The sun was rising, and colorful pinks, purples, and blues filled the sky. It served as a reminder that in times of pain and suffering, there was still something beautiful you could find in the world.
The thrumming of the engine seemed to soothe me, and my eyes began to get heavy.
"So it's almost daylight. What is the plan?" Ella spoke, startling me from drifting asleep.
"We meet with my contact, and then we find a hotel room." Kassie glanced in the rearview mirror, looking at the three of us in the backseats.
"Yeah, we'll need to go after nightfall." Mona turned toward the back so she was facing us. "And we all need rest." Even though it hadn't been twenty-four hours, her black eyes were already fading back to her natural color. The marks on her wrists were now scabbed over.
One of the perks of being a wolf. Super-fast healing.
"That's a very smart plan." Mason leaned forward so he was closer to me and Ella. "If we tried to do something now, we might not be able to hold them off."
"What kind of security protection are you thinking he's going to have?" Yes, we needed rest but also a game plan.
"I'm expecting it will be light." Kassie turned onto an interstate. "He's not expecting us to know anything about it. He claimed the house right before your father became King, so we’ve never been here."
"Then how do you know about it?" Ella flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder.
"King Corey had a few too many drinks one night after a fight with Darren." Kassie shook her head and huffed. "I had to break them up, and as I took King Corey back toward his room, he told me all about it. About how some of his favorite memories were there and where it was located. He shared enough with me so I was able to pinpoint it. He woke up the next morning and didn't remember our conversation, so I didn't bring it up again."
"So Darren won't be expecting us at all." Mona nodded her head. "Queen Serafina wasn't a fan of Darren's either, but since her sister died young, she never wanted to try to persuade Corey from seeing Darren."
"Why is it Kassie talks more about Corey and you talk more about Serafina?" Ella pursed her lips and tilted her head.
"Because I was the king's personal guard." Kassie’s shoulders sagged.
"And I was the queen's." Mona turned around and faced her. "That's how we became so close but also why Kassie tends to know more about this stuff than me. The king was the one who made more of the decisions and things because he was the heir and proved the strongest alpha."
"How did everyone know he was the strongest?" Ella glanced at me.
"Well, according to Dad, the royals have auburn fur." Mason placed his hand on my shoulder. "And Elena does but not Darren. So that's probably how they can tell."
I hoped Kassie was right in case I wound up fighting Darren before it was all said and done.
"You're probably right." Mona nodded her head. "And unlike her father and mother, Elena would be the one making the final decisions and not Mason."
"Ha, who would've thought my tough, strong brother would turn out as nothing more than arm candy." Ella laughed so hard a tear ran down her face.
"She needs someone like him to support her and be part of the decisions." Mona rolled her eyes. "So he won't be just arm candy."
"Shush, guys." Kassie turned off the road and onto an exit. "We're getting close."
"They can't hear us," Ella said in a loud whisper.
"I'm not talking about my contact." She growled and glanced over her shoulder. "You guys are loud, I'm having trouble hearing the directions."
Ella huffed and crossed her arms.
She doesn't like being told what to do. Mason's deep chuckle popped in my head.
Sounds like someone else I know. I cringed when I remembered a few hours earlier. I kind of outed you to your dad. I'm sorry.
It's fine. He already figured out that I knew about you being a royal when I asked him to allow you in the pack. So we'd already addressed that. Mason's fingers touched my shoulder. And he'll want to talk about the fighting when this is all over and done. He didn't want me to do it when I first mentioned it. Both he and Mom asked me not to. I'm twenty-one, so it's not like he can do much. It'll all be fine.
I had lost my head earlier and had diarrhea of the mouth for a moment. But he was right; that was stuff we could worry about later.
We were approaching a subdivision full of nice, middle-income housing. As Kassie followed the directions on her phone, we approached a dead end, and she turned in at the last house on the right.
The driveway curved behind the house, so Kassie followed the route. When we turned behind it, it was still dark as the sun hadn't risen very high, and someone was standing next to the backdoor in the shadows.
"Everyone, get out. He's going to want to check us all." Kassie turned the car off and pointed to the right side of the car. "Everybody but me needs to step out slowly on the right side so he can see we're unarmed."
"Are you sure about this?" All her instructions and her demeanor made me nervous. "Is something bad going to happen?"
"No, I wouldn't have brought you here otherwise." She turned toward me as she opened her door. "I just had to cash in a big favor, and they might be suspicious. As long as we are careful and let them get comfortable, we'll be fine.
"Should I keep the gun around my ankle or leave it?" Mona glanced at the guy who was staring us down.
"Leave it here." Kassie took a step out. "Otherwise, if they find it in there, we'll
