Page 96 of Vicious Luna

My dad considers him for a moment, then tips his head in a respectful nod. “You get my daughter home safe, and the slate is wiped clean,” he offers. “We can get to know eachother properly, without all the ugliness of the past hanging over our heads.”

The corners of Cam’s mouth lift in the ghost of a smile. “I look forward to it.”

“Be careful out there tomorrow,” Mom cautions, her blue eyes rimmed with concern as they bounce between me and Madd. I swear, no matter how old we get, she still sees us as her little pups.

“We will,” I say confidently. “We can do this, Mom.”

“I know you can,” she replies with just as much confidence. “Just remember how much we love you.”

I smile softly, blowing her a kiss. “No matter what.”

42

The plan is set. All the pieces are in place. Now, the only thing left to do is execute it.

Forty of us are riding out today, split between eight different vehicles. We’re heading up the convoy in Madd’s Jeep, and even with the windows down, the tension in here is so thick it’d take a chainsaw to cut through it. We’re all on edge; all lost in our own thoughts as Madd white knuckles the steering wheel and Sloane busies herself by rummaging through the bag at her feet. Avery and I are in the back, both of us silently staring out at the blur of trees on either side as we pass. Not only is my stomach churning with my own apprehension, but I swear I can feel the pinch of her anxiety through the mate bond, too.

“Hey Cam, I’ve got some light reading for you to pass time on the drive, if ya want,” Sloane offers, pulling a manilla envelope out of her oversized purse and handing it back to me between the seats.

I eye it hesitantly as I reach out to take it from her. “What’s this?”

“Everything you want to know about where you came from,” she replies, sliding me a smile of encouragement.

I drop my gaze to the inconspicuous looking envelope in my hands, heart hammering against my ribcage. “You found him?” I ask, my throat constricting. “My real father?”

“I followed a hunch, and yeah, I think I did,” she breathes. “It’s all in there, see for yourself.”

My eyes glaze over as they remain fixed on the envelope, my mouth going dry.

“Well, aren't you going to open it?” Avery urges, sliding across the leather of the back seat until her thigh bumps mine. The brush of her skin breaks me out of the daze I was in, and I look up to meet her doe eyes, brimming with curiosity.

I’ve been so preoccupied with recent events that I’d forgotten Sloane was even looking for my bio-dad. When she’d offered to help find him, it wasn’t just to trace my family tree- it was also to identify the shifter pack I belonged with so I could return to them. Getting these answers was supposed to be a lifeline for me, but now, it feels more like a gut punch.

“No,” I decide, tucking the envelope into the pocket of the seatback in front of me.

Avery’s mouth falls open. “Seriously?” she asks, flabbergasted.

“I need to stay on mission today,” I grumble. “No distractions. I’ll look at it when this is all over.”

“Aw, c’mon,” Avery tuts, bumping her shoulder into mine playfully. “You sure you don’t just want to sneak an itty bitty peek?”

“Are you that eager to get rid of me?” I grit out.

She furrows her brow, frowning. “No, but I thought…”

“He’s right, we need to stay on mission,” Madd cuts in, and I glance up to meet his eyes in the rearview mirror, both shocked as shit that he’s agreeing with me onsomething and wary of the tight, unreadable expression on his face.

“Whatever,” Avery sighs, sliding back over to the opposite window and slumping against the seat with a huff.

Another tense, unnerving silence falls over us all as Maddeases the Jeep onto a highway, hitting a button to roll up the windows so we don’t get blasted with wind as he increases his speed. The drive to the safehouse isn’t a short one, and if this is how the entire trip is gonna go, I have half a mind to just throw open the door and bail out now. I’d rather be splattered on the pavement than endure hours of this tortuous quiet.

“Riv made us a playlist for the trip,” Sloane suddenly chirps, saving my goddamn life. She whips out her phone, connecting it to the Jeep’s bluetooth and queuing up her Spotify app. As soon as she hits play, a familiar tune floods through the speakers, all of us exchanging glances as we immediately recognize the song.

Avery’s the first to laugh, and the sound of it is damn contagious. Sloane titters in the passenger seat, and even Madd cracks a rare smile and chuckles. It’s too ironicnotto laugh, though, considering the first song on the playlist is ‘Eye of the Tiger’by Survivor.

I guess River was aiming to pump us up for the fight ahead. I’m not sure if she achieved that, per se, but she definitely lightened the mood. By the second chorus, the girls start singing along, and some of the heady tension finally bleeds out of the vehicle. Even more so when the song ends and the next one begins: ‘Fight For Your Right’ by the Beastie Boys.

By the third song, I finally get my head on straight, refocusing on the task at hand and getting in the zone. The hours slip by as I stare out the window, combing through the battle plans over and over again in my mind. I mentally rehearse exactly what I’m going to say to try to end this before it starts, and as Madd turns the Jeep onto the mountain road that leads to the cabin, I slide my hand onto Avery’s thigh, eyeing her as I flex my grip.

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