Chapter 12

Getting There

A/N: About the whole sequel thing… This story isn't going to go on much longer if I make a whole new fanfic for the second part. I'm thinking about just continuing this story and writing from Suki, Adrian, and Laina's POV. Good or Bad? Tell me what you think.

Disclaimer:

I look in the mirror and nobody needs to tell me I look like hell warmed over. I don't smell that good either. That's what you get when you go three days without showering. I've been driving nonstop ever since Roosevelt National Park, even at night. It makes up for all the stops I must take to breastfeed Adrian and Laina. Now and then I even manage to get a little catnap on these breaks, pardon the pun. I haven't slept more than four hours since my pups came into the world a week ago. And as an added bonus, exhaustion almost eclipses the sorrow eating at me.

The comforting things they always say about moving on aren't true. I've been branded by Luc. He opened my eyes and heart. No, I couldn't turn my back on the heartbreaking memories even if I wanted to. It's an ocean of pain I'm swimming in. All I can do is tread water and try to stay above. My children are the only reason for me to fight the dark depths of despair, the only reason I have to continue struggling for.

But even the depressed need to eat. A dusty gravel side road beckons my rumbling stomach and I take a right. Then I stop my old granny of a station wagon. This is a perfect stop for catching tidbits like squirrels, prairie dogs, lizards, and jackrabbits. I won't be able to bring down anything big like a deer without a pack. Jack rabbits a la mode it is. It's bare, covered only by sparse saguaros and mesquites, nettles and tumbleweeds. I settle the little ones before I shift. While a wolf they will be blind and deaf with no den to protect them. All they can do is cry, which will only attract predators. I won't be gone long so I decide to crack the windows and lock the car. When I shift all I can do is listen to my insatiable need and hunt.

***

As the last morsel of my meal is snapped up in my jaws, I gurgle in delight. There's nothing like a sizzling scrumptious prairie dog. They're ever so juicy and tender. I even managed to catch some type of fowl. Satisfied, I return to my pups. They are contentedly sleeping, so blissfully unaware of how much my heart throbs when I look at them. Laina has splotches of her father's grey pelt; Adrian has his yellowy eyes.

I tear my eyes away from their slumber. Soon I'll have to make them some suitable clothing that will shift with them; it has to be made of a natural material with some of their own fur put in the seams. (Aka cotton or wool but not spandex or nylon.)

Suddenly an idea occurs to me. What if I could avoid some of the pain? Would Luc despise me wherever he may be now? Could he really disapprove of me trying, not to forget, but to lessen my burden? Might he condemn me so cruelly to my one remnant of peace?

I realized the answer is no. Luc loved me. So then and there under the desert sun I vow to myself that this world will never again see me as a wolf.

That solemn oath made; I start the car, and we begin the last leg of our journey to… "drum roll" … Corpus Christi!

Please review and i'll post chapter 13. : ) Hope you liked it. Thanks to:

Juddlegirl