I woke up in the back of a moving car. It turned out to be a truck, but that wasn’t important then. I was staring at the ceiling of the truck and Mike. I tried to sit up and immediately regretted it.

“Whoa there. You’ve been out for about 20 minutes.” Mike said.

“Where are we?”

“We just left the farm. Why did you try to stop Alan from changing?” came Romulss’ voice from the front.

“So you survived,” I said with as much disdain as I could muster.

“What happened?” I asked.

“You tried to stop me from turning and passed out. When you did, Isidra killed Agent Ramirez and I turned, which I didn’t think was possible.”

“How was that possible?” Mike asked.

“Class B Lycans can’t turn at will until after their first full moon,” he continued

I knew where this was going and it wasn’t for Mike to hear. Alan would find out eventually due to his connection to Romulus, but now wasn’t the time for revelations.

The radio turned on and “Flight of the Valkyries” began playing.

I had put this spell on myself and my children since I was unable to put it on the one person who needed it most. I wasn’t worried for Romulus when Jack and Remus attacked, but I was now.

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“Pull over!”I yelled at Romulus.

He didn’t hesitate. He may not want to speak to me, but part of him still trusted me.

Before the car was stopped, I was hopping out. I realized I was wearing a blazer. I was drowning in it, so it had to belong to one of the D.A.M.E agents.

I snatched open Romuluss’ door and threw my facade away. I leaned in and kissed him. It had been about 300 years since I had felt his lips against mine. I had forgotten how much I loved it, how it made me feel.

I stepped back and he climbed out of the truck.

“What’s going on?” Mike asked.

He and Alan had gotten out of the truck and were standing together near the bed.

“The Valkyries are coming,” I whispered into the night air.

Romulus didn’t question. He looked me in the eye and saw what I had been hiding for so long. My love for him still outweighed the pain of losing my mother.

“Valkyries? Like, carry off fallen soldiers to Valhalla Valkyries?” Mike asked.

“Yes,” I said as I stared back at Romulus.

“They exist? How did we not know about them?” Mike responded.

“Take him home and call Erik, he will know what to do. If I fall, don’t let her find me. Promise me,” Romulus said to me.

“I can’t make that promise and you know it,” I replied.

“What is going on here?” Alan asked.

Romulus changed. Over the centuries he had mastered the change. Where it took most wolves 1-2 minutes to fully transform, it took Romulus less than ten seconds to. He hadn’t bothered to remove his clothes, so they lay there in shreds on the ground. A monstrous black wolf stood on all fours before me. He was almost as tall as the truck. He nodded at me and then ran into the woods faster than any land animal should be able to.

“Where is he going?” Alan asked as Romulus ran off into the woods.

“We have to go,” I yelled at the two men.

They gave each other a weary glance but started for the truck doors.

Once they were in, I sped off.

“Do either of you have a cell phone?” I asked.

I was going as fast as the truck could go, trying to put distance between us and the farm. If they caught up to us too soon, they would track him down.

“I found this in the glove compartment,” Alan said as he handed me a flip phone.

I dialed a number I knew well and my eldest picked up.

“Mother, what’s going on? I heard you were with my father.” Erik asked me.

Alan snapped his head around to look at me. His eyebrows were trying to blend in with the hair on his head.

My Aunt Sigrid landed in front of the truck and I slammed on the brakes.

“I have to call you back. Sigrid just flew in,” I said before hanging up the phone.