“He made his intentions clear pretty quickly. Ravik is not the man you think he is. Either you're in, or you’re not,” Quinn said.
“I’m in,” he groaned.
“Anyone else not want to be a part of this? This is your time to get out.” Nobody moved, all of them staring at Quinn. “Didn’t think so.”
“What do you need from us?” one of them asked.
“You’re our backup plan. Y’all need to stay out of sight, unless needed. This way, none of you are looked at sideways for turning against the Novo,” Quinn said.
“Hyder, Quinn, and I will take care of Ravik. It should be an easy three on one,” Callie said.
“I prefer we not kill any other member of the pack,” Quinn said.
Everyone nodded in agreement. Quinn went over a few other things, and we all broke off and left. The plan seemed simple, but my gut told me something wasn’t right. They would leave me in the hotel tonight, they would all shift in the woods near where we were staying, and then start making their way back to Ravik’s.
We went back to the hotel, where Callie and Hyder went back to their rooms, and we to ours. We laid on the bed, cuddling, neither of us saying anything. We both drifted off into a nap, something we both needed after our restless night.
A knock on the door woke us both. The clock read four-thirty. Two hours before sunset. We’d slept for several hours. They wanted to grab some fast food before they went off into the woods. We all piled into the Civic and grabbed some chicken meals. Once we finished, we went back to the hotel.
“Last shift, you really have to be away from me,” he said, before pulling me into him. I melted into his arms.
I was terrified of being alone here, but I didn’t want to tell him that. At the cabin, I knew he was right outside. I’d never really been alone. He leaned back a little, putting his finger under my chin, lifting it.
“Tomorrow, we will be free, Zay.”
“I’m… terrified,” I whispered.
“I know you are, but I got you,” he said.
“We gotta go,” Callie shouted.
He placed a slow and gentle kiss on my lips. “Tomorrow.”
He let me go, his eyes piercing into mine, flashing me a half smile. I headed up the stairs and went into the room. I set the chain and deadlock. It took me a bit to settle in. I paced the room quite a bit, then I finally grabbed my book. I’d hit the midpoint where I was sucked into the story. Once my eyes started feeling heavy, I put the book down and grabbed the other pillow to cuddle.
The alarm I set went off at five. The sun rose around seven this morning, and Quinn said they would start shifting back around six. He wanted me to drive the truck to this road that was near Ravik’s. We would all get in the truck and drive to the house. My stomach was flipped upside down, and my throat burned.
Every bad scenario played into my head as I drove to the spot. What if Quinn got hurt? What if they hurt me? What if nothing went right? Callie? Everyone who was aiding this? I fought the urge to puke.
My knee bounced as I sat on the dirt road. My eyes glanced all around until Quinn walked out of the corner of the woods, only his hand covering himself, because they had traveled here in their wolf form and didn’t have any clothes. In the truck was a backpack filled with outfits for the three of them. He opened the door, unzipped the bag, and then pulled on his clothes and shoes. He leaned in, gave me a quick kiss, and then grabbed the bag and ran back into the woods. Within a minute, he was already running back. I slid over to the passenger seat, and he climbed into the driver's seat.
“Everything is going as planned. It looks like Ravik and Iva were the only ones who went back to the home,” he said. He reached over, grabbed my hand, and placed a kiss on my knuckles.
I nodded at him.
Within a few minutes, Callie and Hyder came from the woods, dressed. Callie opened the door, I scooted to the middle, and shegot in. Hyder jumped in the back. We continued down the dirt road, making a couple more turns. It felt like a maze in these parts. We parked before the woods stopped, close to the house. Quinn pulled into the ditch line, parking closer to the trees. We could see the house from here; it was quiet with only two vehicles parked near the house.
“Stay here, and lock the doors,” Quinn said.
“Okay,” I said.
“If anything seems off, drive as far as you can. There is a map and money in the glovebox. Go back to Lina’s, there’s a note on how to get there,” he said.
Callie sprang forward and stared at him, but nothing escaped her lips.
He pulled me into him and held me for a few heartbeats before pressing his lips onto my forehead. Then he and Callie stepped out and started walking toward the house. Hyder jumped out of the back of the truck and joined them.
My knee bounced faster and faster. My stomach was in a million knots. Puke was at the back of my throat. They walked into the house. My heart pounded in my chest. I started breathing faster. I threw my head back, closed my eyes, and started breathing in through my nose. I needed to control this; it wasn’t allowed to control me.
