Chapter 9

ALRIK

"Miles Crafton. One of Jaslynn's trusted assistants. He's had a crush on her since he joined the Imperium Coven, but she doesn't know."

My eyes shot to the woman beside me, who was giving me a knowing look.

"She doesn't know?" I asked curiously.

Her friend, whose name I still didn't know, flicked a strand of her red hair out of her face, "Nope, he's too much of a pussy to do anything. I don't like him, but he's a good wizard. Hence, why he's joining you."

I pursed my lips and turned to face her, "You keep giving me information but you never told me your name? Surely you have one."

She rolled her eyes, "Meredith Berger, also known as the witch who will murder you if you hurt Jaslynn."

"Do not forget who you're talking to," I growled, squinting at her furiously.

It did not bother me when Jaslynn spoke that way to me, but it did bother me that her friend thought she could do the same. I was still an Alpha who demanded respect from all species, not just werewolves.

Meredith stiffened, "It was a reminder. I wasn't trying to be disrespectful, mind you."

"Keep your reminders to yourself."

I walked away before she could reply and headed over to Jaslynn, who was carefully studying a map

***

JASLYNN

"Your friend is disrespecting me."

I lifted my head to stare at the grumpy Alpha wolf, "Are you being a tattletale?"

"No, I'm just informing you that I don't appreciate her attitude. It is bad enough she sent me up to your room when you were in a towel."

My cheeks felt warm all of a sudden, and I directed my attention back to the map so he wouldn't notice, "We're going to have to drive through a few pack territories to get to the harbor. Do you think you could get permission from the Alphas?"

"I don't need permission. They know better than to attack me of all people."

His arrogance had not diminished one bit since I first met him. Although, I was not expecting it to. Who knew how long he had been watering his ego?

I blinked a few times, "I forgot how big of a head you have."

"It's not an opinion. It's a fact."

"That you have a big head?"

He had an unamused look on his face, "That I don't need permission."

My lips formed an 'O' as I nodded exaggeratedly, "Of course it is. Now, tell your group of warriors to come inside so we can discuss driving arrangements. I don't think we need more than three cars for everyone."

"I'll mind-link them now."

***

It took ten extra minutes to figure out the driving arrangements because Meredith did not follow the plan I had laid out.

The sneaky witch had stuffed all the luggage in my car so that there was only room for two people, and it was obvious her intention was that Alrik and I would travel alone.

I eyed her suspiciously, and she blatantly avoided my looks by making conversation with Miles, whom she hated.

"Hi Jaslynn."

My eyes darted to the brunette female standing before me with a broad, friendly smile on her face. She put her hand out for me to shake, "I'm Alrik's commander, Reece. I'm so excited to finally meet you. You're famous in Alrik's house."

Surprisingly, I found that I liked her already. Her cheeriness was the complete opposite of Alrik's calm nature.

I smiled, "It's a pleasure to have you join us, Reece. Although, I can't say that Alrik has talked about you a lot."

"He doesn't like to admit that I'm his best friend. In his world, he has no friends," she snorted, glaring at his back.

He turned around as if he could feel her stare and walked over to us, "Gossiping, are we? You forget that I have werewolf hearing."

"It's not gossip. She's stating facts that all of us know, including you," I pointed out.

Alrik looked between the two of us, "I should have known the two of you would hit it off. The last thing I need is for you two to gang up on me."

"Too bad, it's already happening," Reece winked at me before pulling her keys out of her pocket, "I'm going to go start the car now. The rest of the pack warriors are seated and ready to go."

"You have the map?"

"I think so," she mumbled, rummaging through her backpack, "If I don't, I'll text you."

She rotated on her heel and started walking away, "Remember you two, no car sex!"

The room fell into an awkward silence after she said that, and the remaining members of the group were staring at us in shock.

Alrik pinched the bridge of his nose, "I knew it was a bad idea to bring her along."

"I like her. She reminds me of Meredith," I stated as I stepped towards the witch in question.

She gave me a sad smile, "I wish I could come with you."

"I know," I said, wrapping my arms around her, "But who'll hold down the fort when I'm gone?"

"Keep me updated on everything, including your relationship with Grumpy over there."

I laughed silently, "I highly doubt we'll be investing a lot of time in our relationship. We'll be too busy with the search."

"You'll find the time. There's a reason you two met when you did," Meredith muttered, pulling away, "Be safe."

I nodded and waved at her and Anton before exiting the Coven building to the car where Alrik was waiting with the other two cars behind him.

"I'll drive for the first two hours," he said, gesturing for my keys.

I frowned, "I wanted to drive."

"Are we going to argue about this now? You can drive the last two hours since you know the road better."

"Fair enough," I handed the keys over to him, "Now, let's get this show on the road."

***

The first hour went by quickly.

We were able to race down the freeway without any traffic and managed to get ahead of schedule.

"According to the map, we will be hitting the Lunar Pack border in a few miles," I said, smoothing out the wrinkled paper on the dashboard, "Did you get permission?"

"I told you I don't need permission."

"Alrik, you could have at least told them we were driving through their territory out of courtesy. What if they attack us?"

"Courtesy," he scoffed, "The Lunar Alpha is a wimp. He's all talk and no action."

Suddenly, a loud howl filled the air, and before we knew it, a large group of daunting wolves started gathering in front of our car, creating a blockade. They had fierce looks on their faces and bared their teeth at us, daring us to even try to drive through them.

I pursed my lips and glanced at Alrik, "You were saying?"