Seven

The journey is quiet and long, without much chatter in the vehicle.

Avery gets restless after sleeping upright for seven hours, and her phone only amuses her for so long, until she turns to Roman.

"So, how much longer is it going to be until we arrive?" She finally blurts out, her voice breaking the silence, and giving the driver in the front a bit of a fright.

Roman looks up from the files he has open in front of him, and observes her with a mild smile on his face.

"Your brother warned me you don't do well with long car journeys. It should only be another few hours, we're crossing through pack territories instead of the highways," he chuckles, pushing a pair of glasses back up his nose.

I like those, Sonya chirps up in Avery's mind, giving her a bit of a fright too - so the little bitch had decided to come back. Avery liked the glasses too, but she wasn't going to tell him that - his ego seemed big enough.

"How long is a few hours? I need to go to the bathroom," Avery frowns, crossing her arms and slumping back in her seat like a toddler.

"We'll stop at the next gas station, James," Roman announces, returning to his file and ignoring Avery's question.

"So what's your Luna's name? I never had the pleasure of meeting her," Avery sighs, deciding to try make conversation to pass the time. She has files, and her laptop with her, but she's too bored to even think about focusing on pack work.

Everyone in the car - the driver, the three guards, and Roman - stiffen, but Avery doesn't notice, staring out the window at the winding roads surrounded by trees.

"Max," Roman says shortly, and Avery's eyebrows raise, a little surprised.

"You're gay? I never heard that detail, but it's good to know. Is he okay with me coming to stay? I know my reputation precedes me a little," Avery chuckles drily, remaining unaware of the tension in the car.

Roman fidgets with his pen, correcting some mistakes in front of him, before looking up and turning to Avery to give her his full attention.

"He is a she, and she's dead," he states grimly, his keen eyes watching for any reaction she would give.

Avery turns around slowly, horror painted on her face.

"Oh, I never knew that, I'm really sorry for intruding," she hurriedly gets out, her eyes wide and her hands twisting.

"So no, she doesn't mind you coming to my pack. And what reputation?" Roman asks curiously, trying to lighten the mood.

Avery stares at him, still in shock and feeling a little horrified. His attempt doesn't work on her, as she regrets opening her big mouth.

We should have just asked to go for a quick run, I could have sorted out the bladder issue, Sonya cringes, tucking her tail around her snout to cover her eyes at her humans mishap.

Avery has never agreed with her wolf more on anything.

Twenty minutes pass until they get to the gas station, and those twenty minutes had been passed in a horrified silence.

Avery didn't know what to say, because she didn't want to say she was sorry for his loss - Alphas were rather volatile, and they didn't like pity.

As she walks into the restroom like a ghost, she gets thinking. She was twenty-eight, and she didn't think Roman was much older than her. Thirty, she thinks, maximum. People normally find their mates from about 16, so she would have been 14 when he could have found his mate.

She would have heard about his mates death, even if she was 14 - Roman was a Lancaster, and they ran a strong pack, literally named after them. A dead mate would have been reported.

She finds it odd, but it's a nice distraction from listening to her wolf talk about how hot Roman is. It's not that she's wrong - he is very, very attractive - but she won't impede on somebody else's territory, especially if she doesn't know if they ever claimed each other.

A claim bounded wolves for life. It was done in the form of a bite at the bottom of the neck, and it showed that you had a mate, and were off the market. She couldn't remember if she had saw one the day before on him - she hadn't looked.

Finishing up her business, she catches sight of herself in the mirror, and winces. Her hair looks almost white, and it's sticking up everywhere. A bird could have made a nest in the back of it, and she wouldn't be able to tell.

Thank Goddess nobody she knows will see her like this, she mentally thanks the Goddess, scooping her mane into a ridiculous top knot.

Smoothing down her eyebrows - which she regrets, they looked worse after she did that - she peers at herself, staring down at her pyjama bottoms. She truly looks homeless.

The fact she looked like this in front of Alpha Roman doesn't faze her in the least - she doesn't care about his opinion of her, she just appreciates him giving her somewhere to go that wasn't her pack.

Walking out of the restroom, she finds Roman staring at the deli counter deep in thought.

"What's up?" She asks, appearing beside him. He starts a little, then turns to her.

"Do you think it would be safe for me to get a sandwich here?" He whispers in a hushed voice, and she bursts out laughing.

"Since I have to be in the same car as you, I'm going to say no," she whispers back, muffling her giggles, and walking over to the fridges to get some water and fruit.

Grabbing some snacks on her way to the register, she fishes her card out of her hoodie, and pays, looking around the station aimlessly. Roman is standing like a statue, staring out of the window with a scowl on his face.

"What's up?" She calls over to him, as the teenager behind the counter bags her stuff for her.

Roman quickly paces over to her, grabbing the bag for her, and leaning over the counter to the teenager.

"There are rogues outside, so get yourself somewhere safe. Link your Alpha and Gamma, because there are a lot of them," Roman hisses, making Avery's eyes widen in alarm.

"What the fuck?" She groans, and then catches the scent.

They smell like rotting flesh, like landfill or dead fish in one-hundred degree heat.

She claps a hand over her nose and mouth, shuddering a little.

Roman grabs her arm that isn't covering half of her face, pulling her out to the car. When they get there, the guards are looking uneasy, looking around the flat, open area. Roman puts the bag into the car, and hands Avery a rifle, grabbing one himself.

"I'm assuming you can use one, I've heard about your fighting," he says grimly, and even though she knows that it is absolutely the wrong time to feel flattered, she nearly blushes and goes weak at the knees.

"Of course I know how to use one," she grumbles instead, squinting at the trees.

Most rogues have gone insane. They've lost mates, or have been banished from packs, which is rare. Most have nothing to live for, and they start to rot from the inside out, their blood literally creating a poison for any wolf that bit into them. Hence, guns were the preferred method of disposal.

To not go insane is a lot harder than letting go when you lose a mate, which raises even more questions about Roman for Avery.

The rogues that haven't gone insane generally stick to themselves, often forming small pack-like structures.

Something moves in a bush, and Avery aims and fires straight away, not giving anything a chance.

A grey wolf covered in blood slumps out from behind it, and Avery shoots again, for good measure.

She gets a clap on the back from one of the guards, and they all quickly disperse from around their vehicle. The driver remains beside it, holding a rifle of his own and looking extremely angry. Avery wonders why - maybe he's one of those people who really like sticking to a schedule.

Suddenly, a howl is heard, and a small swarm of wolves appear from the trees about a hundred yards away from where Avery's group is standing. Immediately, bullets are fired, and wolf after wolf falls.

Avery is suddenly very thankful she didn't try to shift.

She turns around and sees a wolf less than two meters from Roman. Quickly firing, the wolf falls down into a puddle of it's own blood.

Roman turns around, startled, and chuckles.

"I thought you were trying to shoot me, sweetheart," he smirks, firing at another one emerging from behind the gas station.

"Not today, I need your help today," Avery smirks back, and within minutes, most of the rogues are dead. If they aren't dead, they're dying, or retreating quickly.

Glancing at Roman, Avery notices that he looks puzzled and slightly irritated, so she has to know why - "Whats wrong?", she asks, furrowing her brow.

"I don't know if they were planning on attacking us, or just anybody," he murmurs, straightening up as the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma of the pack land they're on appear with a small number of warriors.

"Hello Alp- oh, Avery," Alpha Tim beams, noting the amount of dead wolves on his land, and embracing the female who is taller than him by a notable amount.

"Hello Tim," she smiles, patting his back and turning to Roman so he can speak.

"Hello, Alpha Michaels," he says grimly, nodding to the shorter man, who looks a bit like Santa Claus.

"So you ran into some trouble on your journey?" The man sighs, shaking his head, and pointing his Gamma off in the direction of the carnage. The tanned man leaves, looking none too happy about his orders, as he kicks a rogue out of his path.

Avery raises an eyebrow at this, not agreeing with the mans treatment of the dead wolf.

They weren't great alive, but that didn't give him any right to kick a dead body - in her mind, anyway.

She sort of zones out whilst the Alphas talk, looking around instead, buzzing off the adrenaline still running through her system.