Finally Home | (boyxboy, werewolf)

Chapter 42

Don't judge my dragon nature, I've heard  all your little cries the past months. I figure now is as good a time as any. Honestly, I was waiting for the next holiday but decided you've all suffered long enough. Enjoy~ (There are some plot contradictions, I'm going to fix them when I eventually edit the whole book.)

Carmine

My eyes move back and forth out the dirty window, watching as scenery blurs by us. We've been on the road for hours, only stopping for gas or the occasional bathroom break. Every town sign we see reminds me of just how far we're going to be from the packhouse for this excursion. I'm not accustomed to gaining so much ground when travelling when I was on my own I would occasionally take a train or bus to get around. Though my primary form of travel was still walking.

A hint of blue and green out the front windshield takes my attention, and I make a note of the town name before it's behind us. The mental map of the area in my head is blurry but clear enough that I know where we currently are.

"Not much longer now," I force my leg to stop bouncing as my anxiousness rises. No part of this outing is routing in my favour. We're going to a pack, one that hates me, dealing with officials, so virtually the werewolf police force (Who also hate me), I'm under suspicion of several charges, and there's no set way for me to escape if things go sour. "Probably bringing a panic bag would've been a good idea. Chill Claw territory is large, but they have a major highway stop not too far from their perimeter. If I could outrun their patrols long enough to get outside their border, I might be able to jump on a trailer at the pitstop."

A warm hand on my leg interrupts my thoughts. My head shifts slightly, so my eyes can connect with Regan's reassuring ones. He gives me an encouraging smile, and I break eye contact for a minute to look out the window behind him, when I look back into his eyes, I find myself biting my lip. No matter how much I try to control my anxiousness from seeping into the air, he seems to feel it anyway. Maybe it's a werewolf thing, or I'm just that bad at controlling my body language.

The quiet conversation from Caleb and Jacklyn draws my eyes to the front seat. The words are loud enough to hear, but my consciousness doesn't bother translating their soft mumbles into understandable phrases. Regan has probably been having a conversation with Harrison beside him through their link since neither has spoken up for most of the ride.

Another sign flashes by, showing that we're nearly there as we turn off the highway. The smooth, maintained road quickly turns into one full of holes, bumps, and cracks before becoming a loose gravel path altogether. The fluffy greens of the trees morph into tightly clumped evergreens and stalks of skeleton-like spikes from the ground, such a dark brown most of them appear black. The closer we get to arriving, the stronger the urge to completely hide myself away in Regan's arms gets. Even just resting my head on his shoulder would help soothe my nerves a little.

Jacklyn stops her conversation and lets out a sigh of relief. I can barely make out her words as she mutters, "Finally," under her breath. I get the feeling none of us enjoyed the ride here, and our collective anxiousness about the future scenario made the drive feel a lot longer than it was.

I slowly sit up until I'm completely straight and take in the triple story building from the clearing ahead of us. The brown house almost blends in with the muted colours surrounding it. My eyes stay glued on the house as Caleb follows the dirt driving circle and parks off to the side, not far from a white minivan. When we drive past the front door, I tilt my head to get a full view of what we're walking into.