Page 120 of Crystal Luna
‘I wonder who his favourite alpha is.’
‘Probably not me,’ Asher laughed. ‘But he hasn’t said anything yet.’
She closed her mind off, setting aside her empty cup and closing her eyes. She tried to doze off, focusing on anything but the feeling of their bodies pressed against hers. They were doing it on purpose—there was no way the SUV was that small.
After leaving the outskirts of Swiftport and the endless campsites passed them by, Velora anxiously waited to cross the border. And it seemed she wasn’t the only one—everyone was tense.
“We think if the rogues have planned anything it’s on this stretch,” Isaiah explained.
“No human witnesses?” she asked though she already knew the answer.
“None.”
“So what’s the plan if something does happen?”
Asher playfully leaned closer, his upper arm rubbing against her shoulder. “You stay by our side.”
“Well, someone has to save your ass.”
Renly nearly choked on the mouthful of water he’d just taken.
“If you make a mess, you clean it,” Axel warned.
“Yes, Sir,” Renly coughed, trying to clear his airway again.
“So if necessary, I drag your asses back home. Who should I prioritise? I’m sure if it really gets that bad, we can all survive with only one. Who would you prefer to keep, Axel?”
His eyes met hers in the mirror as he tried to figure out if she was joking or not. “The less injured.”
“Very diplomatic answer. And you Renly?”
“The one that makes you happier.”
“Putting it all back on me then.”
Asher let out a snort of disapproval. “That’s me dead.”
“You just have to try to get less injured than me,” Isaiah said. “I think Axel is right—Vel would choose the one with the higher chance of survival.”
“There might be hope after all.”
After hours of nothingness and sitting completely still, they passed the Crystal border. Only five miles in, Axel slowed down and stopped in the middle of the dirt road. As soon as her feet hit the ground her wolf began to stir in the back of her mind.
“Vel,” Asher pleaded as she unfastened her jeans.
“Fine,” she barked, shedding her shirt and dropping the holster. Then she shifted, not even caring that the rest of her clothes lay in a shredded pile.
“We probably should’ve made her go to the mall with us,” Isaiah laughed behind her as she sprinted off into the woods.
It felt good to run through the trees and feel the still somewhat icy ground crunch beneath her. Once she’d run off all the tension, she slowed down and took in her new surroundings. The woods on the Crystal territory were much different. Nothing around her seemed familiar. The smells, the sounds; it was all… new.
She explored her surroundings well past sunset, letting her wolf’s instincts take over. It was freeing. She was given the time and space she needed to take her mind off things. Only the need for a bed—that wasn’t shared—made her head towards the village.
When she approached the alpha house from the back—the side that opened up to the forest—her heart sank. Somehow, she’d hoped it had burned down with all the old memories. Or maybe it at least for it to look different. But it didn’t.
A stack of clothes had been laid out on the table outside the glass doors, so she shifted and dressed—if only so the twins wouldn’t see her naked.
She pushed the glass door open, but then froze before she could step through. The stench of vomit and alcohol crept up her nose, even though the house was sparkling clean. Her skin itched as she remembered all the times she’d scrubbed that place from head to toe. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to push those memories aside and inhale the house’s present scent.