gaius

"Are you ready?" I called out to Onyx as I finished putting the suitcases in the car.

The plan was to only go to the Solar Moon Pack for a day or two but we'd have to stop at a hotel for the night.

"I'm ready!" Onyx yelled back.

I closed the back door before making my way back into the house, helped him up and out the house. When Onyx was in the car, I made my way to the driver's seat at climbed in before driving to the border. When we got there, Councilman Steele was already waiting for us with an annoyed look.

"Finally," he growled out.

Pulling out my phone, I saw it was eight-thirty and raised an eyebrow.

"It's eight-thirty, we're not even late," I told him.

"If you show up on time, you're late," he rolled his eyes.

Biting back a insult, I gestured to the back of the car. The councilman raised an eyebrow and shook his head before looking at Onyx.

"Get in the back," he demanded.

Onyx frowned and I blinked at him. He's really demanding someone else to move when this isn't even his car?

"Onyx is fine, get in the back," I told him.

"Or you could get in the back and I'll drive. Last time I checked, I'm the one who will be deciding your mate's fate in the future," his eyes narrowed.

It was my car for one and is he really trying to blackmail us?

I opened my mouth to reply but Onyx placed a hand on my shoulder and offered me a smile.

"It's okay, I don't mind," he assured me.

Councilman Steele grinned at me smugly before walking around to the passenger seat and opened the door. I bit back a growl as he helped Onyx into the back seat and closed the door. He walked back and took the seat beside me before closing the door.

"Well? Let's go, we should get as close as possible before it gets dark."

Cordial, Gaius. Be cordial.

I looked back at Onyx through the mirror and he offered me smile. Taking a deep breath, I nodded stiffly before I began to drive in the direction of the Solar Moon Pack. This was going to be a long drive and the fact that I'd have to deal with the councilman also made me want to bang my head into the steering wheel, but I was doing this for Onyx.

If it was for Onyx, I'd persevere through it.

...

We had been driving for what felt like ages. The sun had already fallen, engulfing us in the darkness under the stars. Onyx was fast asleep and Councilman Steele had just woken up from his nap. After driving for hours, I could feel it finally taking a toll on me as I struggled to keep my eyes open.

"Let me drive."

I briefly looked over at the councilman and snorted before shaking my head.

"Not happening," I told him.

It was a little irrational to believe that he would do something like crash the car to kill both Onyx and I, but I didn't like this man and I knew he felt the same.

"You can barely keep your eyes open, at this point you're gonna end up killing us all," he rolled his eyes.

I scoffed at him. "You're not driving my car. I'll stop at the next hotel and we'll stay there for the night."

The councilman shook his head. "I have this planned out. If we want to reach the Solar Moon Pack by midday tomorrow, then we need to drive a little further."

I ignore his words and he groaned in frustration.

"What's the worst I can do?"

"Crash the car and us both," I answered seriously.

He stared at me as if I was stupid before shaking his head. "You'd most likely heal for one and in a scenario where you did die, I would too, dumbass."

Scowling at him, I looked back at Onyx who was resting against the window peacefully. As much as I hated Councilman Steele, he was right and I didn't want to put Onyx in danger.

Grumbling to myself, I feel pulled over and slid out the driver's seat and made my way around to passenger's side. Once we were both strapped in, the councilman began to drive again.

"Get some sleep," he told me. "I'll wake you up when we arrive at the hotel."

Part of me wanted to say no and watch him to make sure he didn't try anything, but the sleep deprived part of me outweighed the others. My eyes began to feel heavy and the last thing I saw was the councilman adjusting the mirror.

...

"Get up, we're here."

Groaning to myself, I blinked a few times before slowly getting off the door. I winced slightly as I felt the soreness in my neck and looked out the window.

We were at the hotel.

Councilman Steele unhooked his seatbelt before opening the door.

"You get him," he gestured to Onyx. "While I check us in."

Still half asleep, I nodded before rubbing my hand over my face and unhooking my seatbelt. I climbed out the car and opened the back door slowly to not hurt Onyx.

"Onyx," I shook him slightly. "Onyx."

Onyx groaned and tried to push my hand away but I shook him again. With a scowl, he sat up and stared at me. I couldn't help but smile amusedly; he looked like an angry puppy.

"We're at the hotel. Come on, you can sleep when we get inside."

Mumbling to himself, Onyx let me help him out of the car and we walked into the hotel. The councilman glanced at us before gesturing for us to follow him down the hall and into an elevator. He clicked the third floor and when it stopped, he led us to room three-thirty-six.

"This was the best we could get on such short notice," he explained when I saw the double beds. "You two share that one."

His words left no room for argument and for once, I didn't bother to disagree with him. I helped Onyx lay down and watched as he fell back asleep.

"It's unbelievable to me," Councilman Steele shook his head.

"What is?" I asked with furrowed brows.

He took a seat on his bed and gestured to Onyx. "How you're willing to go through all of this over that."

Anger flooded through me and I glared at him. "His name is Onyx and I wouldn't expect you to understand when you don't have a mate," I snapped.

Something flashed through his eyes, but I ignored him and went to the conjoined bathroom to shower. Stripping, I stepped into the shower and turned on the water before leaning up against the wall.

Even through all of this, he still hates Onyx. He's done nothing but be nice to him this whole time.

When I was finished with my shower, I dried myself off and got dressed before returning to the room. The councilman sat in the same place I left him only now he was holding a locket in his hand.

When I sat down on the bed Onyx and I shared, I saw a picture of a woman inside the locket.

"Her name was Gracella," he mumbled lowly, his voice full of pain.

"She was an Omega in a neighboring pack. Loved exploring, seeing new things, and flowers," he laughed humorlessly. "Goddess, she loved flowers."

"What happened to her?" I asked quietly.

His eyes closed before a single tear fell down his face. "She was out collect flowers for me one day, I was coming to visit later. A feral snuck up behind her and before she could realize, he attacked and killed her. The only thing he left behind was her head."

My heart dropped at his story and I moved to reach out for him but he quickly wiped his face before standing up.

"I did have a mate at one point and she was snatched from me," he glanced over at Onyx and I saw a twinge of hate fill his eyes. "Get some sleep, we have a long day tomorrow."

With that, he walked into the bathroom and shut the door. I stared at it silently and thought over what he had told me. So that was why he was so against Onyx; because a feral had hurt him in the past. His reasoning didn't make me like him any more than I already had, but it made me understand him better.

I stared at the door for a few more minutes before shaking my head and turning off the lights before laying down. Onyx rolled against me and I pulled him closer before sighing. Closing my eyes, I tried to go to sleep but my thoughts kept drifting back to the councilman.