Page 67 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse
The van lurched and started on an unpaved road.
Damn Jake!I wouldn’t be in this van if it wasn’t for him.
On the phone, he had refused to share the location of Mekare’s warehouse. Instead, he’d, wisely and responsibly, told us that, this time, we shouldn’t go at it alone.
Since his grandfather’s death, he hadn’t only been taking care of the financial side of things, he’d also been spending time with the Knight pack members, getting to know everyone, especially his leading betas. Regardless of how he felt about being their alpha, he was taking his responsibility seriously and seemed to be gaining a sense of belonging and loyalty towards them. This had also resulted in a flow of communication between him and the other packs, which all along had been training together, preparing to defend their own against the hybrid threat. No doubt, this was the reason he’d decided to make this a pack-wide issue.
Jake was changing. I wrangled with this knowledge. Could this affect our relationship at some point? It had certainly rubbed Rosalina and Eric the wrong way. Rosalina because she seemed bent on being the one to teach Mekare a lesson, and Eric because he wanted nothing to do with the Pack Rule or any of the packs. That he’d let us into his life was amazing, but it was clear he didn’t intend to allow anyone else in.
The van finally lurched to a stop. I held on to my metal bench to stop my body from sliding forward. A moment later, Eric threw the doors open. I squinted in his direction to learn he was just as pissed as he’d been when we left his house. He didn’t want to be here, but since I didn’t know the location of the entrance to Wolfskeep, he had to drive me.
“Fine!” he had told me, “I’ll take you, but I’m not going in. In fact, I’m not staying at all. You’ll need to catch a ride back with someone else.”
“Thank you,” I said as he helped me out.
He huffed, slammed the van door shut, got back in the driver’s seat, and tore out of there, the back tires slinging rocks left and right. For a moment, I panicked, thinking I was alone, but when I turned to face the back of the cave, I noticed a silver BMW parked there, shining under the torchlight.
Travis Hillworth reclined against it, smoking a cigarette.
Shit!
I checked my watch. I was fifteen minutes early. I whirled toward the entrance, thinking maybe I could wait outside. Moving from foot to foot, I debated what to do. I didn’t want to talk to this man. And where was Jake?
God, please hurry up!
“I don’t bite, Ms. Sunder,” Travis’s voice echoed through the cave.
My wolf got prickly at the sound of his voice, taking it as a challenge. Red wasn’t scared of anyone. Turning on my heel, I approached him. The light from the torches made my shadow dance on the uneven terrain of the cave.
I stopped a few paces away from him and watched him suck on his cigarette, its tip growing brighter. He blew smoke out of the corner of his mouth, then threw it to the ground and stepped on it, his dark eyes intent on what he was doing. Slowly, he raised his gaze to mine. I held steady, showing him I wasn’t intimidated.
He considered for a moment before shocking me with his next words. “A long time ago, I met someone by your same last name...Sun-der.” He pronounced it carefully, enunciating the syllables. “Last time we were here, it made me curious, so I had someone look into it.”
My gut clenched.
He knows. He knows.
God, I didn’t want him to know. Whatever he found out, I would deny it.
“Imagine how much my interest piqued,” he went on, “after I discovered that the person I knew is related to you.”
I stood still, giving nothing away despite the turmoil of emotions twisting in my chest.
“Amalia Sunder is your mother,” Travis said. His eyes narrowed, examining my face as if looking for a resemblance between us. “And you are, how old, Ms. Sunder?”
I didn’t reply. If he had someonelook intome, I was sure he already knew my exact age.
He blew air through his nose, half-amused by my silence. I lifted my chin, daring him to say more, to voice what he seemed to be itching to throw out in the open. What I couldn’t understand was why? Why would he want to open this Pandora’s box? I sure as hell wanted to leave it closed, put a chain around it with a big ass padlock, and throw it in the depths of the Pacific Ocean.
“She never told me,” was what he said next, and the edge of regret in his tone was like a punch to the gut that I hadn’t expected. He was supposed to hate me just like I hated him. I took a step back and glanced away.
“But I guess I should’ve known,” he said.
I peered back at him, confused. What did he mean by that?
Seeing my questioning expression, he answered, “I was taken by Amalia as soon as I laid eyes on her. I met her at a public function and was drawn to her like a magnet. I could tell it was the same for her.”
Gah, I didn’t want to hear any of it. I wanted to tell him to shut up, but I was struck mute.
