Where The Ice Gives Way (Charlotte and Blake) novel Chapter 181

Chapter 181 Now Entering Munroe

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Emily

The second half of the drive is so much easier. Maybe it’s the good night’s sleep, or the pancakes. Whatever it is, the truck feels warmer

today. Charlotte sings terribly to a song I don’t know that makes us all laugh, and Theo is on his third packet of chips that he’s happily

sharing with me. Then Charlotte starts a game of I Spy, saying road trips require traditions. Blake refuses to participate because he is

‘driving and far too mature for children’s games,’ but two minutes later, he guesses “tree” for the fourth time.

“It’s not tree,” Charlotte says, laughing.

“There are thousands of trees.”

“That doesn’t mean I picked tree.”

“You should have. It’s the obvious choice.”

Theo leans forward between the seats. “Is it snow?”

Charlotte turns her head slowly. “You’re both terrible at this.”

I look out the window, smiling, “Is it the red sign?”

Charlotte pumps her arm in the air. “Yes!”

Theo throws both hands up. “What red sign?”

“The one we passed three seconds ago,” Blake says.

Another song plays on the radio, and I laugh when Theo sings one line so badly that Blake actually winces. “Man, please don’t do that.”

Theo presses a hand to his chest. “My mate likes my singing.”

I freeze for half a heartbeat as the word sits in the air around us, and my cheeks go pink. Theo realises what he said at the same time I

do, and his eyes flick to mine, wide and apologetic, like he is ready to take the word back and bury it somewhere in the snow.

But Sasha lifts her head inside me, soft, and sleepy and very smug. “Your mate thinks you should stick to hockey.”

Theo stares at me for one long second before his whole face breaks open into a smile so bright I have to look away from it.

This might be the most fun I have ever had. Maybe there will be more. I hope there is more.

Sasha whines suddenly, and the sound scrapes out of me without warning. My smile fades, and I press a hand to my chest.

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Chapter 181 Now Entering Munroe

“Em?” Theo says, worry overtaking his pretty smile.

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“I’m okay,” I say quickly, but Sasha whines louder again. Blake’s eyes lift to the rearview mirror, his brows furrowed, and Charlotte turns

in her seat. “Emily?”

“I don’t know,” I whisper, as Sasha presses so hard that I need to grip the edge of the seat. “Something’s wrong.”

Blake’s jaw tightens, and his gaze cuts to Charlotte. Whatever passes between them is silent and quick, before Blake says, “Dad says we’re

pulling up here. We’re just on the border. We’ll go over the plans and contingencies before we cross.”

Gareth’s car slows ahead of us, indicator blinking as he pulls onto a cleared patch at the side of the road. Blake follows, gravel crunching under the tyres as we stop behind him. The patrol vehicle pulls in after us, and I unclip my seatbelt with shaking fingers and step out. I

stretch my arms above my head, trying to make my body loosen up, and trying to make Sasha calm down, but she only whines harder.

“Emily?” Theo says, coming up beside me, and I turn away from the road to look at him, but then my heart stops.

A large wooden sign stands a few feet ahead, half–buried in snow, the letters carved deep and dark beneath a painted crest. NOW

ENTERING MUNROE. The air leaves my lungs. No. No, no, no. My feet move backwards, and snow catches at my shoes, and I stumble, one hand reaching blindly for anything that will hold me up. Theo catches me, his hands close around my arms, and his chest warms my

back. “Em? Hey. What’s going on?”

I shake my head–the sign blurs, and the trees tilt. Sasha is not whining anymore; she is trying to claw her way out of my skin. “No,” I

breathe.

Charlotte steps toward me. “Emily?”

I can’t look at her. I can’t look at any of them. My old house. The sunflowers. Dirt bikes tearing through yellow petals. Laughter. Marcus.

His voice on the day he rejected me. The way everyone watched. The way no one moved. The pack gates. The cold road, My mother not looking at me. My father’s mouth pressed into a thin line. Exile. Hunger. Snow. Teeth. Blood.

Theo’s grip tightens around me, his voice low. “Emily, talk to me.”

All I can do is point behind me with one shaking hand. “P–p–pack.”

All of him goes still. “What?”

“My pack,” I choke out. “This was my pack.”

Theo’s eyes go wide, just as the trees explode. A large dark grey wolf barrels through the treeline so fast the snow sprays up beneath his

paws. His eyes are yellowed and wild, his fur a little matted across one shoulder, his jaws open in a snarl that rips straight through my

chest. Theo shoves me behind him, and Blake roars, “Incoming!”

Everything happens at once. Charlotte shifts in a flash of white fur and light, Shanti landing between the wolf and me with her head low

and teeth bared. Gareth shifts beside the road and slams into the grey wolf from the side, the impact driving both of them into the

snowbank. Then more wolves burst from the treeline, and for one terrible second, I think they are rogues too. Then several shift mid-

stride, bodies snapping upward into human skin, hands lifted, voices shouting, “Stop!”

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Chapter 181 Now Entering Munroe

“Alpha Atlas!”

“Hold!”

Alpha Thomas runs through the snow toward Gareth, his face pale with horror. His eyes lock on the grey wolf pinned beneath Gareth’s

massive body.

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“Alpha Gareth, please!” he shouts, palms out. “That’s my son!”

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