I woke up many times that night, sweating and feeling uncomfortable, dreams of dark shapes occupying my mind. Every time though I felt Sawn hold me, shielded his embrace I would breathe out and then close my eyes again, waiting for sleep to take me once more.
The last time I woke up I wasn't under the starlit sky and Sawn's arms had left me alone. Seated in the car now, my seatbelt fastened for me as the werewolf had carried me to the car, gently placing me in as he started our journey.
"Hey…" I mumbled, my morning voice surprising him. I sounded a lot more grumpy, if that was even possible for me. Rubbing my eyes I took in the scenery. Nothing had changed from our road trip yesterday. The trees that surrounded us were tall enough to hide everything else behind them, dark green leaves dancing with the morning wind.
"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" he asked me and I let my head rest on the seat.
It wasn't a good sleep, that was for sure but at the same time, I have had worse. Sawn being there was enough to make things a lot better.
"It was alright, thank you for helping me." I said and he smiled.
"I didn't do much." he answered me. "I am glad that you're better because we have a small change of plans." he informed me and I blinked. "We will not be going to a witch, it's too dangerous after the attack to dwell into the human world, we will go through a portal to visit the fae, we have an alliance with them for now and they would be able to help. They have magic too. We will also be safe there." he explained.
"If we have an alliance with them, why not go to them from the start? We knew that witches would be hard to work with."
"Well, Fae are…special. They are tricky and they always want to bargain. They will try to scam us into an unfair deal or take something from us but at least they won't be able to harm us in a significant way. It was just a bother to go to so much trouble for a tracking spell.
"I see…" I mumbled, defeated.
Closing my eyes I started to curse in my mind. I have never met any Fae people. I knew though that they were not very fond of shapeshifters like us, they thought of us as inferior, meaning making a deal with them for my goal would be hard. They also don't live in the mortal world, money won't move them and they can't lie also. I was planning to lead the council astray for a bit longer, find the person who did this myself and ask for information before I kill them with my own hands but this change in plans ruined everything.
"How long do we have until we get there?" I asked Sawn.
"About fifteen minutes?" he calculated and my gray eyes widened.
There was no way I would be able to have a new plan in fifteen minutes. A sigh escaping my lips I slowly started to accept my fate. I would have to go in there and find another way to get my lead.
This little step back had helped in a way. I hadn't thought of him, the man with the snow white hair and green eyes. He was not in my thoughts as I seemed to be too troubled about what I should do. I felt lighter in a sense. Every time his face appeared in my head a weight crushed my chest, making me unable to breathe. Now I was troubled but at least my senses were all fine, I was alarmed and ready to reach my target. I couldn't have weird thoughts leading me astray.
"Are you worried?" Sawn asked me and I contemplated my answer. I didn't want to lie to him, I felt like I was using him when he had been so nice to me, I felt like a horrible person. Stealing a glance I noticed he was looking at the road ahead as he spoke. If he looked at me in the eyes would he be able to see how guilty I felt? I wondered and focused my eyes outside the window, a bit afraid that I would seem too suspicious.
"Yes." I answered, hoping there would be some obvious honesty in my simple words. Yes, I was worried to be found out, I was worried about the Fae and the course of my thoughts.
"It's going to be fine. I promise. I won't let any of them trick you into cutting your hair or giving you pig ears." he joked and I chuckled.
"So these are the tricky schemes they have."
"For us, probably yes. But I think they will see how beautiful you are and they will be too shocked to do anything." he told me and I felt my cheeks turn hot. That came out of nowhere, I realized as my body felt hotter.
"Yeah, for sure I will stun them with my beauty." I continued what I thought to be a joke and he smiled.
I felt better already. He was incredibly good at fixing a situation with just a few words. I sat back, trying to relax, everything would be okay, I just needed to think fast enough, be more agile. I encouraged myself as Sawn stopped the car at the side of the road.
"We are here." he told me as he turned off the engine. "Brace yourself, pretty wolf" he said, looking me straight in the eyes and I clenched my jaw, hoping I hadn't changed ten shades because of his words.
"I am ready." I said, opening the door of the car.
I believed I was, I was almost sure of it but at that time I hadn't even imagined what would happen the minute I stepped through that portal.