Not My Alpha (Completed)

Chapter Sixty - Should'a Known

The drive was long. I never kept track of how much time passed, but each minute felt like an eternity. With every breath I took, it seemed another thousand trees disappeared behind the car, and another hundred miles was placed between me and Samuel.

Raven was driving. She hadn't spoken a word since I clambered into the front seat. Will was sprawled across the back of the car, taking turns napping and staring out the window. He'd tried making conversation, but those attempts soon died off.

It was dark. The car was musty and I was suffocating. I wanted nothing more than to open a window, but Raven told me our scent would travel. We were in an abandoned car that the pack had stored for years, so unless we did something drastic or opened a window, the old smell would overtake our own and we were untraceable.

"We're coming up on the border," Raven broke the never ending silence with a hushed voice.

Will perked up in the backseat, placing himself between Raven and me. "That didn't take long."

I took a deep breath, refusing to look at the clock. Time wasn't cooperating with my mind, tonight. "How long?"

"Any minute now." Raven paused. "There shouldn't be anyone there. If there is, they should be with Samuel."

Will and I nodded, but he spoke the question lingering in the air. "And if they're not?"

Raven remained silent. Will waited for a moment, then looked at me with wide eyes. I gave him a small reassuring smile, turning my gaze to look out the front window.

"Don't worry, Will. I've escaped before. It wasn't that hard."

"They still caught you, eventually," he mumbled.

I resisted the urge to scowl and looked more earnestly at the path before us. We'd taken the least used route possible, in order to exit the pack land in the weakest spot. Already I could see that the road was barely there, and the trees were overgrowing into the path. When a fence eventually appeared on the horizon, it was rusted and bent.

"Do you see anything?" I asked Raven.

Her eyes were trained on a spot beyond the fence, but she shook her head. "Nothing."

I couldn't help my heart as it tensed and began to beat faster. The last time I'd escaped it had been almost too easy. This time seemed strikingly similar. Unlike last time though, my heart wasn't stretching forward into the unknown, yearning for the freedom of the woods. It wasn't feeling, at all. There had been no time to process my goodbye with Samuel, his parting words, or how I felt about any of it. I guessed there would be time for that when we'd truly escaped, but a small part of me feared the feelings would be lost by then.

The car slowed as we drew closer to the fence. Raven parked the car in front of a dilapidated gate, long abandoned of any patrol. When the car stood still, the three of us did the same. We each knew what needed to happen next, but none of us wanted to leave the safety of our metal box.

Eventually, Raven cleared her throat. "I'll be back, I guess. If anything happens, you know what to do."

Before we could respond, she opened the door and crept into the night. She disappeared into the darkness, blending with the shadows until she came upon the fence. I was just able to see her at the entrance, tugging at the lock and gate until they gave way. The minute the chain was loose and the gate opened, Raven darted back to the car.

When she sat in the driver's seat and closed the door, I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. The three of us sat still for another moment, smiling and laughing our way through the tension.