Page 73 of Fighting Furry

“Sure. Wake me when we stop for food.”

He didn't answer, just stared at the road, his expression bleak. I was sure it had to be hard to walk away from his pack, to leave them to an unknown fate. I was worried about them and I hadn't even known them that long. I told myself they'd be fine. They were tough and we'd figure out a way to help them. I grabbed a sweatshirt from the back seat, balled it up under my head and got as comfortable as I could flying down the road, bouncing over the occasional pothole. I drifted off thinking of the pack and those horrible vamps. Thinking of cold blood sliding down my throat and the dead bodies at my feet.

When I woke, the sky was dark and we were parked outside a nondescript diner that could have been the eatery in Mule Creek, except it had a neon sign declaring it was Molly's Diner. I sighed, stretched, and followed Axel inside.

“How long was I asleep?” I asked after we'd been seated.

“Four hours,” he said. “We crossed the state line into Arizona about an hour ago.”

The waitress came over and we placed our order. I was pretty sure I could eat all the cheeseburgers, but I just ordered one, with an extra side of fries.

“How much farther do we have to go?” I asked.

“'Bout an hour.” He stared out the window, but it was dark out and his own face was reflected back at him. He had to be exhausted after the day we'd had.

“Want me to drive the last hour?”

He looked at me. “No thanks. I'll crash when we get there.”

The waitress delivered our food and I dug in. I was so hungry, I practically inhaled it. Axel did the same, both silent as we ate.

As soon as he was done, he threw money on the table and stood. “We should get moving.”

I stuffed in my last bite of burger and stood with him. I didn't see the harm of sitting there for a bit and letting our food digest, but I could see the worry and tension on his face and in every line of his body. He needed the security of the safe house. I followed him out of the diner and back to the truck.

“Listen,” he said once we were back on the road. “We're going to have lay low for a while. I know you want to let Shelly know you're okay, but you can't call her. You can't call anyone. It's going to have to be like we died to everyone we know until the smoke clears on this mess.”

I hated the idea of not talking to Shelly. I was sure she'd seen the pictures and the videos by now. She had to be terrified for me. “How long do you think it will be before I can talk to her?”

He reached across the bench seat and laced his fingers through mine. He rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb. “It might be a while, Julie. Someone will let us know when it's safe. You have to wait until we get the all clear, no matter what happens, okay?”

I gave his hand a small squeeze. “Of course. I understand the concept of lying low. It'll be fine.”

“Not every wolf needs a pack, but some wolves…You'll know if your wolf is getting antsy, moody, and wants to go out roaming all the time, you'll know she needs a pack. Once you're safe, you can look for a pack.”

“We,” I said.

He glanced over at me, eyebrows raised. “What?”

“We can look for a pack.”

He cleared his throat and kept his eyes on the road. “That's what I meant. We can look for a new pack.”

A cold feeling of dread sank in my chest. He was already planning not being with me. He was already trying to prepare me for what I'd need to do if the council found us, if he was taken from me. “How would we go about finding a new pack?”

He relaxed and spent the next forty-five minutes telling me how to locate other packs and what qualities to look for when choosing a pack. I listened and made all the right sounds, but inside my brain was furiously working, trying to find a way out of this horrible mess.

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