Chapter 46: Chapter 46

The vampire dude fell back down, and Jake ran back to the car. He climbed in through the passenger seat and looked at me. "Drive, Max! Vampires heal a lot faster than werewolves."

I pressed on the pedal and started driving us away as I saw the vampire dude sit up. I pressed harder on the pedal and we drove faster as I saw the vampire stand up in the rear view mirror. But we were already far ahead, and it would be hard for him to catch us even with supernatural speed.

I glanced over at Jake, "Babe, are you okay?"

He glanced at me with a small smile, "I like the new nickname, and yes, I'm fine. I've already healed and I'm as good as new."

"I can see that since you sound so cheery." I said, feeling angry as I gripped the steering wheel.

He looked at me, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"The vampire is after me, Jake. He even knows my full name, what did I ever do to deserve any of this?" I said as I looked at him from the corner of my eyes.

"I'm sorry that this is happening, Max, but we'll figure it all out. Now, what you should do first is stop the car and let me drive. You're not in the best condition to do it." He said in a comforting voice and I took in a deep breath then released it.

He was right, and he didn't do anything wrong, but fight my battle for me to protect me. I hit the brakes, bringing the car to a stop. I pulled open the door and got out. Jake did the same and rushed over to me as I was about to pass by to the passenger's seat.

He held my shoulders and gripped them as he looked at me. I looked up at him, feeling ashamed for the way I treated him. "Max, don't be this way. No matter who is after you or why, you've got us, you've got me."

I took in a deep breath again and released it as I looked at him, "I know, Jake, and that's what scares me. It was my battle with that vampire, but you fought him for me when I should be the one doing it. What if you got hurt badly doing that? I can never live with myself if that happened."

"Listen, Max. I love you and I would do anything, anything to protect you whether you approve or not. And that's because I can't live with myself either if anything bad happened to you." Jake said, looking into my eyes and I could see how sincere he was.

"I would do anything to protect you too because I love you too, Jake." I said, softly as I looked back into his eyes.

His lips lifted up into a smile as he moved closer, "Good, we can protect each other and have each other's backs."

He smashed his lips to mine and we were kissing against the driver's door. We heard Sean protest as he yelled, "Come on, guys! We're in the middle of the road. Quit making out and drive us away from here before that vampire catches us!"

That made us pull apart, but stayed staring at each other for a few seconds as we both breathed heavily. I smiled, "Let's get back in before Sean murders us."

Jake chuckled, "Yeah, I would like to see him try."

He took his hands away from my shoulders and stepped back. I walked over to the passenger's seat and opened the door as I saw Jake open the driver's and get in. I climbed in as well and closed the door. He started the car and we were speeding away to the River of True Mates again.

He constantly glanced at the map as he drove us down the long road. I moved my gaze to the radio and switched it on. A song that I wasn't familiar with came on, and I sighed. Guess we would have to make do with it. Sean's voice took my attention to the back seat.

"Hey, how did the vampire know your full name?"

I glanced over at him, sitting behind Jake's seat, "No idea, but I think this has to do with why those teleporting werewolves attacked Jake and I."

"There must be a reason." Shane said, bringing my gaze to him.

"Yeah, you're now a werewolf and everyone wants a piece of you. Something must be up." Jane said from behind my seat and I turned back to the front as I sighed yet again that day.

"I know, and I don't know why, but I know that we'll find out soon enough." I said in determination as I stared at the road ahead through the windshield.

"Yes, we will, baby doll." Jake said, and I glanced over at him.

As I looked back to the front, I saw a fog over the grasses on the side of the deserted road. I looked closer with narrowed eyes and saw a river inside the fog. I looked at the map just as Jake said, "We're here."

He veered off the road as I also saw that we were right where the map said was the river. He stopped the car and we all opened our doors to get out. As we stepped out and closed the doors, Jake pressed the button on his keys to lock the car. He placed the keys in his pocket as we started walking towards the river inside the fog.

I glanced at Jake and the others beside me as we approached it. "Tanner said that there will be creatures guarding the river and we'll have to fight them to pass through. So get ready for a fight."

"Always am." Jake said as he glanced at me with a small smirk on his lips.

"Me too." Shane said as Jake and I looked back to where we were going.

"Yes, Luna." Sean said and I could hear the smile in his voice even without looking at him.

"Definitely." Jane added as we entered the fog.

A deep, voice that echoed around them, "Only wolves shall enter unto the River of True Mates, and they must fight to pass through."

As soon as the voice was done talking, we couldn't go further. I raised both hands and pushed the air in front of us, but it was like there was a wall in front of us. Jake glanced at me and then at the others as he said, "The voice said that only wolves shall enter, so I think that we need to be in wolf form first."

Realization dawned upon me and I turned to him, "That must be it."

I watched as Jake started shifting into a wolf. I also commanded my wolf to come forth in my mind. In a second, my head had elongated, my hands and feet have turned into a wolf's and fur had covered my body.

This change was a lot faster than the others. I guessed that it got faster as time went by. I looked over at the other three to see that they have also changed into wolves.