One Little Victory

Lya

My head was pounding. I tried to lift my hands to my head to hold it together, but my hands were bound tightly behind me. I shifted around, trying to loosen them, but whoever tied them was really good at knots. I settled for pressing my head against a cooler part of the leather.

I hadn’t gotten brave enough to open my eyes yet, but I wanted an idea of just how far we were from the pack. The idea of sunlight made me cringe, though. Instead, I just listened. It was hard to hear past the pounding in my head, but I still tried. Luckily, the silver tea didn’t affect my senses too much.

The road rumbled, like it needed to be redone. I didn’t hear any cars anywhere around, so it must have just been us on the road, and judging by the fact that I could only smell one other scent, it was just me and Will in the car. I wondered if anyone other than us made it out alive. Given how angry Oliver was when he saw me, I doubted it.

I smiled to myself. At least one thing has gone right so far.

I took a deep breath. Time to open my eyes. I could do it.

This was just going to make my head hurt worse, I knew it. I only cracked them open at first, bracing myself for the inevitable searing pain.

What I really wasn’t prepared for, however, was the darkness that engulfed me. I could make out a glow from the stereo, but that was it. Was it still night?

I sat up a little, trying to get a better visual of the surroundings. It didn’t help much, seeing as it would seem like we were still driving across the barren wastelands of the midwest. Every once in a while, I could make out the outline of a tree. Definitely still the midwest, which means we couldn’t have been driving for long. Had it really happened only hours ago?

“Ah, you’re awake,” Will said. “We should be coming up on a town here shortly. We can stop and grab some food.”
I needed water, and being able to move around a bit would be nice. I had been rather rudely crammed in the back of his car and I was starting to get sore. “Where are we?” I croaked.

“Almost to Kennebec.”

Kennebec. Headed back to where I just came from. Why exactly did I leave? I could have just met them on the road. But they couldn’t know that.

“So Lya, I think we need to talk.” Of all Ted’s family, Will was probably the one I got along with the best. Maybe that’s why he was the one collecting me. “You wanna tell me what’s happened to my brother?”

“I-I don’t know,” I stuttered. “Is this why you kidnapped me? You know, we could have just talked.”

“Oh, no,” he chuckled. “You know something. And life is going to be pretty hard for you until you talk. How is it connected to all the werewolves roaming around your place?”

“What?” I spluttered. “What do you mean, werewolves?” I sat up a little straighter, trying to get comfortable. This was going to be a very, very long drive.

Will glanced back in the rear view mirror, making eye contact with me. I tore my eyes away, looking out to the lights of the upcoming town. “Don’t play dumb. I know you know what I’m talking about.”

I tried to force out a laugh. “I know you’re crazy. You have to let me go!”

“Do you hear voices, Lya?” he asked. “Specifically, just one voice.”

I shook my head frantically. “If I did, I’d be talking to a therapist about it, not you!”

“Oh yeah, I guess so. Unless shifting into a wild animal accompanied that voice.” He shot a pointed look in my direction that sent a shudder up my spine. He pulled the car into the parking lot of the local dive in Kennebec, putting it in park before turning to me. “Now, we’re going to go in there, grab a drink with some friends of mine, and if you play nice, we can make life real easy for you. Ya hear?”

When I nodded, he got out of the car, coming around to where I was to pull me out. He kept one hand firmly on my upper arm, guiding me through the parking lot. I glanced around, trying to keep my head as still as possible.

There was a couple laughing and chatting across the parking lot and a few guys gathered around some larger than necessary trucks smoking, but other than that, the place was pretty dead. My eyes bounced between the people around, waiting for a sign.

Everyone here must be in on what was going on. Why else would they just ignore a girl with her hands tied up being dragged around?

I caught the eye of one of the guys with the ‘making up for something’ trucks. He gave me a curt nod and tapped his foot twice. Such a small thing, but I let out a huge sigh of relief because of it. I was being tracked. The pack would know where I was soon enough.

I wondered if this guy was a Wulver or Snow Moon. With the proximity to the pack, I assumed Snow Moon. There were a few solid possibilities of where they would take me, giving us a good idea of where people needed to be to drop off and pick up tracking, but I had hard money on Bakersfield, California. That’s where Ted and his family were from - it’d make sense that that’s where their headquarters would be. Or maybe they’d want to take me somewhere a bit more out of the way?

“Keep walking,” Will growled in my ear, shoving me through the door of the bar.

Given no other choice, I stumbled in. I could feel all eyes on me, yet no one got up to help. I was certainly, utterly fucked. I looked up at the bartender with pleading eyes, but all she did was point to a more secluded back room. I walked as slowly as Will would allow me, trying to drag this out as long as I could.

I was shoved down in a chair. I kept my head down, not willing to see who I was surrounded by. Who was deciding my fate.

“Lya, dear, I haven’t seen you in a long time. How are you?”

I cringed at the voice. I would never forget that voice. It grated against my skin, making my hackles bristle. “Hello, Mr. Marsan,” I mumbled.

“Oh please, call me Alex,” he insisted. “Will, untie your sister in law. That’s really no way to treat family, is it?” he purred. His voice was sickly sweet, and it made me want to vomit.

As soon as my hands were free, I stretched my shoulders and rubbed my wrists. A glass of water was placed in front of me, but I refused to touch it. I had a sneaking suspicion there would be more than just water in it. I hazarded a glance up at him, but his expression revealed nothing. He was a good actor.

“So Lya, could you tell me what you’ve been up to since you and my oldest got engaged?” he asked. “I was really thinking I would have heard more from you two.”

I just shrugged my shoulders. “I think Ted got cold feet. He said he needed some time and left. I took a pretty long vacation to do some soul searching after that.”

Alex humphed. “I would really think that would be the sort of thing my son would have told me. Do you have any idea where he took off to?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I just figured he’d come back when he was ready. Maybe he went on a hunting trip?”

He nodded slowly, a pensive look on his face. “And did you discover anything while you were off soul searching?”

I smiled a bit, affording myself just a moment to think of my summer so far. “Just that I didn’t know myself as well as I thought. Kind of an 'Eat, Pray, Love' adventure.”

Alex leaned into me, his expression turning icy. “Here’s the thing, dear,” he cooed. “I haven’t heard from my son in six weeks. He vanished right when you did. We come out to ask questions, and your area is swarmed with werewolves. I know you’re hiding something, and I will find out. I’ll give you one chance to come clean, and I promise I won’t be angry. We could even work together here. But you have to tell me what happened for that arrangement to work. You finally snap and lose control of your wolf, kill my kid? Get claimed by your mate and he had it out for my son? I know what you are, Lya, and I will not stand for the abominations of your kind. So what do you say?”

My mind raced. There was a truth to his words that was tempting to pursue. We needed to know exactly what he was planning, and this would be the best way. The trackers still had eyes on me, so they’d still be able to find me.

I looked up at Alex, eyes wide. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”