Without
looking, she reached back to clasp his hand.
The rest of the
pack didn’t show up at the hotel that night, but that didn’t keep
Tyson from pressing on.
“Why don’t you call them?” Clara asked when
they were well on their way.
“I did, but they didn’t answer. The phones
don’t really work when they’re in their wolf forms. They’ll call if
they need something.”
“How do the phones stay on their body at
all?” she asked.
“I suppose it’s part of the magic,” Tyson
responded.
“Do you know how far Rodger’s is from here?”
Callan asked as his leg bounced up and down. Mesha had not come to
take his place and he was nervously tense in the closed
environment.
“I don’t remember for sure, but we won’t go
too far. Will you be alright?” Tyson asked him and Callan
nodded.
“Yeah, it’s no big deal.”
“Let me know if it becomes one.”
Tyson drove southwest until they were very
nearly in Utah. Mountains stood before them and behind them, but
their immediate surroundings consisted of protruding rock
structures and miles of red dirt. He turned off the road at a place
that could hardly be discerned as a road and a red dirt cloud
followed them as he sped along. They rounded a bend hidden by pine
and juniper trees. Sagebrush grew tall in every direction, some
almost as tall as the trees. He kept them on the dirt path until
night settled and Clara lost track if they were even in Colorado
any longer.
Finally, they came upon a road that veered
through a wooden fence. An arch made of hundreds of antlers covered
the road as if warning them to keep out. Tyson stopped before
passing under the arch. He killed the engine and stepped from the
car.
“Stay here,” he commanded and slammed the
door shut. Clara glanced to her brother, who looked perplexed. When
she looked up there was no sign of Tyson.
“Does he do this often?” she asked her
brother skeptically.
“I think it’s a territorial thing. He’s
asking permission to enter Rodger’s land.”
She scanned the land for life, but the huge
antler arch commanded attention. “How many antlers do you think are
up there?” she asked, leaning in her seat to look up at the
structure.
“I dunno,” Callan replied.
“Do you think Rodger’s pack killed the elk
they belonged to?”
“I couldn’t say,” Callan said. “I suppose
anything is possible.”
She wrinkled her nose and turned away from
the display of animal bones, choosing instead to let her eye fall
on the center console of the car. She’d seen it hundreds of times
as they made their way halfway across the country, but Tyson had
been present those times. His small silver phone, a cheap, quick
replacement for the smart phone she’d broken, sat innocently in a
cup holder. She stared at the thing as an idea slowly formed in her
mind and she reached for it.
“What are you doing?” Callan asked, suddenly
hovering behind her.
“Do you think Jothram’s number could be in
here?” she whispered, grasping the small plastic frame in her
hands.