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Scarlett sipped on her milkshake, staring at Riley across the table. His eyes did not return her gaze. They were focused on something outside the window, scanning the surrounding area for threats.

When he did notice her looking, he smiled shyly before staring down and taking a sip of his drink. It might have been a nice moment, but Jake let out a huge slurping sound. The kid pushed his straw about, trying to suck up the last remnants of his strawberry shake in the noisiest fashion possible.

Both Riley and Scarlett rolled their eyes and exchanged a look. Jake, although a sweet kid, had been somewhat of an irritation. Between his constant and inappropriate questions, his snoring, and his need to fidget, he was starting to wear on the couple’s nerves somewhat.

Not that this would have been a romantic holiday without Jake. The whole situation was so nerve-wracking they could barely function, let alone have any sort of romance.

When Jake picked up his burger and devoured it in two bites, the couple at the opposite table stared openly.

"What?" Jake challenged them before opening his mouth to show them his chewed up mouthful.

Both the woman and her date screwed up their faces, whispering, "Gross."

"Try to act more... human," Scarlett urged. The kid had never been out of Springwood, so didn't know how to act around the 'normals.'

"They tend to chew their food, Mate," Riley said with a grin and rolled his eyes. "Bunch of pussies."

"Language," Scarlett hissed, nudging him with her foot.

She scanned the table, taking note of the empty plates and cups. "We should really get moving again—"

"No, I want ice cream!" Jake cried. "And pie. Ooo... and a piece of that cake over there."

"We don't have time," Scarlett urged. "Our lives are at stake here and—"

"Well." Jake crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm the Alpha, so you have to do as I say."

A little piece of Scarlett's soul left her body as she closed her eyes and hung her head.

"You aren't the Alpha yet," Scarlett said.

"Hmm. Didn't you hear? The Luna is dead. That huge dragon flew down and swallowed her whole. The council voted me in as her successor," Jake informed them with a shrug. He reeled this news off so matter-of-factly, as though dragons flew down and ate people as a routine occurrence.

"She's dead?" Riley asked. His lip hung open for a second as if he had something to add, but ultimately decided against it.

"I—It's okay to be sad." Scarlett reached over and placed her hand over his. "Whatever the reasons, you did still..."

"Ugh!" Jake cried. "You banged the Luna? That's gross. She was like... old. Scarlett is way hotter."

Scarlett stared at Riley, mouth hanging open in shock. He surprised her by laughing, triggering her to laugh along. It wasn’t funny. They both knew it wasn’t funny in the slightest, but they couldn’t seem to hold back the inappropriate emotional outburst.

They were both in hysterics by the time Jake ordered his three deserts.

"We may as well get one of those ice cream sundaes to share," Riley suggested with a cheeky grin.

"Whatever," she conceded. "I'm clearly outnumbered here."

When the waitress bought their food over, she stared at Riley for a moment before moving on to her next table. He didn't even appear to notice the attention from the other woman. It was probably something that happened a lot.

Scarlett got her fair share of attention from the men, but it was less subtle. They would shout at her from moving vehicles or make foul suggestions as she passed. Her enhanced speed and strength meant they posed no real threat. She often wondered how the human woman of the world coped with it.

They were finishing up and paying the bill when the pretty waitress sauntered over with her phone out.

'Is she really going to ask for his number while I'm sitting right here?'

Scarlett felt the prickles of homicidal anger poking at her belly as the girl shifted from foot to foot.

"Erm... this is going to sound weird... but I have someone on the phone who wants to speak to you," she said and shrugged her shoulders. The poor girl seemed confused by the whole situation. "His name is Damien."

"Heh. Like the Omen," she added with a nervous giggle before placing the phone down on the table. It sat between smudges of chocolate sauce and scrunched up napkins, ominous as any weapon.

"I have your friends in my care," Damien's voice blared from the speaker. "Adrian. Sienna."

The sounds of pained screams echoed from the background noise.

"You have until Tuesday noon to meet me at Redwater, otherwise I will torture them to death in the most horrible way you can imagine. Be seeing you."

The phone disconnected.

Nobody spoke up until the waitress coughed and reached for her phone. "Erm... it's a joke, right? A... weird prank or something."

"Right." Scarlett nodded without much effort. "Of course it is."

“Please.” She stared at the young Alpha. "We have to save them."

"Not part of the plan. I'm sorry." Jake sighed. "We can't just go and feed ourselves to him. I need to prepare."

"You said you had a plan. Some way secret way to beat him—" Scarlett blurted. "Y—you have to do something."

"I do," Jake said. "I'm not just a werewolf. My mother was a werewolf, and my father was something else. Something you might call an Angel. But I don't know how to unlock my power. I need to visit my father."

“Your father?” Scarlett asked. "Well… how far away is he?"

"Too far." Jake shook his head. "Maybe... we might just be able to make it there and back if we leave now."

"Well... what are we waiting for then?" Scarlett cried. She jumped from her seat. "Let's move it."

The group left after placing a decent-sized tip on the table for the helpful waitress. As they got into the car Scarlett circled round and grabbed the map from the trunk. It was a long time since she'd calculated a journey without the aid of google maps and satellite navigation, but she would have to try her best.

She traced out the route and calculated the timings using the upper end of the road speed limits.

"Guys... we aren't going to make it in time. What are we going to do?"