Chapter 8 The Road To Silver Paw

• BRIANA
• Watching Adam and Henry rolling around on the motel bed, laughing as they pretend to wrestle, I can’t help but think back to when Peter and I used to do the same. We weren’t real siblings, but we might as well have been. Both of us were only children, born to parents who decided one pup was enough. Our houses were just five minutes apart, so we practically grew up in each other’s pockets. He’s two years older than me, but that never mattered. Peter was my brother in everything except blood.
• It’s been a week since we left Moonveil Pack, and I know I should call him. I promised in my letter that I would as soon as I got my new number. I can picture him now, pacing around his living room, wondering if he’ll ever hear from me again.
• “Penny for your thoughts?” Linda’s gentle voice pulls me back to reality. I nearly jump, realizing she and David have come back from breakfast without me noticing. Some beta I turned out to be—so distracted I didn’t even sense them.
• “I was just thinking about Peter,” I admit, taking the warm McDonald’s bag from her hand and murmuring my thanks.
• “About what exactly?” she asks, passing Lace her food before looking back at me.
• “I want to call him. I’ll give him my new number. I know he’ll keep it safe—he’d never share it without my permission.” I pull out a hash brown and take a huge bite, earning a giggle from Lace and a dramatic eye roll from Linda.
• “Well, you can call him once we’re back on the road. David found a pack where we might be welcome. He has some old friends there.”
• At the mention of a new pack, my head lifts sharply. The thought of belonging again after seven long days of being rogues, always chased away, makes my chest tighten with relief. It feels like an unanswered prayer might finally be heard.
• “How far is it?” I ask, already tired of motels and endless hours in the truck.
• “About three days’ drive. Think you can handle it?” David asks as he finally wrangles Adam and Henry into sitting down with their food. The two boys eat like they haven’t seen food in weeks, while Lace perches in front of the old motel television, quietly watching her cartoon.
• “What’s the pack’s name?” Adam mumbles around a mouthful of sausage and egg McMuffin.
• “Don’t talk with your mouth full!” Linda scolds him, while I press a hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter. I’m definitely becoming a bad influence on these kids.
• “It’s called Silver Paw,” David answers his son.
• The name sounds familiar, and I frown as I try to remember where I’ve heard it. Then it hits me—one of Alpha Marcus’s endless rants about wanting to expand Moonveil Pack’s territory. He used to talk about Silver Paw like it was an easy target. He wanted to attack them and claim their land, but my father talked him out of it. Silver Paw is at least ten days’ drive from Moonveil Pack. Even if Marcus had attacked and won, the land was too far away to be useful unless he bargained it with another pack closer to his borders.
• “Silver Paw? Isn’t that supposed to be one of the weakest packs in the country?” I finally ask.
• “It is,” Linda admits. “But the alpha there agreed to let us join if we help strengthen them. You know how to train pups, and David and I can handle the adults.”
• The thought of training pups again makes something warm spark in me. The power of my bloodline still lingers, waiting to be put to good use. I smile. Joining Silver Paw might be exactly what we need.
• “Then let’s finish up and hit the road. Three days from now, we could finally be home,” I say with excitement.
• Lace throws her hands into the air and cheers, “New home! New home!” over and over, making all of us laugh. We polish off our food quickly, then gather the few things we carried into the room last night.
• Lace pouts when I tell her she can’t ride with me this time. I explain gently that I need some time to myself, but promise she can switch back to my truck at the first rest stop. That makes her brighten, and she skips happily toward her father’s vehicle.
• “You sure you’ll be alright alone?” David asks as I pull open my truck door.
• “I’ll be fine. Besides, I won’t really be alone—I’ll be talking to Peter,” I answer, my voice light with a kind of hope I haven’t felt since being cast out of Moonveil Park. If Silver Paw accepts us, I’ll tell Peter everything. And knowing him, he’d leave Marcus behind without hesitation to follow me into a new life.
• “Just keep your eyes on the road. Call my cell if anything happens,” David says, ever the protective father. “I can’t wait to be in a pack again, where we can finally mind-link.”
• He heads to his truck, and I climb into mine. For the first time in days, silence surrounds me. It feels strange after a week of hearing Lace sing every pop song she knew, plus every Disney tune under the sun. I turn the engine on quickly, letting the rumble fill the quiet.
• Still, my mind starts drifting toward the pain I keep pushing away. I don’t want to think about the moment Marcus stripped my title and cast me out, about how quickly everything I loved turned to ash. Shaking the thoughts off, I focus on the screen in my truck. My phone connects through Bluetooth with a beep.
• Taking a steadying breath, I scroll through my contacts until Peter’s name appears. Thank the Moon Goddess for Samsung—the transfer made it easy to carry over my numbers. Even better, the new carrier bought my old number after I switched, meaning no one in Moonveil Pack can find me now.
• My thumb hovers over his number. The digits are etched into my memory, as familiar to me as my own heartbeat. But fear creeps in. What if he’s angry? I never said goodbye. He had patrol that day, and Marcus blocked my ability to mind-link before banishing me. All I could leave behind was a letter—and the deed to the house.
• I pray Peter found them. And I pray he still wants to hear my voice.