“You’re still looking for one more?” Ada sounded shocked, but I couldn’t be sure since she was sitting right behind me.
“Yes, there are five of us in total.” At least, I wasn’t as clueless anymore.
“But you don’t know where she is?” Honor shook her head as if she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.
I filled them in on everything, and the moment I finished, Samuel pulled off on a low-populated exit and stopped on the side of the road.
He got out of the car, and so did everyone else except Remus.
Beth hurried over, and I rolled my window down.
“Let’s find out where we’re heading while they get back in normal form.” Beth winked at Aidan and chuckled. “He looks miserable.”
“Their clothes are in the trunk.” I opened the door, got out, and headed to the back. I turned around to find Beth not there with me. “Hey, get your ass back here.”
“What? Why?” Beth approached, her brows furrowed.
“Because you get to bring Remus his clothes.” I grabbed his clothes and handed them to her.
“Wait … are those his underwear?” Beth’s face creased.
“Hey, I had to carry them from the woods to the vehicle.” She wasn’t getting any sympathy from me. “Think of this as your punishment.”
“For what?” She took the clothes and held them as far from her body as she could.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure you’re due something.” I forced a smile on my face.
“Well played,” she grumbled as she walked to the other vehicle. “But you’ve just declared war.”
That actually concerned me. “Gabby, grab your man’s clothes, and I’ll take Aidan his.” I carried Aidan’s clothes to the front and put them on the center console. “I’ll get the witches to perform the spell in front of their car so you can shift in peace.”
The rest of our group climbed out, and we headed to the lead Suburban.
Amethyst stepped out of the car and held up the map. “We’re ready.”
Our remaining group of nine laid the map on the dirt ground. The tree line was to the right, but we were at least twenty miles from Ojai, so there was no way the wolves could find us with our path gone cold.
Amethyst spread it out even on the ground, and Samuel and Coral squatted on either side, holding it open for me.
“Now, let’s begin.” Amethyst nodded at me.
We went in the order of the points on the star. Since I’d started the journey, I was up first. It wasn’t long before I, Gabby, and Ivory had dripped our blood on the map.
“Now Honor, you do the same,” Coral said as she nodded to the newest member of the club.
“The blood literally moved across the map.” Honor blinked several times as if she thought she was seeing things.
“Yup, and their blood directed us to where we are since you’re with us.” Samuel glanced at her hand. “When you add yours to the map, we’ll know where the next girl is.”
“That’s freaky, but damn.” Ada grinned. “Go for it. I want to see.”
Honor bit her finger. Her hands shook as she held it out, and she licked her bottom lip. When she turned her hand over, the blood mixed with ours, and the blob began to move once more.
We watched it head southeast and land on Austin, Texas.
Now, we’d wait to see what we’d find once we got there.
Chapter Twenty-One
Aidan
I’d been steaming the whole ride. I tried to keep my mouth shut since everyone’s adrenaline was crashing after the fight, but the more I thought about Logan’s actions, the madder I got.
Samuel pulled into a Holiday Inn parking lot where we planned on staying tonight. I got out of the car, slammed the door, and headed to the trunk to get my and Emma’s things.
Logan joined me and grabbed his bag. “What the hell is your problem?”
“You.” It was that simple.
“I saved our asses back there.” Logan huffed.
“What’s going on?” Emma walked over to us while Gabby appeared on the other side.
“This moron thinks he saved us by killing the alpha.” He was delusional.
“I did, and if I’d taken the beta down too, we’d be even safer.” Logan lifted his chin in defiance.
“Aidan’s right. You’ve guaranteed that another pack will be hunting us.” Remus stood next to me. “So, now we have two enemies instead of one.”
“Don’t be upset because he did something neither one of you could do.” Gabby sneered. “I only asked him to stop because I know Emma would have left his ass behind.”
“You better stop right there.” Emma’s gray eyes glowed, and she looked damn beautiful. “Whether you like it or not, you’re part of this, which means our decisions are made as a team. Remus was on Aidan’s side, so Logan should’ve stood down. I may need you, but you need us more. The Hallowed Guild is searching for us, and we have a coven that we can stay with that has offered us protection and to ride this out if need be. So get on board before we have to cut our liabilities.” She stepped toward them, her wolf surging more.
Gabby tried to challenge her, but before long, she averted her eyes. That’s when she looked at Logan.
“I won’t make you submit to me as your alpha, but you better respect Aidan and me.”
Logan barely nodded.
That’s when I knew, with Emma as our leader, we might survive this.
Emma
Three days later, we rolled into Austin, Texas. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but the town was gorgeous. I could even see myself living here, which was saying something.
It was ten in the morning. I’d considered stopping to get a hotel room, but with the way things were going, if we found the girl, we’d need to leave town as fast as possible.
My phone rang, and I pulled it from my pocket. Beth’s name flashed on the caller ID. I swiped ANSWER and held it to my ear. “Hello?”
“Hey, Amethyst looked at the map again,” Beth said. I heard Coral say something from the front seat, and Beth paused.
“Oh, bite me,” Samuel huffed in response.
“Everything okay?” Everyone’s nerves were shot, and the tension was almost palpable. Being on the run and constantly in danger was wearing on us.
“Yeah, Coral is accusing Samuel of farting.” Beth sighed. “It smells like manure in here.”
“Just admit it.” Coral’s voice rose. “We need to roll down the windows.”
“You smelled it, you dealt it,” Samuel called out as the sound of windows lowering and wind blowing into the car filled my ears.
“Will you two quit,” Beth growled. “Coral, we all know it was you, so stop messing around.”
“How so?” Coral said indignantly.
Beth gagged. “Because we’re wolves and can smell the origin.”
Oh my God. I was so glad I wasn’t in the same car. I should’ve known that Beth, Coral, and Samuel might scare Ivory and Remus away.