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.

the presence of that witch.” Meadow goes back to the text to check details and Carmen follows signs as she drives, focusing her attention and relieving me of their bickering for now. The air is turning colder as night comes in and the

and it’s around dinner now but at this time of the year the sun sets early. We don’t have much daylight before it sets completely

on the dash where she can glance at it, against the dials and fuel light symbols so she has a

ask where the witch is.” Carmen raises a brow, looking somewhat skeptical about how this is meant to work, and I shrug tiredly, also unsure but we have to trust the fates aren’t leading

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

too shrugs, a quizzical expression taking over her face as she widens her eyes in an ‘okaaaay’ kind of

the only contribution I have

me of my missing mate. Sierra and Colton do have their

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 I do laugh out loud, at the girl’s weird dry humor that

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 enough, that even a lame joke like this has enough power to

young, or at least 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

be and the extreme measures they would take to fight the aging cycle. Easy to judge when wolves literally don’t age like that and we stay healthy and youthful until we die. We reach adulthood, sort of around the looks of a thirty-year-old human when we get to that age and then we stay that

our attention up into the sky over our head with a pointed finger up at the windshield and it’s hard not to miss the unmistakable flock of large black birds flying level with us,

coincidences.” I point out, casting my mind back to a certain forest that led me East so long ago. The fates always find a way and this time, it’s ravens. “Follow them” I command 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

think they’re following

tabs for now.” Meadow at least seems surer and I’m glad I’m not the only one who is a little freaked out about our escorts

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 air around us as we all fall somber now that we’re faced with the possible next step of our task. So much is resting on us

hundreds of miles, just to become crow food.” Meadow doesn’t seem so sure now either and I know the witchy side of Sierra and Colton is still something she isn’t sure of. She admitted to me a while back it unnerves her, makes her mistrust on some level. This power, these abilities, and she gets nervous around them when they glow blue because it’s just not something she has ever lived around, even before she came to the mountain. It’s sweet in a funny kind of way but I get it. She relies on the physical attributes and her

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,

ourselves and almost die of simultaneous heart attacks, squealing in unison like feeble girls, as the entire flock of black ravens 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

to recover from the heart failure we all experienced. Those damn

senses on edge and now I’m the

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

to ease my worry, catching my hand in hers and squeezing it reassuringly as I reach out and catch hold of the dash to steady myself, while I blanche

it! … 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 at me

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

be the one to say this but…” Carmen starts and

stuck here. We have to go back at