Mae POV
My dad weaves in and out of traffic, racing toward the edge of North Pack territory. I have so many questions I want to ask but I am too stunned. I don't know where to begin.
I can feel the tether that binds Kieran and me being pulled tight the farther away I am taken from him. I try to ignore the ache that is reverberating in my chest. Absentmindedly, I clutch my hand over my heart, trying to push the pain away.
I catch Dad staring at me in the rear-view mirror. "Are you okay, Kiddo?"
"What is going on?" I finally get the nerve to ask. "What are you doing with these people?"
My dad smiles at me brightly. "That is a story for another time."
"I think we have time," I snap, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Don't take that tone with me. I am still your father," my dad scolds me.
The rest of the car ride is silent. Jameson keeps trying to lay his hand on my thigh, and I keep smacking it away.
I glance over Jameson to look at Raven. Her head is leaning against the car door, and her eyes are fluttering open and shut. Whatever they injected her with is wearing off quickly.
Jameson catches me looking at Raven, and he cuts his eyes in her direction. He also notices that she is beginning to wake up.
"I need more of the concoction," Jameson tells Francesca nervously.
"We don't have anymore. We had to use the other vial on her mate," Francesca hisses.
"Then give me some silver cuffs," Jameson says in a panic. "She is waking up."
Francesca groans loudly. "Silver won't work on her. She is the Luna Queen."
"Then what the fuck am I supposed to do?" Jameson hisses. "She will shift as soon as she comes too."
"No, she won't," Francesca laughs. "She wouldn't dare put her beloved brother's mate in danger."
I shift uncomfortably in my seat. I know I need to take the attention off of Raven.
"Dad," I say a little too loudly. "I think I have the right to know what is going on. Are you a werewolf, too?"
Francesca cackles loudly. "Does he smell like a werewolf to you?"
I quietly sniff the air, but all I can smell is the foul scent of rotting flesh. "All I can smell is you," I snap at Francesca.
"No, Kiddo. I am not a werewolf," Dad says gently.
"Then what are you?" I demand to know of my father.
"I guess you could call me a hunter," my dad says with a chuckle.
A low growl rumbles in Jameson's chest when my dad mentions that he is a hunter. I don't understand what a hunter is.
Raven's voice cuts through the silence in the car. "A hunter hunts down our kind and kills them."
"Fuck," Jameson says as he inches closer to me. He is clearly afraid of Raven.
I am so shocked by Raven's words that I don't notice how close Jameson has gotten to me. "What about Mom?"
"Your mother was a blemish on my life," Dad says harshly. "She had to go."
The memory of the day my mother left replays in my mind, but there is something weird about it.
I remember my mother standing in the doorway, screaming at my father, but I couldn't understand what she was saying. I was hiding in the kitchen underneath the table. I peek out between the legs of the chairs around the table with tears running down my face.
My father was screaming, "Just fucking leave already, Narah."
I remember hearing the sound of a gun cocking, and shortly after, the door slammed shut. I scrambled out from under the table, screaming for my mother to come back. But before I could reach the door, my father grabbed me around the waist and lifted me into the air.
"Let her go, Mae. She didn't want us," my father told me.
I kicked and screamed against my father's hold. I remember him holding me tight against his chest while I cried. At the time, I thought he was trying to comfort me, but now I am not so sure what his motives were.
"Mae," Raven's voice cuts through my memory. "It didn't happen how you remember it."
I don't have a moment to try and process what Raven is trying to tell me. Suddenly, her claws are out, and she has Jameson around the neck.
"Francesca," Jameson attempts to breathe out, but Francesca doesn't seem to notice or care that her right-hand man is in danger.
"Stop the car, or he dies," Raven growls at my father.
Dad cuts his eyes at Francesca, and she nods slightly. My dad hammers the gas peddle, and the car speeds forward.
"I will kill him," Raven snarls again.
"Do it," Francesca replies. "He has served his purpose."
Raven sighs heavily and I think she is going to let Jameson go, but I am wrong. Her claws puncture into the skin of his neck, and blood squirts out all over my face. I choke back the vomit that rises in my throat.
A gurgling noise comes from Jameson's throat. He attempts to turn his head to look at me, but Raven keeps his head pointing forward.
I try to wipe the blood from my face, but it only smears across my skin. I look down at my hand, and it is covered in blood. I desperately try to wipe the blood from my hands onto my pants, but they won't come clean.
"Brace yourself," Raven says as she reaches in front of her and wraps her hand around my father's neck.
The car swerves erratically into oncoming traffic. My dad tries to correct the direction of the car, but he is unable to see the road. I can see headlights coming toward us, and I quickly reach for my seatbelt. I struggle to buckle it, but Jameson's dead body is in my way.
I scream as the lights get closer. Raven kicks her car door open. She reaches across Jameson's body and grabs my arm. She pulls me across Jameson, and I feel my shoulder dislocate. I try to pull my arm away from Raven, but she won't let go.
She jumps out of the car, tugging me along with her. We both hit the asphalt with a thud, and our bodies roll painfully across the ground. I can feel my skin scrape off my body. My head hits the ground roughly, and I see stars.
The sound of metal scraping against each other echoes in the darkness as I try to stay alert. Tires skid against the gravel and Raven is patting me furiously on the face.
"You have to stay awake," Raven begs me. "You have to be able to hang onto me."
I try to shake the stars from my eyes. Raven yanks me to my feet, and I sway uncomfortably.
My eyes flutter open, and I see Raven's golden wolf standing in front of me. She nudges me with her nuzzle and lays on the ground. I struggle to climb onto her back, but someone grabs me by the arm.
"You stupid bitch," Francesca yells into the night. "You thought you could get away from me?"