Page 40 of The Alpha Dire Wolf (Bloodlines & Bloodbonds #1)

Minutes ticked by with agonizing slowness, the silence making it worse. Every glance at the clock seemed to make it go backward, not forward.

“We’re not going to make it,” I pronounced suddenly, my senses warning me that danger was almost here. “It’s taking too long.”

“Yes, we are,” Lincoln said forcefully. “The turn is just ahead. Up there on the right. You see?”

“Of course I see. That’s the old logging road. But there’s nothing down there. I know there’s nothing down there. See, there’s even a giant sign. They shut the operation down years ago.”

“You sound angry.”

“My father was a logger,” I said, defensively. “It’s what led to us leaving town.”

“It led to a lot more than that,” he said without explaining. “But we’re going down it anyway.”

I slowed enough to take the corner safely. The road was old and unmaintained. Cracks in the asphalt were plentiful, but still the speed crept up once more. We were running out of time.

We rounded a soft corner and came face to face with the storm.

There was no warning, no leadup. It was quiet, and then all at once it hit us full blast. Banshee howls of wind screamed against the sides of the car, rocking it back and forth, searching for a way in, while massive drops of rain exploded like gunfire across the windshield and roof.

I wrenched the wheel as we careened out of control, the wind pushing the rear of the car further into the turn. Rubber burned and we kept going, but my vision was blurred from the wave of water crashing over us. My foot came off the gas naturally. I couldn’t go fast if I couldn’t see.

“Don’t slow down!” Lincoln shouted, reaching over to turn the wipers on full. “Go faster!”

The instant the windshield cleared slightly, I gunned it again, leaning forward in my seat. Lightning came next, dozens of flashes slamming into the forest or sheeting across the sky. They came so fast I couldn’t count, my retinas burning from the brilliance of their energy.

Then they stopped. But a second later more bursts lit up the world around us.

I screamed as a dead tree blew across the road right into our path, its roots still dropping dirt.

Pulling the wheel to the side, I sent the car careening back across the yellow line into oncoming lanes to avoid the obstacles.

We hit a pothole and bounced hard. My poor car was taking such a beating lately.

Lightning came down and struck a tree on the right. It impaled the living thing, and then it exploded . Limbs and branches pelted the car, cracking the glass on the passenger windows.

“This storm is out to get us,” Lincoln snarled. “We can’t slow down.”

“Are you crazy?” I yelped, my foot still down on the gas. “I can’t drive fast through this!”

“We have no choice. If we stop or get out, we’re dead!”

Another tree exploded, emphasizing his point.

“We have to make it, Vee. We—”

He turned his head while I looked in the rearview mirror as a low, ominous groan filled the car, sweeping over us from behind. I didn’t know what was making the noise. Not because it was something else new but because I couldn’t see anything.

The road behind us was gone, disappearing into a blackness not even the lightning penetrated. And that darkness was coming for us. Fast.

Gritting my teeth, I hammered the pedal down even more. The tiny engine did its best, and we sped up once more, racing down the old road.

“How much farther?” I hissed through teeth clenched hard enough to give me a migraine.

“Not much. Left turn coming up. It’s going to be sharp.”

I looked at him. He was a bit pale.

“How sharp?”

“Very. But we can’t slow down.”

Something hit the back of the car, bumping into it enough to lift the rear wheels off the ground and slowing us down.

I screamed. Light glowed in Lincoln’s eyes as he snarled back at the storm. Whatever it was let go of the car. Wheels hit asphalt, rubber burned and we went forward once more.

“No slowing down,” I said, my voice a whimper. “Got it.”

“You can do this, Vee,” he said, putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “I believe in you!”

Wind shrieked. Rain battered the exterior of the car. A tree limb blew through the rear window, lodging itself in the back seat.

“When I say so, tap the brakes and turn. I’ll help with the wheel.”

“Okay.”

Everything narrowed to that point, waiting for Lincoln. The storm lashed out at us, but I tuned it out. I had to. All I could do was peer through the wipers and wait.

“ Now! ”

The word burst from his throat. Somehow I didn’t hesitate. I tapped the brakes and pulled the wheel around. Lincoln helped. The car groaned and more rubber vaporized as the car careened around the corner on two wheels.

My screaming merged with the noise from the tires as I rose into the air.

Then we hit a pothole, and the car slammed back down onto all four tires, speeding along the new “road,” which really was little more than a rutted trail between the trees. I had to slow down now. I had no choice.

“ Don’t slow down! ” Lincoln howled, reaching past me to put a hand on the window.

Blackness spilled across it, reaching for the car and the road ahead of us. Glass cracked. The roof crumpled slightly.

“Floor it!”

I stomped my foot down as the darkness slithered its way through the cracks, reaching out for us.

“Hold on!” Lincoln roared as the windows shattered and shadow and darkness plunged into the vehicle.