Page 38 of Knife Volume 2

Chapter 16

Tuesday had mapped out the two ways to drive to his family’s mountain. One route was a great deal shorter distance-wise, but whether they took the interstate up to Knoxville and came back down, or went directly east through the mountains — it appeared the drive time would be close enough it probably didn’t matter.

And damn, she’d have fun on those curves in her car.

But then she discovered Knife was thinking they’d take his road bike, which would also be fun, but…

She pulled up the weather forecast and saw a chance of rain Wednesday, when they’d be returning.

She showed him and said, “We can take turns driving my car, so you can play on the curves, too.”

He frowned. “We’ll need to make sure I’m covered for insurance in your car.”

“You are. I double-checked it with my agent when I changed my address with them.”

They left as soon as church was over Sunday morning with a single suitcase packed with vacuum bags in her trunk, since he needed to take a bunch of mason jars back to his mom, and they were wrapped in bubble wrap to fill the rest of the trunk and all the frunk.

He drove to Copper Hill, where they stopped to stretch their legs, get something to eat, and swap.

And he was still a terrible passenger.

But she decided he’d survive, so she took the curves the way one pretty much has to when driving a powerful car with suspension made for handling, and soft tires that fucking grip the road.

Eventually, he started paying way too much attention to the scenery, which she took as a compliment. She wasn’t sure it was, but she decided to take it that way.

They switched when they were about thirty minutes out. He’d told her before they left that Google wasn’t going to get them the last part of it, and it would just annoy them both for him to try to guide her. “The roads are made to be confusing,” he’d told her. “Part of our security.”

And he hadn’t been wrong.

She wasn’t watching his driving now so much as just looking at the forest they drove through, feeling the age and energy of the mountain he took them over, and then taking in the gorgeous scenery while they dipped down into a cove.

A huge gathering was already underway when they arrived, a large open area where tables had been set up end to end, with what had to be more than a hundred people in another part of the field standing in groups. Talking.

Everyone turned to look at them when Knife pulled up and parked, and he told her, “Looks like you’re going to meet everyone at once. Not a lot of people leave like I did, so I guess everyone wants to meet the woman I’ve chosen.”

“You’ve never brought someone to meet your parents and grandparents before?”

“Nope.”

He got out of the car before she could respond, and she muttered ‘right, but no pressure’ under her breath before she exited the passenger side and breathed in hundreds of wolves. A wolf pack, bound and joined by oaths.

It made her heart hurt for a moment, both with what he’d chosen to walk away from, and from what she’d lost.

But this was about new beginnings. She’d made her choices, and so had he, so she pushed the grief to the back of her mind. Today was about meeting his family and learning more about the man she loved.

A small group in the field broke off and walked toward them, and she knew without asking these were his parents and grandparents.

Four of them slowed and stopped about ten feet away, and an older man exuding the power of an alpha stepped to them.

“Grandfather,” Knife said. “This is Tuesday.”

Werewolves don’t age like humans, but this was an old man. Standing tall and obviously strong, but he had lots of wrinkles. How old had he been when he’d fathered Knife’s dad, she wondered.

His eyes seemed to see inside her, but she met his gaze without flinching. He wasn’t her alpha, and she wasn’t required to look down when in human form.

“Tuesday.”

He said it with weight. Gravity. She knew it would sound wrong for her to try to match it, so she merely kept her voice low. “Sir. It’s good to finally meet you.”