Six

"We're here," he grumbles, turning off the car and undoing his seatbelt, before turning in his seat to stare at her.

"Thank you," she nods, undoing her seatbelt and trying to open the door.

"Could you unlock the door, please?" She asks through gritted teeth.

She feels like she's dealing with a petulant child who doesn't want to work with someone.

"Why do you want to know where we are?" He asks blankly, and her jaw drops a little.

"I'm trying to figure out if I have time to have a nap, or if I should just stay awake," she finally responds.

Jane is going crazy.

She wants to be outside, and she isn't taking the constant questioning over everything very well.

She's used to relative freedom, and the fact she's going to be watched and controlled for the next while is making her feel antsy and anxious.

This could be her last taste of freedom for a while, and she's struggling with it.

She usually runs, rather than drive, for long journeys. If she were running to her meetings, she'd check into one of the shifter lodges a little bit outside the city and get a cab from there to the place she was staying in the city.

She isn't used to being trapped in a small car.

Their closeness isn't helping either of them.

It's making him angrier because she's a reminder that he'll be considered less than other Alphas.

It's making her more scared because she can smell his anger, and the anger is suffocating her.

"You should nap. We have a bit to go still," he mutters, unlocking the car.

Before he can change his mind, she quickly jumps out, closing the door so fast that her shirt almost gets caught in it.

She pats her pockets, making sure she has her phone and her card before she enters the service station, her leg a little numb.

She doesn't realise how tense she is until she takes a deep breath, letting the sugary smell of donuts fill her nose.

She forces her shoulders down, inhaling slowly as she follows the signs for the bathroom.

It's pretty clean, which surprises her, so she hurries into a stall and closes the door.

Conrad leans against the door, her heart still racing.

Jane is simmering under the surface, and Conrad finally manages to force her canines back into her gums while she undoes her belt.

She quickly pees and exits to wash her hands, making eye contact and exchanging a smile with a woman at the sink.

As she's leaving the restroom, Conrad catches the scent of a rogue, and it doesn't take long for her to track the source of the smell down, her eyes landing on a cowering woman, who seems to be wishing the wall would absorb her.

"Are you okay?" Conrad asks her quietly, noting the woman's pale face.

The woman leans away from Conrad, her eyes widening in fear, and she sniffs the air.

Her pupils dilate in terror as she notices the power in the scent, immediately trying to clamber away.

"I'm not going to hurt you. This isn't my territory," Conrad murmurs, resting a hand on the woman's shoulder.

She's generally a good judge of character, and this woman seems more scared than dangerous.

"I was attacked a mile from her," the woman rasps, and Conrad curses under her breath, gently taking the woman's arm and leading her out of the corridor and into the food area.

"Do you need anything to eat?" Conrad asks, pulling her phone out once the woman is sitting safely in a booth.

The woman hesitantly nods, and Conrad sighs.

"Chicken?"

Another nod is the only movement the woman makes, and Conrad turns to the counter to order some chicken burgers.

She's going to have to contact the Beta of this pack and let him know - she has most of the Betas on the continent in her phone because they're her point of contact.

The food is given to her quickly, and Conrad slides into the booth across from the rogue.

"How long have you been in these pack lands?" She asks her, and the woman twitches.

"Around a month, I think. I'm one of the only ones. I stay away from the pack, I swear," she whispers frantically, and Conrad nods to her.

"Eat up. You might have to talk to the Beta of this pack," Conrad warns her, and the woman gets even paler as she slowly reaches for her food.

Conrad scrolls through her phone book, pressing the number for Martin, the Beta of this pack.

He answers almost immediately, confusion evident in his voice.

"Hi, this is Conrad Rosser, Beta of the Marcus Pack. I'm driving through your territory with Alpha Adamo, and I've found a woman who says she's been attacked. She's a rogue, and a group of rogues cornered her as she was passing through," Conrad voices, and the woman instantly looks relieved.

Rogues passing through packs are generally left alone, because they usually keep to themselves.

"Oh, Rosser. Marcus Pack. Okay," the man mumbles, clearly trying to figure out who she is.

"Silas Rosser's daughter," she reluctantly adds, and the man makes a noise of realisation.

Almost every ranked wolf knows her dad - he's spearheaded equality campaigns and forced rule changes in competitions and fights. In other words, he's caused a lot of Alphas a lot of political problems over the years.

"Alpha Adamo, you say? Why is he not calling me himself?" The man asks in a slightly disapproving voice, and Conrad sighs.

"Because Alpha Adamo isn't in the women's restroom in your service station on I-47," she responds, raising an eyebrow as she rolls her eyes to the rogue.

"Oh. Okay, I see. I'll send someone over to you as soon as possible, are you able to stay there for a while with the woman?" He asks, and Conrad bites her lip.

"I'm not sure, so send them over quickly," she chirps, finishing the call before he can finish.

"Is someone coming over?" The woman asks, and Conrad shrugs.

"I'm just going to let the Alpha I'm travelling with know we might be delayed," Conrad responds softly, taking some of her chips from the box.

Conrad closes her eyes, realising she doesn't have Atlas' phone number.

What she does have, though? Memphis, his Beta's.

A smirk on her lips, Conrad slams her finger onto his name, pressing the call button without hesitation.

"Hey, who is this?" Memphis asks cautiously, and Conrad sighs.

"Conrad Rosser, Marcus Pack. Your Alpha is currently waiting for me to exit a service station. I need you to tell him to come inside," she states, and Memphis makes a noise of irritation.

"Okay, I'll tell him. How did you get this number?" He asks curiously, and Conrad smirks.

"Your mother," she snorts, hanging up the phone.

She's not actually joking - Memphis O'Halloran's mother is friends with hers, and when Conrad was compiling her list of Betas, his mother passed his along.

Seconds after she hangs up, Atlas storms in, his head flying around as he tries to figure out where she is, his scowl lessening slightly when he spots her, but deepening again when his nose finds the potent scent of a rogue.

"Conrad, that's a rogue," he states plainly, and she blinks at him.

"Fuck, I thought she was a cat," Conrad sighs sarcastically.

The rogue is terrified, and Conrad's joke doesn't lighten the scent of her fear by any measure of the imagination.

"Memphis told me you needed my help. Clearly, you don't," Atlas comments, shaking his head as he turns around.

"I just wanted to let you know that we might be delayed. I didn't have your phone number, so I had to get in contact with you through your Beta. I need to wait for someone to come and escort this lovely lady to their pack offices, some other rogues attacked her," Conrad quickly explains, picking her burger up and tucking in while Atlas processes the information.

After Conrad speaks and then begins eating, the rogue slowly picks up her own burger, eating it nervously as her eyes dart between the Alpha and the Beta.

She's petrified of both of them, but the Beta has shown her some kindness, so she's slightly less afraid of her.

"Why are we waiting with her?" Atlas sighs, shaking his head.

"Because she was attacked. By a group of rogues. They could come back to kill her, and if they come back, she's in a public space. Because she's in a public space, they likely wouldn't only hurt her, but a lot of other people, including," she lowers her voice to a hiss, "the humans in here."

Atlas finally realises what she's trying to get at, and reluctantly sits down beside her, practically hanging off the booth in an attempt to avoid touching off her.

She rolls her eyes a little but doesn't move over, not particularly in the mood to show him kindness.

"So, what's your name?" Atlas asks the woman, and Conrad clears her throat.

"The less we know about this lovely woman, the better," Conrad states calmly, and the rogue gives her a thankful smile.

Atlas could, if he had the woman's name, possibly put her on one of the rogue lists that are used for hunting them down.

Conrad knows nothing of the man's character, apart from the fact he has a short temper and a demanding personality when he doesn't get what he wants immediately. He could be one of the horrific leaders because it's usually only the extremely harsh Alphas who add names to those lists.

Conrad thinks the lists are dehumanising and ridiculous, so she never asks rogues their names unless they're being questioned in the cells, which she usually doesn't do.

As a tracker, she's usually only brought in to show evidence or explain how people were captured or rescued - she isn't the violent type.

Atlas purses his lips, and Conrad can smell his anger.

He's doing his best to be civil, it would seem, at least in front of the rogue.

Or, maybe, and Jane comments, it's because he got no reaction earlier when he snapped at her.

Atlas glances at his watch, and after a moment of complete silence, he hauls himself up from the seat that looks much too small for his gigantic frame.

"I'm going to get myself some food since we're going to be here a while," he grumbles, storming over to the food counter.

"Do you have a place to stay?" Conrad immediately asks the woman once Atlas is out of earshot.

She shakes her head nervously, running a hand through her tangled hair.

Conrad glances over her shoulder and then reaches into her pocket, checking for any cash.

She finds some scrunched up fifty dollar bills, and she slides them across the table to the woman, who shakes her head.

"No, I can't take them," the woman whispers, pushing them back to Conrad.

"No, I want you to. The pack will put you in the infirmary for the night to monitor you, but I don't know if they'll put you up for a night after it. Your wolf needs to heal," Conrad insists quietly, staring the woman in the eyes.

The woman's eyes fill with tears, and Conrad slides the notes into the lady's hand, closing it with her own.

"Thank you," the woman breathes, looking down at the table as she blinks rapidly.

That's our good deed for the month completed, Jane comments snarkily.

The woman glances over to where Atlas is, and Conrad follows her eyes, unable to stop her laugh when she spots him.

The girl at the counter is playing with his hand, and his face is completely blank, almost to the point of boredom as he stares directly at her face while she giggles.

He doesn't join her in her laughter, and the girl slowly releases him, her smile dropping as she averts her eyes from his.

Was she trying to flirt with him?, Jane giggles, her previous annoyance completely gone.

I don't know, I hope not, for her sake. He's like a rock, Conrad mutters back to her wolf.

Yeah, I bet his abs are absolutely out of this world, Jane comments, and Conrad cringes at her wolf.

You are so thirsty it's ridiculous, Conrad grumbles.

You got that right baby; I'm thirstier than someone who ran a marathon in the desert, Jane snorts, blocking her human after making that comment.

Atlas returns to the table with a tray in his hand, a confused expression sitting on his face.

Conrad doesn't bother mentioning the scene they witnessed; she has a feeling that it's much less to do with him already having a mate - her - and much more to do with the fact he doesn't deal with anyone who isn't on his ranking level.

Brushing this fact off, Conrad rests her chin on her open palm, waiting for someone to walk in the door.

As soon as she turns around to check on the woman and Atlas, a door opens, and the scent of another werewolf fills the service station.

Conrad twitches her nose, not pleased with the sudden influx of the scent of wet dog.

The werewolf at the front of the group looks around, making a beeline over to where the three of them are sitting.

Before the make it to the table, Conrad slides past Atlas and stands in front of the woman on the other side of the booth, making sure her face is forced into a pleasant and friendly smile.

"Hi, you must be the cavalry," she laughs, offering her hand to the man.

He shakes her hand but doesn't say anything, instead staring between the woman and Atlas, who's trying to swallow the food in his mouth so he can make his own introduction.

"I'm Beta Rosser, this is the woman I called your Beta about," she says politely, standing back to further block the woman from view.

"She's a rogue," one of the men states, a touch of disgust in his voice.

Jane's protective side rears a little at the way he spits the word, and she can feel her eyes flash.

"Yes, she is, and it would do you well to remember she's also a werewolf," she chastises, feeling like a school teacher.

Some of the men in the group scowl, but Conrad doesn't waver.

She isn't afraid of them; they're all ranked below her, and their Beta would hand them their asses if they tried anything.

"Well, we're here to bring her to the pack offices, so could we have her, please?" The man sighs, handing Conrad a stack of papers.

She leafs through them and signs them with a pen Atlas holds aloft, taking pictures of each page with her phone.

She hands the stack back to the men, and turns around to the woman, taking her hands as she bends down.

While bent down and holding hands, Conrad manages to secretly pass a napkin to her, the napkin having each of Conrad's phone numbers.

The woman smiles gratefully to her, and Conrad winks at her, standing back up slowly.

"Thank you," the woman whispers, standing up and letting the men surround her/

She glances over her shoulder when she reaches the door, giving Conrad another smile.

Conrad nods to her, before she flops back into the booth, exhaling heavily as she runs a hand through her hair.

"That was some performance," he comments, and she doesn't respond, finishing off her fries as she gazes around the room.

His face doesn't show how he's feeling; he's rather impressed by the way she stood up for the woman. She shows characteristics that are needed to be a Luna, but she lacks the physical strength to do the job.

She would be judged and mocked by the other Lunas; the rejection would be as much for her benefit as his.

He had Memphis begin to organise the paperwork for the rejection the night before; the sooner it was done, the better, because the longer they spent together, the more bonded their wolves would become.

The mockery and the teasing was an issue already, and that didn't even take into account the ferocity The Society would attack them with when their mating was publicised.

Atlas had appealed to the announcement committee to hold their publication for even another day, citing undiscussed territory problems in the mating, but they had refused; it was being published tomorrow, so he had until tomorrow to introduce her to his pack.

Atlas roughly yanks a hand through his hair, standing up abruptly.

"Are you ready?" He asks, and she nods, standing up and grabbing her phone.

At the same time, he had gone to pick it up for her, resulting in their hands brushing together.

A shiver runs down Conrad's spine, but she shakes it off, not looking at him as the awkwardness sets in.

The two walk out of the service station in complete silence, about four feet between them.

Oh, my Goddess, you both have to make everything so awkward, Jane complains, cringing inwardly.

Oh, really? How, pray tell, would you make this shitty situation better? He's going to reject me as soon as we get to his pack. I bet he's just waiting to sign the paperwork, Conrad snaps, slightly regretting her rudeness towards her wolf.

The touch, and the resulting sensations, reminded her of what she was going to be missing out on once the bond-breaking ceremony dissolved their mating, and she, truthfully, didn't want Jane to have to experience that type of loss.

Jane goes silent, as Conrad expected as she pulls herself into the tall car, narrowly avoiding hitting her head off the ceiling.

Atlas hops in effortlessly, his height making it no issue for him.

"How long do we have until we get to your pack?" She asks quietly, looking over at him properly for the first time in the last couple of hours.

"A few hours. Go asleep; I'll wake you when we're almost there," he sighs, starting the engine as soon as they both have their seatbelts on.

Conrad looks at him suspiciously, but eventually gives in, curling up a little more in her seat as she wiggles around to find the most comfortable position to rest in.

She slowly closes her eyes, occasionally opening them to stare at him to make sure he isn't about to drive off a cliff or something.

Well, we'd go out peacefully, Jane mumbles, and Conrad knows that this is her wolf's way of waving the white flag for peace.

Conrad smiles at this, firmly closing her eyes this time, propping her arm against the door and resting her head in her hand.

She eventually drifts off, but her sleep is restless.

It's full of witches with branding irons, and screaming dark figures in shadowy gowns, clawing in her direction with their pointed shadow fingers.

She awakes with a start and is horrified when she can't see anything when she opens her eyes, instantly bolting upright.

"Relax, it's just a blindfold," Atlas sighs, and she splutters in disbelief.

"Just? Just a blindfold?" She gasps, pressing a hand against her chest to try and calm her racing heart.

Jane is no better, the terrifying dream being broken by complete darkness having given her a bit of a fright too.

"Why did you blindfold me?" She spits, trying to untie it.

There's a knot that her fingers can't open, and she cries out in frustration, yanking at the silky material.

"I didn't want you to know where we were going. Nobody knows how to get to my pack by road, and if you aren't going to be staying long, I see no reason for you to be entitled to a privilege even my closest neighbours don't have," he comments stiffly, "we're going to be there in two minutes, I can take it off if you'd like."

"Yes, get it off me," she cries out, looking at him incredulously behind the blindfold.

He's definitely not going to keep us after this, Jane remarks, hardly calmer than her human.

I won't complain about that after this event! This is some serial killer shit, Conrad roars, her eyes flashing frantically as Jane begins to try to force a shift.

As soon as her canines descend, he unties the blindfold, letting it fall into her lap as he continues driving with one hand.

"Is that better?" He asks, focusing on the road.

"Yes, much better, thanks," she spits in his direction, rubbing her chest.

Her heart is still racing, and she feels like it's trying to beat out of her chest as she looks around at the surroundings.

It's a small road, barely paved, and lined heavily with rows and rows of evergreen trees.

It's dim, but she isn't sure if that's because of the trees blocking out any light, or because it's actually evening time now.

A glance at her phone tells her that it's past 6 pm, which means it's probably at least partially due to the evening having come while she slept.

"How long was I asleep?" She asks, rubbing her face.

"I don't know. Over two hours, it was the most peaceful time I've had since I met you," he grumbles, not sparing her a glance as he abruptly yanks the car to the left, down a road that Conrad couldn't even see as they were driving along.

Her shoulder slams against the door of the car, and she curses as her elbow takes a particularly bad hit.

"Why is your pack so remote?" She asks in confusion, and he doesn't answer, instead continuing to drive.

Oh my Goddess, it's like he's a cult leader or something, Jane panics, still not entirely over their fright when they woke up, and Conrad doesn't blame her wolf.

"We found being remote worked better for almost every aspect of pack life. We have our agriculture sectors, cheaper land for expansion, and access to multiple human cities within two hours of any direction," he answers after a minute.

He was probably trying to decide if we were worth answering, Jane snipes, her fear turning to irritation.

"Oh, that's interesting," Conrad responds, her eyes widening slightly as they approach civilisation.

The road widens, and on either side, houses and shops begin to appear.

Suddenly, everywhere she looks, there are people, animals, and things.

Her eyebrows raise involuntarily as she gazes around, watching everything whizz by as Atlas presses on the gas.

People hurry to get out of the way, and she realises with a slight start that there are no other cars - or vehicles of any sort, for that matter - on the road.

His pack looks... normal.

What were you expecting? For them to all have five heads? Actually, don't answer that, Jane mutters.

Conrad inwardly grins at her wolf's commentary, rolling her eyes a little as the wolf quietens down.

His pack looks like a standard pack. It's busy, and people are running every which way, which is typical for a Friday night, even in her pack.

"I'm going to warn you now; people are very curious about who you are. We're going to have dinner at my house, and then I'm going to introduce you to the pack. You're not going to speak to anyone except me, my mother, and the maids in the house until we figure out what we're going to do, am I clear?" He asks, although it sounds more like a veiled threat.

"Crystal," she sighs, crossing her legs as she continues to look out the window.

The car suddenly tackles a large hill that causes some strange noises to emit from the engine.

Conrad cringes, gripping onto her seat as she closes her eyes, slightly scared that the car is going to roll backwards down the slightly icy surface.

Somehow, she doesn't know how, the car makes it to the top, and Atlas parks it directly in front of a formidable house.

It looks a bit more like a castle if a gothic bat had a castle.

She waits for him to get out of the vehicle, and once he does, she steps out.

She heads to the trunk to grab her bags, and he clears his throat, shaking his head.

"The maids will get those," he scoffs, and she grits her teeth, ignoring his remark and pulling out two of the four suitcases and a duffle bag.

She's perfectly capable of carrying her own stuff; she doesn't need someone to be ordered to help her.

He scowls at her once he notices she has her stuff, and storms to the front door, unlocking it and waiting impatiently for her to catch up to him.

"Welcome home," he mutters, slamming the door closed behind them.