Chapter 5

I stared out the window of the truck I rode in, watching as the trees shot past me. We had been driving forever, or at least what felt like forever. The sun hadn’t even gone down yet, so clearly it hadn’t been too long. I watched Feredir out of the corner of my eye, waiting any moment for him to drop the charade. I kept expecting to turn and find him with his long black hair and his white eyes, but he continued to drive with his human appearance. I was beginning to wonder which was actually real.

My fingers drummed against the interior of the car. Anything to break the awkward silence that had taken over the vehicle since we left my house; my poor, newly destroyed house. For some reason, Feredir hadn’t been in the mood to talk since we entered the vehicle. I wasn’t entirely sure of the reasons but I hadn’t badgered him. However, I was growing antsy with the silence.

With a frustrated sigh I turned my attention back to the road, feeling as the sun began its descent. With every passing minute my skin began to crawl. The energy within the truck suddenly spiked along with the temperature. I wondered if he could feel it or if it was a werewolf thing.

“Are you going to tell me how you did that?” I asked as I pointed at him.

I slid back against the chair enjoying the rush from the early stages of the change. I could feel the flush to my skin as I rested my head against the seat.

“Did what?” he asked, his foreign brown eyes flashing to me.

“Change your appearance.”

“I am fae,” he said for probably the tenth time that afternoon, as though that explained everything.

“Lovely for you,” I responded, trying for sarcasm, but falling short from the languidness of my voice.

My eyes fluttered shut and I just let the change begin to pour over me.

A few seconds later, I heard him shuffle in the seat. I peeked out of the corner of one eye and saw his familiar black hair.

“Is this more suitable?” he asked.

I nodded and slumped even further into my own seat. Oddly enough it was.

I had quite the connection to the sun and could feel its descent, the last reaching rays spreading over the land.

“Are we almost there?” I questioned.

“We’re close. Why?”

I was practically humming with excitement. “I just figured I would ask.”

I could feel his eyes on me. I peeked once more through another slit of my eyelids and smiled weakly at him.

“Are you going to change?” he demanded in a hard voice.

“Mmmm,” I mumbled. “Soon.”

“Can you not hold it off?”

I frowned, hearing the accusation in his voice.

“It’s the night following the full moon. I don’t know if you’ve had any recent contact with werewolves but we change the night before the full moon and night after.”

“Your mother didn’t,” he whispered.

I immediately perked up in my chair, my eyes wide as I watched him continue to drive down the road.

“She didn’t?”

He gave a quick nod. “She only ever changed on the night of the full moon. Have you ever tried simply not changing?”

I shook my head. “Why would I? I enjoy being a wolf. And if we don’t hurry up, there’s going to be a wolf sitting on your passenger seat pretty quickly. And I’m not going to lie, I tend to get a little hungry after a change.”

He ignored the last half of my statement. “You enjoy being a wolf?”

“Of course,” I responded. “What’s not to like?”

He shrugged. “I am not one, so I would not know, but your mother dreaded the full moons. She told me once changing made her feel as though she lost half of who she was.”

I had never heard my mother mention anything like that. Of course I had no idea what we were until I was sixteen and she had already been gone by then. After the initial panic and fear of what I was, I began to enjoy everything about being a wolf. But that had been years later. It had taken quite awhile to deal with it. Maybe my mother had never been able to accept it?

“I don’t feel that way at all. When I change, it’s like I finally feel whole or complete. As though half of me had been missing up until that point. And the freedom that comes with a change is more than I can explain.”

“How long until the change?” he questioned, his voice a little breathy. Was he frightened of me?

Another wave of warmth brushed across me. I sighed, my chin tipping backwards.

“Soon,” I managed to get out.

I knew without looking the sun was on its last leg. The tickle within my stomach had begun to spread to my limbs and my fingers instinctively curled into my hand. I knew I was practically writing on the seat, but I didn’t care.

The truck swerved suddenly and my eyes opened to see that he was watching me.

“Watch the road,” I ordered, my voice coming out deeper than normal.

“My apologies,” he replied, fighting to turn his attention back to the road. “It has been a long time since I have witnessed a change like this. Your mother’s was always so violent.”

I nodded, I knew the answer to this.

“She fought,” I whispered, trying to control my voice. I didn’t want to scare him.

“Does it make that much of a difference?”

I nodded again, my eyes fluttering back shut. “It can. How far?”

I felt his eyes on me once more.

“Ten minutes. Will you make it?”

I shook my head, my blond hair sweeping across my back.

The last rays burst over the horizon and I gasped, my back arching forward.

I grabbed the edge of my hoodie and pulled it over my head.

“What are you doing?” he demanded. I ignored the slight swerve to the vehicle, but couldn’t help smile at the anxiousness in his voice.

“It’s coming and I don’t like destroying clothes.”

My voice was rough now and the words came out awkward. I touched the tip of my new fangs with my tongue. So close.

I popped the button on my jeans and shimmied them down, my underwear with them. Once again I sat naked in front of Feredir. For some reason though, he was nervous. I could smell it now.

With a sudden intake of breath, my skin slipped again and with an almost orgasmic feeling, I shifted, my head bowed down in the cab of the truck.

With a shudder, I threw my head back and bayed loudly. It echoed within the confines and when I opened my eyes I saw Feredir pushed against the door, giving me as much room as possible. It was then that I realized the last swerve of the vehicle had been us pulling over.

“You just couldn’t wait,” he said with the shake of a head, seating himself appropriately in the chair again. He put the truck in gear and slammed on the gas.

Get over it, I barked, a slight growl trickling out at the end.

He glared at me as though he could almost understand exactly what I was trying to say. Finally with the shake of a head, he leaned across my chest and rolled down the window.

Oh yes, I practically purred. I struggled to get my giant paws up on the edge of the door but once I managed, I poked my head out the window. The smells that assaulted my nose were almost too much but it was just too addictive. Now I saw why dogs did this. There was so much to see through scent. I could pick up on the animals we passed, the garbage on the side of the road, the scent of the trees. It was almost too much.

A familiar scent practically smacked me in the face and I drew back into the cab with a whine.

“What?” he asked.

I crept out the window again, pulling that same scent in towards me. It was musky, almost like the scent of death. I knew I had smelled it once before but I couldn’t place it. But regardless, I knew it was scent I didn’t like. A low growl leaked out, my lips twitching up over my fangs.

“Bailey,” Feredir said. “I am not pulling over for you to chase rabbits so knock it off.”

I turned back towards him and pulled in his now familiar scent of ginger. Then turned back to the window. There it was again, that mysterious smell. What caught my curiosity was the fact that it wasn’t fading as we gained distance. It was almost as though whatever belonged to the smell was keeping up with us.

The scent of death smacked me in the face again. I suddenly made the connection.

I spun in the seat and yipped at Feredir.

“Seriously Bailey,” he sighed.

Vampyres, I shouted at him. It came out as a bark but it was the only way I could communicate this to him.

I spun towards the window and howled. My head bowed and my haunches rose instinctively.

It must have been this that caught his attention because he finally turned to me with concern in his eyes.

I watched his nostrils flare. As the connection sunk in, his eyes widened and he slammed on the breaks.

What the hell was he doing? I danced between him and the window, searching the darkness for any movement.

“I cannot lead them to where we are going Bailey,” he informed me. “Our only option is to stay and fight.”

But we didn’t even know how many there were! I wanted to shake some sense into him. I was definitely thankful that I was in wolf form. If we were planning a fight this was the way I’d rather do it. I was definitely more confident, but then the memories from last night came haunting me. That vampyre had wiped the floor with me. Hopefully Feredir knew how to take care of himself.

He slid out of the car, leaving the door open for me to follow, which I did slowly. I pressed my nose to the ground and sniffed. They were close by, more than likely following us the entire way, hoping for the right moment to attack.

Feredir stood in the middle of the street, his hood pulled up to hide his features again. He appeared defenceless, his hands held still at his sides, but I now knew better. I had a feeling I was about to see how he could wield fire.

I heard movement in the brush beside us and I barked a warning, trotting over to Feredir’s side.

“Yes, I know Bailey,” he whispered. “Quiet now. My hearing is not as good as yours in your current form.”

I snapped my mouth shut but remained by his side.

Finally they cleared the tree line, three of them, and stood opposite Feredir, facing him.

“Walk away elf,” they warned, their voices warm with threat. “This doesn’t concern you.”

Feredir remained silent, but I caught the slight twitch of his fingers. I guess this was where I was going to know for sure if he was actually on my side or not.