Page 89 of UNAwere

His eyes trail across my face, as if he’s trying to soak in every one of my features.

‘We’ll be there in a day or so.’

There’s a crease between his brows that wasn’t there before, and his eyes still haven’t left me.

‘She’s done well to get us here.’

‘No, I don’t think there’s need for that.’

‘Okay.’

He hangs up and lets out a breath, and I finally step into the car and close the door behind me. I start the engine, staring through the windshield.

‘Was that Warner?’ I murmur.

‘Mm.’

‘Wondering where we are?’

‘I didn’t send him an update last night, and he got worried. Thought something might have happened.’

‘Did you tell him?’

‘Just said there was a hiccup.’ He blows a breath through his cheeks. ‘I doubt my alpha wants to know the details about how I was such an arsehole to some guy that I got stabbed.’

I snort. ‘Yeah, you were a little overprotective.’

‘Do you… have any idea why?’

I pause, my hand resting on the gear stick, and glance at him. ‘What do you mean?’

He stares at me for a second, and there’s something in his eyes that’s too hard to see in the dim light. But then he shakes his head, tells me not to worry, and rests back in his seat.

I hesitate, considering pressing him for more, but then I snap myself out of it.

It doesn’t matter. Whatever it is. It doesn’t matter because I’ll be bonded to his alpha. And if there are feelings between us, regardless of what side they’re on, they’re most likely those feelings people get at the end of going through something traumatic with each other.

Like Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in Speed.

Trauma bonding.

I pull out of the lot and get us back onto the highway.

The last pre-approved motel is a place that sits in a valley that runs between a mountain range. When I climb out of the car, I breathe deep, smelling pine and ice. It’s cold, and in the distance, the mountains are capped with snow.

‘There they are,’ Jude murmurs over the roof of the car at me.

I turn and grin at him. ‘They’re amazing.’

They’re framed by the setting sun, glowing a gorgeous orange-purple. I stare at them for a moment, hearing Jude get our bags out of the car behind me. A jolt of surprise courses through me when I feel him come close, leaning his weight against the car door as he gazes out at the mountains, too.

‘You don’t get sick of it,’ he says.

‘I bet.’ I smile to myself. ‘A silver lining, I guess.’

He hums. ‘I admire that.’

‘What?’ I turn my head to him, my cheeks heating when I realise he’s watching me already. And I wonder whether he’s been looking at the mountains at all, or just at me. Standing here in this motel carpark, the blue hue of dusk settling around us.