Chapter 12

In the Hummer, Chief kept glancing at Alise as they made their way into the small town of Great Falls.  Alise had been silent the entire ride, and her emotions were so tumultuous that scenting her did little to help him ascertain how she was feeling.

“Alessandra?”

Blinking herself out of her thoughts, she turned and looked at him.  “He said it’s real.”

Swallowing hard, Chief looked forward then at his side mirror.  He half-expected someone to be following them, but so far as he could tell no one was.  “I know.”

“So now what?  I just get my things and move to StoneCrow.”  She snapped her fingers. “Just like that, my life is over?”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

“According to Monroe, it does.  All because I…I signed some stupid paperwork referencing a phenomena that I never in a million years expected to affect me.”

Crinkling one eye, Chief shot her a look.  “You really signed paperwork?”

With a sigh, she nodded.

“What did it say?”

Looking down, she picked at her nails.  “It said that if I was afflicted that I’d agree to stay at StoneCrow until it could be resolved.  It mentioned the word stricken, but I didn’t understand what it meant.  I thought it was a typo.”

“And you signed?”

“Of course, I signed.  My best friend was getting married.  You think I’d miss it over some stupid formality?”

He wanted to laugh, but the plan he was formulating had his mind too preoccupied.

In town, Chief fell silent as he listened to the directions Alise gave him.  Finding her place was easy, but once they were there, rushing her inside and making her pack her things quickly was hard to do.  She kept trying to stall with complaints of plants needing watering and mail needing to be checked.  They were on a super tight schedule, but she didn’t need to know that until it was absolutely necessary, so he clenched his jaw and tried to be as patient as possible.

With her chores finally complete and with her changed into a pair of jeans, tall boots, and a loose, steely-gray sweater, Alise let him usher her back to the Hummer.  Once she was secure in the passenger seat, and her suitcases were stowed in the back, Chief climbed into the vehicle and set off.

It only took two blocks before Alise frowned at him.  “Um, you missed the turn.”

She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, but he ignored her.

“Chief?  You missed our turn.”

Glancing in the rearview mirror, he said in a voice that was deathly calm, “We’re not going back.”

Beside him, Alise breathed, “What?  What do you mean we’re not going back?  Monroe said we had to.  He said he’d send a team.”

“His team won’t be a problem if we make it to pack territory in time.”

Blowing through town, Chief hit the interstate and gunned the motor.

“Pack?  What pack?  You said you didn’t have a pack!”

“I don’t,” he bit out.  “But like I said, the BlackBird pack runs this state.  Their compound is in Glacier.  We can get there before sundown.”

“Should we do that?  I mean…”  Alise turned in her seat and glanced behind them.  “We could have someone following us.  What if we try it and don’t make it.  I’ve been on Monroe’s bad side.  It’s not someplace I ever wanna be again.”

“Don’t you worry about him.”

But she was worrying about a lot of things.  Namely, she was afraid of what Monroe would do when he caught them, and she had zero doubts that he would.  She also feared being a human and going into wolf-shifter territory.  Did they all feel the same way about humans as Chief did?  She’d find out soon.

***

Chief’s eyes spent nearly as much time on the rearview and side mirrors as they did on the road in front of him.  Running with Alise was dangerous, and he knew it.  But staying at StoneCrow with her was impossible because Monroe StoneCrow was up to something.  He felt it all the way down to his marrow, which meant that getting Alise to pack territory was paramount.   

His anxiety must have been catching because beside him Alise fell silent but sat rod straight.  She kept glancing at the side mirror too, but to her credit, she didn’t push Chief to take her back to StoneCrow.  He was a little surprised by that.  It made sense though.  She’d wanted answers from Jenny back at StoneCrow and apparently hadn’t gotten any that satisfied her.  So far as Alise had been told, their stricken was true.  She was probably hopeful that Chief could get her answers at the BlackBird compound that were more suitable to her wishes.  It fucking stung.   

Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Chief concentrated on the current task at hand.  Getting his mat…Alise to the BlackBird compound. 

When they tore through the Blackfeet Reservation, a wave of potent relief washed over him.  All reservations in Montana were considered pack territory so even though he wasn’t yet to the BlackBird compound, they were practically home free.