Chapter 73 - Road Trip

The car journey to Steel Tail pack territory felt like a particularly long one. Arrow had decided to drive, with Kai sat up front and Dylan in the back. Arrow had been blaring out punk rock music for most of the journey until Kai and Dylan collectively put a stop to it.

Arrow's poor taste in music was probably the first thing that Kai and Dylan had agreed upon in a while, but it soon turned back in to a bickering session between the two of them, resulting in painful silence.

Arrow had been driving quietly for the past 15 minutes and couldn't take it anymore. He was desperate to lighten the mood. Even the arguing was more preferable to him at this stage.

"Well...this is nice" Arrow said awkwardly. "This road trip is like the three amigos back together again." Arrow looked over at Kai out of the corner of one eye as he steered the car. Kai, Arrow and Dylan had often hung out together when they were younger, but Kai and Dylan were never particularly close.

Kai huffed at Arrow's comment as he sank further back in to the leather seat. Arrow couldn't be further from the truth with that comment. His central focus was for him to get to where they were going as soon as possible. Why Dylan had decided to tag along was still beyond him, but fighting it seemed like more effort than it was worth.

Dylan sipped on a bottle of water, then continued to stare blankly out of the back passenger seat window in silence. He occasionally opened and checked his phone, but decided to keep his thoughts to himself.

"Ugh!" Arrow moaned loudly after losing patience with the two of them. "Seriously, I can't sit in a car journey in silence the whole way. So, you two ladies are gonna have to start dusting the sand out of your vaginas, if that's what's making the both of you so irritable or I'm gonna start playing my music again!"

Dylan gagged as his laugh caused some of the water he was drinking to go down the wrong way. His eyes started to water as he started both coughing and laughing at the same time.

"Jesus Arrow!" Dylan managed to gasp out in between coughs. "You know things must have taken a real downward turn if it takes a 'sandy vagina' comment to lighten the mood."

Arrow looked up at his rear-view mirror with a sly smile on his face. "You okay back there? You better not throw up on my new leather seats"

"Stop saying shit to make me laugh then!" Dylan managed to wheeze out after a few more coughs and laughs.

Kai looked over his shoulder at Arrow. He couldn't stop a smile from breaking out on his face either. Arrow always played peace maker and had a way of breaking tension in spectacular fashion.

"So... Arya is in Steel Tail pack territory huh?" Arrow continued, trying to keep the positive shift in mood going. "I can't say I'm particularly looking forward to crossing over in to their pack territory. The shifters in that pack are almost like a military faction. They've never been particularly welcoming to shifters breezing in from other packs, even if we are all part of Galas."

"Exactly!" Dylan added. "Which I suspect is the main reason why Arya has decided to hide out there the past few years. It's a good place to go if you don't want to be harassed by anybody else. Everyone in that pack tends to keep their business to themselves. She's never really been much of a people person, so it's ideal for her."

"If that's the case, how did you even find out that she was there?" Kai asked.

Kai had often wondered where Arya had disappeared off to after she left service at the royal guards. He had idolised her as a boy along with many others. There were very few females in the royal guards at the time that she joined. And even then, her abilities exceeded not only the top females but the top males as well. This is how she eventually came to lead the royal guards. A few years later she suddenly decided to quit and just disappeared. Many wondered if she had died or been killed in battle, but those that knew her personally and how capable she was could easily dismiss those assumptions.

"Beni kinda has a thing for her, so he invited her to live in their pack territory, in a vain attempt to woo her I guess." Dylan explained. "Just trying to imagine such an uptight man trying to seduce Arya is almost laughable. I guess he must be a bit of a masochist if he's interested in her, but that wouldn't surprise me."

Kai turned around in his seat to face Dylan directly behind him. "Wait, Beni the Steel Tail pack Alpha just openly told you that she was there? That guy barely says two words to my father about anything that goes on in his pack and he's on my father's council. How did you get that information out from him?"

Dylan averted his gaze from Kai and looked back out the window. "Err...let’s just say I had some *'direct'* inside knowledge." Dylan responded coyly.

"Inside knowledge?" Kai raised a brow at Dylan suspiciously. "Please tell me you haven't done any shady shit with someone from Steel Tail?" Kai asked.

"Relax, my source decided to volunteer that information of her own volition," Dylan said slyly. The smirk widened on his face as though he was recalling a pleasant memory.

"Wait, what does that mean? What source?" Arrow asked the both of them.

Kai huffed then turned back to face the front in his seat. "It means... he's fucking somebody important in that pack" Kai rolled his eyes. "I swear if I closed my eyes, I'd think I was talking to Elias."

"Oh!" Arrow said slightly intrigued. "I have to admit, I've heard a few rumours about the females from Steel Tail. They're supposedly both beautiful and fierce."

"Now you're talking Arrow" Dylan leaned forward in his seat and leaned on the back of Arrow's head rest. "And let me tell you, they're not just fierce on the battlefield, if you get my drift"

"Now who's the one sounding like a masochist?' Kai asked.

Arrow started to slow down the car as they caught up with the few cars that had stopped in front of them. "We're coming up to one of their check points, pipe down. I suggest you let me do the talking," Arrow advised.

"Why?" Kai questioned "You're making it sound like we're crossing over in to enemy territory. I might be suspended at the moment but I'm still royalty, they can't deny us entry."

"Pfft!" Dylan piped up from the back seat. "You quite clearly haven't been to Steel Tail in a long time. If you haven't been invited or made an arrangement to meet someone in advance, then they'll just send you on your way. They couldn't give a flying fuck who you are. They're the kind of pack who would put your head on a spike, just to decorate their front lawn and in your 'condition', if the pack guards get too close, they're gonna know something is off with you and get suspicious. Arrow's right, let him do the talking. If we can pass as run of the mill shifters, they're more likely to let us in."

Arrow slowed the car down as they reached the Steel Tail checkpoint. Two burly shifters were standing around a little make-shift station speaking to cars as they pulled up. Unsurprisingly, the queue leading up to their pack territory was relatively short and was mostly filled with existing pack members returning back to their homes.

As they got closer to the checkpoint, Dylan spotted someone that he recognised. A male mousey haired shifter, with a crew cut hairstyle standing alongside the two shifters doing the car checks.

"Shit! It's Asher" Dylan shouted as they get closer to the checkpoint.

"Asher?" Arrow recognized the name and cocked his head to get a better look at the shifters as the cars in front slowly started to move forward. "Beni's son? So? What's the issue?"

"It would be best if this guy didn't see me," Dylan pulled up the collar on his jacket to try and obscure some of his face.

"Why not?" Arrow asked.

"He's a little pissed with me at the moment, if he spots me, he's not going to let us in."

"And why exactly would that be?" Kai questioned. After a moment the cogs in Kai's mind slowly locked in to place. The only person who would know that Arya was in this pack territory was the Alpha of the pack or somebody very close to him.

"Please tell me that the person you fucked around with wasn't Farren, Asher's sister?" Kai asked. Farren was both Asher's sister and Beni's daughter. He asked, but through past experience he felt confident that he already knew the answer.

"Look, before you judge, it was a mutual benefits thing." Dylan interjected.

"For fuck's sake Dylan. You're casually screwing the Alpha's daughter? The Alpha of Steel Tail of all people?! Do you have a death wish?!" Kai bellowed.

Dylan continued sinking back further in the seat to try and keep himself out of view.

Arrow sighed "I'm guessing things didn't end well if you're having to hide from him."

"Listen. Asher likes to pretend that his sister is the Virgin Mary. I can categorically tell you that she is anything but that! Not that I'm complaining, because the sex was incredible, but I have too many things to do before I settle down. She knows that."

"If it ended amicably, then why are you having to hide?" Arrow asked dubiously.

Dylan opened his mouth to respond but Kai interrupted him "Dylan's way of *'ending things'* with a female is to just go ghost on them."

"Great! So what do I do? Keep going or turn around?" Arrow asked as the shifter guards started speaking with the passengers in the car directly in front of them.

"We're not turning around" Kai said sternly. "I don't have time for a detour. If I were you Arrow, I'd unlock the back passenger door, steer sharply to the left and let his ass roll out right in front of them like a prize turkey. Whilst they're picking their teeth with the bones from his remains, you and I can casually bypass the checkpoint altogether. Problem solved."

Arrow snickered at Kai's comment. Kai wasn't often the one to be making jokes, but when he did, Dylan was usually the butt of them.

Dylan furrowed his brow. "Ha ha! Very funny" Dylan said flatly in response to Kai's sarcastic remark.

Kai continued to stare steadfast, directly in front of him with his arms folded.

"Wait, you wouldn't actually do that right? Dylan asked. Whilst he had no concerns about taking on the guards, and even Asher too, he knew that he wouldn't come out unscathed in a brawl with the Alpha's son. Asher was built like an ox and was very top heavy. He'd only need to land a couple hits for Dylan to start seeing stars and he had no intention of becoming the sacrificial human meat shield in this particular endeavour.

"Everyone just chill out!" Arrow interrupted. "Like I said, let me do the talking. Asher is over towards the back; he might not even notice you if you keep quiet and keep your head down. Throw this over your head." Arrow launched his jacket at Dylan and he promptly threw it over his head. With tinted windows in the back seat, it would be difficult for anyone to see who was sat in the back unless they really poked their head in to look.

As the car in front of them pulled off, Arrow pulled up and lowered his window.