Page 87 of Chasing The Alpha's Son
The blood wolf. Could I be? Am I the monster from the stories?
My head is consumed with these thoughts as we speed down the mountain road. It’s already dusk again, so I must have been asleep for most of the day. And somehow I’m still exhausted. Golden light is peeking over the mountaintops, and the shadows in the valley are becoming long and dark.
Jasper hasn’t spoken since we started driving. His knuckles are white on the steering wheel, his focus intensely locked on the road ahead. Mia must have given him directions and warned that driving on these icy roads is dangerous, because we’re going a lot slower than I’m used to when driving with Jasper. Even still, every narrow turn I’m scared we’re about to go sliding off the edge. At least we’re heading into the valley, so each twist and turn is bringing us closer to the ground.
It’s hard to tell if the pain in my head is lessening or if I’m just getting used to it. The painkillers must be doing something, but it’s never gone. It feels like there’s a knife sticking out of my forehead, just sitting there, and somehow I’m able to talk and walk around. If I close my eyes it’s a little better, so I rest my head against the window and try to sleep.
“How are you feeling?” Jasper’s voice is rough and unsure.
“Tired.”
“And the pain?”
“Still bad.”
Jasper speeds up a little, although I wish he wouldn’t. If I had the strength to argue I might, but instead I continue leaning against the glass. My insides feel bruised, and even with the heat pumping in the car, I can’t help shivering.
For a while I drift in and out. The snowstorm that kept us grounded sweeps in, making visibility tricky. Jasper can’t keep driving at the same speed and decelerates.
I open my left eye ever so slightly so I can watch him. A single bead of sweat trickles down the side of his head. He’s more than stressed. I wish I could do something to calm him down; I wish I could reach over and touch him and tell him it’ll be okay. But every time I get too close to him the pain becomes worse. Not an ideal situation considering we’re fated to be together forever.
So I try to act calm: I tense so I shiver less, keep my groans as quiet as possible, and I watch him to see if it works. I focus on his face, his eyes, and suddenly I’m pulled into a vision. I suck in a breath as the world melts around me, whipping past like I’ve gone into hyperdrive. When the whooshing stops, I’m somewhere new—the cool blues of the mountains and darkness of the valley replaced with yellow sunlight.
I’m still in the passenger seat of a car, only it’s a different make. An old song is playing quietly on the radio. Lush green fields sweep by on either side.
Sitting in the driver’s seat is a beautiful woman—a woman I’ve never met, but who I recognize. Her jet-black hair is tied up in a loose bun and the sun is dancing across the speckling of freckles just visible on the bridge of her nose. She looks just like him.
“Do you like this song?” she asks, smiling as she turns the radio up. Gently she hums along, finger tapping the steering wheel, and she laughs. Her laugh is like music itself, a happy trill that warms my chest. “It’s a good one.”
We’re traveling through farmland. I wonder where we are. Up ahead is a water tower that looks weirdly familiar, but I can’t place it. Across a cornfield, another road runs parallel to this one, and a couple of cars are speeding along it, keeping pace with us.
“When we get home what are you going to say to Daddy?” she asks, glancing at me, her green eyes full of love. “Will you tell him how brave you were talking with all those grown-up wolves?”
“Will he be there?” The words come out of my mouth, but I don’t know why; my voice doesn’t sound like mine.
“Of course, Daddy will be waiting for us when we get home. He’s going to be very proud of you for visiting the rogue township with me. Almost as proud as I am.”
“Why didn’t Daddy come?”
“Your father is the alpha, Jasper. He has a whole pack to take care of. That’s why we have to help him.”
“The rogues are weird.”
She tuts and shakes her head. “What have I told you? The rogues are just like us, but they don’t have some of the things we have—like our pack—and that’s why we need to help them.”
“They’re still weird.”
“Just because someone is different it doesn’t make them weird. We could learn a lot from the rogues.”
The woman glances at me again, but her eyes catch on something behind me. Clouds roll across the sky and suddenly everything is gray. The golden sunlight is gone and dread seizes my gut. I remember where I know that water tower from. I saw it in the newspaper once, in a photo on the front page.
“Jasper, honey, sit back and hold onto the door handle.”
I grip the plastic handle and press my back against the seat. We’re coming up to an intersection, to the point where our road and the road running parallel to ours meet. The cars that have been keeping pace with us are gaining speed. I gulp down a glob of saliva and take one last look at the woman.
Her eyes are stern and focused, and as we arrive at the intersection, she spins the wheel sharply to the right. The car swings around and glass shatters as one of the other cars crashes into us; I’m thrown sideways and wake up screaming.
Jasper slams on the brakes.
