Baekhyun was fiddling with the radio while Victoria leaned against the window. Her eyes were heavy, and the bright sun only encouraged her to keep them closed. He had informed her the drive would be mostly highway, and she was fine with that. Her body was still tired and sore from shifting, and she wasn’t exactly sure what to say around Baekhyun at the moment. He apparently could read her mind though, so he would know that.

As she began drifting off to sleep, Victoria heard Baekhyun finally land on a station. He hummed along to it softly, and the melody sent her into a light nap. She’s so overwhelmed from shifting, maybe we just should have stayed home. She heard Baekhyun speaking to someone over the phone. I should have just went by myself and let her sleep, but I didn’t want her wandering around alone again. Although she knew he was talking about her, she tried to tune him out and enjoy her nap. I need to ask Susan to look into her records, if she has any. See what species she used to be. Victoria’s eyes peeled open slowly. She had forgotten about that in the chaos around her parents. The doctor said she wasn’t human.

Lifting her head from the window, she stretched out her arms and yawned. Baekhyun glanced at her and smiled lightly before turning back to the road. Victoria curled up in the seat and faced him. “Who are you talking to?” she asked, her eyes falling closed again as she pulled her legs up into the set with her.

Baekhyun frowned at her. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“On the phone just now,” she said. She looked up at him with sleepy eyes and saw his eyebrows drawn together.

“I didn’t even bring my phone,” he said and glanced at her. “I’m not talking to anyone.”

Victoria rolled her eyes and sat up straight. “Yes you were, I heard you,” she snapped back at him. “Talking about wanting to leave me at the house cause I’m tired.”

He frowned at her again and shook his head. “I haven’t said a word since we got on the highway. You must have dreamed it.” Just woke up and already ing.

“Do you think I’m deaf or something?” she glared at him. “I’m only ing because you’re lying! I heard you!”

“Wait you heard that? Just now?” he glanced at her and quickly looked back at the road.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Victoria sat back in the seat. “No , I can hear just fine.”

“Okay whatever, but I didn’t say that out loud, Victoria. I’m not stupid enough to call you a out loud,” he argued with her. Victoria held her glare as he continued with a wide grin. “You’re hearing me think. That’s good, it means the bonds getting stronger.”

She turned to face out the window again, holding her pout. “How is that good?” she mumbled.

The smile fell from his face as he leaned back in the seat. Her words were like a shot through his chest, but he tried not to think about it. If she was hearing him, he had to be more careful when it came to his reaction to things like that. She would be able to feel what he felt more often now, and he didn’t want that. He didn’t want her to know how much her words bothered him. Baekhyun cleared his throat. “I think it’s a good thing,” he said. “It’ll be easier to teach you to control it if it’s happening naturally. Our wolves are reaching out to each other.”

Victoria took a deep breath and faced him again. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes before looking back to the road. Leaning her elbows on the center console, she stared over at him with narrowed eyes. She tried to grab his thought again, but it was like they were slipping through her fingers. “Not happening,” he stated. “I’d like to keep some things private, thanks.”

“What you get full access to my head but I can’t have it with yours?”

Baekhyun quickly shook his head. “You act like I’m always poking around in there,” he said. “I only dig when I think you’re keeping things from me.”

She frowned at me. “Fine, I’ll do the same. Oh wait, you are keeping things from me. Constantly.”

Bringing a hand up, he rubbed his face. “The only thing I’m keeping from you right now are personal,” he said. “I’m only blocking you from like one thing.”

“Well what is it?” she asked.

“If I tell you what’s the point of hiding them?” He stared ahead at the road and avoided her gaze.

“I’m your mate,” she pouted. “You aren’t supposed to keep things from me.”

Finally looking at her, he narrowed his eyes. “You only use the mate card when it benefits you,” he stated. “I’m asking nicely that you stop that. It’s not a term to throw around like you do.”

Leaning back in her seat, Victoria faced the road again. She didn’t like when her wolf agreed with him, and it happened often. “I just don’t like when you hide things from me,” she said simply.

She heard Baekhyun sigh and shake out his hair. “It’s my emotions,” he stated. “I’m blocking my emotions. I don’t want you poking around in them, not right now.”

“Why not?” Although she understood why someone wouldn’t want that, she didn’t understand why he could see hers but not the other way around.

Baekhyun tapped his fingers against the wheel as he took an exit off of the highway. “Because they aren’t the same as yours.”

Victoria glared at him. “What do you mean? Is it because I’m not human?”

“What? No,” he smiled and shook his head. The smile fell as he said, “You don’t feel for me like I feel for you. I don’t want you poking around there until I think we’re on the same page.”

She scoffed at him and looked out the window again as they to another highway. “You don’t know what I feel for you.”

“Yes I do.”

“No, you don’t. You can’t,” she snapped and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not even sure yet, so you definitely don’t know.”

He nodded. “Fine, but I am. Can we change the subject?”

Victoria turned to him and was a bit surprised to see him squirming in his chair. He really was uncomfortable with this. She sighed and nodded. “You said you wanted to get me something, what is it?”

He grinned slightly and shook his head. “It’s a surprise. We’ve got to go somewhere else for that though.”

“Where would we have to go?” Victoria had a feeling he was going to buy her something expensive, and she did not want that. She had been showered in expensive gifts her whole life, they were the last things that interested her.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “What part of surprise don’t you get? But no, it’s not some expensive crap.”

“Stop that,” she frowned at him. “If I can’t read your mind, you can’t read mine.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t,” he clarified. “I just said I’m blocking some of it. You’re more than welcome to try. I’ll teach you how to block people out when I can trust you not to be petty about it.”

Victoria rolled her eyes. “You mean when I agree not to block out you.”

He smiled as he glanced at her, his sharp canines catching the light. “Exactly,” he laughed. “When you agree to be with me, I’ll teach you how to get rid of me.”

She couldn’t help but smile with him, despite knowing he was only partially joking. “That seems counterproductive,” she smiled back at him. “How about you just start with the basics? Tell me about werewolves.”

Glancing at her again, Baekhyun nodded. “Alright, but no falling asleep.” Clearing his throat, he began. “Well a long time ago, there was a human couple and a witch. The couple loved each other very much, and the witch was jealous because she loved the man too. The witch decided that if she couldn’t have him, no one could. She cursed him with the first record of lycanthrope, which is basically werewolf disease. The man turned into a wolf on the first full moon and couldn’t turn back. He was trapped by the untamed wolf the witch basically possessed him with. The woman didn’t know what to do, so she went to the witch and begged her to change him back. The witch denied her, so the woman left in search of a way to fix him.

“But the wolf didn’t want to stay with her. He wanted to run free, so the woman begging the fey folk for help. One fey took pity on her and promised to guard the wolf in return for a favor he would call on later. The woman agreed and went on searching for a way to fix her lover. She jumps through a bunch of pointless hoops that I’m not going to waste time explaining and eventually comes across a witch willing to help her. The witch can’t turn him back, but she can make her like him. The woman agrees, and the witch turns her into a wolf too. Then the woman goes all the way back to the fey and finally gets to be with him again.” He took a deep breath and glanced to Victoria who was staring at him expectantly.

“The man and the woman continue their lives as animals together for a while, but that fey comes back for his favor eventually. He tells the woman she needs to steal the first witches power from her. I think the witch threatened him for helping the couple or something like that.”

“Is this a real story,” Victoria asks him, and he grins and nods.

“It is, I just haven’t heard it in a while. Mom used to tell it to us as bedtime stories. I’m just giving you the simple fairytale version. The original is insanely long and much more boring.”

“But was there really witches and fairies?”

“Fey, not fairies. Fey is like a general terms for magic baring creatures like elves and brownies,” he explained. “They are really rare now, but they were everywhere a few hundred years ago. Dad used to have a friend who was a centaur. I forget his name now.”

Victoria smiled at him as his face squished up trying to remember details. She lightly tapped his arm to get his attention again. “The fey came back for his favor.”

“Oh, right. The fey wanted the woman to steal the witches power, and he said she could do it by eating the witch alive. The woman was good to her word, and she and the man went off to find the witch again. They found her, and the witch threatened to take the man away from her if she hurt the witch. The man was fed up with this at this point and attacked the witch. They killed her and ate her, but the witch’s power was too strong for the man to bear, and he died. The woman cried for days, and refused to eat or drink, but the witch’s power wouldn’t let her die. She went on to live for hundreds of years without him, never meeting anyone else, and when she was finally about to die, the witch who turned her came back to her. The witch promised her her suffering wouldn’t be unnoticed.

“The woman died and came back a powerful Goddess with the man by her side. She became the Moon Goddess and began making more werewolves, each with a bond to one person, like she had. This became the mate bond, and to avoid the suffering she went through, she grants mates to every wolf no matter if they are good or bad. Mom thinks if you lose your mate some how the Moon Goddess reincarnates that person. She says you have to go together or not at all.”

Baekhyun finished the story just as they were pulling off of the highway. Out of her window, Victoria could see the strip mall he was taking her too. “So you worship her?”

“All wolves do,” he said. “We have festivals on the full moons for her and her mate. She helps wolves in wars and the like sometimes.”

“Oh, she’s like a real person?” Victoria asked. Baekhyun laughed and pulled into a parking spot.

Going around the car, Baekhyun opened the door for her, still laughing. “Yes, I guess you can put it thank way. You’ll see her when mom has the baby. She personally blesses each one.

“You’re kidding,” she stared at him, but aside from the laughing, he was very serious.

“I’m not,” he said. “She’s very hands on type of Goddess. She’s been around for centuries. If you’re in her favor, she might even attend your wedding.” Victoria narrowed her eyes at him until he shook his head. “Okay that wasn’t true, but she really will come for the baby. Mom says she marks our ribs with our mate’s name so our wolf will always know.”

“That sounds painful for a baby,” she stated.

Shutting her door for her, Baekhyun wrapped his arm around her waist and began leading her to the stores. Victoria pulled his arm away from her, but he just grabbed her hand instead and gave it a squeeze. She didn’t bother to fight it again. The sparks spread from his palm into hers and made her wolf giggy.

“Yeah, but they won't remember it,” he stated. Baekhyun took the lead and led her up to the store. It wasn't anything fancy, just a simple store she could get a few things she needed in one trip. As they entered, the smell of popcorn hit her, and her attention turned to a vendor who was serving a few customers. Her stomach growled, and Baekhyun smiled. “We'll get something when we leave,” he promised.

After grabbing a buggy, Baekhyun followed her around the store as she tossed things into it. They started with bathroom necessities, and Victoria spent a whole two minutes grabbing the first things she saw. She wasn't very picky when it came to things like this, or anything really.

Having gotten what she wanted, she dragged Baekhyun towards the clothes. At first, she began with simple things: t-shirts, shorts, and underwear, but as she ventured deeper into the aisles, she began looking over the blouses and skirts. She was never one for dressing up, but it never hurt to have things like that around.

Baekhyun leaned against the basket as he watched her shop, occasionally saying something was nice but not actually interested in what she was grabbing. Instead, he watched her, the way her face lit up when she found something she liked and the way it sank when she didn't. Her sleepiness from before seemed to go out the door now that she was enjoying herself.

When they reached the shoes, the basket was nearly full. She insisted she was buying an entire wardrobe, and it was all very necessary. Baekhyun sat on one of the benches while she tried on different pairs of shoes. Her tennis shoes she had been wearing were caked in mud and torn up from the forest, so she got a few new ones. Victoria grabbed heels, flats, and wedges to match the nicer clothes she had picked out as well as a few boots for winter.

Once she was satisfied with the shoes, Victoria led him towards the underwear. Halfway there, she decided she didn't want him to follow.

“I've already seen your underwear,” he argued with her.

“You don't need to see all of them,” she replied. “Just wait here.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “I'm going to see them when you put them in the basket and when we check out.”

Frowning at him, she knew he was right and let him follow. “Fine, just don't touch anything.”

“I'm pretty sure this is more awkward for me than it is for you.” Victoria shot him a glare over her shoulder but didn't reply. Reaching the underwear, Victoria grabbed things quickly just wanting to be done with it. Baekhyun continued to lean against the buggy while he waited.

“Oh my god,” Victoria giggled as she grabbed something from the bottom shelf. Turning around, she held up bright red fleece boxers. “You're getting these.”

He frowned at her. “What? No.” Victoria ignored him and threw them into the cart. “I'm not wearing them.”

“Yeah you are,” she giggled and went back to grabbing things.

Baekhyun bit the inside of his cheek and looked up at the wall of next to him. He grinned when he found what he wanted. Snatching the from the rack, he tossed them into the basket. “Fine, you're wearing those.”

Turning around and tossing a few more things into the buggy, she picked up the black laced . Rolling her eyes, she tossed them back onto the shelf. “They don't even match.” Baekhyun threw them back into the basket once she had turned around.

“I like them,” he grinned at her.

She laughed. “Yeah, I bet you do.”

Victoria finished grabbing things quickly, and Baekhyun led them towards the registers. The girl behind the counter was kind as she rang up the items. Victoria took her parents black card from her wallet and shrugged before handing it to her. The girl swiped the card and asked Victoria to sign.

“I guess they didn’t cancel it,” she smiled as she followed Baekhyun to the car. “I thought they would have.”

Baekhyun frowned. “I’m sure they’re busy.” His worry of their behavior hasn't gone away, and the card working only made it worse. They had no reason to keep it active, and they had to know she had it. If they purposefully left it on, he wanted to know why.

Shrugging her shoulders, Victoria looked over the receipt as they went to the car. “Probably already ditched the country again,” she said. “They don’t stay in town long.”

With a button on the key, Baekhyun opened the trunk for them to toss the bags into. After the car was loaded and the two had gotten back in their seats, Baekhyun pulled out of the park lot. “What do you want to eat?”

“What’s around here?” She clicked in her seat belt and looked around at the restaurants lining the strip mall. Most of them were mid-tier restaurants with only a few fast food places on the outskirts. As Baekhyun made a big circle around the outside, Victoria spotted a Wendy’s. “Oh! Wendy’s, I want a bacon burger.”

He nodded and pulled into the restaurant parking near the entrance. “Alright, come on,” he said. Victoria hopped out of the car, and he was close behind her. Holding the door open for her, the two headed into the restaurant and around to the register. They each placed their order, Baekhyun ordering something for Kris as well, and took a seat at the back of the restaurant.

Through their meal, they were mostly silent. Neither had had a meal that day and were happy to enjoy it without the need for talking. After their meal, Baekhyun took Victoria to a phone provider to get her a new line, as per Kris’s request. Finally finished shopping, the two settled into the vehicle again for the hour ride to the house. Like before, Victoria curled up in the seat while Baekhyun found a radio station he liked.

The roads were less crowded as they get into the later hours of the day, and Baekhyun was able to cruise most of the way. A sense of unease had settled in his stomach as they to the main highway. Slightly paranoid, he slowed his speed and began watching other cars on both sides of the highway.

Victoria noticed his decrease in speed and glanced at him. His brow had been drawn together as he looked around. “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head. “Nothing,” he said. “Something just feels off.” The hair on his wolfs neck stood on end as it felt the same feeling. “Call it a sixth sense or whatever, but animals can sense danger. My wolf’s getting riled up.”

Sitting up in her seat, Victoria began looking around as well. “So what, we’re looking for a drunk driver or something?” she asked, looking over the people in passing cars. Some gave her strange looks, but nothing out of the ordinary. “Oh, she’s on her phone," Victoria pointed to an older woman that was clearly yelling into her phone as she sped past them.

“I don’t know what we’re looking for,” he stated. Sitting back in his seat, Baekhyun tried to focus on driving instead of his wolf. “Just keep your eye out for something strange.

Turning in her seat, Victoria peered out the back window and glanced over the cars. She didn’t see anything abnormal going on, but she believed him when he said something was going to happen. As of the last few days, something always happened.

Victoria frowned and moved to turn back in her seat, when she saw a vehicle jumping across the median from the other side of the highway. “Baekhyun,” she smacked his shoulder and pointed back to where the large white truck was speeding across the median towards them. “Like that strange?”

Staring into the rearview mirror, he nodded. “Yeah, like that. Put your seatbelt on and hang on.” Victoria turned in the seat quickly as Baekhyun slammed onto the gas and weaved the car into the other lane.

“Who is that?!” she shouted. She had partially turned in her seat to watch the truck. When they switched lanes, the truck slid into their previous spot and was attempting to get behind them.

“I don’t know,” He called back. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he watched as the truck attempted to get behind them but was blocked by an eighteen wheeler. “We’re out of our territory, though. Get out your phone and call Kris.”

Victoria faced the front again and pulled the phone from her pocket. Baekhyun announced the number to her, and she quickly put him on speaker phone. It rang a moment before he answered. “How did you get this number?”

“Kris, we’re on I-25, and we’ve got a truck on our rear,” Baekhyun spit into the phone. The truck rode dangerously close to the car in front of them, and the car sped up to get out of their way. The white truck pulled up next to them and swerved into their side. Their SUV lurched to the side as Baekhyun tried to get a handle on it again.

“How far out are you?” Kris’s voice rang through the phone.

“Thirty minutes,” Baekhyun answered. “What do you want me to do?”

The line was silent again as the truck slammed into their side. “Take the shoulder, just get the hell out of there.”

As Kris spoke, the window of the truck rolled down to show a grizzly bear of a man with a sawed-off shotgun resting in the crook of his arm. “Let’s make this easy,” the man began, but Baekhyun didn’t stick around to hear him out. Swerving onto the shoulder, Baekhyun slammed the gas and booked it down the highway. When he had the chance, he slid into the lanes again and began weaving through traffic.

“Carmen’s on his way to you,” Kris said. “Just try and lose them till they get there.”

“Who was that?!” Victoria had one hand on the handle on the roof and the other holding the phone tightly. Through the side view mirror, she could see the white truck gliding through the median to reach them.

Kris answered her. “Probably hunter’s that have been tracking you two. Possibly sent by your parents to watch the highways.”

“The credit card!” Baekhyun slammed his hand against the steering wheel and she could practically see him foaming at the mouth. He continued to swerve through traffic as he spoke. “I knew it was a trap.”

“What are you talking about?” She shouted at the two of them.

Baekhyun swerved onto the shoulder again. “They tracked your card, so when you use it they can come find you.”

The truck pulled up behind them. Victoria heard the gun fire as the back windshield burst in. Kris began cursing into the phone. “They should be there soon, just hold on.”

“Victoria hang on,” Baekhyun said.

The gun went off again behind them as Baekhyun slammed the breaks. The truck slammed into the back of them, and Victoria heard a scream as their window shattered. “You bastard!” The man shouted.

Victoria's head slammed back against the seat from the impact, the phone flying from her hand and onto the floor. She could hear the man shouting curses at them as Baekhyun slammed the gas again and began flooring it down the side of the highway.

Peeling her head from the seat, Victoria mumbled a curse as she bent down to grab her phone again. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Victoria nodded as she sat up straight again with her phone in her hand. She turned in her seat in time to see the white truck was slowly disappearing behind them. "They stopped."

She heard Kris chuckle through the phone. "Their engine is probably busted. Carmen just passed by on the other side and saw the whole thing. Their truck is smoking bad, he said."

Hearing this, Baekhyun grinned as well. It was an evil grin, like that of a man escaping the scene of a crime. Victoria wasn't sure how she felt about a look like that. "We'll be there in about fifteen minutes, have Rodney open the gate for us."

"Will do, call if something happens." With that, the line clicked dead, and Victoria was left in silence with Baekhyun, the only sounds being the car, the radio, and the rushing wind from the busted back window.

Victoria turned from Baekhyun back around to stare out the back. The smoke from the truck could be seen even as far as they were from it, but the truck didn't move. She found herself wondering what Carmen would do when he reached it. Had the other drivers called the police? She could assume someone had, and related that information to Baekhyun's speed.

The broken glass sat scattered on the bags in the back. Victoria frowned at the idea of going through all of them. She would have to wear gloves. As she scanned the bags, something caught her eye that left an indent in the center of them. Narrowing her eyes, Victoria unbuckled her seatbelt, catching Baekhyun's attention.

"Hey, what are you doing?" It wasn't really a question, but Victoria ignored it anyway as she climbed over the console into the back seat. "Victoria get back here! Put your seatbelt on!"

"Oh hush," she mumbled back as she reached into the back and grabbed the heavy object. Her eyes widened as she pulled the sawn off shotgun into her lap. It was heavier than she expected. Glancing up at Baekhyun in the rearview mirror, she frowned at him. "It's a gun."

"Great, leave it back there, and put on- Victoria no!" He cut himself off as he heard her begin to unload the weapon. "Do not touch the ammo!"

Victoria ignored him again as the rounds slipped from the gun into her lap. With the gun empty, she set it down next to her in the seat and picked up one of the rounds. Her skin tingled at the contact of it, and he attention returned to Baekhyun. "What is it?"

He glanced at her in the mirror again as he pulled off the highway. "Silver. Enough of it in that shell to kill an alpha point blank. I can feel it from here, like an itch."

"It makes my hand tingly," Victoria mumbled as she rolled down the window. She tossed them out and rolled it back up.

"Yeah, I bet it does in a shell like that, but touching it directly would burn. Probably char your skin. You think you shoulder hurt when one grazed you, imagine one stuck in you."

Victoria didn't want to imagine that, not at all but found herself wondering if he had been through something like that before. Staring at his reflection in the mirror, Victoria found him staring ahead. The grin he had when they got away was long gone, his face set like stone as they turned down back roads she had never seen before. "Where are we going?"

"Back home," he said. His voice was cold again, but not filled with malice. "I'm not taking this thing down main street." She nodded slowly, looking away from him and back out her window.

Trees surrounded the dirt road he drove down, and she felt safer knowing they were almost their. She could already imagine Julia waiting for them at the garage, smiling big as they pull up before she began scolding them for being reckless, for making her worry. Victoria was a bit surprised when they pulled up to the garage, and Julia was nowhere to be found. In her place was Kris and Andrew, the garage door already open as Baekhyun drove in and parked near the front sliding easily into a spot.

Andrew was quick to open her door and offer her a hand out, which Victoria smiled lightly and accepted. "Are you two alright?" He asked, looking between her and his baby brother.

"Yeah," Victoria nodded at him.

"They followed too close," Baekhyun's grin came back again as he slammed the door. The gears of the garage door grinded together as it closed, and Kris made his way over to them.

Kris wasn't grinning with him as Baekhyun tossed him the keys. "You ruined my car."

"Take it out my salary," Baekhyun shrugged. Victoria followed Andrew around the back where the truck had been crushed in. It clearly was not going to open, or at least she thought it wouldn't, until Kris grabbed the handle and yanked it. The metal creaked and gave away, the door coming off completely. Victoria jumped back as Kris dropped in next to them.

"Jesus.." She mumbled, her eyes flickering from Kris to the door. He didn't even appear to have broken a sweat, simply picking it up again and leaning it against another car. "How are you.."

"Alpha blood, alpha strength," Andrew chuckled at her as he stepped around and began dusting the broken glass off of the bags. "You ready to see your room, Victoria?"

"My room?"

"Her room?"

She and Baekhyun spoke at the same time, but Andrew just smiled and nodded. "Yeah, Amber and I just finished it earlier. She picked out the colors."

Victoria gave him a confused look, and Kris spoke up. "Dad said you were more than welcome here," he shrugged, "Until a house becomes available, they made you a room in the pack house. Once Doc clears you, you'll start training, and we'll find you a spot somewhere."

"Oh, uh, thanks," she nodded, still not really sure what was happening. Her gaze turned to Baekhyun, who avoided looking at her as he began grabbing bags from the truck. Not sure what that expression meant, Victoria pressed against the bond, trying to grasp any of his thoughts. But again, as she reached for them, they slipped through her fingers like smoke.