One Bite

Chapter 3-1

The journey from the Northern territory, through the northeast portion of the Central Territory, and into the Eastern Territory was long.

And boring.

The landscape changed from the dramatic, picturesque white cliffs I'd appreciated in the Northern territory to rolling emerald green hills to flat, open grassy fields. The grassy fields were lovely for the first of our eleven hours in the car through the Central territory, then the waving blades of grass on either side of the road blurred together.

Elena's excitement, in the form of body twitches, like her knee bounced and her knuckles cracked, increased the closer we got. She gushed over the East's main packhouse having the finest library in the country. After whatever 'research' she had done in the North, she compiled a list of ten specific books in the East.

I couldn't bring myself to her level of enthusiasm, but this time I wasn't alone. Raina seemed to share my sentiments on the Eastern territory's breadth of history.

She blinked at Elena's questions about Northern pack history. "I don't remember half of it, sorry."

Two days of sleep deprivation and a monotonous prairie-like landscape lulled me into sleep. I dreamed that Lucus and Aspen were wrapped in each other's arms and wished me the best of luck finding a mate. To make the dream weirder, Aspen was pregnant.

'Bad news, Zara,' Cole woke me up with a mindlink. 'Your father is going to intercept us when we cross the Central territory going East.'

'How is that bad?' I rubbed my fists into my tired eyes.

After my heavy-lidded eyes opened, I blinked a few times. The interior of the car was black except for the faint glow of electronic devices.

'He's furious at you for rejecting Lucus.'

Bad news travels fast.

Sitting up, I rubbed my forehead with my palms.

'Definitely bad. Thanks for the warning.'

I sat back in my seat with a sigh. Not sure if rejecting Lucus was the right strategic move, since my reasons behind that decision felt weak, I chose a cop out. I cut any potential cord between us while he strengthened his natural mate bond with Aspen.

My father also warned me not to make any decisions until after we'd visited all four territories, so he'll give me an embarrassing, in-public tongue-lashing.

But Lucus himself was weak. He didn't trust me, didn't open up any of the secrets and intentions he held close to his chest.

He only acknowledged Aspen after I did.

The more I thought about the rejection, thoughts I kept to myself all day in the car so his sister didn't kill me for voicing them, the more my teeth tightened, nostrils flared, and shoulders wrenched up to my ears.

He couldn't stand up to his mate bond, or have the guts to reject me either. A bond between us would have been weak at best.

"Elena?" I whispered in the dark. "Are you awake?"

With rustling sounds and a low groan, she stirred in her seat. "Yeah?" she mumbled.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Mmmm... sure." She blinked her eyes open, then sat up and smoothed her flyaway curls down with her hands.

Of all the potential questions that I could have asked her in preparation for the Eastern territory, there was only one in particular I wanted to ask her about.