Driving around the other side of the mountain will be quicker than trekking through it on my side, and there is a parking area at the bottom, and the trail that leads off it.
But first, I pull up at the service station, fill up the car and head inside to pay. Once I get back inside the car, we immediately drive off to head toward our destination. So far, plenty of time has been wasted with the stunt the pack members pulled already, and I’m eager to get back home already.
There is barely any traffic on the road thanks to the storm, which I am sure has left plenty to clean-up. However, about ten minutes out, a foul odor fills the car, and I crack the window. “That you? Fuck, Derrick, my windows are up,” I growl at him as I gag and try to get some fresh air. The stench is killing me.
“What? Fucking wasn’t me,” he protests turning his head to look at me and gags too. “You dirty bastard! It was you! That’s a protein fart from that crap you drink!” My father snarls, winding his window down and forcing his face out in the wind.
“Fuck off, it wasn’t me. It must have slipped out of your old ass without you knowing. Old age has something to do with this. You must be so loose back there that you probably didn’t feel it escape!” I snap at him.
“It wasn’t me,” he argues back, and I sigh. The smell is slowly wafting away with the wind anyway.
The drive takes an hour from the time we left home and stopped to get fuel before finding the trail. “Yep, this is it, the kids trekked a bit,” my father observes, looking up the steep trail, and I agree. He pulls the map out of his pocket and scans it. Then he looks back.
“I know this place!” The high-pitched shriek startles me. I jump in my seat as my head snaps to the back of the car to see Jonah popping up between the rear seats. Shit fucking damn it, I didn’t expect to see anyone back there, let alone the menace himself.
My father nearly lurches out of his skin as he smacks into the dash. He spins around and clutches his heart. Fuck, not this, please not this, don’t tell me the old man is having a fucking heart attack. I knew that fart reeked of death, but this is a little too much.
“Jonah!” I scream as I glare at the boy.
At this point, my father really looks like he is on the verge of having a heart attack. He looks a little pale. Maybe I need to turn the car around and take him to the nearest hospital?
“What the hell are you doing here?” I growl at the boy. He drops his head and attempts to give me the puppy dog eyes. Shit, I knew I had to check the car before heading off, Jonah isn’t one to leave me be. He is like a zit on ass – painful and always reminds of its presence.
“Where the heck were you hiding?” My father asks as he points his finger at Jonah and leans over the seat. “Anyone else back there?” He demands, searching the backseat.
“I was under this?” Jonah announces, or asks, I’m not sure, as he holds up my jacket. It was supposed to stay on the floorboard, yet the little shit found it, must be why I didn’t notice him.
“I told you it wasn’t me that farted,” my father announces with a victorious grin on his face.
I glare at Jonah. “It just slipped out,” he admits.
I scrub my hand down my face and groan. Gritting my teeth, I shove my door open and get out of the car, then check my phone. There are no missed calls or messages. Scrolling through the contacts, I press Malik’s number.
“Missing someone?” I question as soon as he answers the call.
“Yeah, how did you know? Did Casen mindlink you? I told him not to bother you, that damn Jonah has taken off,” Malik stresses. I’m pretty sure he’s still running around as we speak.
I huff at him. “Jonah is with me.”
“Are you bloody serious, Andrei? You couldn’t have told someone? The entire pack is out looking for him!” I growl to stop his rant before Malik tries to cross some limits that shouldn’t be crossed. “Sorry, Alpha,” he quickly mutters.
“Do you think I would really drag a kid, barefoot on a mountain trail, Malik? The little shit nearly gave my father and me a damn heart attack when he popped his head up between the damn seats, and that’s after he tried to kill us by gassing us.” I glance over my shoulder to check if those two are still in the car. My father and Jonah are talking about something, so at least they are distracted for now.
“How did you not smell him?” Malik asks. I swear, I can hear how he’s furrowing his brows at me.
“Well, I wasn’t exactly scenting my damn car, I can only smell my father and my scent here!” I growl at him.
Malik sucks in a sharp breath and slowly releases it.”I’m sorry, I thought he was with Nora and Zane until I went to go get him. I didn’t realize he stowed away. Do you want me to come get him?”
I check over my shoulder again to see what the menace is up to now. Jonah is already out of the car and is sitting on my father’s shoulders. The boy is pointing his finger up at the tree, trying to show my father a bird that sits on a branch.
As much as I hate it, I don’t have another hour, or more, to wait on someone. “No, we can’t waste time, we will just take him with us.”
“Sorry again, Alpha.” Malik mutters.
“It’s fine,” I assure him, and hang up the call.
“Ready?” my father asks as soon as he notices I’m not on the phone anymore.
I nod and grab our bags out of the car. I toss them over my shoulder since my father is carrying Jonah, and I lock the car. Then slowly, we hike up the trail.
This would be so much quicker if we could shift, but with Jonah it isn’t worth the risk. As annoying as our unexpected little confidant is, I don’t want him falling off one of us and getting hurt.
A couple of hours in, my father stops and places Jonah on the ground to stretch his back. I get it, he isn’t that young anymore and might run out of energy faster than me, but even I’m fucking tired.