The flat red landscape soon gave way to red outcrops of rocks and the soaring hills that filled pack land. The twisting anxiety in my stomach grew the closer we got, and by the time Evin pulled over to the side of the road, I really thought I was going to be sick.
"This is it," Evin said, looking back at me through the rearview mirror. "We're five minutes away from our border. We need to cut inland here if we're to get to the first outpost."
I took a deep breath and released it slowly. "Then let's do this."
Quinn opened the back door and climbed out. The evening air swirled around me, thick with the rawness of nature. I took another deep, steadying breath, then climbed out.
"Good luck," he whispered, his arms going around my waist as he gently kissed me. "I won't tell you to be careful because, given what's about to happen, that's a pretty useless sentiment. But do try to not get too slashed up. The full moon is in a couple of days, and we have a sunset wedding."
"I have no intention of either missing our wedding or being too messed up to enjoy our first night as a mated couple." I kissed him again. "Although you do realize that, since I'll be a wolf once the moon rises, it's not going to be the usual human type of night."
He smiled and ran a finger lightly down my cheek. "We have the rest of our lives to celebrate sexually. That night will be a celebration of an event I never thought would happen."
"Riley," Rhoan said softly behind me.
I kissed Quinn quickly one more time, then spun around and looked back at Evin. "Quinn will tell you when it's safe to approach the compound."
He nodded. "I'll see you then."
I glanced at Lyndal, who was looking decidedly nervous, then caught Rhoan's hand and walked away without looking back. When we crossed the invisible line that marked the beginnings of pack land, something within me stirred - an eagerness, a hunger that, until now, had remained in the background.
The wolf within me wanted this.
Wanted it bad.
We let go of each other and broke into a run. We didn't run at top speed, simply because we actually wanted to be spotted. Blake needed to know we were coming - and give the all clear - before Quinn, Evin, and Lyndal got to the scouts and put them out of action.
The sensation of being watched soon began to grow, until my whole neck itched with it. The tension emanating from Rhoan suggested he felt it, too.
I kept running, but my gaze swept the barren landscape, looking for watchers that Evin mightn't have known about. After all, Blake would more than likely have introduced stricter security measures once his plot against me had started. He was smart enough to realize the Directorate would retaliate the minute they found any connection.
It's just a shame he wasn't intelligent enough to keep his anger and need for revenge to himself, rather than actually acting upon it.
We started up the long slope that was the final division between us and the place we'd grown up. My stomach was still in knots, and my heart was beating nine to the dozen. We reached the top and, as one, slowed.
Below us lay the valley of our childhood. In many respects, it looked more like a large ranch with lots of outbuildings than a city like Dunedan. The old, wood-shingled buildings blended in with the red of the surrounding countryside and contrasted sharply against the bright pockets of green - the football oval, the cemetery, and the few acres surrounding the dam that had always been the swimming hole for every kid who grew up here.
There were people out and about but, as yet, it didn't appear that we'd been noticed. My gaze went almost with a will of its own to the ramshackle but beautiful old house that sat one behind - and slightly to the side - of the main gathering house. That's where we'd grown up. It had been our grandfather's place, but never really our home, as much as our mom had tried to make it seem otherwise. Our grandfather had tolerated us, he'd fed us, and he'd educated us, but he'd never really loved us. We were half-breeds and, in his eyes, a tarnish on the Jenson name.
Maybe that was why he'd turned a blind eye to so much of what Blake and his family had done to us over the years. He'd always stopped it from going too far, but I think that had been more for Mom's sake than from any real need to protect us.
Mom.
For the first time since all this had begun, I actually began to think about her. Neither of us had seen her for well over ten years. We didn't communicate, didn't share birthdays or Christmas or Easter.
And yet I knew she'd loved us.
How was she going to react when she saw us? When she realized what we were going to do?
How the hell were we going to react when we saw her?
I shivered and rubbed my arms. Rhoan hugged me fiercely. Then, without saying a word, he wrapped his fingers around mine and started off down the hill.
We were spotted about halfway down. Initially it was nothing more than people briefly pausing for a look, then getting on with whatever they were doing, but word of who we were must have gotten around fairly quickly. By the time we'd hit the valley bottom, we'd drawn quite a crowd.
But it was a silent one, and that was weird.
Rhoan released my fingers as we neared the first of the outbuildings, but he kept close, our arms brushing each other as we walked. The tension that had been riding him earlier had gone, and he walked with the loose-limbed ease of a predator who knows his prey cannot get away.