Even though it was still early, several pairs of eyes watched them leave town. Both human and wolf eyes. Some in plain sight, others hidden. Hundame was a wolf town and how she’d missed that when they arrived was one big mystery. A stupid mistake that could have ended much worse. Werewolves and their territories were a fickle thing. While traveling alone before arriving at Pleyvale, she was either wearing her ring, and thus not seen as a threat if she crossed one, or she had shifted outside of any werewolf territories.

Lucas eyed the watching strangers in wonder as Azura drove away from the town and onto the big highway. Not long after, thick raindrops started to fall while ‘Conquest of Paradise’ played in the background. One of the songs on Lucas’s CD Azura didn’t mind hearing over and over. The couple remained in comfortable silence for the first hour. The male shifter knew better by now than to start a serious conversation in the morning. He sometimes placed his hand on her leg, and she sometimes flashed him a smile and caressed his hand or beard.

Lucas grabbed a bottle of water and offered it to Azura. “I still hold to my opinion you need to start drinking coffee.”

“Hmm? What?” Azura kept her eyes on the road, her thoughts being jerked from their travels.

“Coffee! That stuff that keeps you awake!”

“Gross. Never have and never will like it.” Her brows drew together as she pretended to puke. ”Just give me an hour of peace in the mornings and I’ll be fine.”

“You’ve had your hour. More actually.” His hand moved up her leg towards her thighs and the closer he got to her center, the more her breath faltered. “Maybe… I should have gone for some other way to wake you up.”

Azura clenched the steering wheel till her knuckles turned white as his fingers brushed against her inner thigh. That one touch was enough to ignite a desire inside her making her inwardly curse as she knew the smell of her arousal would reach his nose soon.

“Fuck...off... I need to teach you about werewolves, not have you distract me while I’m driving! And I’m awake aren’t I?” She cringed as her own scent hit her nose and she swatted his hand away while trying to put her mind on other things than their sweat-coated bodies slapping together.

Lucas let out a low growl, his pupils dilating as her aroused scent registered in his brain and had his body reacting in an animalistic way that he’d grown accustomed to by now. Azura glanced at him before her eyes moved down to his crotch. Even though he was wearing jeans, she could easily discern his growing erection straining against the stiff fabric.

“You better put your mind on something else, Horndog.” Azura playfully teased before placing her focus back on the quiet road. “Like werewolves for example! What do you know about them?”

It was for both their interest she tried shifting the focus. Hell, the idea of finding a place to park and just jump him had crossed her mind several times in the short timespan, but she had a goal; getting to Greenwood as fast as possible. Plus they had been at it like a pair of horny rabbits ever since she had come clean to everyone, so a few hours of not having sex wouldn’t hurt.

“Fine,” he huffed, adjusting himself inside his pants. “Way to kill the mood, Firestarter. But I’ll humor you. Werewolves are shifters, like us, just they change into giant ass wolves. They live in packs, work with a strong hierarchy with the Alpha being their leader. They’re territorial, weird, and apparently don’t mark each other nor do they have soulmates. And they are fucking wolves! Wild, arrogant-”

“Feral? Are you even taking this seriously?!” She released one hand from the wheel and punched him in the shoulder. “I can’t help it that you guys are so far removed from your inner animal that you see every other shifter species as wild or feral. Fact is, that’s the natural way! Maybe you should allow yourself to give in to your instincts more, than you’d understand. Werewolves are indeed giant ass wolves. Yes, they live in packs, but they are by no means old-fashioned, feral, wild, or uncivilized. And yes, I know all these thoughts crossed your mind.”

She allowed the words to sink in as she grabbed a bottle of water and took a big gulp.

“Alright, a pack structure is actually quite a lot like you’re used to. The Alpha is the leader like Ben is to Pleyvale. Ben is supported by Nathan and Oliver as his right hands, you could compare them to the Beta’s of a pack. Some packs operate with one Beta, some with more. I know Andreas usually has three Beta’s. Now, this is where things will differ per pack. In the old days, there were gamma, delta, and omega ranks. Each rank served a different purpose within a pack. A werewolf was born into a rank and could only move up the ladder by challenging and fighting someone from a rank higher. Fighting; claiming a spot in the pack was a big thing back in the days as it is with normal wolves.”

“Savages.” He muttered under his breath.

“Excuse me? Anything but! By fighting, they kept strong and thus could beat any threats from the outside. But as I said, it was the old way. Greenwood only has the Alpha and Beta positions left. For the rest, they operate more like a democracy, with a council like Pleyvale. Not all packs have adopted that way of working though. Andreas is a modern Alpha with modern ways. Fighting, violence...pack wars, he sees those as things of the past and many other Alphas agree with him.”

“Then what happened yesterday, Azu? Those guys wanted to attack me but they started to act like beaten pups when you showed up!” His voice was laced with frustration as he tried to piece their behavior and Azura’s explanation together.

“Powerplay. That’s all it was. They wouldn’t have killed or seriously hurt you, just subdued till their Alpha would show. They probably caught on to the fact you aren’t human and seeing how you guys have lived hidden from society, they couldn’t place your scent. Wolves are territorial, and they couldn’t identify you, thus they did what their instincts told them to. Powerplay; pretend to be stronger, make the opponent submit, and secure the threat. They were young too and probably wanted to prove themselves to their Alpha, show him they can protect their pack. You didn’t put them in their place, instead, you strengthened their farce by letting them intimidate you. Had they been more experienced wolves, they wouldn’t have reacted the way they did.”

“How do you know it was a bluff? Because that’s all that it was if I understand you correctly? And that still doesn’t explain why you got them with their tails tucked between their legs.”

“I played their game.” She grinned as she put a few black strands behind her ear. “It’s all about power and what you emit and show. Andreas taught me that. I pretended, or rather, believed myself to be above them in rank. As long as they were bluffing, I could do that. If a werewolf is not bluffing, it will fail and you’ll be in a lot of shit.”

Lucas leaned back and crossed his arms as her words sank into his brain. The events of the night before played before his eyes. There was one thing that wasn’t adding up though. A deep crease appeared between his brows as his mind kept playing things over and over.

“What are you thinking about, Babyspice?” She teased him, her eyes mainly focused on the road. “I can spy that wrinkle even from here. Don’t think too much or it’ll become permanent and you will look even older than you are already!”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Lucas ignored her mostly as if he didn’t hear her till he abruptly turned sideways, clogging the seatbelt as he jerked it too fast. Being forced back to his normal position, he huffed and gently pulled it out again so he could shift without getting stuck in it before he spoke up. “You were not pretending, Azu.”

“What?” She still chuckled slightly after seeing his fight with the seatbelt from the corner of her eye. “What do you mean?”

“You weren’t pretending to be above them. You were radiating power, made them cower by force and not by bluffing. I could feel it, I’ve felt it before whenever you got angry.”

This time, it was her who jerked her head to the side making Lucas grab the wheel to steady the car as she swerved due to her sudden movement.

“Eyes on the road, woman!” He yelled. When she was steady again, he released the wheel.

“I know! But how come you never said this before?! I don’t hold much natural authority, Andreas has actually tested that back in the day so what you’re saying is not possible.” She forced herself to focus on driving and was glad the road around them was empty.

“That was before the ‘shit hit the fan’, using your words. You got a bloody Phoenix inside of you now. Things might have changed you know. Look, I never knew what it was until now. It’s something that makes my skin crawl, raises the hair on my arms and it makes me…fidgety. I don’t know how else to put it. I can fight it, it’s just a small barrier that’s being erected which I have to break through to actually do something. Yesterday it was stronger than usual and now that I think about it, it actually slightly resembles the way Ben tried to control me when you were fighting Nathan.”

“Ben fucking controlled you?! That bastard!” She exploded again, but this time kept the car going straight.

“He and Nicolai together. Took both of them and still, I could break free if I’d wanted to. It was a good thing they did it though, otherwise, it would not have ended the way it did. Ben is our mayor for a reason. Our community might not be as close as a pack of werewolves but we’re still a community and Ben is still our leader. If needed he can control us just as I imagine Andreas sometimes has to do with his pack. Snow leopards are solitary creatures in the wild but we’re also human.”

“More human than animal…” Azura whispered while rolling her eyes. Lucas tapped her leg and tsk’ed her to which she couldn’t help but smile a little.

“I guess that maybe werewolves and snow leopard communities are not so different.” Not wanting to talk anymore about trivial things, Azura turned the conversation back to its original topic. “Alright, we’ve strayed enough off-topic. The thing to remember with werewolves is to find out whether or not they’re bluffing in their display of power. If they’re bluffing, you step up your game and try to beat them. Even if you lose, it won’t be such a bad thing since you played their game and they know it. If a werewolf isn’t bluffing and you do the same thing, you’re fucked.”

“And how can you tell if someone is bluffing or not?” He asked while fiddling with the bottle of water.

“Experience mostly… Just believe me when I tell you that if we encounter Floyd, he won’t be bluffing. You don’t do anything with him and just let him do his thing. He’s bound to try something with you but I’ll step in if he goes too far. And it’s not a question if we encounter Floyd, but a question of when.” Azura grabbed the bottle from between his legs and tossed it onto the backseat.

“Experience…great. The thing I have the most of in regards to interaction with werewolves.” Lucas turned to face the rear and managed to grab the bottle again. “And why did you toss this into the back? I’m thirsty!”

She scowled and eyed him warily. “I don’t like you with a bottle of water in your hands. You always manage to find a time to dump some on me with some lame-ass excuse.”

With a wide grin, he twisted the cap off and made an agonizing slow show of actually drinking the cold liquid.

“You know,” He placed the bottle against his lips once more for a small sip. “You just make it too easy for me to make you wet.”

As he wiggled his eyebrows, she snarled at him and at first did not reply. Her stomach started to rumble and they weren’t far from the next town. When the CD had gone through all the songs, Azura turned it off. Fingers lovingly grazed past the ring hanging from her neck before she took hold of the steering wheel with both her hands again.

“You’re a real asshat, you know that?”

“And you love every bit of it.” He replied, the big smile still present on his face.

Even though the trip was long, they were ahead of schedule when they eventually stopped to spend the night. This time, they picked a town without any supernaturals in the vicinity and after a refreshing night, got back on the road early in the morning. It wouldn’t take long now, and the prospect of returning to Greenwood excited her but also made her uneasy. The closer they got, the quieter and more nervous she got. As Lucas was driving, her fingers started tapping her knees while her feet kept shuffling on the floor. Without realizing it, she bit her lip, and every few minutes she would touch and fiddle with the ring. She still hadn’t gotten used to it hanging from her neck and would often touch her ring finger first before moving her hand upwards. When they were an hour out, Lucas pulled over, earning him a confused look from the pale-skinned woman.

“What are you doing? We’re almost there.” She spoke while he unbuckled himself and motioned for her to do the same.

“You’re fidgeting. You’re driving the last part. You know the area, plus it will give you something to focus on instead of being a nervous wreck beside me. Plus, this way I can inform Andreas of our arrival.”Azura took a deep breath and gave him a nod before getting out of the car and switching seats. He had a point and it would help with her nerves.

It was a little past noon when they crossed the invisible border of the Greenwood pack. Azura couldn’t help but smile as they were engulfed by the familiar forest. Her jitters of coming back calmed down as she breathed in the air that had once meant ‘home’ to her. The trees raised up so high it seemed like they touched the clouds at times. There was no trace of snow here and the temperature was rather nice and warm. A complete opposite of Pleyvale where the cold held the region in its claws most of the year. Lucas stared out the window, taking in the new surroundings, and suddenly jerked up.

"There's something out there, Azu. I swear I saw a dark brown flash between the trees."

"That's probably Floyd. He's been on our tail for a while now." Azura had noticed straight away they were being followed but it had taken her a while to identify who it was. Now she was a hundred percent sure.

"The Floyd? The one and only Floyd, former mate of Nora? He’s already on our asses?!"

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!" Azura grinned at him to ease the tension in the air.

"I’ll pull over in a bit into a communal guest parking area. We're almost there. If Floyd's there, Andreas also knows we've arrived so it won't take long for him to join us. Just remember what I’ve told you about him."

True to her word, Azura pulled to a stop on what seemed an abandoned parking lot a few minutes later. She held onto the steering wheel for a while as her nerves suddenly soared through her body. Afraid her hands would be shaking if she let go, she clenched it as tight as she could, drifting away in her own mind. They were already clammy and she knew Floyd would sense her uneasiness straight away, probably use it against her too.

Lucas reached over, turned off the ignition, and removed the keys. He grabbed a fresh bottle of water and took a sip all the while Azura still seemed glued to her spot and steering wheel. She’d closed her eyes and was focused on her breathing, seemed to have completely forgotten he was there with her. Lucas glanced at his bottle and back at Azura, remembering the conversation about it the day before and a small playful smile tucked at his lips. He placed his hand on her shoulder gently and called out her name. When she didn’t respond he simply poured some water on the back of her neck which got the reaction he had hoped for.

"What the hell, Lucas! I thought we were past this!" Azura slapped his hand away and glared at him.

"Never!" He laughed and put the bottle away. "I will always keep doing that when needed. Now I think we have to get outa

Azura removed her seat belt and then saw the big dark brown wolf emerge from between the trees followed by another, slightly smaller dark gray wolf. Pulling on a mask of indifference, she stepped out of the car followed by Lucas.

"Hello, Floyd. Good to see you again."