Six hours, six protein bars, two red bulls, and one bathroom stop into our night drive, Cole was dead-to-the-world exhausted. His swollen eyelids drooped and shoulders cracked as he rolled them. Every few minutes, his head tipped down, then snapped up when his chin hit his chest.

I swear he's going to nod off and slam his forehead into the steering wheel.

A bright flash erupted around us, illuminating the mangy grasses dangling over the road on both sides. It was followed by a loud, vibrating boom of thunder that jolted both of us on our seats. The faint pattering sound of rain hit the car's exterior and Cole's windshield wipers activated. They squealed to start but the raindrops increased in size and frequency. Soon he had to increase the wiper speed.

"Great," he grumbled. "Fucking great."

"You know..." I squinted my eyes at his obviously exhausted state. "I could drive while you rest."

"Yeah right," was his scoffed response. "If I wanted the car to go into a ditch, then I'd drive it into one myself."

"You might do that if you're tired enough." I frowned at his lack of enthusiasm.

After a few minutes of silence, he mulled over the idea since he asked, "Do you know how to drive?"

"Nope," I stated the obvious. "My father wouldn't let me learn."

"Wait..." His brown eyes flicked sideways while his head faced ahead. "You can shoot a gun, but can't drive a car?"

"I never said any of his decisions made sense." The words came out bitter and felt sore to my throat, as if I choked on something distasteful. "You act like I had any choice. His house was as much of a prison as the one I slept in the Northern territory, with five star dining and designer labels."

He didn't respond and we fell into another round of silence. I settled back against my seat as my irritation settled into my stomach. As my eyes slid half-closed, I looked over at Cole and found his eyes drooping, so I reached over and flicked my finger into his cheek.

"What the!?" His lip curling back, he sneered at me, but flipped open his eyes.

"If you aren't going to let me drive, then you have to pull over to sleep because then you will put us into a ditch," I clipped.

"Sorry." He scrubbed one hand down his face and pinched at the inside corners of his eyes with his thumb and index finger. "I need to go four more hours before we can stop."

"You're not going to make it at this point." My eyes dragged out the window on my right. There wasn't much to see other than darkness but the long, unkempt wild grasses on either side of the road were replaced with underbrush. A few blinks of my eyes later and I realized we were headed into a forest.

As dark tree forms appeared overhead, the light rain turned heavier. The silence between us was engulfed with the splatters of rain against the car's roof and windows. The incoming forest view blurred.

"Fabulous," Cole grumbled as he turned up the windshield wiper speed. "Wasn't supposed to rain. This is the last thing we needed."

For possibly the first time since we'd left the Eastern territory, Cole and I were in complete agreement.

Rain battered the windshield with sounds loud enough that I swore hail fell from the sky instead of rain over the next hour. It pounded through the silence, taking away any chance for sleep. After an hour with no visibility, I let out another loud, frustrated sigh.

Cole interrupted our silence with, "I can't believe I'm saying this but maybe if you talk to me, it'll help me stay awake."

"Aww, you love my company," I cooed and turned my head. His frowny-face expression showed that was the last thing on his mind. "Admit it, tough guy."

"Hardly, Zara." He scoffed, cracking his neck by drawing each ear to the nearest shoulder. "More like if I'm irritated, then I'm more likely to be awake. I've met pups who are more mature than you."

At the risk I proved his point, I stuck my tongue out at him. What I wanted to do was threaten him with silence but the last thing either of us needed was him nodding off. As I racked my brain, I only found one conversation topic that didn't involve Elena.

"Wait a minute..." I frowned at Cole as a realization struck my mind. "You're a... future Gamma?"

"Yeah," he replied without a glance in my direction. "What are you getting at?"

"So, you know political stuff, right?" I rolled sideways, resting my left shoulder against the seat that had become uncomfortable hours ago.

With a flat, emotionless voice, he grunted, "What kind of 'stuff' are you talking about?"

"Pack politics," I replied, although that didn't provide any more clarity. "I need to know, umm... something."

"Narrow that down, Princess."

"Why was Baron there for the Northern territory visit?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't vaguely say securing my father's interests. What were they?"

"Like you said..." He sighed, a soft sound pushed out between the thundering rain. "I don't have all the details."

"But you have some information," I pressed into the words he didn't say.

With his sharp breath and hesitation, I assumed he knew information I wouldn't like hearing. The idea of withholding information for my own sake gouged discomfort into me. My insides felt like they were twisted into knots.

Like I can't be trusted with my own truths.

"Cole..." I warned him with a sharp tone, my hands curling around the seatbelt. "Nothing you can tell me would hurt compared to what I found out in the East."

He pressed his lips into a firm line, then puffed them out with his exhale. "He was securing a contract between his pack and Alpha Faelon's."

My eyebrows drew together and the vague falling out shipping deal that I pitched for a reason to go north first resurfaced. "Like a work contract?"

"Normally yes, but this one was... uhh, personal," he admitted with a weight of discomfort in his voice. His hand lifted and rubbed against the back of his neck. "Years ago, Alpha Faelon did a... favor for your father."

I opened my mouth but he added, "And I don't know what it was, before you ask."

"Okaaaaayy," I dragged out the word. "Do you know what Alpha Faelon wanted in return?"

"Umm.. yeah." He cleared his throat, which turned into a fit of bark-like coughs.

"Cole," I warned him as my eyebrows pinched tight.

"Alright, you," he spat out. "He... wanted you."

I leaned into the doorway, staring at Cole because that was the last answer I expected. "Me!?" I squeaked out.

Any sense of earlier drowsiness shot out of me like a bullet out a barrel. My eyes couldn't have blinked faster if I tried.

My father was trading me... like property!? This gets worse the more information I learn.

A small thread of flattery that Alpha Faelon 'wanted' me spun through my stunned silent state, but it was quickly replaced by the weight from my rejection of Lucus. What I thought was a simple act of kindness hung around like a bad ex-boyfriend who couldn't take the hint.

Or, I assume, since I've never had a boyfriend.

"Why would he want me?"

"I'm not fielding that one, Princess." He chuckled.

While I appreciated the fact he was now wide awake, I didn't appreciate the humor at my expense.

How is he laughing at this?

"Oh, yes you are." I glared at him through narrowed eyes. "Humor me."

"At the risk of sounding like an ass, I have no idea." As my glare intensified and I imagined shooting lasers at him, he added, "Honestly, that information was never shared with me. You'd have to ask Alpha Faelon."

"Oh gawd." I rubbed one hand over my forehead, massaging as the weight of a very bad decision crashed down on me again. "So, when I rejected Lucus..."

Cole barked out another laugh that felt like a poke straight into my ego. "Yeah, kinda fucked up there, Princess."

My eyes rolled and I rubbed my forehead again. "You're not helpful... but that's why my father was mad," I mumbled more to myself.

Cole nodded, but couldn't help himself, "Not your best decision."

"He already had a mate!" I snapped at the teasing undertone in his voice. "Look me in the eye and tell me that you'd be happy being forced to be with someone other than Elena."

"I'm not arguing from the personal side, Princess." He gave me a wry smile. "Just the political. You asked for a political opinion."

"BS, Cole!" I balled my hands into fists. "Politically, someone, anyone, could have told me... since, I don't know!? It kind of involved me!"

And knowing that would have influenced my decision. I could've thrown a pie in Lucus' face instead.

I clenched my teeth so the 'including you if you hadn't been so wrapped up with Elena' response biting my tongue remained unsaid. Instead, I crossed my arms over my chest and whooshed an exhale out puffed cheeks.

"So, future Southern Gamma," my voice cut through the air and I sunk my nails into the soft flesh of my upper arms. "How did that happen? I thought you lived -"

"Until my sister died," Cole clenched his jaw. "When I was twelve, my parents sent me to live in the packhouse. I grew up with - uhh, you'll meet them."

"The twins?" He nodded, so I added another curious question, "Are they identical?"

"Nope." He chuckled. "I grew up with Theo and Caleb. They're... I don't know. Like brothers."

Less than helpful.

Correction: if they're like Cole's brothers then I probably should scratch both of the possible mate list.

For once, Lumi offered no opinion... Not even her default, 'not mate.'

Cole released the happiest laugh I'd ever heard out of him. A borderline snort came out from remembering his teenage buddies. "Sorry, you'll see."

Rolling my eyes, my deteriorating patience spat out, "And is trading away one's children also common practice in the South?"

"No," he snapped back. "Your father's agreement with Fallon is beyond weird. He does things... his own way."

"Great," I mumbled and shifted away.

This was not the conversation I thought we'd have, and now I have questions about Alpha Faleon's interests in me to add to the list I already had.

I groaned at the opportunity wasted because of miscommunication.

Ugh, and I was in his office alone before we left.

"So, to inform you," his voice spoke up behind me, poking razor sharp words into the back of my neck. "Instead of whatever deal you dissolved, we have a side mission for Alpha Faelon while we're in the Western territory. Kind of a... favor to make up for your, uhh, yeah."

"What kind of mission?" I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes.

"Not as exciting as it sounds." Cole flexed his annoying ability to turn every conversation topic anticlimactic, like he doused a bucket of water onto a fire pit. "The West installed underground landmines along their border with the Northern Territory. They shoot out silver shrapnel if crossed over. So, we're going to detect and remove them."

"Hmm," I hummed since that sounded a lot more interesting than making political connections. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Yeah." He shrugged, releasing a crack between his shoulders and groaning. "If you're not careful. But we'll be clearing those out for Alpha Faelon, under permission from Alpha Fenris."

My eyebrows arched. "Alpha Fenris?"

"Jeez, Elena was right." He rolled his eyes, then nodded at a bag that sat at my feet, unopened so far. "You don't like doing your homework, do you?"

"I don't want to deny her the joy she gets from doing research." I reached down and retrieved a large folder, then clicked on the overhead light. Cole grunted under the light change as I placed the folder on my lap. My mouth split into a grin when I saw that she prepared West cliff notes for me.

Proves my point right there.

"Go easier on her," his warning tone hit my ears as my eyes skimmed the pack summary. "She's pretty spent. I tried to convince her to stay behind in the East but she wanted to come here to help you."

I flipped through a few pages, my eyes searching for any hint of Alpha Faelon.

Nothing in here about North-West agreements.

"So... this side mission thingy, is that why Raina and Idris are coming?" I glanced up and he nodded.

I chewed on my thoughts for a moment, then realized Cole needed to tie up one more loose end for me. "What about the rogue?" I set the folder flat on my lap. "What do you know about him?"

"You'd know more than me." He shrugged. "But uhh... I wouldn't be surprised if we saw him again. Rogues are everywhere, hence the decoy attempt."

I grumbled under my breath, "This is pointless."

"Yep..." He frowned at the closed folder on my lap. "We both won't hear the end of it from Elena if you don't study up on that stuff."

"Ugh fine." I flipped down the overhead visor and opened the mirror for a more reading light. My index finger opened the folder and a sense of disinterest spread through me as my eyes again read over the first page.

"Western territory, the Gray Mountain pack... Yellow Sun, Gray Mountain, Red Valley." I paused and frowned at Cole. "These are really uncreative pack names."

"Silverback was already taken," Cole grumbled. "So Silver Mountain would've sounded silly. Elena already explained the lack of creativity on the Eastern territory, I'll give you that."

"And Red Valley?" I lifted one eyebrow at him.

"You'll have to see once we get there," was all he said. "West first. Back to your homework."

"Ugh, okay..." I looked over Elena's crib notes. "Alpha Fenris and Luna Diana, that's pretty, future Alpha Tobias and daughter Meredith. Beta Niran and Gamma Silas..."

"You don't need to read it aloud to me," he grumbled. "I know this already."

I grabbed another protein bar from the bag at my feet, shoved it at him, and retorted, "Talking aloud helps me memorize things. So... stuff it."

He took the protein bar from me and opened it with crinkling sounds, but I ignored him.

"The Silver Mountain pack is bimodal," I continued, with no idea what that word meant. "Roughly two-thirds of the werewolves work in the pharmaceutical and research lab and the other third mine silver from the mountain and manufacture weapons from it."

My heartbeat quickened at the mention of the science lab and the answers I hoped to get from there.

They'd better not experiment on me.

Lumi agreed.

'Not lab rat.'

"Hmmm... Let's see. What else? The Western Territory is bordered by the Central Territory." I squinted at Elena's pencil-drawn map, "Primarily a mountainous region, small borders with the Northern and Southern territories."

Of course she has to include a geography lesson.

"That's the way we're headed?" Cole nodded, so I asked, "How much longer will it take?"

"Three days," was the grumbled response. "Instead of two."

"Three!?" Eighteen hours into our trip felt like the longest week of my life had passed.

I'm six hours away from pulling each of my eyelashes out one at a time.

"Smaller, less direct roads," he explained. "And we'll have to stop for a few hours so I can sleep."

"You know..." I coyly gave him a smile that stretched from ear to ear. "You could teach me how to drive, then you can sleep in the car and we'll get there sooner."

"Zara, l -" he started when I interrupted.

"It's safer if we don't stop."

With a grunt, he looked out at the rain pelting the windshield. "Zara -"

"You'll get to see Elena that many hours sooner." I went for his emotional jugular.

He huffed out an exhale. "...Okay."

After driving southwest overnight, we exited the forest for another grassy stretch and stopped for an uncomfortable four hours of sleep. I rolled back and forth in my seat, worried that another car would smash into us, even on this desolate road. Cole groaned and teased me, but flashed the emergency lights for peace of mind.

After we woke, we exited the car and let our wolves run. All of our legs needed a stretch break.

'Better.'

Lumi ran with bounding paws, despite the long field grasses whipping against her face and chest. As the muscles in her legs burned in longer strides, she must have felt as cramped in the car as I did. The mental image of her large frame strapped into the front seat, head out the window and tongue flapping while she enjoyed the breeze made me smile.

She, however, was less amused.

'Not dog.'

At dusk, we hopped back into the car. Even in the darkest hours of night, even a sliver of moonlight illuminated Lumi's white fur. While beautiful, her fur made her very noticeable.

After last night's rainstorm swept through, the air hung thick with heat and humidity. Sweat appeared from every pore in my body. I wiped away the hair stuck to the sides of my face, tossed my Elena wig to the floor, cranked up the air conditioning, and fanned out my sweat-soaked T-shirt.

As I plucked my shirt, a tickling sensation ran over my chest. Sweat dripped down the valley between my breasts.

So gross.

"Are you trying to freeze us?" Cole frowned and turned down the air.

My tongue felt like sawdust from how much I panted. "If that stops me sweating, yes."

"We're not even that far south." He chuckled as I plucked random grass out of my disheveled hair. I kicked at the itchy Elena wig, tempted to leave it behind.

The morning sunrise revealed itself as a yellow burst on the horizon in a sea of pinks and aquamarine blues in my rearview mirror as we headed on the road again. Today was the morning of the second travel day, what I thought was the last day on the road... until Cole revealed we were taking a longer, less traveled route.

"This is taking forever." My sweat-soaked back slumped down in my seat.

I'd feel better if we see one other person.

"We're pushing straight through," Cole insisted. "So get a block of sleep now, Princess."

After a light snack and a nap, I woke up in extreme discomfort. My doughnut neck pillow did nothing for stiffening up my neck after sleeping a few hours with my head tipped so my chin was pointed up at the ceiling and left ear on my shoulder.

Fortunately, after Cole opened up two secrets to me, he was more pleasant to be around. He confessed his grumpiness was because Elena wasn't with us. I couldn't relate to those feelings of attachment, but understood his concern.

Especially since she's still sick.

Their connection was amazing. At one point, I looked away from the morning sunrise at his face twitching, like he winced in discomfort.

"You're not having a seizure, are you?" I joked and tapped my fingers on the passenger's side door.

"No," he grumbled and back came the scowl. "Elena's sick again."

"Seriously, is she..." I stopped that thought because that insinuation was ridiculous.

And if not, then those types of thoughts are none of my business.

"We don't know," he mumbled with a grimace. "River guessed food poisoning but she didn't really look at her."

"Too bad she's not traveling with Rose," I mused. "I'm sure her magic healing hands could help. Or she's got a twig or mushroom that will help."

"If you say so, Princess." Cole's expression gave me the impression that this conversation was over, so I switched topics.

"Breakfast?" He rolled his eyes at first until he noticed the protein bar I waved over the center console at him.

"I'm fine." Other than speaking those two words, he ignored me.

"C'mon, I know you live on these things." I rolled my wrist so the bar drew circles in the air near his face. Not sure what all the ingredients were, I thought they smelled like peanut butter covered cardboard.

He grabbed my wrist, then slid his hand up and took the protein bar. A small smirk curled up his lip before he opened the package and took a bite.

"I saw that," I teased, bent over, and grabbed a box of cereal from the bag of snacks at my feet.

"No doughnuts?" Cole teased.

"Not funny." I frowned. "Although we both know I can't stay mad at them for very long."

"What is it with you and those?" asked the guy who'd eaten at least ten protein bars since we left the Eastern territory.

I stared at him for a moment, then placed a palm over my heart and pretended to be in shock.

"Hmm..." I ticked off on my fingers. "First, they're chocolate. Second, they're delicious. And third... they're delicious chocolate."

"There's other kinds of chocolate," he pointed out.

"I know." I sighed, pressing my palms on my heartspace. "They don't compare."

"You're seriously messed up." Cole balled up and threw his protein bar wrapper at me.

My nose cringed on contact. "Fine," I grumbled and crumpled the plastic in my fist. "Until recently, my father led me to believe I had diabetes. I used to sneak them when I was younger, like some silly rebellious thing. He knew what I was doing but it made me feel good to defy him, thinking I was doing it behind his back."

"Depending on how things turn out," he mumbled. "You might get more chances to do more of that than you think."

"I got this... I can do this." I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Sure about that?" Cole snickered.

From where he sat, he was in no position to tease me anymore. "No backseat drivers." I glared sideways at him, feeling a nice stretch to swivel my head in the other direction for once.

"I'm not in the back seat," he deadpanned and adjusted his new seat for more leg space.

"You can stretch out in the back seat." I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. "More room to sleep."

"Like I'll be able to sleep during your driving," he muttered and clipped on his seatbelt. "Both hands on the wheel, left foot on the brake."

"Brake..." I looked down. "Is that on the left or right?"

"This was a terrible idea, Zara." He frowned and, with a wrist flick, unclipped his seatbelt. "Let's switch."

"Getting to Elena faster." I wagged my index finger. "Remember?"

"Ugh, fine," he relented and strapped himself in. "Brake is on the left, accelerator on the right. Press the brake hard with your right foot."

"Stomping down, got it." I pressed my right foot until the pedal was flat while Cole leaned over and peered at the dashboard.

"You have plenty of gas, so shift the gear from park to drive, move your foot off the brake, and press your foot down on the accelerator." He tapped his finger on the gear shift, so I wrapped my palm over the top and grinned.

"Easy peasy." I shifted the gear, moved my foot, and gently pressed onto the accelerator.

Nothing happened, other than the engine revved under my foot.

"Drive, Princess," the peanut gallery next to me chirped.

"I'm trying to?" I pressed my foot harder. The engine churned and roared but the car didn't budge.

"Put the gear in drive." He tapped a letter 'N' flashed on the dashboard. "You're in neutral. One more gear shift."

"Oops." I shifted the gear into 'D.'

Since I hadn't moved my right foot, the car ripped forward and snapped our heads into our seats. Before Cole spoke, I stomped onto the brake, which screeched the car to a halt and lurched us forward.

A colorful string of curse words left Cole's mouth as his hand slammed into the dashboard.

"Zara!" Cole rubbed the back of his neck. "This was definitely a bad idea."

"Oops." My lips curled up into their best, most apologetic smile.

He didn't buy my sincerity, squeezing his eyes closed and rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "Accelerator," Cole groaned as I pressed down again, a bit too hard since we lurched forward again.

"Woah! Lead foot off Zara." His palms flattened onto the dashboard compartment in front of his seat.

I lifted my foot until it suspended above the pedals, and the car slowed down.

"Better," he encouraged as I pressed down a millimeter. The car crawled forward. "But you can go faster than our walking speed, you know."

"Smartass," I grumbled and, hinging my ankle, accelerated a little faster.

"Better." His brown eyes inspected my white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. "Keep your hands at the bottom corners like that."

"Gotcha." I winked at him, which did nothing to relax his stern expression.

"Try the brake without snapping my neck." He scowled. "And keep your eyes on the road."

"Backseat driver." I punched my right foot onto the brake and we lurched to another abrupt stop.

"Carefully!" Cole scolded me as a vein protruded on the side of his neck. "Try to judge the distance and reaction time a little better."

I repeatedly accelerated and braked on repeat for what felt like an hour until he was satisfied. After twenty minutes longer, my grip started to relax. A sheer joy and sense of satisfaction flooded into me as I drove along the open, deserted road with the sunrise in my rearview mirrors.

At the sound of even breaths next to me, I looked over and smiled at a passed out Cole.

I'm starting to realize why he likes the silence

Ten hours later, the novelty of driving had evaporated. I pushed through, urged on by Cole's second set of snorts, until he sun set. The vision out of my light-colored eyes grew poorer. I didn't trust Lumi to drive, so I squinted as darkness enveloped around us.

More dark gray, ominous clouds rolled in overhead. By the claps of thunder, we were in for another torrential downpour. After a few attempts while my fingers pushed random steering wheel buttons, I finally ran the windshield wipers, not that they helped. The rain pelted down into the windshield with staccato pattering sounds.

This time I was the driver, not Cole.

The noise didn't disturb Cole's peaceful slumber. I rolled my eyes and squinted through the blinding sheets of rain, leaning over the wheel and rounding my back. After a few near misses on the sides of the shoulder-less road, I slowed down.

Suddenly, a dark flash appeared on the road in front of us. As soon as I realized what happened, I slammed both feet flat onto the brake.

We screeched to an abrupt halt. Cole flung forward and almost smacked his head on the dashboard.

"What the fuck!?" he cursed as I brought the car to a stop. My fingers trembled as I peered over the steering wheel.

"What are you... huh!?" Eyes half-closed, Cole rubbed them and looked forward. "What are you looking for?"

"Did I... hit it?" I whispered, as my fingers flew to unbuckle my seatbelt.

"Hit what?"

"Stay here." I bounded outside and ran ahead of the car.

In cold, needle-like pricks, the rain pelted into and soaked my skin and clothes. Cupping my hands over my forehead, I peered through the headlight beams. Scanning the road a few feet in front of us, I clapped my hands when seeing what I feared I'd hit.

"I knew it!"

I leaned over and scooped up the hard, round object in my hands, then ran in front of the car. My hair clung to the sides of my neck and soaked clothes weighed me down but ignored both and walked around to the grassy ditch.

'It's okay,' I mindlinked Cole. 'I didn't hit him.'

'Did you seriously brake for something, then get out to put it on the side of the road?'

'Umm... yes?' When he worded it that way, my actions seemed childish and silly.

Through the pounding rain and closed up car, I hear Cole's groan. He shifted over to the driver's seat.

'That's it. I'm driving, hurry up.'

I dropped the turtle into the long grass when a low rumble of thunder sounded next to me.

'You're no fun- ' I started to mindlink Cole when a large, blurry something smashed into my chest and knocked me away from the road and out of Cole's line of sight.