Sara’s POV
So, Levi conveniently forgot to mention that Christian is coming with us. I don’t find out until we are at the parking lot and the latter hurries over, a duffel bag over one shoulder and a suitcase rolling by his side.
“Dude, you could have woken me up,” he grumbles, his displeasure directed towards Levi. “Were you planning on leaving me behind or something?”
“I did wake you up,” Levi says, opening the trunk of his SUV. He starts loading our luggage into it. “You threw a pillow at me.”
“You didn’t say you wanted to sneak out at the crack of dawn like a fucking thief.” He leaves his stuff at Levi’s feet and walks towards the front of the car. “Don’t disturb me.”
He opens the backseat door, but Levi stops him. “Passenger seat. I’m trying to sneak her out, I can’t exactly put her on display, can I?”
“Wouldn’t she be safer in the trunk?”
I hold my scoff.
“Not unless the Alpha King has an APB out on her.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to sleep in the passenger seat with all that light glaring in my face?”
“Not my problem. Move.”
“We can share,” he says, and then looks at me for the first time since he showed up. “Right, Sara? The backseat is quite spacious.”
Oh, so now he is talking to me?
Too soon, he turns to Levi. “Don’t worry, there’ll be like ten feet between us. I won’t be touching any of your goods.”
“If you still want a ride, I suggest you watch your mouth,” Levi advises.
He rolls his eyes, but thankfully shuts up. He opens the passenger door and slips inside.
“Don’t mind him,” Levi tells me. “He is insufferable in the mornings.”
I believe he means to say all day long.
A few minutes later, the luggage is stowed away and we are all in our seats. The car is quite spacious. There’s a console separating the two back seats, so if Christian had ended up back here, we really would have been far apart.
Not that I want him back here. It’s a good thing he is upfront with Levi. Even better is that he seems to have already drifted into sleep. He sleeps so much, you’d think he’s a werecat.
As Levi starts the car and gets out of parking, I settle back into my seat and clench my hands on my lap. Despite his assurances that we can get out safely, I can’t relax. Until we leave North Academy and the massive jungle behind, I don’t think I can relax.
A few minutes later, the car slows down near the entrance. I sink as much as I can into my seat when a guard appears at the driver’s window. He nods at Levi as though he recognises him, gives Christian a cursory look, and then waves us on. He doesn’t bother to look into the backseat.
I still cannot believe how easy that was as the car cruises past the last barrier and leaves the campus behind. Was that guard too careless, or did Levi use his compelling power on him?
“You can relax,” Levi says. He meets my gaze in the rear-view mirror. “We are through.”
My hands release their death-grip on my thighs. “That was easy.”
“Yeah, I didn’t even have to do anything.”
The guard probably didn’t think Levi would be up to something like this. Or he didn’t want to mess with one of the most feared Alphas of the new generation.
Good luck to them trying to figure out how I disappeared. I can clearly imagine Victor raising hell, kicking stuff and barking orders like mad. I smile.
He’ll eventually find out where I am. By then, it’ll be too late. Because I’ll be Levi’s mate. Levi’s Luna.
I’ve already made up my mind, but I haven’t told him. When I tell him, the only thing remaining will be to formalise our bond. There’ll be no reason to wait. As if I could wait any more. It’s all physical, and we’ve already established that when subjected to his touch, I’m defenceless.
I shut down that line of thought quickly. It won’t do to get aroused when I’m going to be stuck in this car with both of them for hours.
My relief intensifies when we get to a fork in the road and take the one that leads away from Blood Moon. Away from my old life.
We are about two hours into the drive when Christian starts fidgeting in his seat. He has been asleep all along. Levi gives him a concerned glance before concentrating back on the road.
“Max!”
His shout catches me off guard, and I startle in my seat. Levi reaches over and touches his shoulder. “Chris?”
Christian’s head rolls back and forth on his headrest. “No. No. Max!”
Levi shakes his shoulder and calls loudly. “Chris, wake up!”
He doesn’t. Levi lets go of him and focuses on pulling the car to the roadside.
Christian jolts awake when the car comes to a stop. He looks around. “Where are we?”
Levi leans towards him. “Are you okay?”
“What? Yes. I” he trails off as if whatever nightmare he was just having is registering to him. He drops his face into his palms with a curse.
“I thought you didn’t have those dreams anymore,” Levi says.
“Yeah, well, they are back.”
They are both silent for a while. Levi reaches into the console between their seats and retrieves a bottle of water. “Need a minute?” he asks, handing it to Christian.
Christian takes the bottle and twists the cap. “I’m good. Just drive.”
We get back on the road. Levi is the first to speak about half an hour later. “You can come with me, stay for a few days.”
“Not unless you want old man Rivers to send a search party to Silver Creek. I have to go and explain why Cat was there.”
“It was not your fault.”
“Leave it.”
“Seriously, Chris”
“You can let me off here,” he cuts Levi off as we come to a junction. “Someone will get me.”
Levi ignores that and drives down the road that leads to River’s End. It takes another half hour to reach Christian’s pack. We get back to the highway in twenty minutes by another route.
“So, you and Christian are close,” I say from my new position in the passenger seat.
“Kind of,” he says.
Kind of? Yeah, right. I’d say it’s a lot more than that. He knows about Christian’s nightmares and he offered him to stay at Silver Creek.
“Who is Max?”
“His elder brother. Lost him six years ago.” His eyes flicker to me for a moment. “Pretend I didn’t tell you that. He hates talking about it.”
“Okay.” It’s not like we are on talking terms, anyway. After last night, hell will freeze over before I make the first effort to speak to him.
By the time we meet again, if we do, I’ll be mated with Levi, and the influence of our bond will be gone. So I’ll be able to look him in the eyes and tell him to fuck off if he tries to mess with me.
Another half hour and we are driving up the driveway leading to a two-storied wood and stone mansion. It has a rustic appeal and looks warm and homely.
Levi brings the car to a stop and looks at me with a smile. “Welcome to Silver Creek, Sara.”