While Darius was in the image of a child were-otter, he couldn't be a werewolf. That meant that his sense of smell was lower, and his strength was also less than half of what he was used to. He couldn't also access his mate bond, leaving Nicholai in the dark about where he was and how he was feeling. Darius could only feel his small body—actually, he couldn't. He was still numb while in the car.
The father was driving down the highway, cutting across the next city instead of going past the hills. Since it was a longer path to where they were headed, the friends were unhappy with the car ride. However, no one could blame the father; they were told night creatures ate the last people who used that path because the monsters found the stolen baby coyote.
