I check my watch a million times, but no Katana. Damn, I hope she didn't bail on me. Today's the day we're sneaking out of St. Helena, on our way to Nygaard. The land of crime, is what I hear. Every pulse in my body is beating a million miles per second.
My feet crunch under the autumn leaves as I pace back and forth. My bag weighs heavy on my back as I shift it from shoulder to shoulder. She told me not to pack a lot, but I had to. It's cold up in Alaska, which led me to packing as many coats, pants, and boots as I possibly could. Turns out, I have lots of them. No more skirts for a couple days, Alexander would hate that. I laugh at that thought, lord do I miss him.
My fingers fidget as my tongue plays with the roof of my mouth. Am I doing the right thing? Of course I am, if it wasn't for me risking my life, Alexander would die in that bed. I have to think about him, about how happy I will be when he opens his eyes. Those alluring eyes of his grazing over my face, taking in every curve and flaw on me.
He would do the same thing for me.
I know it.
Rustling comes from behind me, as I turn, Katana comes into view. Her black hair is pinned back as a jacket wraps around her snatched waist. She smiles.
I smile, then it disappears as I see who's behind her.
Lyle, or should I say Kai.
Lyle Bangyork was my friend at the Internship up at The Tribune here in town. I thought he was a high school kid, turned out he's Katana's younger brother, son of the King of the Khans and one of Sasha and her father's biggest enemies. Those mysterious eyes of his look up at me.
"What is he doing here, Katana? I thought it was just going to be us both." I try not to sound angry, but sometimes I can't control my emotions. This is another boy that lied to me, that didn't tell me who he really was. He puts himself in jeopardy coming with us. If anyone catches me in Nygaard, we will all be killed immediately.
From what Katana has told me since she's been back, the whole supernatural world hates me. Hates that Alexander would risk his life for some magical creature descended from a race of witches whom everyone hates, might I add. Even though I'm his mate, and any one of them would have done the same thing, they still hate me.
Katana says my life, and her's is on the line if we're caught. And, now, apparently so is Ly- I mean Kai.
She slings her bag on the ground, and from the sound it makes she barely has anything in it. "He wanted to come along, I told him you might not want to see him, but he insisted." She leaves Kai by the oak tree to walk over to me. Her hand sits firmly on my shoulder, green eyes stare straight at me. "Don't be mad at him Quinn, he was only doing what he was ordered to do."
"I'm not mad at him, just- just frustrated that's all." She's right, I shouldn't hate him he was only listening to his big sister's orders, but it still nags me. He knew what I was, who I was. My mind goes back to the homecoming parade. He thought I was dating Alexander, and I told him I wasn't. He said he could see how much I liked him, how I looked at him and vice versa. That moment sends shivers down my hurting spine, God I got to take this bag off my shoulders. I toss it to the ground; it sits between me and Katana.
"Well, let all the frustration go, we got a mission. That mission is to get the antidote and save Alexander, alright?" I nod my head. She turns to her younger brother, a look of worry and uncertainty are etched on his tan skin, "You good, brother?"
"Yeah, as long as she is." He stares at me waiting for my answer.
"I am."
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Me, Katana and Kai all walk a few steps until we reach the end of a dead-end road. At the end of said road is a grey jeep. It looks brand new. Katana whips some keys out of her pocket and unlocks the car, while Kai starts putting the bags in the back. After he puts his own bag in, he reaches for mine, his hand is palm up.
I sigh and hand him my bag, once he grabs it his arms lags. He wasn't expecting all the weight. "What the hell is in here Quinn? A thing of rocks?"
All I say is, "Essentials." He just rolls his eyes and puts the bag next to his. As I come around from the back of the car, I see Katana checking the tires, once she's done, she types in an address from her phone to the GPS.
"Hey, what's in Oregon?" I ask her while getting inside the jeep. It's spacious in here.
"Our destination, for now of course. I can't tell you anything else, so don't ask. Ok?" A bit of harshness comes through her voice, but this is a dangerous mission so I don't hold it against her.
"Ok." She nods.
Coming around the car is Kai; he sits in the front next to Katana as she gets in and starts the car. The engine roars under us, the car comes to life. Damn, this is real, we're really leaving and heading off to a supernatural kingdom to fetch an antidote for my werewolf boyfriend.
"Did you check in to base?" asked Kai.
"I did, dad doesn't know where we're going." says Katana as her fingers tread over her phone.
I lunge myself forward to get a better view of them, "Wait, your dad doesn't know where you guys are going? Doesn't that seem a tad dangerous?"
Kai scoffs, "Are you telling us what's dangerous? We're on a rescue mission to save your mate. Did you tell anyone where you were going Quinneth?" He says putting emphasis on my name.
"No, I- I didn't but-." He cuts me off.
"Then you have no right to judge us then. Now, let's go, shall we?" Kai gestures towards his sister. Before she presses on the gas, I put my hand on her leg to stop.
"What now, Quinn?" She sounds irritated.
"Maybe I should just go alone, and you guys stay here." She looks at me like weeds just grew out of my eyes.
"Are you out of your freaking mind!" screams Katana. "Why not?" Her voice is now calmer.
"Your father was looking for the both of you, and he just got you guys back. I- I just think I need to go on my own. My powers are stronger now, I can take care of myself." They both look to each other, seeing if either of them believes what I just said. From the looks on their faces, they don't.
After a short period of silence, Katana speaks. "Quinn, you need us. We've been to Nygaard, well I've been, we know the places to go that won't have us be seen. We have inside connections, you don't. Yes, your powers are stronger, but are not regulated. I've seen you at work, you're all over the place. And don't act like I don't know about what you did to Lyra." My eyes widen, how the hell did she found out? Well, she is Katana Khan, the woman with eyes behind her head, nothing gets past her. "Me and my brother are your best bet, trust me on this."
I look to Kai, his facial expression the same as his sisters. I don't know what I was thinking, that I could barge into Nygaard and demand an audience with the King and Queen, they would think I was insane, and know exactly who I was and throw me in jail. These are two trained fighters, they could kill in an instant if we came across a threat, I couldn't.
I need them, I need them.
"Ok, let's go." I sit back in the seat. Katana presses on the gas and heads down the road on our way to Oregon. What's in Oregon, I have no idea.
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As we drive down the road my eyes drift off to look at the trees passing by. Who am I to judge them, to tell them not to come along with me. Grandpa doesn't even know where I'm going. He thinks I'm at the pack house, sitting by anxiously waiting for senior year to start and being a good little girlfriend to Alexander. Oh god, what about Mrs. Germani? She was in charge of watching me, making sure I was safe and sound.
Before I left this morning, I was tempted to leave a letter or something, but decided against it. They would have stopped me before I was even able to leave the land. This is the only way to save him, to make everything go back to normal. As long as the witches don't do anything bad, I can ignore what I did.
Right?
I ended up falling asleep to Kai and Katana arguing about who's the better fighter. We've been on the road now for maybe 6 hours or so, I wonder if they know I'm gone. If they know that I left them to travel all the way to get an antidote for Alexander.
As all those thoughts swirl in my mind, I let them dance on the edge of it as I float into a dream. A deep, dark slumber of me and Alexander.
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"So, I didn't know which ones you wanted so I got all three." I say as three cold sodas cradle on the outside of my shirt. Sandwiched between my arm pits is a bag of chips on the left, and leftover Burg-oh-wow on the right, heated up of course. Ever since we went to go eat there, he hasn't been able to get enough of it.
He reaches over to me and grabs the sodas from my shirt, he reads which ones they are. He sits the Sprite and Cola on the bedside table while he pops open the La Croix.
"I would have never taken you for a La Croix man." The chips and reheated up Burg-oh-wow sits on the foot of the bed. Those black eyes of his swarm over me, a glint of a smile forms on his lips.
"Oh, really?" His hands pull me by my waistband to him so one leg is on the ground while the other knees on the bed. His fingers are lingering on my waist, almost as warm as the heated sun outside my window. Tingles run through my body by hot jolts of electricity. I don't think I'll ever get used to him touching me. To my boyfriend touching me. "What did you think I liked to drink?" He questions.
"Ummm. . .well it's not La Croix. Maybe like- uh I don't know Coke or maybe even Diet Coke." His face squishes up at me.
"Why would I drink Diet Coke, it's the worst thing that has been created in the history of carbonated drinks." I could tell he was pretty serious about what he says. Never knew he took the making of carbonated drinks so seriously. I lean down and press and kiss to his forehead, a bit of his black curl tickles my top lip.
I just laugh, "You do work out, more than a normal human being, I think. Also, you're huge I just thought you would be on a diet or something. Hence me thinking you drink Diet Coke." Reluctantly, I take his fingers away from my waistband to lay next to him on my twin size bed. I told him there was so way we would be able to fit, but he suggested that if I just lay really close to him it will be fine.
"You don't like me big?" He says hurt. I open up the chips and take a few out and chow them down.
"You're perfect Alexander, you know that. Drama queen." I whisper the last part. He just ignores me and takes another drink of his La Croix. I look to the TV to see what movie he turned on, "Sweet Girl." I heard of that movie, I think it's about some girl that ends up being a killer or something.
"I thought we agreed on watching something- anything else." I tell him as I move around to get full view of his face.
"Uh no, WE didn't. You told me I could pick the movie and I picked this. Last time we watched your lame ass movie. What was it called? All the loves? Loved those boys before you?" I smack his arm. He winces, but I know that he remembers the movie.
"You know what it's called, you jerk. And fine, we'll watch your movie. Happy?" I smile at him. His eyes linger on my lips for a few moments. They move to take in every curve of them, the corners and the barely visible scar on my upper lip. If he keeps looking at me like that, I don't know what I'll do. "What are you looking at?" I question.
"You." He whispers. "Your beautiful face is distracting me from the movie." I blush and turn my head towards the TV.
"Shut up." My words are barely audible. He says stuff like that that makes me so nervous, and I don't know how to respond to his. . .bold words.
"You shut up!" He leans all his body weight on me, making me flush against my bed. I let out a hoarse breath, he lifts himself up.
"You're squishing me you fat lard!" I bellow. His hands squeeze my waist while I feel his breath lingering on the crease of my neck. His lips gently graze against it, bringing those sparks back to life.
"You're not so thin yourself, maybe cut back on the Burg-oh-wow." He smirks. His hand moves down and clutches on my thigh. My mouth is agape by his heinous comment. "I'm joking, don't take it seriously." He kisses me on my lips.
I let go of his kiss, "If you weren't so attractive, I wouldn't be with you. Also, your father being a billionaire makes me even more attracted to you." My hands run up and down his toned arms, they tighten under my touch. To know that he's affected by it, makes me feel quezzy inside.
He whispers in my ear, "Sometimes I don't know if you're lying or not. Is your grandfather here, I wouldn't want him to see me between your legs." My cheeks must be full flushed right now.
"You're so nasty." I mumble.
He places a sweet kiss on my neck, "But you like it, don't you?" I can feel my body getting hot, but instead of answering him, I answer his previous question.
"No, he went out with Irene. But I- I wanted to ask you something." He holds onto me for a few more seconds, then, before I know it, he's sitting up on the bed while I'm straddling his lap. What a convenient position.
"Ask away my sterling butterfly." Sterling Butterfly? Did he just-
My hand feels all over his face, "You ok?"
He swats my hand away and rolls his eyes. The small sunlight coming through my curtains reflect heavy on the specks of grey in his eyes. "I'm fine, Quinn. I've been trying out cute pet names to call you."
"You can just call me Quinn."
He shakes his head, "No, that's what everyone calls you. Since you are now my girlfriend- as of two days ago, I wanted to call you something that no one else does."
I lift a curious brow, "And so sterling butterfly is what you came up with?"
"Or maybe golden cricket?" I shake my head. "Fine, I'll come up with some names and get back to you." I nod. "Now, tell me what you wanted to talk about."
"Do you- do you think we'll be together for a long time?" My breath hitches in my throat as he looks off in the distance, deep in thought. I've been thinking of this question for a long time. Yes, we've only been together for two days now, but I've never felt this way about a person before. When he kisses me, I feel like my whole body is on fire. His hands feel like oil and I'm the flame. We can joke around freely, and he does these little things for me that make me feel special.
"Where is this coming from?" He questions.
"I've been thinking about it for a while, way before we were ever a couple. My relationship with Myers was only for a couple weeks, so embarrassing by the way. It's just- my parents are dead, and even though I never really knew them there's a part of me, the baby part of me, that will always miss them. My grandfather is in his 70's, he won't live forever and I don't really know my other relatives. Well, other than my cousin Dana-Whitley, but she's practically a psycho. I- I don't want to be alone that's all."
I feel his grip on my waist loosen, he pulls me close to him and plants a cool kiss on my chin, then my cheeks and forehead. Pulling back, he looks me dead in the eyes.
"You won't ever be alone, Quinneth. I told you that I loved you, I meant that. I can't promise you eternity, because sadly I'm not a vampire. But I CAN promise that I will be there for you through every good and bad day. No matter what you do, or where you go, I will be one step behind you. Because that's what you do for the people you love." His hands rest on either side of my head, his touch makes me feel content.
My eyes become watery, so he won't see me crying, I wrap my arms around him. He just holds me, rocking me back and forth.
Before I pull away from him, he says, "Through thick and thin I'll be there for you, Lotus."
"Quinneth, wake up." I hear someone say. Fluttering my eyes open, I see Kai and Katana not in the front seats of the car anymore. Also, we've stopped driving. Looking out the window, my eyes widen.
In front of us is the biggest house I've ever seen. It must have at least four floors, it's black matte on the outside, guarded by a large dark gate with two equally large guards standing in front of it. We must be in Oregon, but who's place is this.
Katana opens the door for me, "Come on." I hop out the car and follow behind her to the gate. Behind us comes Kai. They both look around, watching to see if anyone is coming. While they're trying to keep me safe, I just gawk at the house.
"Where are we?" I ask outload.
Kai turns to me, "Welcome to the Dark Moon Pack."
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