Page 56 of Vicious Wolf Mate

My instinct is to lie to the agent. Ever since the veil fell, shifters have learned not to trust anyone from PEACE, no matter how nice they may seem. Unfortunately, the three of us didn’t have time to settle on a story. Hopefully they’re both smart enough to not reveal why we’re going to Albuquerque. For now, it’s best to tell the truth about the crash and avoid questions about our destination.

“I have no idea.” It’s an honest answer but the agent before me still narrows his eyes. “Everything was fine and normal, then suddenly we were swerving and hit a rock.”

“Hmm, well before the crash, was your friend-.” the agent’s voice fades away as my eyes find Jax’s body bag again over his shoulder. He’s loaded into the back of a van and that’ll probably be the last time I ever see my friend.

My eyes then fall onto a mass of people being held back by PEACE agents on the highway. A mix of bystanders trying to gawk and reporters trying to film the scene of the crash all look towards me. My heart stops as behind them, a van sporting a Insignys symbol slowly rolls past. The men in the front seat watch me the whole time as they go by.

A shiver moves up my spine. They must have been out looking for us, and now we’re found. We have to get out of here.

“Son, did you hear my question?”

“We need to leave right now. Me and my friends.” I start nervously looking over at Mckenna and Gnash, neither seemed to have spotted the van.

“Not yet, we still have some more questions.”

“You don’t understand, we have to leave now. Our lives are in danger if we stay here any longer!”

“Are they?” The PEACE Agent narrows his eyes again. He pulls out his flashlight and shines them in my eyes. “Son, have you been taking any drugs this evening?”

“What? No! I-”

“Crack? Cocaine? Heroin? Iridescent? What’s your poison kid?”

“I’m not on drugs!”

“You have been acting erratic since we got-”

“MY FRIEND JUST DIED! Now I’m trying to keep more people from-!”

“Son, I’m going to have to ask that you don’t yell.” The agent starts to pull out handcuffs. He signals the others interviewing Mckenna and Gnash and they do the same. “Are you going to make this difficult?”

I’m dumbfounded at how quickly this all turned sour. But I really shouldn’t be. Mckenna told me PEACE was in cahoots with Insignys. I guess I just hoped the agents sent to a car crash were too low level to be bribed by her father.

I want to shift. Rip this man apart and save Mckenna and Gnash from being arrested too. But I can still feel the crowd’s eyes on me. I can’t do that in front of them. Or else Insignys won’t need mind control to turn the public against us.

I hold out my arms and I’m handcuffed behind my back. Mckenna and Gnash get the same treatment. Once again, Mckenna is brought to her own car for transport while Gnash and I are shoved into the back of the same car.

Before we are fully separated by the slamming of car doors, Mckenna and I make eye contact one last time. There isn’t any fear in her eyes, like when Dave dragged her away. Instead, I see courage and fortitude. This won’t be the last time we see each other, she seems to believe that and I must too.

For a moment, Gnash and I are alone in the car. The agents are outside talking, and fielding questions from reporters. We may only have a few moments to talk.

“Gnash, why did you-?”

“Shhhh!” Gnash looks around nervously. He then contorts his head against his body and the seat of the car, to hide his mouth. “You have no idea where they might be hiding cameras.”

“Okay.” I contort my body in the same way and repeat my question. “Why did you swerve?”

“There was a woman when I got to the cells at Insignys. She was the first to interrogate me. I saw her in the middle of the road with a gun pointed at us. I swerved to avoid hitting her.”

“A woman? What woman? What does she look like?” How could a woman from Insignys be in the middle of the road out here? How would they know we’d be here?

“Um… young, younger than I’ve ever seen working for Insignys, and prettier. Usually, we’re stuck dealing with the gruff dudes. She really stuck out. That’s how I could recognize her.”

“What else?”

“Long blonde hair, she’s thin, blue eyes, and… oh, she has a tattoo of a bird on her wrist.”

“A bird?” No, no, no, this can’t be… “Was it an owl?”

---