Quinn
I didn’t like this, not a part of it. If I could, I would stash Mia in a safe place where we she wouldn’t be able to step out till we were back. That was what I wanted to do, and I knew my brothers felt the same way but there was nothing that we could do.
It wasn’t like she was going to listen to us. She was as stubborn as a mule. I didn’t feel comfortable with having her travel with us.
It was a risk. It was a deadly one and she knew it. I wondered why she didn’t cower in fear, extract herself from the journey and wish us luck like most ladies would do.
I couldn’t help the smile that lurked at the corners of my lips, thinking of her bravado. She was fit to be our mate and the Luna of the pack. I couldn’t stop thinking of that. The smile wiped off my face when I reminded myself that she might not get to be the Luna of the pack if she died on this journey.
Asides the trip being risky for her with all the legends that trailed the Sea of Death, we were a risk to her as well.
There was a certainty that the full moon would shine during the trip. What if we killed her then because of the curse? I shivered at the thought of losing my sanity in my wolf form and turning back to human to see Mia’s dead bloody eyes staring at me.
No, I couldn’t do that. I didn’t think any of us was going to be able to live for eternity if we killed Mia. We would all die of guilt and depression, knowing we couldn’t have another mate.
Dad and Veronica would be heartbroken and their lives would be ruined, even if they still had one. Going on this trip would then be a waste. We were going to save our family, it would be of no use if all we brought back was tragedy. I was going to try to change Mia’s mind and hoped that I was able to do so.
I stood by the car with my survival kit and waited for the rest to come out. They had fifteen minutes to be here so we could leave on time. I had told them to pack all that we would need and get a good night rest as we had no idea of how hectic the journey was going to be.
Mia came out with a bright smile on her face and I was struck with disbelief as I watched her walk towards me. Was she kidding me? Did she think this was an adventure or a fun excursion into the wilds? I doubted she knew the full impact of where we were going.
“You seem to be in a good mood this morning.”
“Of course,” she smiled again at me. “We are going to get rid of the dark wizard and get Albert unfrozen. That is enough to make my mood soar.”
“Knowing how risky the journey is is enough to make my own mood sour.”
She snorted at me, dropping her bag in the trunk of the car. “Now, don’t be a fun spoiler, Quinn. Do you think I don’t know how dangerous the trip is? I spent the whole night thinking up many scary scenarios until sleep finally had mercy on me. Of what use is it if I look like death just whispered in my ears? It wouldn’t make the trip less scary but at least, having a positive mindset would make me less scared.”
“It’s good that you have been reading some motivational books to help your mindset.” I replied.
“You don’t want to know how many self-help books I’ve read ever since I met the three of you. I would have been crazy if I hadn’t been doing that.” She smiled. “They have helped me and making use of them in this situation as well isn’t a bad idea.”
I ignored her jibe. “What if you stay at home? You won’t have to stress yourself reading up on those self-help books.” I asked, hoping she would miraculously change her mind.
“You know what my answer to that is.” She didn’t even look at me.
I sighed. I already knew that she wouldn’t listen to me but I had an ace up my sleeve. It was a brutal one but I wasn’t afraid to use it. I was ready to use it if it was going to keep her safe.
“I don’t get why you have to go. You will be nothing more than a distraction to us. Moreover, don’t you hate us? Why do you care if we are safe or not? You should just worry about yourself.”
“Nice try, wolf.” She snorted and moved to sit in the passenger seat.
Jack and John walked out seconds later. I bristled, wondering what had kept them inside. Even a girl had packed faster than they did.
“Why were you late?”
“The head cook stopped us and gave us this.” Jack smiled, holding up a big cooler of food.
I could sense the aroma wafting from the cooler and I was touched. She must have woken up early to cook that for her because I had told her that we would be leaving as soon as it was dawn and wouldn’t be having breakfast.
“She is amazing.” I breathed.
“That she is.” Jack agreed, moving to trunk to stash his bag and the cooler.
John also stashed his bag into the trunk and slammed it shut.
I hadn’t expecting the cook to do that. I had asked her to shop yesterday and buy a whole lot of non-perishable foods enough to last for months.
She must have been tired after the hectic shopping she had done yesterday and yet, she had woken up early to cook for us.
I wanted to go back inside to thank her but we didn’t have the time. We should have been on the road by now. The journey was less risky during the day than at dusk. Moreover, I knew Jack and John would have already thanked her enough for the four of us.
“Let’s go.” I said, slipping into the driver’s seat.
My brothers slid into the backseat. Jack smiled as he saw Mia seated in front of the car.
“Good morning, sister.”
“Good morning, brother.” Mia replied.
Jack laughed. “She is feisty this morning. What has crawled up your spine? Having second thoughts about going?”
“You wish.” She snorted.
“You can get out of the car now, Mia, if you are scared. We won’t hold it against you.” John implored her. “You don’t have to pretend to be fine.”
“You should stay at home, Mia.” Jack added.
I scoffed. “Don’t stress yourself, boys. She wouldn’t listen to you. I’ve told her that this morning but she didn’t yield.”
“No wonder she is in a mood.” Jack laughed. “You are trying to undermine the courage of our fierce Luna.”
“Watch it, Jack.” I hissed at him, watching Mia for her reaction.
She didn’t flip out as she used to and I wondered if she was slowly changing and warming up towards us.
We got to a clearing and parked. We spread one of the mats we had brought with us and ate the food. We ditched the cooler, knowing that there was no place to keep it. We didn’t need it on our journey and I was sure that dad wouldn’t mind us throwing away one cooler from the many that were in the house.
Our private flight was delayed for two hours and we had to find a way to keep ourselves busy till we could go to the airport. We couldn’t use a commercial flight as it would be a stressful trip. No local or international flight would get us close to the closest landmark to the Sea of Death and we needed to shorten our trip as much as we could. We couldn’t afford to take a rental car to where we were going when we didn’t know when we were going to be back to return it. Even our car was going to be kept safe by one of my friends who lived around the airport. He was going to meet us there to have the key. He didn’t know the full story except that we were going on a long trip and hadn’t asked more than that, respecting our privacy.
We needed a plane that could drop us somewhere close to the island and we would walk the rest of the journey with our legs without getting strained and affecting the plane as well.
It had been easy getting that kind of flight arrangement with dad’s connection. All had been set until the pilot had an emergency he had to attend to.
We had to wait because the pilot had been briefed on what we needed and had signed a non-disclosure agreement form. It was a hassle trying to get another person in the operation and I didn’t want that stress.
The pilot who had been picked had been vetted before being briefed. It was too late to start running background checks on someone else now.
Waiting for two hours was the safest and most sensible plan but I didn’t like wasting time, sitting idly like this.
Mia was staring at her phone, probably reading one of the self-help books that she had mentioned. Good for her. She would need it. I wondered how she was going to survive if her phone battery went dead and hoped that she had brought a well-charged power bank with a huge capacity with her. I also hoped that she knew that she wasn’t going to get any internet connection where we were going.
I watched Jack and John playing a sort of game with each other and brought out the map to the Sea of Death that we had found in dad’s study.
I began to skim my eyes over it, noting where dad had made marks. I was so deeply immersed in it that I jumped when my phone rang. I placed it to my ear, listened for some moments and then nodded.
I jumped to my feet as I clicked the call off. “Let’s go, guys. Our pilot is waiting for us.”