Page 38 of Under A New Moon

They walked together through the gloom in deafening silence for many minutes until Darla broke it.

“Where are we going?”

“I mean, I know I like you a lot, and I can see us being together.”

Darla cut the romance talk short. “No, Romeo. Where are we literally going? I can’t help but feel like we’re stumbling blind down here in the sewer, despite your senses.”

“Got it.” a little embarrassed, Galen tried to collect his thoughts. “The way I see it, we really just have the one option. Crescent City.”

“The place your father wanted to send you?”

“That’s the one.”

“Why now?”

Galen had clearly put a lot of thought into it. “LA is overrun by dirty wolves that want to start a war with humans. And apparently, humans that want the same thing. We won’t find refuge, shelter, or help in this place. Crescent City is the home of the elders. They have to be warned and they can help us.”

Thirty-One

Galen

Always forward. They marched through the sewers to a destination neither of them could pinpoint, but Galen believed he’d know it when they got there.

We just have to find a place where there are enough humans to blend in with. I can hear some foot traffic above, but it’s not enough.

“I was just thinking.” Darla offered, “Being down here has made me so hungry. Can we get like a kitty litter taco smothered with rotten eggs once we’re up top?”

“I can’t tell if that’s sarcasm or not, because that sounds delicious.”

They both laughed at the ridiculous notion, or the methane really started to get to them.

“I need to talk about this plan of yours some more to distract me. Crescent City is all the way up by Oregon.”

“Correct.”

“How are we going to get there? That’s about a twelve-hour car ride, but we don't have a car.”

“Wasn’t that in my file? I don’tjustturn into a werewolf. I turn into a pickup truck too.”

“Oh, thank god. I thought I was the only sarcastic one.”

“Hey, I owed you that one.”Keep a file on a guy and expect he’s not going to get annoyed. Guess again, lady.

"Yeah, I suppose you did, and I’m a good sport, but I still don’t have an explanation about how we’re getting to Crescent City, and it’s possible I still don’t understand why we have to go there.”

Galen fought back the urge to get more annoyed because he knew they were both coming down from adrenaline highs, and … you know… sewer march.

“Here’s what I know,” he started after a pause to collect his thoughts, “you and I have a duty to warn people that are in the crosshairs. I don’t pretend to understand the corruption in ‘Legacy’, but the old wolves need to know that some shit is about to go down. We have to prevent a revolution. We have to prevent a new Civil War.”

“And you’re certain this doesn’t end with us on a dinner plate?”

“You want guarantees after what we’ve seen? You can’t be serious. I don’t know how we’ll be received, but I know it’s the right thing to do and I’m going to do it. I want you with me, but I understand if you can’t.”

“No, I’m not saying that.” Darla tried to get a handle on exactly what was eating her. “You have to understand that a person trained to not make a move until there’s a plan. And a backup plan. And a backup to the backup. With oversight, and coordination.”

“Well, it’s fly by the seat of our pants time, and we’ll hitchhike to Crescent City if we have to.”

Darla smirked. “I know a lot of people pull over for savage-looking werewolves.”

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