Igniting Sparks

Chapter 35.

"How the fuck am I supposed to bring our species together?" Azura mused as she stared out the window of the car.

"Didn't we have this conversation a week ago? Remember?" Lucas shot quick glances at Azura as he was driving. "It ended up with you getting angry at...the situation, venting it out on me, us making the decision to do this as soon as possible after-"

"After I made things up to you," Azura butted in. "With my tongue."

"That's not what I wanted to say but I did enjoy that part for sure!" His infectious laugh filled the space around them, breaking the tension she had built in her body. Small wrinkles formed around his eyes and even though his short beard covered them, she could see the form of dimples in his cheek. "What I was about to say was, that after your lashing out on me, and me setting you straight, we did have a good talk. I just really don't like it when you get so angry with me over your own frustrations. I am on your side."

"I know that. "Azura heaved a sigh. "It was just too much, my head was overflowing and my rational thinking went overboard. I'm just nervous."

"About what?"

"Greenwood. Going back there. If I'm honest, that bothers me more than going to see the blue-eyes after. What if Andreas is angry with me?" She turned away from him and stared out the window again.

They had been on the road for two hours by now and as Lucas let a silence fall, she stared out the window watching the landscape pass by. It was strange how fast it was changing. During her time roaming around the country, she had never noticed but she had been moving at a much slower pace. The pine trees and mountains that surrounded Pleyvale were mostly gone here. There were many more Broadleaf trees around and the mountains retreated into hills and big open spaces of flat land. Agricultural grounds, farms, and an occasional village here and there filled the rest of the area they drove past.

"He's not. Trust me, he's actually looking forward to your return." The green-eyed man beside her gently squeezed her leg to reassure her.

"I didn't even have the guts to call him or my parents!" She squeezed her hands into tights balls, digging her nails into the palms of her hands again. "When we stop for the night, I'm definitely going for a run. I need to shift and stretch my legs."

"Really? Again? You just went two days ago. How come you need to shift so soon already?" Lucas looked like he had a big question mark floating above his head.

"I'm not like you, Dude. I just can't not-shift for years. I truly have no idea how you guys do it, but maybe that's one of the big differences between our werecats. I just get this urging feeling, a sensation where I just want and need to shift. If I ignore it, it will just grow bigger and bigger until the moment I can't resist any longer. Sometimes there can be a few weeks in between, sometimes it's just a matter of days. Depends on how agitated or nervous I am. You truly have no idea how often I have shifted when you didn't know I was a snow leopard, am I right?"

"Nope. And maybe it's a good thing I don't know, Firestarter." He chuckled.

"You're a big pussy you know that!" Azura couldn't hold back a snort and let herself sink back into the seat while staring at the road ahead of them as she turned the CD back on.

The car was actually more comfortable than she had dared to hope. The only downside was the CD in the player. It was stuck and it was an old mix from Lucas when he was in his teens. There were some good songs on it, but after two hours she had enough of it already and they were unable to receive any radio station due to a broken antenna. After hearing the song firestarter a couple of times Lucas had started calling her his firestarter and she was afraid it would stick. Though she had some major fun when she found out there was a spice girls song on the same CD and when he had started blaring along to the lyrics on the top of his lungs she had decided his new name was Baby Spice. She placed her head against the side window again enjoying the vibrations of the car while she stared at the rest of the traffic and surroundings. They would be on this highway for quite some time. Lucas placed his hand on her knee and gave it a little squeeze.