Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

Kael

I t didn't look like much from the outside, but I'd been on the road long enough to know not to judge a gas station by its peeling paint and questionable signage. It was all about the selection of energy drinks. I needed high caffeine and a lot of it. With my wolf metabolism, six energy drinks was the bare minimum for a two-hour drive.

I pulled up to the pump and unscrewed my gas cap, the smell of gasoline mixing with the crisp northern air. The nozzle clicked as I started to fill the tank, and I glanced around, taking in the scene.

The corner store sat like an old sentinel, its wooden slats weathered from years of exposure to the elements. The sign above the door creaked in the wind, announcing its presence as "Marty's General Store." I finished filling the tank, then walked across the gravel lot and pushed open the door. A bell jingled overhead, and I stepped inside, the warmth of the store wrapping around me like a familiar blanket.

The place was a throwback to a simpler time. Rustic wooden shelves lined the walls, filled with a haphazard mix of essentials and local oddities. There were jars of honey with handwritten labels, chunks of soap that looked like they'd been carved from a block, and a display of beaded necklaces that I couldn't imagine anyone wearing.

I scanned the shelves, my eyes landing on the more practical items. Canned food, batteries, a small first aid kit. I grabbed a few cans of beans and soup, then added my drinks, they had Uptime which was a plus, and a pack of trail mix to my basket. It was embarrassing to think about how many years I'd stayed alive on crap like this.

As I approached the counter, my boots scuffed against the cracked linoleum. The cashier, a wiry man with a bushy mustache, nodded in acknowledgment as he rang up my items and put them in a plastic bag.

The bell above the door jingled again, and I glanced up. A mom with two kids entered, but my eyes were drawn like magnets to the back of a woman's head bobbing down the aisle, her long hair catching the light from the window.

My heart seemed to skip a beat, and the dagger's energy flared inside me. What the hell? I stepped forward, snagging my bag from the counter, my eyes still glued to her. She pushed the door forward and stepped out into the sunlight.

I rushed outside to the sidewalk, watching her walk to a truck parked at the pump. Something about the way she moved, the way her hair fell over her shoulder, made everything inside me shift.

I stood there, frozen, as she climbed into the passenger seat and slammed the door. It wasn't until the engine roared to life and the truck started to pull away from the pump that I snapped back to reality.

The truck pulled out onto the highway, and I didn't even notice the man at the counter speaking until he raised his voice. "Hey, you planning to pay for those?"

I blinked, the spell breaking. What the hell had just happened? My heart still pounded in my chest, and I glanced down at the dagger, running my fingertips over the hilt. It was warm to the touch, as if it had come to life.

"Sir?" The cashier raised a brow. "I can't just let you walk out with those."

I nodded, reaching into my pocket. "Right. Sorry." I pulled out my wallet and handed him a twenty. "Keep the change."

He took the bill, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "You okay there, bud? Looked like you'd seen a ghost."

The last thing I wanted to have a conversation with a stranger about was seeing the back of a woman's head and losing my shit. "I'm fine. Just tired, I guess." I grabbed my groceries and walked out the door, not giving him a chance to respond.

As I returned to the truck, I couldn't shake the feeling that something within me had knocked off its axis. The way the dagger had responded to that woman. No, it had responded to her leaving. I shoved the cans into the cab and climbed in, not bothering to close the door. The engine roared to life, and I pulled out onto the highway, turning in the same direction the truck had gone. South.

I gripped the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white. What had I just done? I didn't even know where she was going, and there were a million places she could turn off before I caught up to her.

My mind raced as I thought back to the dagger. It had been warm. Alive. It had been cold in the parking lot. Cold in my hotel room. Cold the entire time I'd been up north looking for the Shadow Pack and the relics.

But the moment I saw her, the moment she stepped out of the store, it had started to burn. I thought about the prophecy. The relics that had been created by Seraphina and the Shadow Pack.

The dagger was one of them. I knew that. I'd seen it in the illustrations.

But why? Why had it reacted to that woman?

I gripped the steering wheel as my eyes scanned the road ahead. I was almost to the edge of the town, and I hadn't caught a glimpse of their truck. My heart sank, but I kept driving, hoping I'd see them at the next turnoff.

I didn't.

I swore under my breath, pulled off at the next exit, and turned around. The dagger pulsed at my side like it was mocking me.

"What do you want?" I growled, but the blade didn't answer.

I followed the highway back into town, my eyes scanning the road. The buildings. The parking lots. I didn't know what I was looking for, but I knew something was there?—

The dagger flared, and I slammed on the brakes. My truck skidded to a stop on the shoulder, and I pushed it into park. The blade hummed at my side, and I closed my eyes, trying to focus.

It could sense something. I could sense something. The dagger was like a compass, pointing me south. I didn't know what I'd find, but I had to follow it.