Branches of Life

We crossed into Montana an hour later, and any semblance of patience I had was gone. "If one of you doesn't start telling us where we're going, I will throw myself out of this damn car."

Groans and sighs came from my friends. None of them said anything, knowing better than to try and reason with me right now. It didn't mean they were happy about it, far from it.

"Is she serious?" Starling peeked at us over her shoulder.

Speaking over each other, Harmony, Ander, and Ari answered her question.

"Very," Harmony said with a sigh.

Ander's response was filled with resigned exasperation. "Unfortunately."

"I'm proud of her for waiting this long."

Koa's eyes briefly met mine in the rearview mirror, before returning to the road, calling my bluff.

Damn it all to hell.

There was no way I actually wanted to jump out of the car. I was impatient and annoyed, not stupid. This would hurt like a motherfucker, but there was no way I was backing down now. Even if my wolf spirit was cringing alongside me. I would not let Koa underestimate me anymore. Even if he was underestimating my stubborn stupidity. He'd learn that when I made a threat, I followed through.

Maybe the pain would teach me to think before making threats without thinking them through. Probably not.

Heaving out a heavy exhale, I crawled out of my seat with no resistance from Ander or Ari as I crawled in front of her. I needed to work on my temper. Harmony had a good hold on hers—most of the time—and she never ended up in situations like this.

"Montana," Koa growled after I unlocked the door.

Well that wasn't helpful, seeing as we were already in the damn state. "Not good enough." Pulling strength from my wolf, I wrenched the door open. The wind whipped through the open door, my hair slapping my face. It was still dark outside, and luckily there weren't any other cars on the road.

"Stop her!"

"I know better. Just answer the damn question, she’s not bluffing!" Ari shouted back at Koa.

I ignored their back and forth and held onto either side of the door frame. Trying to hype myself up and lie to myself that it wouldn't hurt as much as I thought it would. It'd probably be better if I just counted back from three. After another deep breath, I began counting knowing the longer I put this off the harder it would be. Three... Two...

Before I could make it to one, the car jerked hard to the right, pulling over to the shoulder of the road. If I hadn't been holding onto the door frame, I probably would've been thrown forward when Koa slammed on the brakes.

"Oh, he's pissed," Ari whispered. "You're in trouble."

Koa yanked off his seatbelt, his movements rough as he used unnecessary force. Saying he was pissed was putting it lightly. And right now all of his anger was directed at me. Shit. In a split-second decision—kind of like when I jumped into the water earlier—I threw myself out of the open door and took off running.

Koa's swears and Ari's cheering followed me as I ran down the grass. Faint footfall followed me, and a glance over my shoulder confirmed it was Koa. How the fuck was he so damn quiet? I get dragons were one of the strongest summoner animals, but this was ridiculous. The bastard was gaining on me way too fucking fast.

Pulling more energy from my wolf, I picked up my pace and started zigzagging. Why not go all out? I probably looked ridiculous zigzagging across the grass with Koa chasing after me, but at this point, I was too focused on escaping his ire to care.

Not even thirty seconds later, a strong pair of arms wrapped around my stomach, wrenching me from the ground. The thought of kicking at him and fighting back crossed my mind. If I caught him by surprise, maybe I could get in a kick or two. Maybe I could break his hold, but then what? It's not like I could run all the way to this unknown place. I'd have to face him eventually, and it was best not to piss him off even more. Fighting him would do just that.

I let my body relax, even though that was the last thing I wanted to do. His arms tightened, pressing my back firmly against his chest. He rested his chin on top of my head, preventing me from trying to head-butt him, not that I'd try that.

For several moments, the only sounds were our breaths, mine a little heavier than his. Stupid fucking dragon summoner endurance. For the first time today, I was able to sense his dragon. And from the waves of energy rolling off him, Koa's dragon was as pissed as him. Despite the coiling tension and waves of anger, Koa's hold wasn't the bone-crushing kind. His arms were like steel bands around my midsection but were only tight enough to keep me in place.

His tight hold on me was no longer necessary. The burning heat from his body sank into mine, burning away the desire to run away. My breathing was heavier than before, but now had nothing to do with having just sprinted.

"Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again," Koa growled. But instead of intimating me, it had the opposite effect. The languid heat flooding my body burned hotter, settling in all the right places.

"I'm not a patient woman, and I don't like being dicked around," I whispered, my voice breathless. My fingers lightly trailed up his corded forearms. His arms tightened around me and my breath hitched.

"You're trouble." His growl vibrated through my body, settling in my aching core. At the back of my mind, I wondered if he could smell my desire. How wet I was from just being held by him and hearing his roughened voice. I wasn't in the frame of mind to care if he knew. All I could focus on was him, and the places his body touched mine.

I leaned my head back against his chest and breathed out a laugh. "Nah, that's you and your sister. We were nice and safe until you came along." I couldn't bring myself to be embarrassed by the breathless quality of my voice. All my thoughts were on how right it felt to be in his arms again. The tendons I was tracing flexed as he shifted an arm, moving it higher up on my midsection.

"Missoula," he murmured after nearly a full minute of silence. For once, I hadn't minded the quiet.

"Hmm?" I tilted my head back and met his golden eyes.

"We're heading to a forest near Missoula," he repeated slower this time, his voice deeper than usual. The low rumble sent vibrations and tingles down my spine. An act that made it nearly impossible for me to pay attention to his words.

"I've never heard of it." I was in no frame of mind to be thinking about human geography.

He laughed mirthlessly. "You threw a fit over nothing. It was pointless to tell you."

His words were like ice water being dumped over my head, cooling my heated body and clearing my head. With the moment now broken, I couldn't stand being held by him. I struggled in his arms, and he actually let me go without any resistance. Without wasting a moment, I whirled around and poked him in the chest. "It's not pointless. Whether or not I've heard of it is beside the point. You should've told us before we even got in the car."

He caught my hand, stopping me from jabbing at his chest some more. His grip was gentle as he cradled it between his large hands. An action at odds with his burning eyes and harsh tone. "Oh, you mean when you were nearly bleeding to death? Is that when I was supposed to tell you?"

In a split second, I ripped my hand from between his and slapped him across the face. Hard enough for it to be heard by the others in the car. An action I knew he could've easily stopped, but didn't.

"You don't get to use that against me." My voice, thankfully, remained even. Despite the white-hot anger warming my chest. A sensation that was completely opposite from what I felt not even a couple of minutes ago. "I was only out there because I was looking for you. I wasn't the one that dragged us into this mess, you did. The least you can do is let us in the plan."

I didn't wait for a response or even look up at his face. Instead, I pushed past him and stormed back to the SUV. In my short run, I'd made it a couple hundred feet, making my walk back that much more annoying. I was fuming by the time I made it back and four sets of eyes locked in on me. "Not a word," I growled, climbing into the backseat.

Koa returned to the driver's seat only a few seconds after me. He didn't look my way once as he pulled back onto the road, and I made a point of looking out the window. I had no clue if any of the others heard mine and Koa's conversation, with how quiet our voices were and with the distance between us. They knew something was up, though. The atmosphere in the car was thick with tension.

I couldn't get over how he used my moment of weakness against me, especially when my wound had just recently finished healing. A real dick move in my opinion. It wouldn't have surprised me if he had done so last night. But after the careful way he'd held me last night, that shit hurt more than I cared to admit. I was becoming too wrapped up in him, way too fucking fast.

Heaving out a sigh, I watched as we passed another sign. Why didn't I pay better attention to human geography? We didn't come to the human realm all that often, and when we did, knowing the states and the cities weren't necessary. In each safe house there was a map of the area we were in, so why did I need to memorize a bunch of shit for no reason? I didn't have that opinion at the moment. I was kicking the hell out of myself for not knowing anything about this damn state.

I couldn't be too sure, but I thought Montana was one of the bigger states. The possibility that we could be cooped up in this car for several more hours, made me want to start throwing a fit.

Ander's leg nudged mine, pulling me out of my endless thoughts. His face was neutral when he mouthed, an hour. My face scrunched until he inclined his head toward the front of the car. An hour until we were there. Of course he listened in on our conversation.

From the corner of my eye, I studied his face, trying to see if he noticed how much Koa affected me. His face remained blank, not giving me much to go off of. The relaxed way he sat with his legs stretched out in the aisle, and his arm resting along the back of the seat, didn't mean he was calm. It just meant that if he was annoyed, he was hiding it well. A skill he had mastered years ago, and I lacked.

Thank you, I mouthed back and returned my attention to the window. I couldn't stop the feeling that this was about to be the longest hour of my life.