Chapter 5 Lila's POV

The road ahead looks like a dark string going on forever. I've been in the back for three hours now, watching the city get smaller and smaller. Caleb's up front with Sarah. She's really quiet and stares at the road. No one says much at all. The only noise is the car and Caleb's phone beeping once in a while.

My phone keeps lighting up with texts, but I'm too afraid to look. I bet some are from Mia, asking where I went. Some are from Derek, my boss, asking why I left the party early. But I just can't deal with it right now. I can't say that my boss is a wolf man and my place is now a crazy battle zone.

"Where are we headed?" I ask again and again. I've asked this each time we stopped, and Caleb says the same thing.

"Up north," he says. "To a place where we're safe. We have a spot about two hours from here."

"Will Ethan be there too?" I ask.

Caleb holds his phone tighter. He hasn't picked up any calls or texts while I've been looking. That worries me more than anything else. If Ethan could text earlier, why not now? Did he get hurt? Is he gone?

"I don't know," Caleb says at last. "Last I knew, the fight was still on."

My insides sink. A fight still going on means Ethan could lose it. It means Marcus could win the fight. And if Marcus wins, what's going to happen to me? What's going to happen to my baby?

Sarah drifts off the main road. We cruise down quiet streets with less traffic. Trees hug both sides, and it's so dim that the lights barely light the road. We're ditching my normal world. We're headed somewhere new to me.

"Nature calls," I blurt. It's partly true, and also a dodge. I need time to think. I need fresh air. I need to get what's up with my own body.

Sarah stops at a gas station. Caleb hops out to grab water and treats. Sarah stays put, the car humming. I dart to the restroom way in the back. The lights glare and I have to squint. I stare at my face, and I seem unchanged. My hair is a mess, and my eyes look worn, but I still seem like me.

But I'm not really me. I just know it. My skin's on high alert, like every little puff is felt. My nose picks up smells I've never known. I smell everyone who's been here before. I smell fear, scent, dirt, and outside fumes. It's just too much to take.

My hands start their dance. The black nails are still there, peeking out from under mine. They're a weird secret I'm holding. I run the cold tap and splash my face. It feels nice, but my head's still in a spin.

When I'm done, Caleb waits for me. He gives me water and a bar. "You need fuel," he says. "You're making a kid. Your body needs some gas."

"I don't want to eat," I say.

"Whatever," he says, not mean at all. "Just munch it."

I hop back in the car, munching the bar, and it tastes like paper. Sarah floors it now. The road is bare, just us. Trees crowd close, so green and thick. Feels like diving into deep woods.

My phone beeps once more. I will grab it this time. Ethan messaged, my heart skips fast: "I'm good. Headed your way. Trust no soul."

"Ethan's on route," I share with Caleb.

Caleb just nods. "Naturally. Alpha stuff. Alphas guard their chosen ones."

"I'm not his," I say. "I hardly know him."

"No matter," Caleb says. "The link's real, like it or not. It's inked in your veins now. Baby on board, you are his. That's just how it goes."

"Folks don't pair like that," I say.

"Not a folk no more," Caleb says. No sting in his tone, just truths. "Stopped being folk when that babe set up shop inside."

Before I can speak, Sarah hits the brakes hard. Tires scream, cars swerve to the curb. We lurch forward, all messed up.

"What gives?" Caleb asks, quite concerned.

"Up there," Sarah points out. In lights, shapes crawl in the dark. Big, dark, heading this way. Wolves. So many of them.

"Get down now," Caleb tells me. He's moving fast, yanking the door.

"Is it Marcus?" I ask, fear makes me small.

"Nope," Sarah says. Her eyes shift now. Gold wolf eyes burning bright. "It's worse now. Hunting party. And they hunt her."

Caleb left the car, then changed in a crazy flash. I saw it, his body changed fast, like a light flickered. Now a big brown wolf stood where Caleb had been. He dashed to dark spots, howling a tune that stung my teeth.

Sarah turned to me, saying, "Stay put. Freeze. Hush."

"What's going on?" I then asked her.

"Other wolves," Sarah said. "They must have caught your scent from the road. Talk goes around about Ethan's girl and child. All want the top spot. All want you for tricks."

More howls cut through the night. Not nice ones. Mad and hungry ones. Sarah then changed and jumped out, and I'm alone now. So very alone. I lock every door and huddle down so no eyes spot me through glass.

Outside, a fight takes place. I hear snarls and cries and bodies thump. Wolves fight wolves, but my eyes can't see it. I just sit in the dim car, hand on my belly, guarding my baby as best I can.

Then a new sound rings. A bike. It roars near. The fight ends. Even wolves hush. The bike stops by our car, and one steps off.

I look up through glass, see a man. He wears all black leather, a helmet in hand. His arms show ink, and his eyes look mean. He's not like Caleb or Sarah at all. He's something else now.

He strolls to our ride, each wolf backing off from his trail. The wolves fighting Caleb and Sarah scoot back too. This dude has some strange power. He is risky but different.

He stares into my window, into me, despite the dark hiding me. He grins, his teeth pointy like Ethan's used to look.

He grabs a phone to call. "I see her," he says. His tone feels smooth yet frozen. "Tell Marcus we found Ethan's love. Tell him to bring the cash so this is easy. We take the child, no one gets hurt."

I see I'm still holding air. I get that I'm stuck. And I see that nobody can come to help at all.