“That makes me feel a little better at least. I’m twenty so like I said, I’m not much younger than you.”

“Right you are.”

They continued on like that for the rest of the way out of Wrexon. With all the added people, came more soldiers and knights. There were half a dozen or more squads patrolling the streets with several of them getting too close to the pair for comfort on quite a few different occasions. They kept their heads low and made sure not to draw any unwanted attention to themselves. That strategy ended up working pretty efficiently. They picked up Serk and left Wrexon less than an hour later. Once they were outside of the city, Lola asked if there was an alternate route they could take. One that wasn’t a main thoroughfare.

“There are one or two less traveled roads,” Russel told her. “Why do you ask?”

“With all the tensions being stirred up, I think the king will most likely have the main roads in Alcroft monitored with checkpoints. We should avoid those if at all possible. We definitely don’t want to run into another issue like we had with Sir Thomas,” she explained.

“An excellent point,” he remarked. “That was pretty strange, I have to admit.”

“Well, strange as it was, he should be far behind us now. How long till we cross the border into Oclan?” she asked.

“From here, it’s four days. Three if we take less breaks,” he said. “Or, I can shift into my wolf form and you can ride Serk. We could cut down our time to maybe a day and a half that way.”

But she looked nervous about that and considering her past trauma with Drake, he didn’t blame her.

“You’re in control when you shift?” she asked. “When you’re a wolf I mean?”

“There are a few rare ones, men like Drake, who opt to let the wolf take over completely. They are savage and merciless killers. Most in my kingdom have control over that side of themselves. It is rare for us to choose to let the wolf in 100% because then we are not ourselves anymore,” he said. “It is also extremely hard to come back from. Once you do, there’s a…stain on the person they can never really come back from.”

“You speak as if you talk from experience,” she told him, not wanting to sound scared but unable to mask it. Memories of what Drake and his crew of deranged wolves did flashed through her mind and she shuddered.

“Not me,” he said, trying to reassure her. Then his eyes went distant. “But someone close. They’re…gone now.”

She didn’t say anything for a long time and wondered who it was that went so far over to the wolf part of themselves they weren’t able to recover. Was it a family member? His mom? Maybe a brother or sister? Or was it a friend? Or a past lover? She was insanely curious but could tell how painful the subject was and decided in the end, to let the matter drop.

“I think speed will be helpful but shifting into a wolf is a bad idea right now with all the knights and soldiers roaming around. Not to mention ordinary people. You could be spotted,” Lola said.

“I thought about that too, which is why you would be taking Serk alone on the roads and I would be sticking to the deeper forest. I can track you from there and keep pace while at the same time, I can stay out of sight,” he replied.

“I still don’t like the risk. Even in the deep woods, you might accidentally run into someone like a hunter. Let’s stick to the barely used roads. A little more time is better than being chased by soldiers and potentially murdered when we didn’t even do anything.” She patted Serk’s flank affectionately. “Besides, Serk’s gotten used to being riderless. He’ll probably hate me if I get on him now.”

As if in either agreement or disagreement, they couldn't tell which, Serk neighed loudly causing them both to laugh.

They spent the next few hours along a dirt road that could barely be called a road. It was going west and north, according to Russel’s compass so it would eventually get them where they needed to go. The way was uneven, annoying, and exhausting. There were dozens of rocks along the road that somehow, they always managed to either step on, stub their foot into enough to where they almost tripped, or twisting one or both feet on. When tempers were at an all-time high, they decided they needed a rest.

Russel moved them off the road, even though they hadn’t seen a single soul in the few hours they’d been walking along it, and into the woods. They walked through them for a good while until they came to a space big enough for them to set up a camp. A small creek was nearby and he took Serk over there to get him some water.

As soon as they got comfortable, something happened to Lola. She suddenly stiffened. A cold, eerie feeling just went down the length of her spine.

“What’s the matter?” Russel asked.

“I don’t know,” she told him truthfully. It was the same sensation she experienced before in Gloucester and then again during her training with Russel. It made her whole body feel like it was charged, like it wanted to either fight or flee. She looked at him, confused and scared.

“What can I…” he started to ask and then stopped. His nostrils flared wide and he sniffed deeply. After he did, his face went hard and serious.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, unable to keep fear out of her voice.

He looked at her.

“Ghouls.”