AFRAID OF THE DARK

CHAPTER 3

There were no flights available to New York until the next day, but we needed to leave earlier. We decided to take a red-eye flight into Philadelphia and drive the rest of the way to our new pack in New York. Uncle Liam has already called his brother to expect us. We were given the okay to enter their pack territory. I only had enough time to wash the stench of garbage off of me and change into an outfit I bought from one of the shops in the airport. Finally, we were on the plane. It felt like an eternity before we were in a car distancing ourselves from my ex-mate.

"Do you think this is far enough from feeling the pains?" Locus asks with hope in her eyes.

We have already been driving in a rented car for about forty-five minutes. It's almost noon here, so either he didn't have morning sex or I'm too far off to feel it. I can still feel the emptiness caused from the rejection, but the bond was still there. I know he felt the emptiness as well.

"I think so. I don't know. I've never known cheating mates." I answer honestly.

"I think you were too good for him." She says after several minutes of silence.

"What?" I turn to look at her.

"Logan is known to date the bad girls and the sluts. They ditch, drink, get high, and screw. I kind of wish my family would have come with us. The pack is going to plummet if Logan doesn't change his ways before he becomes the Alpha when his father steps down. Add to that a slutty dimwitted Luna that is not his true mate." Worry marks her face. "It didn't even occur to me that he would be your mate, even though you both have Alpha blood. He's not what I pictured for you to have as a mate."

"How could the Moon Goddess get it so wrong?" Tears clouded my vision.

"I wish I knew. I feel terrible and feel like I lied to you." She frowns and looks at me.

"Don't. None of us would have foreseen this." I place a hand on hers to let her know it is what it is. There's nothing we can do about it. We know he's stubborn and there's little chance he will change his mind.

"I hate him." She says with venom.

"So do I." I look back at the GPS to see how much longer we have. It recalculates the route. "Locus, you were supposed to make that turn."

"Oops. Sorry." She winces.

I roll my eyes and shake my head, but I can't stop my smile. I've had a few adventures with Locus due to misdirections. They always turn out okay and we find ourselves discovering new places because of them. I lean back against the seat and watch the scenery as we drive. Pennsylvania is beautiful. It's dense with fragrant luscious trees and lots of beautiful...

We scream after the car hits an animal and it cracks the windshield as it's thrown over the hood of the car. The car swerves out of control and slams into a tree. I hold my hands out when I'm thrown forward. We are both breathing heavily, hearts pounding, and our eyes are wide, but we are okay. We unbuckle our seatbelts with shaky hands and climb out of the wrecked car. Whatever we hit is no longer there.

"Great!" Locus looks at the damage of the car. "We can't drive this. What now?"

"Let's call for help." I reach into the car to grab my backpack and remove my phone from the front pocket.

I curse beneath my breath when I don't get service. I walk around the area trying to get a connection and bump into Locus. She's trying to do the same thing I am. I sigh and look around the area. I suddenly feel as if we are being watched. I sniff the air and can smell that we are in another pack's territory. I don't have a good feeling about this.

"Cam, I think we should start walking. I don't have a good feeling." Locus grabs her backpack from the car and pulls me to walk with her.

We only get a few feet away from the car when we hear vicious growling. I turn around and see three rogue wolves near the car we just left. One of them is limping slightly. Locus and I run into the woods hoping we have a better chance of escaping. We drop our bags and shift into our wolves. She trips slightly over her torn clothes, but catches up to me as we run from the wolves.