The Broken Warrior's Daughter

We stop on the way to the bus station and grab some breakfast. | make sure we are sitting at a table where we can’t easily be seen from outside, but | can watch anyone walking by the diner. We order coffee and breakfast. As we’re eating, | see the shifter from last night walking by, looking around. He looks in the diner but doesn’t see us. Shit, he is working for the wolves.

on the

“Change of plans. Time for us to go.” | say to Grace. | drop some money table and we walk out the door of the diner, turning ina different direction than the shifter. | take a deep breath, trying to catch his scent.

“Do you smell that?” | ask Grace. She takes a deep breath and nods her head. “That’s who is following us. If you smell it again, even faintly, let me know.”

She nods and we begin walking around the diner. | had checked out a map, so I’m familiar with the grid-tike layout of this town. | take us to a back road and begin making our way toward the bus station. Once we get there, | slowly make my way up to the buses, keeping my eye out for him. | finally spot him, waiting in the center of the bus station, sitting like he’s waiting for a bus. If | hadn't seen him earlier, | might believe that’s what he was doing, but not now.

| point him out to Grace, then begin sneaking around the buses, trying to find ours. When | do, | breath a sigh of relief that the door isn’t facing the area where the shifter is sitting. | check the time and realize our bus will pull out in under 15 minutes. | push Grace on ahead of me and then follow her, keeping an eye on the shifter. My size makes me impossible to miss, so if he’s been given any information about me, he'll know it’s me on this bus.

| send Grace to the back of the bus. It isn’t full, so | grab a seat closer to the front, in case the shifter decides to come looking for me. As | watch, he continues to scan the bus station, not looking inside the buses at all.

When our bus finally pulls out of the station, | see two more men running up to the shifter. Fucking red wolves. This is going to make our travels more difficult. There are red wolves in Texas and in Louisiana. We need a Plan B.

Once we pull out of the station, | move to sit next to Grace. She looks at me and | see the fear in her eyes. “It’s okay. | don’t think they realized we were on the bus. But we do need to think of another plan. The red wolves are hunting you now.

| put my arm around her. “Do you have a driver’s license?” | ask her.

“No, | never learned to drive.”

Shit. Neither did |. Even if we could rent a car, neither of us could drive it. | pull out my phone to call Rik. | need a new plan. CooperThis content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

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+15 BONOS

What do you think about Eli’s promise to Grace? Do you think he should force his mark on her if she’s at risk of being marked by others?