Gypsy Moon

Chapter Thirty-four: Aiden

. . . . . . (mid July)

My parents were a mess. Well, my moms were anyway. Jake and David seemed as amused by their wives' behavior as I was annoyed by it.

"Seriously, guys. I was never home when the troupe was touring, and we were always touring." I rolled my eyes at them being weepy. "I will get to visit way more often than I ever could go on break from the troupe." I pried my moms' arms from around my neck. I swear, having two sets of parents was the punishment for having such a charmed life. I chuckled and handed the pair to their snickering mates.

"I love you guys, and I swear I will answer the phone, at least the first dozen times you call to check up on me like I'm a lost pup." Alpha Jake barked a laugh and signaled the pack to clear the road for the sleek, luxury camper we were borrowing. She was a thing of beauty, and I was glad we'd be staying in her rather than an apartment while the pack house was under construction.

MY pack house. My PACK'S house. The idea was still so strange to me, particularly since none of the pressure of being pack Alpha that I had been afraid of seemed to even apply to my little pack.

I smiled and waved to the collected wolves as I climbed up to the passenger side. I grinned at Bryce as he slowly maneuvered the vehicle down the pack drive. Dozens of wolves jogged alongside us, barking and yapping playfully, making Kyle and the girls in the back laugh all the way to the territory borderline.

"How long before one of them calls you, Aiden?" I laughed at Kyle's question and rotated my chair to face the sitting area.

"Five miles, tops. Hey, toss me a soda."

"Me too."

Kyle nodded and pulled a pair of cans from the mini fridge and passed them up to Bryce and me with a laugh. I popped the tab on mine and took a long pull and a dramatic sigh of contentment before I turned my attention to Lilian.

"Okay Madam Secretary, what's on our agenda?" Lilian laughed and picked up her tablet.

"Since you asked-" Sinah laughed, and Lilian grinned brightly.

"I have set us a route that will take us two days, allowing for multiple breaks for food and several points of interest along the route."

"Awesome."

"I have contacted the real estate agent, she is waiting for us to meet with her to sign the final paperwork." She smiled at me. "And Desert Falcon wants to host us for a bonfire."

"Sweet. They have a great bonfire; you guys will have a blast."

"Also..." She nodded to herself. "They offered their packhouse as the real estate agent's destination, so we can meet her there to sign the day after tomorrow." I grinned as my phone began singing an ominous tune.

"Excellent, how many miles was that Bryce?"

"Three and a half." I laughed as Sinah recognized the tune and began scolding me as I hit the answer button and just let the car full of laughter and noise greet whichever mother had called. The line was silent for a moment and then I could hear Gramma Becca laughing.

"Alright, pup. I love you."

"I love you too." She disconnected the call, and I tossed my phone on the counter, grinning.

"So, a two-day drive, most of us are actually total strangers to each other, and I'm sure something nuts will happen soon enough. So let's fire up the video games and proceed to deathmatch. Loser takes over driving, the current driver joins us and picks the next game." They all smiled and agreed, and I clapped my hands and rubbed them together confidently.

"Alright, time to get out of driving for two days." I laughed at the pillow Lilian threatened me with, she didn't want to distract Bryce by throwing it. I slid onto the bench next to Sinah and kissed her neck as I took the controller from Kyle. She chuckled wickedly.

"Baby, I've been wheelchair bound for three years, be prepared to lose tragically and repeatedly."

-----

Oh sure, we all laughed at the time. But when we stopped at a truck stop for dinner, I was convinced the girls were cheating somehow. Us guys were trading the driver's seat fairly regularly, but neither of them had taken the wheel once. Kyle parked us next to an eighteen-wheeler at the stop and we all piled out, the girls taking a moment to yawn and stretch and complain loudly about how long they had been sitting.

"Whose fault is that, cheaters?" Sinah grinned at me and stood up on her tiptoes to kiss me, the length of her body pressed against mine was perfection.

"Yours Sunbeam, you didn't think a girl could kick your ass in Mortal Kombat, GTA, and Halo." I laughed and plundered her mouth, briefly, thanks to the immediate groaning and complaints of hunger from the rest of the pack. I released my beautiful mate with a chuckle.

"Honestly, I was sure I was set with FIFA." Kyle laughed.

"No, then it was Lilian's turn to destroy us." She shrugged and grinned.

"I like soccer, sue me."

I caught a scent on the wind and blinked.

"Hey, go in and get us a table, I'm going to go strictly avoid the truck stop bathroom, if you catch my drift." They all laughed as I stepped back into the camper, shutting the door behind me. I walked towards the bathroom and opened the door, then waited a moment. Bryce would have stopped listening to my footsteps as soon as I reached the bathroom, so I just stood still a few seconds before I opened the back door and slipped out of the camper.

I pulled in a slow, deep breath; my mouth opened ever so slightly as Rhys joined me.

/:I smelled it too, but it's gone now.:/

I nodded grimly and scanned the parking lot. My pack was inside and had not quite made it to the table yet. I shed my clothing as swiftly as I could and tossed them into the camper. We shifted as soon as the door was closed and dropped our snout to the ground, inhaling slowly as we panned our head back and forth.

/:There!:/

We bolted after the sour scent. It led directly into the scrub away from the highway, though the truck stop was pretty much the only thing in the middle of a long stretch of nothing, so our obnoxious fur was not likely to get us spotted by humans around here.

/:I don't think it's the cougar guy.:/

/:No, but the alternative is rarely a good thing.:/

That's the downside of having a citrusy scent; it's uncomfortably close to the sour-sweet smell of decay. Specifically, rotting meat. Unfortunately, that usually meant a Rogue, and most likely a very sick one at that. The longer we followed the scent, the more we grew resigned. This was definitely not the Puma.

. . . . . .