Omen of War

Chapter 6

April Patrick (P.O.V)

I stumbled along after Freya and Chiron. We had been walking for the better part of three days with little time to stop and rest. My feet were killing me, and my legs barely could keep me up. The sound of the forest was growing more and more silent, but with this embedded silence came a louder and harsher sound that echoed out from the tree line ahead. The smell of gas filled my nose while the sound of cars filled my ears. It wasn't long before I was staring at a parking lot from the tree line. There were multiple cars in the parking lot and as I glanced at each of their shiny exteriors over, I noticed a small wolf imprinted on the windows of the vehicles. They had driven out here and then hunted me down from there.

"We'll meet at the rendezvous point. Freya, Chiron, Cole, and Izadora, you four are tasked with taking the prisoner to the rendezvous point. I want updates on your position no later than every 30 minutes. Do you four understand me?" Neil spoke up as he looked over the four.

"Answer my fiancé," Sandra commanded as she stood beside Neil.

So, they were betrothed to one another. That would explain their packs working together and the obvious tension between the two packs. It was clear they weren't used to one another yet. I could try to altercate their packs and cause dissonance among the two packs. It would stop them from working together and cause their betrothal to be nothing more than a fallacy which could help me slip away undetected by both packs, but I needed to gain a friend or two from either pack to make this plan come to fruition.

"Understood Alpha Neil Wild of the Shadow Pack," Cole growled out.

Cole didn't seem to like or trust Neil at all. After Cole spoke up, I noticed that a few of the werewolves around me were muttering amongst themselves and eyeing Cole and Neil. They must have noticed the same thing as me. Cole was not a fan of Neil at all.

"Understood Alpha," Izadora spoke up as she bowed, keeping her eyes towards the ground.

"Understood," Chiron spoke up as he glanced back at me with a glare.

"Understood, Alpha Wild," Freya spoke up as she shifted her weight from foot to foot and kept her eyes on her brother.

"We should take off the rope. It might look bad if we walked out of a forest with someone tied up to the humans." Cole spoke up as he stared at Sandra.

"Remove the rope but keep her close. If she runs, kill her." Sandra told him before motioning to the other werewolves to get in their vehicles.

I watched Cole as he came over to me and took the rope from Freya. He untied me and quickly grabbed my arm. I wasn't even given the time to stretch before Cole began to pull me towards a black van. Izadora moved to my other side and followed along with the small group I was in.

Once we got to the van, Cole reached into his pocket and unlocked the van. I could fight my way out right now, but I had no clue where I was, and I would have to hope I don't run around in circles in the forest. I couldn't turn to my tiger form and foraging for food with nothing on my person to aid me was a reckless choice. My best choice of action was to let them take me wherever they were going to take me and keep my eyes on the signs as they went past. I would figure out where I am at some point along the way and thus be able to figure out a safe route to Miami, Florida. I needed to get to the docks and locate the Zackarath if it's even made its trip back to the human world. If it hasn't, I'll have to survive on my own for two months until they return for the supplies for Arilis and Zifa.

Cole opened the van door and helped me inside before motioning for Freya and Chiron to join me in the van. Freya got in and eagerly sat down beside me while Chiron sat in the back of the van directly behind me. Izadora opened the passenger side door and got in while Cole got into the driver's seat. I leaned against the armrest and stared outside at the van's surroundings and Cole pulled out of the parking lot and began to drive.