Dawn (The Dire Wolves Chronicles Book 3)

C
opyright ©
2015 Alyssa Rose Ivy

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written approval of the author.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Cover Design: Cover It! Designs

Cover Photography: CJC Photography

I
’d never been
one for profanity, but only one word seemed adequate to describe our situation and it was four letters that started with an ‘f.’ I didn’t utter the word even though Gage wouldn’t have minded at all. He’d been using it plenty himself as we drove. Along with some other four letter words.

We’d been driving for hours with no real destination in mind. Leaving New Orleans was the only direction we had.

Somehow we’d managed to get deeper into trouble. Physically we were free from the Dires, but we hadn’t escaped. Gage was still tied to Hunter, and we needed to free Hunter and his pack if we wanted to ensure Gage’s survival. I wanted to be brave, but I was terrified.

“Do you want to stop for food?” Gage put a hand on my leg. He was acting like things were normal, as though we were on a run-of-the-mill road trip, not running for our lives—especially his.

I turned in my seat so I could look at him. A thick layer of stubble covered his chin giving him a rugged look that made him even sexier than usual. There I went fantasizing about him when I should have been planning. “I’m fine, but we can stop if you’re hungry.”

“I’m fine too.” His stomach growled.

I raised an eyebrow. “It doesn’t sound that way.”

“I want meat. Raw meat. I’m not going to get that at a roadside diner.” His words were light, but I knew he was struggling. The change couldn’t have been easy for him.

I touched his arm gently. “Meat of any sort would help.”

“We can’t be seen, so sitting down at a restaurant is out of the question.”

“Drive-through?” Fast food wasn’t my thing, but Gage was dealing with a lot. Letting his appetite get out of control could be disastrous.

“Let’s get a little bit further.”

“Where are we going anyway?” I finally asked the question. I hadn’t wanted to break the short lived period of relief.

“I have no clue.”

“I have an idea.” It had been floating around my head since we ran from the camp.

“Let’s hear it.” He watched me out of the corner of his eye.

“Watch the road.”

“Some things never change,” he muttered with a smile while returning his eyes to the road.

“The queen is a good person.” I wasn’t an expert at reading people, but she’d gone out of her way to help me. That had to count for something.

“The queen?” He looked at me again.

“Eyes on the road.”

“Fine, but tell me you aren’t talking about the Queen of The Society? The girl at the trial?” He listened and stared straight ahead.

“What other queen would I be talking about?”

“You met her for a few minutes, how do you know she’s a good person?”

“Woman’s intuition.”

“Wait, for real? You’re going there?” He tilted his head slightly.

“I know I’m usually more about the logical, but I have a feeling. What other ideas do we have anyway?”

“We can’t just waltz back to the courthouse and look for her.”

I sighed. “Obviously. I’m sure she’s not there now anyway. It was just a thought. I have another one.”

“What’s the other one?”

“We need information.”

“Not sure how that’s an idea, but I agree. We need information.”

I paused before sharing idea number two. “I know someone who can find us any information we could possibly need.”

“Who?”

“Genevieve. She’s a computer whiz and a master at hacking.”

“Genevieve, as in your friend from Eastern, is a hacker?”

I ignored his skepticism. “Yes. She doesn’t steal money or anything, but she does it for fun. She can hack anything and anyone.”

“And you think she’ll help?”

“She’s one of my best friends.” I didn’t know if that meant she’d help, but it had to count for something.

“And she thinks you’re dead.”

“Obviously we’ll have to be careful.” I hadn’t thought the plan through that far yet. I was lucky I’d thought of anything. My thoughts were so muddled and confused. My life had been turned upside down in a matter of days that I barely felt like myself anymore.

“Did she go home for break?”

“Yes, and that means we have to turn around.”

“Why?” He tapped the wheel with his long fingers. I wondered if he was hearing music in his head.

“Because she’s in Florida, and we’re going north.”

“Ok.” He slowed and got into the right lane.

“Wait, that’s it?” I put a hand to my chest. “You’re just going along with this?”

“Why not?” He shrugged. “I don’t have a better idea.”

I smiled. “That’s cool.”

“What is?”

“That you’re putting your trust in me.” Gage wasn’t the type to go along with anything or listen to anyone. Hence how we ended up stuck in the storm. I wasn’t sure if his willingness to agree came from learning from experience or genuine trust in me, maybe it was a little bit of both.

“I’d trust you to do anything but drive.” He grinned.

I pushed his arm. “Says the guy who got us stuck on the side of the road.”

“I thought that wasn’t my fault.” He gripped the wheel tighter.

I’d hit a nerve. I made my voice light. “It isn’t unless you are making fun of my driving.”

“Fair enough.” His grip loosened back to normal. He pulled off at the next exit. “Grab some food, and then head south?”

“Sounds like a plan. Of course I still need to find her exact address and come up with a believable story for everything.” But those were just details. At least I’d come up with the overarching plan.

“Nothing we could say would be believable.”

“True… this is a mess.” I wasn’t the type to force optimism.

“But we’re together.” He squeezed my leg gently. “That’s something.”

“It is.” In all the years I’d fanaticized about being with Gage somehow I’d never imagined we’d be on the run. Or that he’d be a wolf.

Gage turned into the drive-through line at a burger place.

“Know what you want?” he asked as the car idled.

“Chicken nuggets.”

“Chicken nuggets?” Gage turned to me.

“What? I like them. Ask for honey mustard too if you don’t mind.”

“I thought only little kids ordered those.”

“Little kids and me. I don’t need the kid’s meal though.”

He laughed. “I wasn’t trying to make fun of you…”

“Sure you weren’t. First my driving, now my food choices.”

“You’re beautiful.” He ran his hand slowly down the side of my face and stared at me with his wide brown eyes.

“Abrupt conversation change. Think flattering me will get you out of trouble?”

He grinned. “Yes.”

I liked seeing a smile on his face again. A real smile that wasn’t there just for my benefit. “It does if you mean it.”

“Of course I mean it.”

“Is it weird that I’m kind of in the mood to fight?”

“Yes, that’s weird. Weirder than wanting chicken nuggets.”

“I want to do something normal.” I leaned my head back against the seat.

“And fighting is normal?”

“Yes.” It was natural. All couples fought. Gage and I were a couple. That thought still shocked me despite everything else going on.

“I can think of much more enjoyable normal things to be doing.”

“Oh yeah?” I was pretty sure I knew what he was hinting at, but that wasn’t happening.

“I’ll show you tonight.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh… being mysterious are you?” Whether it was happening or not, I didn’t mind the teasing.

“I can be.”

He drove up to the menu. “Can I have four Double Stack burgers and a twenty piece chicken nuggets with honey mustard dipping sauce?”

“I don’t need twenty!”

“Will that be all?” The server asked.

“And one large diet coke.” He turned to me and mouthed.
That okay?

I shrugged. I understood him ordering himself an insane amount of food, but twenty pieces of chicken for me? I hoped he planned on eating them too.

“That will be fourteen eighty-seven. Please drive up to the first window.”

“I could have had the eight piece. Or even the five.” I wasn’t hungry. Stress sometimes made me pig out, but this was an even more stressful situation than usual. Eating food sounded like work, and I didn’t want any more of that.

“We’re not going to be stopping again for a while. This is good for you.” He drove up to the window, ending the conversation.

“Fourteen eighty-seven.” A young woman repeated the amount owed.

Gage handed her a twenty.

She stared at him before giving him back the change. “Do I know you?”

He shook his head. “No. I don’t think so.”

I leaned back in my seat. Oh no. Had we been recognized that easily?

“You sure?” She leaned out the window a little. “I swear you look so familiar.”

Gage’s face remained calm. “I have one of those faces. People tell me that all the time.”

“No way. There is nothing generic about your face.” She fluttered her eyelashes and bit her lip.

He smiled. “Thanks.”

“If you don’t mind, we’re in a rush.” I spoke without looking at her. I didn’t want to take the chance of her recognizing me too. Flirting wasn’t going to work for me.

“Ditch the pissy one next you,” she cooed in a way that didn’t fit her words. “You can do better.”

“No one’s better than my doll face,” Gage turned and grinned at me. “We’re in a hurry because we’re running off to get married.” He used some horrible attempt at a hick accent.

She startled. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. Only the finest cuisine on our big day.” He shot her another toothy smile before pulling up to the next window.

I struggled to keep in my laughter as we waited for the food. The girl at this window was all business and barely looked at Gage when she handed him the bags of food. He put the large soda in the cup holder and pulled back out onto the road.

I let out a laugh. “Nice accent.”

He laughed and then got serious. “She was insulting you.”

“That bothered you?”

“Of course it did. No one gets to make fun of you but me.”

I laughed again. “Some of the things that come out of your mouth.”

He handed me the bags of food. I pulled out a burger and unwrapped it for him. “Now try to eat this without making a huge mess.”

He shook his head. “Once again, some things never change.”

“Don’t make it sound like a bad thing.” I knew there were parts of my personality that grated on people, but I wasn’t going to try to change. Changing for someone never worked, inevitably you either fell back into the old habit or the person found something else they didn’t like.

“Hey, I’m just kidding with you. You know that right?” He accepted the burger.

“Sometimes it’s hard to tell.”

“If I ever say anything remotely negative relating to you it’s a joke. I can be more serious if you want.”

“No!” I protested a little bit too loud.

He smiled. “Ok, I guess you like my sarcastic charm?”

I laughed. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’d call it.”

“Thanks for opening this.” He held up the burger.

“Thanks for driving.”

“I really was kidding about your driving. You can do it anytime.”

“You’re only saying that because this isn’t your truck.”

“Seeing the remains of Bessy put things in perspective.”

“At least they weren’t our remains,” I whispered.

He paused with the burger halfway to his lips. “We’re going to survive this.”

“Yes, we will.” I hoped he really meant we. Sometimes he scared me when he seemed content to leave his fate to chance. We needed to free Hunter no matter what. We would end the hunt.

He pulled back onto the interstate. “Why don’t you eat something and then we should map this trip out better. I know we ultimately need to get to 95, but I’m not completely sure how we’re going to make that happen.”

“I’ll do that first.” Maybe I’d have my appetite back if I got something done first. I searched my email and found her address. We had a plan. Everything else would fall into place.