I kept my eyes focused on the scenery that passed us by, the only audible sound was the soft droning of the engine. It felt as if we had been on the road for hours already.

“Would you like to listen to what I have to say now?”

I allowed myself to look at Isaac, catching him glancing my way before he returned his attention to the road in front of us. I turned around, finding two of the other pack members watching me with curious eyes.

I turned back to the window, deciding that it would be best if I kept quiet. I knew that I would get quite aggressive if I allowed my emotions to get the best of me.

“You’ll have to talk to me at some point. Especially, since we’re mates.”

I heard the startled gasps from our audience and I let out a disbelieving huff before I returned my attention to Isaac. I clenched my jaw, closing my eyes for a moment as I tried to collect my thoughts and control my temper.

I had so much to say. So much I wanted to know, but the main question echoing against the walls of my mind was why?

“So, the plan is to avoid saying anything to me for the rest of our lives? Well... It’s not foolproof, but—”

“Can you just shut up?”

The words slipped from my mouth before I had finished thinking them. He was coming across as childish, and I knew that Alphas weren’t meant to possess childish traits.

“Excuse me?”

The disbelief in his tone was hard to miss and I shook my head as I allowed myself to look at him, feeling the very same disappointment that I had been trying to suppress reach it’s peak.

“You heard me. Just shut your mouth. It’s really not difficult. You’re blabbering on about the fact that we’re mates, and honestly, so what? Just because we’re destined to be, does not mean we will be.”

My body flew forward, before being viciously ripped backwards and held in place by the seatbelt. I was still in the process of recovering when my head was yanked to the side harshly, and I found myself looking into the darkened eyes of my mate. Describing him as furious would come across as an understatement.

“You. Are. My. Mate.”

He was speaking in an agonizingly slow manner, his words soaked in anger. His nails were digging into my cheeks, causing them to ache in protest.

My body relaxed slightly when he let go of me and returned to sit as the driver of a vehicle was meant to. If he hadn’t slammed on the breaks, then we would have driven into something by now.

“For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted a mate who would listen. Because listening often leads to understanding. And yet, I’m sitting beside the very mate I had prayed for, and she doesn’t even want to listen to my explanation. Ironic, isn’t it? You get what you want, but not what you need.”

“And what do you expect me to do about that?”

My voice came across as snappy, pitched higher than it was meant to be. My own irritation was starting to reach its peak, but unfortunately I didn’t have the means of bringing a car to a complete halt in a show of dramatics.

My eyes focused on him once more, watching as he shook his head while letting out a disbelieving laugh.

“That’s just the thing, Luciana. You weren’t meant to do anything. You were just supposed to listen.”

The rest of his speech was cut short by his Beta tapping on the window of the car. It took a moment for the window to wind down, and the Betas voice carried through the air.

“I know you wouldn’t have stopped for no reason, but if we’d like to make it back to the pack before nightfall, then we’ll have to get going. Patrol is already on high alert, and we don’t want them expecting us, as it could lead to someone else slipping past the borders.”

I shook my head, turning my body to face the window once more. I heard a mumbled acknowledgment from Isaac before the footsteps of the Beta were audible.

I focused on the forest surrounding us, my eyes focusing on a particular bush. I was unsure whether or not it had moved, perhaps a strong breeze, or a rabbit. My eyes focused on the silver glint in the middle of the bush, barely noticeable unless it was being looked for.

My chest tightened slightly, my mind fooling me into thinking that perhaps the forest was closing in on us, the road much narrower than it had been moments ago.

The engine purred as the car accelerated, pushing forward once more. But the glinting object seemed to have the same goal. Time seemed to still as I watched the metal glint in the light, coming towards us at an impossible speed. My shoulders tensed on their own accord, preparing myself for the inevitable.

My eyes drifted to Isaac on their own accord, though only momentarily, before returning their focus to the window, just in time to watch the solid glass shatter. My body flew forward once more, Isaac deciding that stopping the vehicle was a better choice that driving to safety.

My heart was hammering erratically against the confines of my rib cage, finding it difficult to adjust to the overload of adrenaline that my body was now filled with. The sponge from the headrest pushed out from beneath the leather, taking advantage of the damage that it had received.

My face was pulled to the side and my eyes focused on Isaac, who seemed to be assessing me with worried eyes. Once he was satisfied that I wasn’t injured, his eyes focused on his shattered window, and the arrow that was imbedded into the headrest.

“We’re not alone.”

Well, that is rather obvious, isn’t it Isaac?