Howling Bonds

14

CHAPTER 7

EMILIA

I

couldn’t believe what I was doing when I got in the passenger side of Nell’s jeep. I was dating a werewolf on the run with members of his pack, with an entire plan in place. Nell planned to use himself as bait to lure Andrew and his people to Seattle and create a colossal mess to delay the two rogue wolves, Lotus, and Fae, from starting their rituals. Nell’s people should remain safe, and Pike’s Market would be fine.

For a movie, the ruse isn’t clever enough, but for real life, it’s just f*****g crazy.

We stocked up on supplies for the trip: weapons, tech products, and medical kits in case of emergency, and stored up enough food to last us a week. Anne was already packing her bag with all the items she needed as a werewolf, including potions, totems, and an ancient dreamcatcher. I brought my ammunition and computer system. Leighton had packed his bag with every tool he thought he might need to fix any broken electronics or computer software along the way.

I couldn’t help but smile as they ended up wrapping everything so the silver in the electronics wouldn’t do any damage to them.

The sun set as we advanced further away from Kent, leaving our home behind with only the stars to light our path. A few green flies hovered and hit the car window, which was disgusting. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Nell kept his eyes focused on the road, his jaw tense with determination.

I allowed my thoughts to wander and couldn’t believe that this was my life now—working with the wolves to save Seattle from a pack of rogue wolves who had gone mad with vengeance on society. But amidst the chaos, there was an undeniable thrill. The danger and uncertainty gave me a new sense of vitality that I had never experienced before.

I stole glances at Nell as the soft glow of the headlights highlighted his sharp features. And now and then, he would reach over to grip the steering wheel tighter, his muscles tense with anticipation. Up ahead, a swarm of flying insects hovered low, darting around like a miasma. We could almost hear a shrill buzzing sound as we rushed past.

Anne pressed her hands to the ancient book and squinted at a page filled with handwritten text. Leighton placed his long hands on her shoulders. I watched her nostrils flare as he bent close, his warm breath near her ear.

“Look here,” Leighton said, pointing to a grainy black and white drawing. “That’s Andrew burning Giles Garnier at the stake. You know, he was a werewolf who’d been terrorizing children in the area for years.” Anne shivered at his words, and I figured she remembered the gruesome sight.

Leighton whispered, “Andrew killed the infamous werewolf ‘La Bête du Gévaudant’ in 1765 with Louis XV’s musket. He’s been hunting us ever since and will stop at nothing to take us down. We need to be vigilant if we’re going to survive this.”

Anne seemed upset at Leighton’s words. The roar of tires against the pavement grew to a deafening crescendo, as if something was closing in. Thunderous wheels pounded around us, and we could feel the air vibrating. Nell covered his eyes as the gleam of headlights shone inside the car, and we knew that whatever had been chasing us was finally here.

Tension plunged into the car as Nell stepped on the accelerator, pushing us further away from danger. I held onto my seat in anticipation, and my muscles tensed, feeling the engine roar to life beneath me.

The landscape flew by in a blur of colors and textures, our headlights illuminating everything within their reach. The car sped past the familiar sceneries of trees, fields, and buildings. An unease was bubbling in my chest, and I felt like something was off. Were the houses always this color? The sound of the engine drowned out our concerns, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had gone wrong somewhere.

A moth slammed into the windshield of the car and as I studied the patterns on its wings, a deafening sound exploded around us. The vehicle shivered and shook, careening off the road and into another lane. It plummeted forward, plunging into an abyssal ditch in a single moment. The impact of the crash sent us ricocheting around the vehicle like pin-balls in an arcade game.

My blurry eyes refused to focus on my surroundings, and my limbs felt like blocks of ice, as the tight seat-belt was like dead weight on my chest, leaving me struggling for air. The sound of Justin Bieber’s voice buzzing from the radio speakers filled my ears. Dazed and overwhelmed, I heard Anne moaning in the backseat and an electric surge jolted through me. With the remaining ounce of strength I had, I switched off the music and came back to reality. Justin Bieber had just saved my life.

“Oh hell,” I muttered, my head spinning. I blinked, struggling to regain focus. I slid my gaze to the car’s hood, where white smoke billowed out and vanished into the night.

“Emilia, you all right?” Nell’s voice was faint in my ear, but his face surged back into view. Crimson stained his forehead. He must have slammed it against the steering wheel.

“Still alive. How about you?” The smell of something burning hit my nostrils, and bright lights filtering through the windows as tires skidded along the ground.

“Yes, I’m alive too. Anne, Leighton, you guys okay?”

Anne’s voice sounded terrified from the backseat. “Alive, but what the hell was that?”

I swiveled around and glanced out of the cracked window at our tail. Tall ghost-like figures marched toward us, long gleaming silver knives in their hands and high-tech gear attached to their bodies.

“s**t!” Nell cursed, wiping away the fresh blood with his fingertips. “Hunters on our trail.”

Nell burst out of the car, fists clenched. I stared at the faint outlines of men that blocked the way and heard their hushed negotiations in the still night air. Nell seemed spoiling for a fight, yet they appeared content to delay our departure, as if waiting for something. A wave of rage surged through me as I thought of the Fevre Claw’s planned attack on Seattle. These hunters failed to distinguish between people who were innocent and those who weren’t. We were running out of time.

Questions raced through my mind. Did they have some kind of point system? As if I was on the clock. It made sense that game-designers would try their best to keep players engaged, even if it meant coming up with ridiculous ways to slow them down and manipulate them.