Twizzlers (MxMxM)

Chapter 9 - Vacation's Over

"What's your pack like, Aaron?" Aubrey asked me excitedly, looking out the window of Evander's car.

We stayed in his apartment for another day to allow him to heal. His sire brought him a few blood bags, including some extra to take with him in case blood wasn't readily available back at our base. Given my feelings on the topic of him feeding on me, it was a smart idea.

Evander was, thankfully, much better now. The bullets had taken a lot out of him, so he spent most of yesterday sleeping. Aubrey and I hung around him, not sure what to do if he was asleep. When he woke up in the evening, he told me about what he and his sire had talked about earlier. To say I was concerned would be the understatement of the century.

What the hell had we gotten ourselves into? Assuming this was the Eye's work, then they were more than just a cult with influence in a single American state. Were they global? Was there something else going on? Worrying about it was all I could do as we drove. The moment we arrived, I'd talk with Erin and the others about it. They needed to know about what was potentially going to change and I'd honestly rather tell them in person than do it over the phone.

"Aaron?" Aubrey called out, pulling me from my thoughts.

Shoot, I forgot about his question. I turned away from the window to face the grinning nymph. "It's nice. We basically make up our entire town, so there's plenty to do and lots of people to meet. Hopefully, you'll like it."

But, we weren't going there just yet. When we decided to attack the Eye with the neighboring packs, we set up a base of operations somewhere we could all get to with few difficulties. It'd been a few weeks since I'd been in our pack for more than a couple of hours. We'd been so busy planning, researching our enemy, and arguing a lot. The packs could barely settle on agreed meeting times, let alone plans of action. It was headache-inducing.

"I can't wait to see the others. I'm sure they're happy we're all free," Aubrey mused, leaning back in his seat.

"Hopefully my people tried finding contacts for your friends. They deserve to go home or wherever they wish to go," I said.

A few minutes later, we were finally able to go off-road after about three hours of nonstop driving. The city was fun and all, but it was so crowded. I much preferred the peaceful forest.

"Do you think your pack will like me?" Aubrey suddenly piped up again.

I glanced over again and he was worrying his lip between his teeth. I offered a small smile. "I'm sure they'll love you," I reassured him.

He smiled, looking significantly less worried.

Half an hour later, we were driving up a dirt path that led to a secluded and very large two-story cabin. Surrounding it were tents and trailers, as well as the trucks and cars we'd brought. It was kind of funny all of this could be kept hidden in a forest, but we were pretty far from any hiking trails or towns.

Evander parked his car off to the side of the cabin with a few other cars. We all exited his car, only for our heads to turn when we heard my name get called.

"Aaron! You're back!"

Ryder ran at me full speed, tackling me to the ground as he followed. I groaned, pushing him off. "Geez, Ryder. You know I hate that."

"I missed you so much. Don't you ever leave me again," he dramatically cried, before laughing loudly. "Goddess, Erin blabbed my ear off worrying about you, and Wren almost went out to try and find you."

I rolled my eyes, sitting up. "Of course. Thank goodness those idiots didn't. I'm fine."

I helped Ryder stand before I realized my mates were still there, standing awkwardly. "Oh. Ryder, these are my mates, Evander and Aubrey. Evander, Aubrey, this is one of my closest friends, Ryder. He's my future gamma."