When we landed in New Mexico, I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary. In fact, by the time we got to New Mexico, we had this thing down to a science. Don't show up phased, don't show aggression, too much information will scare people.

We ran into a slight problem where I lost the clothes I had attached to the wire around my ankle. I was ducking behind a bush and just waiting for the boys to notice as they chatted amongst themselves and got dressed. "Guys, help," I sighed. They looked back at me and I watched as they both tried not to laugh. "Stop, it's not funny."

"What happened?" Wyatt chuckled as he pulled his shirt off to hand to me.

I shrugged as I grabbed it from him. "I don't know; everything must have come loose somewhere."

As I slipped the shirt over my head, I looked around to see that we were truly in the middle of nowhere. As per the usual for the shifter groups; they removed themselves so far from the rest of their society. "We're about 15 miles out," I heard Nate say. "It's still early afternoon; we can turn back and find your clothes, if you want."

"Nah, it's fine," I said. I was admittedly feeling a little frustrated, a little burned out. A little tired and a little homesick. My parents and I kept missing each other, which sucked. We'd only been gone for four days, but it felt like a lifetime.

We walked for miles; I was just listening to Wyatt and Nate screw up the words to this Drake song, laughing with them. There was another small town that we found ourselves walking through. We stopped at a cute little boutique—more like I made them stop at it. I had my eye on this black maxi dress; it would be perfect for taking on and off for phasing. "I'm sorry, miss, we don't have your size in the black. Would you like to try on the white?" the sales lady asked, presenting me with the dress in her hands. She had given me a funny look when I walked into the door only in a giant t shirt and a pair of flip flops. It was also 115° so who cares?

I shook my head. "White will get too dirty," I rationalized.

"Just try it, Ace. We can get it cleaned," Wyatt said. "Go try it on."

It really was a beautiful dress. It was a light cotton halter dress that had a deep v cut and an exposed back. I felt the material between my fingers and it was really tempting. I kept thinking about how dirty I always got as a kid. Mama would hate putting me in white because it would take a solid 5 minutes before I got dirt all over it. Wyatt gently nudged me to the dressing room.

I slipped on the dress and I fell in love with it. It was so light on my body and hugged my waist and my chest in a way I didn't really see often. I very rarely spent money on clothes for myself. This life doesn't really support looking cute; I was used to dressing comfortably. "Wow," I whispered as I turned around in the mirror.

Letting my hair down from its ratty top bun, I let myself feel it for a second. And, for another second, I realized that maybe slowing down would be nice. "Come out, we wanna see," Nate called.

Pulling back the curtain, I stepped out of the dressing room. Wyatt's face immediately lit up when he saw me. Nate gave a soft smile. I did a little spin. "What do you think?" I asked.

"It-it's…" Wyatt stuttered. Then he shook his head. "You look beautiful, Hadley."

"Wow, 'Hadley', not 'Ace,'" I joked. "High compliment."

"You should get the dress," Nate said.

"You think?" I asked.

Wyatt called the sales woman over and handed her cash. "You don't always have to rationalize," he said with a wink. For a second, I felt almost giddy. And then I was almost sad…not sad, just feeling almost nostalgic for something I didn't have. Wyatt, even now, still made me feel as normal as I could. But there was something that crept into my head. This desire for peace and normalcy after all of this is over. I shook that off quickly; if I sat in that feeling for too long, it would only make this process harder.

We left the boutique and oriented ourselves Southwest. We were so close, about 5 miles away. When we came to the very quiet group of houses, once again in the middle of nowhere, it was a lot less dramatic than the group in Idaho. Well…at first.

People were bustling around, just existing in their self-sufficient bubble. One woman turned as we were coming in and her eyes widened before she rushed away. I tried to catch the attention of someone else, "Um, excuse me?" I called out.

Another woman looked up from her laundry line and had the same reaction, wide eyes and a paling face. Then other people around her started to do the same.

The first woman came back, dragging out an older woman by the arm. "Look!" she gasped.

I glanced at the boys as a crowd started to form. People poured out of their houses and other buildings to gather at the center. And they were all staring right at us. "Hi?" I said with an added lilt at the end.

And then you'll never believe what happened.

They all started to bow.

Literally bow.

Men, women, children, all started to get on their knees to bow down before us. I was frozen in my place. What is happening? Nate projected.

I had no idea.

The older woman stood to her feet. "Please tell us your name, Selene," she said in a flustered tone.

She was almost fully gray on top of her head, but her face still held onto youth quite well. She had crows feet, but they didn't age her. She looked wise. "I'm Hadley," I answered with hesitation. "These are my friends, Nate and Wyatt. I…are you guys alright?" I asked.

"We have been expecting you, Selene," the woman said.

"Oh, that's not my na—"

"Come, come!" She ushered me toward something that looked like a church. Everyone stayed on their knees while we awkwardly shuffled past them. The woman swung open the double doors of the church and waved us to follow her.

Right ahead past the pews and the stage, we were greeted with a large mosaic of a woman with tan skin, voluminous dark hair, and a long white dress sitting on a crescent moon, holding a smaller full moon in her hands. "Holy shit," Wyatt mumbled under his breath. "Lee…that's you."

"What? No, it's not." I immediately rejected that idea.

"That is definitely you," Nate said, a little freaked out.

The woman didn't stop; she kept walking until we reached a door in the back of the church. She immediately went behind a desk and began pouring red wine into four glasses. "Please, sit," she said. She had an accent, but I couldn't place it. There were already three chairs set as if she was expecting three people at all times. "I have been saving this bottle for 22 years," she told us. "It's a Bordeaux. Do you like wine, Selene?"

"Um…yes, thank you," I said, still confused. "Why do you keep calling me that?"

She gasped a little. "Oh, I'm so sorry. It is a term of endearment, I promise. Or a title like Khaleesi; we love Game of Thrones. Do you prefer to be called something else? We could not decide between Selene and Artemis."

"Selene…" I repeated.

"The goddess of the moon," Nate filled in for me, unnecessarily.

"And Artemis…"

"The goddess of war."

"Thank you, Wikipedia," I snapped a little at him before I turned back to the woman. "Look, I'm not some kind of goddess. I don't think I'm the one you've been looking for. You don't have to call me either of those names. I'm just Hadley."

"The Quileute Descendent, yes?" she asked. I nodded, but I felt a certain embarrassment in that admittance. "Then you are exactly who we've been looking for."

She then slid open a drawer and pulled out a canvas. Then she spoke, "We have waited for you for 22 years. I had a vision of your arrival with two warriors just as you have today."

The canvas was of three faceless people, clearly Native though by skin tone. The warrior on the right was covered in markings across his chest and arms. And the warrior on the left was a little taller and skinnier than the other. The woman in the middle? She had a mane of raven hair and was wearing a floor length white gown. My mouth was open in shock.

That was me and my boys.

"I…" was speechless. "Whoa…"

"Although I understand the circumstances of your arrival, I am so confident and elated that you have come here to help us serve our purpose in this life," the woman said. "We bow down to you, Selene Hadley, because you are bringing us intention."

The woman—who I learned was named Sage—told us how she was told psychically that I and two warriors would arrive to them when the Volturi came. So I didn't even need to explain to her why we were there. I did however have to clarify that they weren't here to kill us, but we were in desperate need of numbers to make sure they don't start to overrule us. She seemed to understand.

So eventually, she started to invite people into the church so everyone could understand what was happening. So many of them were so in awe of me and my "warriors" that I wasn't even sure they were really listening. It was very strange to be standing in front of a mosaic of my likeness and be speaking to these people who seemed to be hanging onto my every word like I was some kind of god.

That is until a man, in the back, yelled out. "How do we even know she's the real Selene?"

Someone else shouted, "Yeah, our Selene is a telepathic prophet. She looks like she's just a girl!"

There started to be rumblings around the room. Skepticism. Doubt. I wasn't panicking, but I was trying to work fast to prove that what I was saying was true. I didn't need to convince them I was their Selene…because I wasn't a goddess. I just needed to convince them that I was who I say I am.

I am the Quileute Descendant. The first born of two shapeshifters. I don't know about telepathic prophet, but I did have a couple of cool tricks up my sleeve. "I know this is a lot to take in," I spoke over their voices, waving my hands to quiet them. "Your trust is of utmost importance so we can keep ourselves under our own rule instead of the Volturi's. So if you need convincing, I can absolutely do something about that."

I held out my hands to the boys and had them stand on either side of me. You want the truth? This was a fucking gamble. And my admitted bit of arrogance thought that, if Kaya could outwardly project like she did that night we found out about Travis and I being two of the same, then I could give it a shot.

Will this work? Wyatt asked.

Once again…I had no idea.

I took a deep breath to center myself, squeezing Wyatt and Nathan's hands. I closed my eyes and focused on two things: 1. The night I met Jane and 2. Projecting out as much as I could.

Hearing gasps, I opened my eyes to see the room beginning to shift the way it had when Kaya came to us. The walls, the windows, everything started to blur, until all around us looked like the bathroom at that bar in Port Angeles. We watched the whole thing; from me cleaning the glass from my hand to Jane's creepy last words. The boys helped to keep the image strong, as I knew it would. But I could feel it draining my energy a lot more than any other projection trick I could do.

I broke my hand away from Nate and waved it to pause the image. There was a room full of people—a church full of people—staring in disbelief. I shrugged with a sheepish smile. "Any questions?" I asked.

XXXXXXXXX

We can't stay long, Nate warned me before breakfast. We need to get back on the road.

I'm on top of it, I told him as Sage, the older woman, and I spoke about logistics. "I want to apologize if we came on a little strong yesterday," she said as we walked calmly alongside the Rio Grande.

"No need to apologize," I reassured her. "This is uncharted territory for all of us."

"How many soldiers do you have so far, Sel—Hadley," she corrected herself. I had insisted on them not calling me Selene. Don't get me wrong, it was kind of flattering to have a Khaleesi type name, but I feel like whatever they'd learned about me was inflated.

"About 75 so far, including you guys," I said proudly. "My brother was able to track down so many shifter groups, I feel like we have a real shot at taking the Volturi guard down."

She nodded. "Your brother, the tall one with you?"

"No, Nate isn't my brother. He's my cousin," I clarified. "I have a brother and sister back home. They're not involved in shifter stuff."

"Ah," she said. "And the other one? With the tattoos. That is your mate?"

"Wyatt and I aren't mated…yet."

"But you are in love, Selene?"

I felt my face get really hot. "Uh, yes. Very much so."

"His love for you is very strong; you can see it in how he looks at you," she said with a soft smile. "You know, we teach that the root of bravery is love, the same as sacrifice. A lot of heroes feel that they are unworthy of love, that their only worth is in what they can do for others. They give love, but refuse to take it. I often think the greatest acts of bravery happen when you receive love. Feeling something that pure is one of life's greatest gifts. You are very lucky to not only have such a true romantic love, but to have a pure platonic and familial love. You are surrounded by it; it radiates off of you."

I felt warm at her words. It was the first time I'd heard out loud what I had felt for years. I've always struggled with receiving love. Mostly because I worry about what love turns into when the person you're giving it to is gone. I mean, you've seen it. How Mom and Dad used to dote on me all the time because they were afraid. How everyone would walk on eggshells around me. For years, I kept my friends and the boy I loved at arm's length so that they wouldn't hurt if I died.

There was a question that was burning in my throat. "Sage," I started cautiously. "How do you know that I'm the one you've been waiting for?"

When she smiled, the crinkles in the corners of her eyes deepened. "What is it that you doubt, Selene Hadley? Your strength or your importance?"

I blinked in surprise at her question. "I…I don't…"

"We had a bad run in with the Volturi something a little over 20 years ago and had to rebuild from scratch," she told me. "They couldn't just kill people off, of course, so they targeted shapeshifter communities and started fires, made murders look like mere animal attacks. As I'm sure they still do. An angel came to me and told me all about the girl who is destined to save our kind from certain death and hardship. Her future remained uncertain, but her purpose was always clear. We may have been a little overzealous in our celebration of you, but that doesn't diminish why you're here. So I ask again, Hadley Black, is it your importance that you're unsure of or your strength?"

I stopped walking as I thought about her question. The fire thing…that sounded exactly like what happened to Travis and Reese. "Both, sometimes, I guess," I admitted.

"Do you have the heart to take them on?" she challenged.

"Yes," I answered immediately.

"Then you're fine," she shrugged. I looked at this woman like she was crazy. She placed both hands on my arms gently. "Strength comes from the heart. And your importance is rooted in your strength. So use it wisely."

I would keep that with me for a very long time. "What do you mean 'uncertain'?" I found myself asking.

She didn't answer. "Come on, let's get back to camp," Sage said, squeezing my shoulders and turning me around. "Many more people are waiting for your arrival, Selene."

We visited four more shifter groups by the end of the first week, in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Texas. It was more or less the same and, honestly, it was a little disheartening how fractured we all were from each other. I had heard so many times that they thought my existence was only a rumor. Other times, I heard that they were surprised that we would even need their help with anything. No one else was like the pack in New Mexico though. After I had projected out to them, they were chomping at the bit for details—when, where, and what else did we need?

Some took no convincing at all; they were instantly on board. Some took a little longer to convince. Some were skeptical, worried about the possibility of being hurt in war. That was reasonable. We'd even gotten turned down once. The pack in Wyoming was very small and they feared any outcome where they would have to leave their families behind.

But, this is what we expected, right? We went into this knowing that there was a chance that people would reject us. No one is obligated to fight just because they're supernatural. Some of us didn't ask for this. So now we were making our way out of Texas, which proved to be a little difficult to run phased through. Just because it was so big, and we kept hitting patches of miles where it was only desert and no trees to hide in. We wouldn't find trees again until we were well in Oklahoma.

That's how we ended up in a diner in the middle of north Texas, trying to decide our next move. I joked that we could just hitchhike, but the boys were not a fan of that idea. The young waitress came to our table to ask if we needed anything else. It was the fourth time she'd come up in 15 minutes; she just wanted to look at Nate and Wyatt. "Can I get you guys a refill?" she asked with a heavy Texan accent.

"I'd love another Cherry Coke, actually," I said, knowing I'd be ignored. She kept her eyes on Wyatt who wasn't paying attention in the slightest.

I nudged his side. He looked up from his phone and at me before saying to the waitress, "Can we get a Cherry Coke please?"

"Of course, handsome, anything else?" She was batting her fake lashes really heavy, I thought she might fly away.

Wyatt draped his arm around the back of the booth around my shoulders. "No, that's it, thanks," he said coolly. Then he looked at me again. "Do you need anything else, baby?"

Nate snorted from across the booth before he went back to texting on his phone. I suppressed a smile as I answered, "No, I'm all good. Thank you." She rolled her eyes before walking away. "From a deity to nothing. I'm invisible."

"Not to me," Wyatt said, kissing my temple. Nate looked up at us and it was very quick, but I noticed it right away. First, his eyes flashed almost a look of pride that Wyatt and I had finally found a groove; almost like a proud papa or something. And then a flash of sadness. He didn't know I knew, but I'd heard him think about being ready for something like a relationship.

Nate had been allergic to being committed to a girl since forever. He would never say why; he treated every single woman he involved himself with with respect and decency. The girl he'd been seeing in Forks had asked him multiple times why they weren't in a relationship and he would just brush it off. I think he worried about hurting someone the way his dad hurt my mom.

I think he worried about being like his dad for a lot of things.

The diner was in the middle of nowhere, but it did the job. We were able to eat a ton without blowing a lot of money and there was practically no one in there, so we didn't risk anyone overbearing. "We just need to get to the other side of Oklahoma, and then we won't have anything until New Orleans," Wyatt said.

"Right, but how do we get to Broken Bow from here? And is going to New Orleans going to take us too much out of our way?" Nate asked. "Do we really need that pack in the Bayou?"

"New Orleans has 50 bodies, strong. We can't leave that behind," I told them. "I don't know…unless we split up and meet up in—."

"No," they both resounded. I may have suggested splitting up before we left home to see if we could cover more ground. There's strength in numbers so it was easier to travel together, but I was thinking of efficacy.

I sighed before glancing out the window. They continued to talk around me while I tried to brainstorm. Then I heard the distant blowing of a train horn. The train blockades came down with flashing red lights as the vibration of the train came barreling past. My eyebrow ticked as an idea formed. I turned back to the boys right as our super kind waitress came back with a Coke refill in hand. "Um, excuse me?" I tried. "How often do the freight trains run?"

She ignored me again as she collected some of our dishes. I rolled my eyes before kicking Nathan under the table. "Ow, what the fu—?" He glared at me. I gestured toward the server. He shook his head before leaning toward her. "Hi sweetheart," he said, dropping his voice an octave. She looked up in surprise. "Tell me something…how much do you get these trains around here?"

She stuttered a little, flustered. "Th-they usually come about once every couple of hours. Shakes the whole place; it drives everyone nuts."

"Thank you, sweetie." Nate flashed a bright smile and winked.

She giggled nervously before pulling out her order pad. She jotted something down before folding it up and placing it in Nate's hand. "A couple of girlfriends and I are going to the bar in town later tonight. Here's my number, if you're not too busy. And if you are, text me anyway."

He didn't say anything. He just smiled at her again before she walked away. He nodded his head to the door. "Come on, let's go."

When we were just outside the diner, we saw that the freight train had slowed to a stop about a mile away. I grabbed both of their arms. "We need to get on that train," I told them.

"What? We don't even know if it's going the right way," Wyatt said.

"It's going East," Nate and I said at the same time. "It should take us right into Oklahoma, probably toward Tulsa or Oklahoma City and we can run the rest of the way to Broken Bow," I said.

Wyatt looked around at the desert around us. "You sure it's going East?" he asked.

"You should really pay better attention in pack meetings," Nate commented. The train's horn blew again. "Let's get a move on."

We managed to catch up to the train right as it started to move again. I was the fastest out of the three of us, so I hopped onto the ledge of the last car, holding onto the metal rail as the train picked up speed. Wyatt found a way to barrel roll onto the car with no help, then Nate waved me to go inside so he could jump onto the ledge.

It was unbearably hot in the train car, but we made it work. We sat in our own corners to try to cut down on generating more heat. Nate was messing with the server's number in his hands. Then he flicked it and we watched as it expertly flew out of the car and into the wind. "Why'd you do that?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Not my type."

"What is your type?"

Another shrug. "I'll let you know when I find it."

XXXXXXXXX

We ended up falling asleep in the train and it took us so much further East than we intended. By the time Nate shook me awake, it was pitch black outside. "Oh shit…" I yawned, rubbing my eyes. Before I realized… "Oh shit!"

"Where are we?" Wyatt asked.

"No idea," Nate said. "We gotta get back on track. My phone's dead."

I reached in my back pocket for my phone. I clicked the lock button. "Mine too," I said.

"And mine is locked because it's overheating," Wyatt said before cursing. "Alright, there has to be a truck stop or something around here."

Jumping off a moving train wasn't the hard part. It was trying to decide which way to go. We ended up running South on human foot until we hit a main road. Then we saw lights after following a semi truck for about 10 miles.

It was one of those truck stops where you can shower and rest without needing to be on the side of the road. The more I thought about it…the more a shower sounded like heaven. I picked at my fingernails as I casually said, "I mean…it's already the middle of the night." I shrugged my shoulders. "We might as well regroup when we're clean."

"There's a wooded area not too far from here; we can save some money and clean up in a creek or something," Nate suggested.

"We have access to an actual shower, Nathaniel," I countered. "It's been a week; we're well past bathing in a creek."

We bought two showers (cutting corners) and split up, agreeing to meet in the gas station. Wyatt and I slipped into the same shower room when the attendant wasn't looking. "Maybe we should slow down," Wyatt said as he let the door shut behind him. "One of us is going to hit a wall soon."

"Yeah, I know, but we're so close," I said, slipping out of my clothes and stepping into the shower. The water was lukewarm, at best; I waited for it to warm up as I stuck my face in it. Behind me, Wyatt was moving my hair off of my shoulders. He was quiet as he ran his fingers through it.

"We could ask one of the truckers if we can crash?" he suggested.

"And get real-life murdered? Were you not paying attention when we watched Criminal Minds together?"

"I think the three of us could take one trucker," he chuckled. "It's either that or we keep moving."

I thought about it for a second. He had a point. There was absolutely nothing human that could stop all three of us. But you know those stories you hear about people hitchhiking with truck drivers who end up in ditches on the side of the highway? It's enough to make your skin crawl.

"I vote we keep moving," I said as the water washed over both of us.

"And I vote we take it easy tonight," he shrugged. "Looks like it's a tie. We'll need our tiebreaker."

I snaked my arms around his waist and rested my head on his chest, sighing tiredly. He started to rub the bar of soap up and down my back, across my butt, innocently. Really, he was getting anywhere he could reach while I was essentially boneless leaning against him. Wyatt kissed my forehead as he pulled my left arm from his waist and cleansed it from my shoulder to the tips of my fingers. When he got my right, he did the same thing before pressing his lips to my scar—our scar.

He captured my lips as he trapped me between his hard, hot body and the shower wall. But he was still washing me, the soap slippery against my stomach, my breasts. I don't think the intimacy of it was lost on either of us. I could feel every ounce of tenderness and care in his touch and this delicious sense of urgency with every pass of his tongue. I moaned against him as my eyes fluttered shut.

It was when he dropped to his knees that my heart skipped a beat. Wyatt picked up my foot and placed it on his shoulder, but he kept his eyes low. If he would have looked up at me, I would have turned into a puddle. He took his sweet time rubbing the soap along my feet, up my calves, onto the outside of my thighs, and across my hips. I bit my lip as I tried not to groan in frustration. His hands and his mouth were so close to where I needed to be touched so badly. "Wyatt…" I choked out.

"Yes?" He looked up with faux innocent eyes.

"Please keep going," I whispered.

The corners of his mouth twitched upward as he suppressed his smile. He had that mischievous glint in his eye. "You rushing me, Ace?"

I shook my head no, swallowing hard. I wasn't ready for the shaky breath to leave my body when his fingers gingerly ran along my slit. I was soaking wet; he didn't even look surprised that that was the case. I knew the more I begged, silently and vocally, the more he'd take his time. The more he'd torture me.

His hands glided up to my hips to pull them forward just a little. And I watched with bated breath as Wyatt let his lips graze my clit before he completely removed his face. I let out a loud groan as my head dropped forward. Wyatt chuckled at my frustration. "You know," he started, "you've always had a problem with being patient."

I had to keep from saying something that would make him stop. "Have I?" I gritted out.

His tongue lightly circled around my folds as he hummed, "Uh huh."

"How's that?" I asked. My hands were shaking. I could have exploded right then.

He ran the tip of his nose along my inner thighs, causing me to whimper. "Hadley's always on the move," he said. "Somewhere to go, someone to see. Did you realize how long it's been since we've been truly alone?" He grabbed two fistfuls of my ass to hold me in place. "This is the most time I've had you all to myself."

I swallowed hard, "We'll have to…" I stopped to catch my breath, "We'll have to work on that when we get back."

"I'd rather we work on it now," he shrugged, nonchalantly. "See, not everything is on Hadley time."

"Are you trying to fuck me or insult me?" I asked sarcastically as he neared his face to my core again.

He stopped cold and looked up at me. "Maybe both," he answered.

"You're mean," I smirked.

"That's the only way to handle you sometimes," he retorted before sucking my clit into his mouth. I gasped before I could say another word. His hot mouth on me was enough to make my soul leave my body. The strokes of his tongue were strong, deliberate. Like he was trying to taste every part of me at once.

I squirmed against his firm grip on my body, grinding against him. My eyes rolled as I managed to say, "That feels so good."

Everything about him made me feel like I was floating. The way his groans would send vibrations through my entire body. The way his hands gripped me tighter with every pass of his tongue. He had me right where he wanted me. No more, no less. I couldn't move and I didn't want to. I just wanted him to keep touching me forever.

We both moaned as he slipped two fingers inside me. Wyatt lapped at my clit while pumping into me. His hunger made me climb higher, a bunch of curse words just falling out of my mouth as I grabbed at his hair to bring him even closer than he already was.

Wyatt fucked me with his fingers faster when he felt how close I was. My legs were about to collapse under me any second. I couldn't even hear myself anymore as I mumbled out yes Wyatt yes don't stop fuck just like that. When I looked down, our eyes locked. He smirked at me right when he curled his fingers, sending me right over the edge. "Oh my god, Wyatt!" I gasped as my entire body tensed and erupted.

He kissed up my body until he reached my lips again. Tasting myself on his tongue felt so naughty, I couldn't help but tangle my fingers in the hairs at the nape of his neck to kiss him deeper. "You're perfect, Ace," he whispered against my lips. "Every single thing about you is perfect."

"I love you," I whispered back, desperate. He lifted me by my waist until I wrapped my legs around his waist. "I'm not above begging, Wyatt. Please."

"I guess we'll work on patience another time," he said gruffly, reaching between us. He rubbed the head of his cock on my sensitive clit, making me jump. "God, you're so wet."

"Wyatt, now," I begged. "Right now."

He pushed into me with a hissing comment about how tight I was. It was only when our bodies started moving together, eyes locked, that I realized he was right: we hadn't been alone like this in so long. We could sneak off for little bits at a time, but things with the pack got so busy, we could never take our time. And gathering from how rough his thrusts were inside me and the way my nails were raking down his back, this was long overdue.

The water was ice cold now, but we didn't even notice. I kissed him hungrily under the spray as the urge to mark him, claim him overwhelmed me. Fuck, I wanted to so damn bad. He pushed my wet, matted hair out of my face to look at me. I knew my eyes were glowing gold and I was surprised that his weren't. "It's just us, Lee," he whispered as he slowed down his pace. "Just you and me."

I tried to suppress the wolf battering inside me. She was aggressive, always, and persistent. But this—this moment—wasn't about her wanting to claim Wyatt. It was about Wyatt and me. The couple. The people. "I…I…" I struggled to speak as he filled me over and over again.

"I know," he whispered gruffly. I wanted to do it, but we agreed we wouldn't mark each other until we knew it was time.

"Please…"

"I won't, baby." I was so damn close to another orgasm; If he stopped, I would explode.

"Fuck," I gasped out as my head rolled back. Wyatt placed open, hot kisses all along my neck and my breasts, taking my nipple into his mouth. His fingers found my clit, working it in quick circles. "Cum with me," I moaned.

"I'm close, baby," he grunted. He started to drill me harder. My back arched as he hit that spot. He was mumbling in my hair, "So damn close…feels so fucking good…shit…"

When we came together, I saw stars. His body shook with pleasure as he tried to keep rhythm, groaning as he finished inside me. My head dropped onto his shoulder as my chest heaved to catch my breath. Wyatt was holding both of us up with one hand braced on the wall and the other wrapped around me. I was completely tangled into him. "Whoa," I sighed.

Wyatt nodded before a small chuckle rocked through him. "Jesus, Ace," he shook his head. "You're incredible."

"I think you are," I said, lifting my head to kiss him. Then he started peppering my face with kisses, making me giggle. I unhooked my legs and slid down his body until my feet hit the floor. Picking up the bar of soap, I worked my way around his body to make him as clean as he made me. He stuck his face under the freezing cold water as I rubbed his back. The muscles in his back glistened as it was showered. Oh my god. I pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades before reaching around him to turn the water off. "Nate's gonna be pissed we took so long," I commented lightly.

Wyatt shrugged as he stood confidently naked and rubbed a towel through his hair. "One day, he'll understand," was all he said with a wink.

We got dressed and met Nate in the gas station. He was deep in a bag of Hot Cheetos as he looked at a digital map of the highways. When he spotted us, he rolled his eyes. "No self control," he joked.

"You're one to talk," I shot back. I came to stand next to him to see what he was looking at. My eyes widened. "Memphis? We're in Tennessee? How did we overshoot it by that much?"

"We haven't had a proper night's sleep in days, Ace," Wyatt said. "We might as well go straight to Meridian from here. Any groups we haven't hit yet, we can grab on the way back."

"That's a solid idea," Nate agreed. "We're almost a week out. If we take any longer, we risk blowing our element of surprise."

"Meridian is 9 and a half hours from here by car," Wyatt announced after he dug his phone out of his pocket. "If we run, we can make it in 6, but it's 4 in the morning. Let's take it easy for a couple of hours and we can get going at daybreak."

Nate and I thought about it for a second. I nodded finally. "Yeah, ok, great idea, sweetie. Let's do it."

"Are y'all lookin' for a ride?" we heard behind us. The three of us turned to see this older white man with a pot belly and a ponytail looking at us. "Where y'all headed?"

"Atlanta," Nate answered, tentatively.

The man grunted. "I'm headed to North Carolina; I can get you to Chattanooga, if you want a ride."

I felt my face scrunch in apprehension. I don't know if I trust it, I projected.

It might be the only way we can keep moving and get some rest, Nate observed.

Like I said, Ace, it'd be three against one, Wyatt pointed out.

Apparently, we were taking too long to answer. The man shrugged his shoulders. "Look, I'm leaving in five minutes. Then the ride's off the table."

"We'll take it," I blurted.

XXXXXXXXX

It took a little over 5 hours before we got dropped off in Chattanooga, notably sleeping in shifts. But it was enough to get our phones charged and our brains refreshed.

Meridian was in arm's reach, I could feel it. But as I got more excited that we were almost there, Wyatt was slipping more into uncertainty and dread. It had been five years since we had seen Travis. He didn't really cause us to have problems, but his presence really amplified them and forced us to work through them. I don't have to tell you this; you know.

5 years is a long time. We were different now, more mature. So I grabbed Wyatt's hand while we walked through the woods of Georgia. "Feeling alright?" I asked.

He looked at me and tried to smile. "Yeah, all good, Ace."

Nate blew out a breath. "Yikes, brother, that didn't even almost sound convincing."

"Shut up."

"Talk to me," I said. "Is this about Travis?"

"No."

"Liar," Nate commented.

"Shut up."

"Tell me the truth," I prodded. "Full transparency?"

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "Fine…I'm feeling a little…apprehensive about being around this guy again. But this is important so it's fine."

I stopped us in our tracks and took his other hand in mine. "We're in this together. We came all this way as a team, we'll leave as a team. I promise all of that stuff was left in the past." I made sure to keep his gaze. "Just you and me, right?"

He nodded. "Just you and me."

"So cute," Nate said sarcastically. He started walking backward away from us. "I really do love this for you guys. Now can we keep movin—whoa!"

Nate fell to the ground with a thud. Our heads whipped to Nate who was scrambling to stand up. "What the fuck?" he gasped.

He had tripped over a dead deer.

It's neck had been broken clean, but there were bite marks, covered in blood. Surveying around, I tried to identify if there was any animal that could have done this. But, instead of the predator, all I saw was another dead deer a few yards away. Then another. And another. There were five dead deer in a mile's radius.

Then I saw it. A pair of eyes starting at me from the inside of the trees. But, strangely, my body wasn't reacting to its presence. So either, it really was an animal or I'd been around this kind of creature before. It growled almost menacingly, making me protectively grab hold of Wyatt's arm. He tried to push me behind him. "Get back, Ace," he said.

The creature growled again before it started to run toward us. I thought about phasing to defend us, but the wolf-like creature jumped over our heads and tackled an approaching deer, taking its throat in its jaws.

Wait…that looks familiar.

It transformed as soon as the deer was down and there stood a 6'3 man with curly dark brown hair tumbling over his shoulders and familiar, friendly dark brown eyes. He was twice the muscle mass than the last time I'd seen him and sporting a full beard, but I'd know that smile anywhere.

"Hey guys!" Travis grinned as he caught his breath. He put his hands on his hips as he caught my eye, mischief glinting, before he joked, "Sarah, right?"