Rejected Mate and Following Fate

“Hey, Hey, wake up.” Carmen rouses both of us from peaceful sleep and I can see the daylight is turning dim as it gets close to sunset already. We both passed out and must have been unconscious for hours after their little argument.

“Where are we.” I rub my eyes, stifling a yawn and stretch out like a cat, uncurling my limbs from the awkward position I’ve been in.

“New Mexico, you better call Sierra as we crossed over a while back and I headed for Deming. That’s where Meadow said, right?” Carmen clicks her head from right to left to stretch out her neck and I can tell she’s exhausted from being the driver for so long. There are dark shadows under her eyes, and I can’t be sure, but there’s a telltale rosy glow across her cheeks, and nose, that hint that she might have been crying at some point. She seems fine now but my stomach lurches in sorrow that she chose time alone to cry out some of the pain she’s carrying and never woke us up for company.

“Yeah, I did.” Meadow stretches, yawns and balls a fist in her mouth as she wakes and uncurls properly beside me, a mirror to what I just did, and I giggle at her. “I’ll call Sierra and tell her we need more specifics. We made good time!”

Meadow yanks out the cell, blinking at it groggily before she blanches and rubs her eyes before facing the screen to me. It’s a text from Sierra, as though she knew exactly where we were and a more specific location to continue our journey onward. Spooky but then again, she is a seer and she had to know roughly around what hour we would hit New Mexico.

The location is a road, in Deming that’s near an address, but she’s told us the house is only an anchor point and once we get there, we would have to find her ourselves. To stay alert and watch for signs. Whatever that means.

Meadow furrows a brow as she repeats it all again, confused at the vagueness, but texts her back with a thanks anyway. There’s not much else we can ask her for if that’s all she knows.

“She must be tracking us with the locator spell, keeping tabs.” Meadow shrugs as if that’s the only possible answer to her knowing exactly where we were at this point in time and I smile softly. Warmed by her attentive care even when we have travelled far from home.

“She’s a seer…. she has gifts we don’t know about and maybe she just knows where we are… instinctually.” I shrug, forgetting for a second that she mentioned she no longer has visions since she awoke, but I’m sure she has other skills that might still be working.

“About that…. one of these days can someone please explain all the witch stuff, and gifts, and all that crap to me. I only know what I heard and what was shared in mind link. It still kind of freaks me out knowing Colton and Sierra are witches. And you’re……” Carmen flushes red and turns away hastily, eyes averted quickly with heat spreading to her forehead and I know it’s not a shy response. Its emotion, to the part of me she sees as the enemy, the part of me that is responsible for her mother’s end. It’s the same response I had when I found out what I was. That underlying hatred for being any kind of link to those monsters that did that to people I cared about.

“When this is over, I’m sure Colton can tell you himself.” I smile gently, throwing in as much charm and honest softness as I can, and Meadow throws me a look that says, ‘you’re insane’! I know she doesn’t get why I would insist my man and his ex would interact, but she is overly jealous on her best days, so I don’t expect her to get it. Being Luna, it makes things different in how I feel about wolves in my pack. I trust Colton, I know he would never betray me, and he sees Carmen as only someone in his pack that he’s responsible for now. The sooner I normalize her being around him in our home, then the sooner I’ll get over my past with her and the insecurity I still have when she’s near him.

“We’re not that far from Deming and this location is right on this outer edge of that town.” Meadow has pulled up google maps on her cell and shows it to Carmen, giving her new directions in where to head as I direct up at the sky and point out the obvious. Slight unease coming over me as I see how much duller it is now.

“It’s getting dark, shouldn’t we think about getting somewhere before the sun sets and lay low?” I ask in hesitation, but Meadow pats the dash with a smile, almost lovingly.

“The vampires couldn’t get into the homestead; I doubt they can get into this little beauty. If we keep going until we get there and then we can’t get a lock on any real location to where to go, we’ll sleep in here, wherever we end up. Who knows, maybe the fates will bless us, and we find the witch before sun down.” She seems a little too sure that our metal chariot is as safe as can be but I am not so sure I want to put it to the test in the dark. We barely got through he wolf attack unscathed and we were moving. Besides, the wolves seemed too dumb to figure they could hurl boulders and trees at us, I’m sure vampires will have the sense.

“Hmmm, shouldn’t have brought along the walking curse if you expected a smooth trip.” Carmen smirks in a self-depreciating manner but Meadow doesn’t miss a beat, or an opportunity to put her back in her place.

“I brought you as a distraction, quick vampire snack if we need to make a run for it.” She clicks her fingers to emphasize the point and again they lock eyes and have themselves a short simmering visual battle. I give up trying to stop this with those two and look at the road ahead instead, internally sighing at this constant war and try my best to ignore it.

back to the text to check details and Carmen follows signs as she

sets early. We

she can glance at it, against the dials and fuel light symbols so she

do or say to find her? I mean we can’t just walk up to humans and ask where the witch is.” Carmen raises a brow, looking

her. I guess someone might have met her or knows of her whereabouts and we can just say we’re visiting from out of town and want to surprise her.” I try for helpful suggestions and flinch when the phone beeps in another tone, indicating a text and Meadows slides it back as I see Sierra’s name pop

more of them there are, it’s probably because she’s close.” She too shrugs, a quizzical expression taking over her face as she widens her eyes in an ‘okaaaay’ kind of gesture that unifies the fact all three of us have no actual clue as to how we are meant to find her. I narrow my eyes,

the only

it reminds me of my missing mate. Sierra and Colton do have their own special charms but yeah, at times they can both

Do we need to crumble breadcrumbs along the highway in hopes of accidently falling upon her gingerbread house.” Carmen quizzes with a deadpan tone and a serious expression that somehow amuses me, despite her lack of emotion. This time

grown, and she might add me to tonight’s menu. I’m too big for an oven!” I point out between snorts of stupid laughter and Meadow caves and starts giggling too, lightening our whole mood. I guess the tension and the heavy weight of this journey has us strung out

make enough anti-wrinkle cream to stall time for a few centuries.” Meadow is the first to calm back to a straight face, wiping her eye where a tear had formed, and she

and the extreme measures they would take to fight

pointed finger up at the windshield and it’s hard not to miss the unmistakable flock of large black birds flying level with us, at our speed, even if they are like thirty foot up above us. “That

surely, a wave of excitement tremoring deep in my belly that this has to be a sign that we’re on the right path, but Carmen looks a little unsure, glancing to me and the

don’t think we can! I think they’re following us….. do we stop? What do we

a little freaked out about our escorts appearing as we discussed them. How did they even know? This has to be in

we’re looking for her?” I query and clasp Meadows hand unsurely, nerves hitching in my chest, my breathing becoming labored as my palms get clammy and I stiffen all over. I catch Carmen out of the corner of my eye taking a steadying deep breath to reel her own emotions back to calm. Anxiety filling the

isn’t sure of. She admitted to me a while back it unnerves her, makes her mistrust on some level. This

impulsively, gritting her teeth and clenching the wheel, throwing us forward in her emergency stop that almost ends me face bashing the dash and saves the shield from eating crow ass by mere millimeters. The damn thing just casually lands on the bonnet, turns to us and pecks the glass nonchalantly before flying to our right and taking off again in some snarky, sassy, crow manner, that screams

shoot right across the truck, like a black swipe. Skimming the roof, blocking out the light, and windshield, so we’re drowned out by a bizarre loud noise of beating wings and zooming air, impossible to ignore. Visually we follow it to the right, exposing a very grimy, overgrown and barely visible dirt road between unkempt trees. Almost obediently we all

we follow the birds now?” Meadow points out, clutching her chest and fanning her face to recover from the heart failure we all experienced.

wanna.” I almost whine, all my senses on edge and now I’m the one freaking out with the insane animal behavior that almost

now? What kind of Luna are you?” Carmen smirks at me, seemingly much braver than I am, and throws the wheel to the right as she puts the pedal to the gas again, pushing us on to follow the dirt track. We start to bounce and sway over the uneven terrain as she crawls us slowly and the truck groans and crunches in protest at having to mount grass. She slows right down as we inch onto the overgrown road that might not

in here, remember. The rune symbols!” Meadow tries to ease my worry, catching my hand in hers and squeezing it reassuringly as I reach out and catch hold of the dash to

I’m sure it doesn’t do shit when it’s up against her.” I point out sternly, fear lacing my tone with hostility, and even Carmen gawps

to drop in on and might not be happy about it? … We do, that’s who. Masters of intelligence here! Why did I ever agree to this.” She scoffs, snorting at how stupid this plan seems to be as she slows down further to hit rough and rocky road under the overgrown grass, and the truck starts swaying so wildly that it’s impossible to hold on. Getting harder to inch forward at

the one to say this but…”

truck getting stuck here. We have to go back at some point,