Chapter 722 Chapter 722
When Zain got out of the shower, his mood was much better. He could feel all body parts. He went out to the kitchen and immediately could smell the coffee. Sitting on the table was a bowl of soup, his sense of smell told him. Smiling, he went over and poured a cup of coffee. He was done running around in the snow.
“I thought you would like something hot for the inside.”
He turned to see Oaklyn standing in the doorway.
“I went and got some of my things. Thought I’d grab a shower while we were here.”
Zain nodded. “Yeah. We should get on the road. The weather could change ten times when we get closer to the factory.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know how folks like this weather.”
Zain laughed. “I agree with you there.” He looked at her for a moment before turning around and sitting at the table. “Sorry about earlier.”
“No harm done. I would have done the same thing myself.”
When he turned to ask her why, but she wasn’t there. Shrugging, he leaned down and inhaled the soup fragrance slowly. “Hot food.” He was all about anything with heat right now. When he lifted the spoon, he remembered his frozen boots. Setting the spoon down, he went to get them and put them near any heat source.
He found them sitting upside down on top of a heat register. Turning, he looked down the hall toward the bathroom. She was puzzle, that part was for certain. Shrugging, he went back to the kitchen. They had a long drive; he’d find out more about her then. As soon as this soup warmed his insides, he would get his map and plot a route for them to take. Might as well use another house along the way to stop at, rather than sitting in the car for a few days. He shook his head. Traveling wasn’t his thing, he’d decided.
Inside, he was a little more settled. He had Calum on his side, that made a big difference. The fact that Zain’s life had been changed because of a member or members of Shepard Addison’s clan and his son was now in charge, was going to make it difficult to get through. He didn’t look forward to sitting down with Devin and explaining all of it. Of course, the fact that his father was missing was going to make it worse, their only prince was going to be distracted by that.
“I’m surprised you weren’t talking to yourself.”
He glanced at Oaklyn and grinned. “I was inside my head.” He waved his spoon around. “It’s rude to talk out loud with your mouth full.”
She shook her head. “When do you want to get back on the road?”
“After I finish this, I’ll take a look at the map. See if we can plan a route that lands us near another Alliance house, so we don’t have to rest in the car.” He grimaced. “It does have heat, right?”
“That part works very well.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I’m going to go see if there’s a hair dryer, so I’m not back out in the cold with wet hair.”
He nodded and turned back to the bowl in front of him. Where had Calum come across her? Zain knew there were many members of the teams that had been recruited, or found by Calum, but with her accent, he had to have been in the lower states to come across her. His wolf stirred. He inhaled. She must have put on some kind of lotion because the room was filled with a sweet floral scent.
Glancing over at the door, he checked to make sure she had gone back to the bathroom. Setting the spoon down, he lifted the bowl and drank the soup like it was a big cup.
~
He opened another cupboard and took out a box of protein bars.
“Should you just be helping yourself?”
He glanced at her, where she leaned over the table checking the route he’d figured out. “I ate all mine on the bus out of boredom.” He grinned. “It’s good. I’m real tight with the guy that restocks all the safe houses.”
“Oh?” She straightened up.
“Yeah.” He closed the cupboard. “It’s me.”
She cocked her head to the side and stared at him. “I see.” She tapped a hand on the map. “This route is good.”
He tossed the box of bars in the air and then caught it. “I even took into consideration refueling and bathroom breaks.” He grinned. “Not my first rodeo, Oaklyn.”
She snorted. “I’m sure I’ve been to more rodeos than you.”
“It’s a saying. I didn’t mean it literally.”
“Oh.” She glanced at the map again. “I’m going to go get the car and fill up the gas tank, then we can head out.”
Zain set the box on the counter and went over to his bag. He reached into the hidden back pocket and pulled out an envelope of Alliance funds. He’d helped himself when he left. It was for members on the road. He was definitely on the road. He pulled out some bills and held them out to her. “Stock up on drinks too. Juice, whatever.”
She took the money and then looked at the envelope.
He tucked it back into the pocket. “All Alliance members get traveling money.” He decided to keep it to himself that he normally didn’t.
“The Alliance is sounding better every day.”
Zain nodded. “It’s going to be even better once we stop Aiden Tomas and all of his associates.”
“Associates?”
He went over and folded up the map. “The ambassadors that are working with Tomas—the Alliance is going to shut them all down too.”
“From everywhere?”
Zain tapped the map against his other hand. “Yeah. The Alliance is for the protection of all shifters, everywhere. We’re going to restore it to what it was meant to be.”
She raised her eyebrows. “So, all clans will be part of it.”
“They’re supposed to be already, but we dropped the ball. Or our grandparents did, I guess. Many lost touch, but we’ve been working on finding all and helping them.”
“The clans in the States are part of this?”
Zain nodded. “Yeah. It’s harder to get to them right now with Tomas scaring them into hiding, but we’ll get there.”
“You have a lot of confidence in the Alliance.”
“I do. Shepard Addison does what he says he’s going to.” He frowned, “his son will too.”
“They work together?”
Zain blew out a breath. He didn’t know whether to tell her or not. “When they find Shepard…”
“Find?”
“Yeah, he was taken a few days back, maybe a week.” He shook his head. “It’s a little fuzzy what day it is.”
“Aiden Tomas took him?”
Zain nodded.
Her forehead creased with worry.
“We’ll get him back. I’m sure Calum already has a plan.” He was the only one who knew for certain which area he’d been taken to, that he knew of.
“Mister Dante is very capable.”
Zain snorted. “Yeah, he is.”
“I’ll be back shortly.” She glanced at the map in his hand.
Zain watched her leave. He really wanted to call Illias now and ask if they’d found the king’s location yet. He glanced at his bag. He could give him the tracking software and they could send a team in. Blowing out a breath, he picked up his bag. He didn’t know what he could say in messages or emails right now, so that was going to have to wait until they were face-to-face. He grinned. It had been a long time since he’d seen Illias. He looked forward to it.