“We need to leave now.” Tobias walked back around to the driver’s side of the car.
“Fine,” Demi said, refusing to look at him.
He could have at least made sure that she was okay rather than acting like she did something wrong. It wasn’t her fault those creeps followed her.
And just when I was starting to think that he might not be a total jerk . . .
As soon as Demi was back in her seat with her seatbelt fastened, Tobias brought the corvette’s engine to life. Demi glanced out her window, still not looking at him.
She already had her doubts about trusting him, and his behavior didn’t help any.
The corvette left the gas station behind and got back on a rural two-lane highway, heading east. Demi spared a quick glance over at Tobias, but quickly looked away.
He’s just helping me because of my father, she told herself. It’s not like he actually cares what happens to me. Why would he? Nobody else does. . . .
But despite her doubts, it was too late to turn back now. Her only chance of actually finding someone who might care about her was to find her father.
Chapter Six
A CRESCENT MOON HUNG LOW in the sky. Just visible through a break in the heavy dark clouds that covered the night sky. The road was slick from a downpour that had gone on for hours. Not that Demi cared. Rain had never bothered her. Growing up in Seattle, it was something she had gotten used to pretty early on.
The cold on the other hand, she would never get used to. Fortunately, living in a large home with perfect heating put her in a position where she rarely had to worry about the cold.
Unfortunately, that didn’t do her any good now.
Staring out her window, Demi could see next to nothing with the combination of total darkness and heavy rain. Not that it mattered. There was nothing to see but endless pines and cedars. That was all she had seen for hours.
But there was nothing else to do but stare out the window.
She had her phone with her, but cell service was spotty out here at best, so she hadn’t used to. Besides, she wasn’t sure who she would even talk to if she could.
Texting Mike had crossed her mind. She imagined telling him what happened and him hoping in his car and rushing to her aide like a knight in shining armor.
But then she remembered who she was thinking about and she was brought back to reality.
Just then, her phone buzzed. She took it out of her pocket to see who was texting her.
Right on cue.
The moment she opened the text from her boyfriend, her heart sank. He was asking her to come over. And that was just code for he wanted to get into her pants.
How typical . . .
She rolled her eyes and stuffed the phone back in her pocket.
“Who was that?” Tobias asked.
Demi jumped when he spoke up suddenly. “Why do you want to know?”
“Just making conversation.”
“Really?” She shook her head. “You couldn’t have done that earlier? I mean, we’ve been driving in total silence for over an hour.”
“I didn’t know you wanted to talk. I assumed you wanted the silence.”
“Why would you assume that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“My aunt and uncle were murdered, I’m out here with some guy I don’t even know, on my way to meet a father I also don’t know, and you think I want silence?”
Tobias said nothing for a beat. “So . . . do you want to talk about it then?”
Demi rolled her eyes and looked out her window again. “No thanks. It’s fine.”
“I can listen if you want to talk.”
“I’m good.”
“Sorry if I haven’t been considerate of how difficult this must all be for you.”
Demi turned to look at him with one raised eyebrow. “You’re sure talking a lot now for someone who was dead silent for pretty much the whole day.”
“Is that bad?”
“No. It’s just . . . weird. Anyway, if we’re going to talk, then we might as well talk about something that matters.”
“Such as?”
“I don’t know. What about my dad? Is there anything you can tell me about him? You’re like his best friend or whatever. You should know a lot about him.”
“What exactly do you want to know?”
Demi was starting to wish that he would have just kept his mouth shut. It was like she had to walk him through the whole conversation. Not how a two-way exchange was supposed to play out.
“Well, for starters, what’s his name?” Demi asked when it occurred to her that she didn’t even know that much about him.
Her mother passed away when she was just three, and her aunt and uncle never said a word about her father. They would always change the subject whenever she asked about him, so she just stopped asking.
“His name is Ridley,” Tobias said.
“Ridley? That’s a weird name. Is that first or last?”
“First. As a member of the pack, he forgoes his human surname. Names don’t have the same importance to a werewolf. We learn to identify one another by scents and sounds just as much as by name.”
More of this werewolf crap. . . .
“You really believe you’re a werewolf. Don’t you?”
“Yes. And so will you soon.”
Demi rolled her eyes again. “Okay. I’ll play along. So let’s say there really are werewolves. How did you become a werewolf? Were you bitten by another werewolf?”
“No. That’s only in the movies. Real werewolves can’t turn people into werewolves.”
“Okay, then how? Where do werewolves come from?”
“Well, they’re just like humans.”
“What do you mean?”
“Really?” He glanced over at her and smiled. “I would think that you were old enough to know where babies come from.”
“Eww. No. That’s not what I’m talking about.”
He laughed.
And she couldn’t help but join him. It was nice to see him smile for the first time. For a while there, she had to wonder if he actually had a personality at all.
“I mean originally. Where do they come from?”
“To understand that, you’d first have to know some of the history of werewolves.”
“We have time.” Demi shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not like we have anything else to do.”
“I guess that’s true. Well, I might as well start at the beginning. The legends say that werewolves first came to be several thousand years ago.” He spared a quick glance in her direction. “Have you ever heard the story of Romulus and Remus?”
Demi shook her head. It sounded like some boring history stuff that she never paid any attention to.
“They were twin boys, one of which would go on to found the city of Rome. But well before that, they were abandoned to die shortly after birth. But they were saved by a she-wolf, who suckled them as if they were her own pups. Part of the very essence of the wolf herself was passed on when she suckled the infants. Whether intentional or not, she created the first werewolves. We refer to her as Lupa, the mother of all werewolves.”
“Wow. Sounds pretty ridiculous to me,” Demi said. “I mean, do you seriously believe that? Is my dad, like, some kind of cult leader or something? Did he brainwash you?”
Tobias actually chuckled at this.
“No, it’s nothing like that,” he said. “I’m telling you the truth. I understand why you have a hard time believing me, but you will see in time.”
Demi nodded, still not believing a word about werewolves, but listening to him talk about something she thought was nothing but make-believe was still an improvement over total silence.
***
“Are we seriously staying the night here?” Demi asked as soon as the corvette was parked.
Demi wasn’t opposed to Tobias’s plan to find somewhere to rest for the night, she just wasn’t a fan of the seedy rest stop that he picked out.
“Is that a problem?” Tobias asked.
“Um . . . yeah. Are you not seeing this place? Can’t we stay at a hotel?”
“Can’t afford a hotel.”
“Well then what about a motel?”
Demi could hardly believe those words were actually coming out of her mouth. It said a lot about just how undesirable the rest stop was if sleeping in a crummy motel room was actually a step up.
“There are no motels around here,” Tobias replied. “Besides, it’s better to keep a low profile. Less likely that we’ll be found.”
Demi supposed that was a good point. “Do you really think that Korver guy is still following us?”
“I don’t think. I know.”
A nervous knot formed in Demi’s stomach. She never wanted to see Korver and Hugo again, but it sounded like that might be hard to avoid. Just the thought of them brought the horrible image of her dead aunt and uncle sitting at the dinner table right to the forefront of her mind. And all she could do was try to banish the terrible memory from her brain and focus on the present instead.
“Well we should try to get some sleep, “Tobias said. “You should lay across the backseats. I’m sure it’s a lot more comfortable back there.”
“What about you?”
“I’m fine up here.”
“If you say so.” Demi unfastened her seatbelt and crawled into the backseats. Something tells me this is not going to be much more comfortable at all.
Unsurprisingly, Demi’s suspicion turned out to be correct. Two hours later, she was still tossing and turning in the back while Tobias slept soundly in his seat. He slept completely silently—not much different from when he was awake.
Demi was exhausted and restless at the same time. Sleep had never felt so out of reach before. The fact that it was freezing in the car didn’t help much either.
She ultimately gave up on sleep altogether and decided to get herself a snack instead. She found the snacks that she bought earlier and pulled out a bag of chips. Just as she was about to place the first chip in her mouth, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She took it out and then frowned at what she saw on the screen.
Great . . . five percent battery.
Sighing, she turned the phone off and stuffed it back in her pocket. As she did, she noticed a light behind her and turned around to see a car pulling into the rest stop.
Her eyes followed the car until it parked. Rain continued to come down at a steady rate, making it difficult to make out the exact make and model of the car. But when she moved closer to the window and the car turned its lights off, she was shocked to discover that she recognized the vehicle—it was her uncle’s Mercedes.
Had he somehow miraculously survived and come to get her? The mere possibility of that being true tempted her to jump out of the corvette and rush to the other car.
Until she saw the driver get out of the Mercedes. It was not her uncle—it was Hugo.
And he was heading straight towards them.
Panic setting in, Demi immediately began to shake Tobias to wake him. He woke up almost instantly—apparently not a deep sleeper.
“What’s going on?” he asked, his voice showing none of the grogginess you would expect from someone who just woke up.
“It’s Hugo,” Demi said anxiously. “He’s right outside.”
She turned around to look out the window at Hugo, but the huge man was nowhere to be seen.
“I don’t see him,” Tobias said.
“He . . . he was just right there. I don’t know where he went.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. Why would I make that up? He was right there. I swear.”
Tobias stared at her with tight lips. He did not seem convinced.
“Look at that car right there.” Demi pointed at the Mercedes. “That belongs to my Uncle Henry. Hugo must have stolen it.”
“Alright. Stay right here. I’ll have a look.” Tobias opened his door and got out of the corvette, leaving Demi alone—she was not too pleased about that.
She sat in the backseat and watched as Tobias walked around the front of the car, heading towards the stolen Mercedes. She hugged her arms around herself and shivered against the cold. Or maybe it wasn’t the cold. . . .
I know he’s out there. Be careful, Tobias.
The only sound in Demi’s ears was the pitter-patter of the falling rain on the roof of her car. Her head on a swivel, she scanned the rest stop in search of Hugo. Not knowing where he was might be even more terrifying than seeing him.
Could he have left?
She couldn’t imagine why he would . . .
And he hadn’t. He suddenly appeared right in front of Demi’s window, prompting her to utter a gasp and retreat to the other side of the car.
Flashing her a smile that sent a shiver down her spine, Hugo started to follow Tobias like a shadow.
“Look out behind you.” Demi shouted and pounded her fists against the window as she tried to get Tobias’s attention.
But it didn’t work.
He couldn’t hear her. And he couldn’t hear Hugo either.
The rain must be too loud.
Then it was too late. Hugo smashed the back of his fist against Tobias’s head.
Demi could do nothing but watch her protector drop to the asphalt like a sack of bricks. The rain poured down on his body. He was either dead or unconscious. Either way, he couldn’t help Demi anymore.
She would have to fend for herself.
Hugo turned around and started back towards the corvette.
Demi’s heart pounded in her chest at a million miles per hour while she searched the car for something—anything—she might be able to use to protect herself, but she wasn’t having any luck.
And she was out of time.
Hugo was right outside.
Demi locked the doors and backed as far away from the side of the car where Hugo stood as possible, as if that would actually keep him from getting to her.
But what else was she supposed to do?
Hugo knelt down so that he was at eye level with her before smiling—showing off his sharp teeth. He then bent down further to the point where only his back was visible.
What the hell is he doing? Demi wondered.
She didn’t have to wait long for an answer.
The car on Hugo’s side suddenly began to lift off the ground. Demi hardly even had time to scream before the vehicle was overturned.
Rolling around inside, Demi’s head smashed against the back of the front passenger seat. She might have blacked out for a moment because the next thing she knew, she was lying on her back with blood sliding down her forehead.
She groaned and sat up slowly, wiping the blood away. Her eyes scanned the windows—most of them shattered—while looking for Hugo. Once again, he had vanished.
I have to get out of here, she thought before crawling towards the nearest broken window—careful to avoid the shards of glass. The rain was icy cold on her back as she crawled out on to the flooded tarmac.
There was still no sign of Hugo.
She needed to run. With no car to hide in, and no Tobias to protect her, running was her only chance.
And there was no time to waste.
But where was she supposed to run to? There were woods on one side of the rest stop, but going in there seemed like a really bad idea. Maybe she could make a run for the restrooms instead and hide in there.
She sprang to her feet and rushed as fast as her legs would carry her towards the restrooms.
But she never made it.
She was nearly there when suddenly Hugo stepped out from behind the vending machines.
“Going somewhere?” he asked with a grin.
&nbs
p; Demi skidded to a halt, nearly losing her balance on the slick asphalt. She started to back away slowly.
And Hugo responded by advancing towards her. He could have easily gotten to her already if he wanted to. The way that he kept appearing and disappearing like this, he was obviously just toying with her. Like a cat playing with its food before devouring it.
“It’s time to stop running, Demi.”
“Stay away from me.” She continued to retreat.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Hugo went on. “It’s your destiny to be Korver’s mate. Why deny that when you can embrace it? You’ll lead the pack right at his side. How can a half-breed like you ask for more than that?”
She hardly paid attention to him. She looked over her shoulder at Tobias, hoping to see him rushing to her aide, but he was still lying on the ground.
Not moving a muscle.
Looks like I’m still on my own, she thought. And that meant running was still her only option.
So she sprinted in the opposite direction. The highway was her last chance. Maybe a driver would spot her and rescue her. It was a longshot, but she was all out of other options.
As she ran, she looked over her shoulder to see if Hugo was following. But all she saw was him getting down on all fours.
Strange . . . why would he do that?
She got her answer when Hugo changed in the blink of an eye into a large gray wolf, just like the one she saw out the window at school and then later at her house.
It’s real . . . Demi realized, her jaw agape. They’re not crazy. Werewolves are real. . . .
She was so stunned by what she saw that she actually slowed to a complete stop, but she picked up the pace again as soon as she saw the wolf charge forward.
Running as fast as her legs would carry her, she didn’t look back. She just prayed that she could outrun the wolf—not feeling good about her chances.
But she started to feel a little more confidence when she managed to make it up the off-ramp and on to the highway. Although no further than that before she heard a snarl behind her and was tripped by Hugo.
She put her hands out to stop her fall, scraping them up on the blacktop, but rolling with the fall to avoid serious harm. She ended up lying on her back.
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