Her mother sighed. “Alright, I’ll take care of things with your father.”
Tanya closed her eyes and inwardly relaxed. Her father, Jeremiah Ellis, was extremely protective of her. The only reason she had been allowed to join his top three wolves on this mission was because her mom had convinced him. Tanya was no longer a child. She had trained in fighting techniques in both her human and wolf form. She might have been the child of the alphas, but she didn’t want to be treated like a princess.
“Thank you.”
“Call me as soon as you arrive at Tyler’s pack.”
Tanya nodded, although her mom couldn’t see her. “Of course.”
“I love you, Tanya.”
She smiled. Rose Ellis was one of the most caring people Tanya knew, and not just because she was her mom. Tanya had watched her mother over the years care for others, giving her time and energy to meet the needs of other pack members. Tanya’s dad always told her that his mate was the only reason he wasn’t a complete tyrant. She was just impressed that he actually recognized that he was, at least in part, a tyrant. “I love you, too. I’ll call later to let you know no rogues have run us off the road and dragged us to our doom.”
She could practically hear her mother’s eye roll. “You think that doesn’t happen? You’re not immune to bad things.”
“I know, Mom,” Tanya huffed. “I was kidding. But seriously, we’ll be fine. Won’t we, Daniel?” she hollered to the beta.
“Absolutely, Alpha,” he called from where he stood beside the other two males. “I’ll keep her out of trouble.”
“I’d say it’s too late for that,” Austin said.
Tanya turned her body as she heard a scuffle. Trevor had his arm wrapped around Austin’s neck and was attempting to cover his mouth with his hand.
“Okay, Mom,” Tanya said quickly, “I’ve got to go. You know Daniel can’t navigate a map.” Total bull. Daniel could use a GPS device they had in the van just fine without Tanya’s help. But she needed to get off the phone before Austin could say something more revealing than his already intriguing questions. He wanted to pique Rose’s interest enough that she would speak with Jeremiah about it, in hopes that he would call Daniel and try to get information out of him.
“Tell those boys not to roughhouse in the van,” her mother admonished, obviously picking up on the grunting coming from the guys. “They could distract the driver.”
“I’ll get on it,” Tanya assured her. “Love you!”
“Love you, too, darling.”
Tanya ended the call before her mother decided to ask some questions regarding Austin’s odd comments.
“Could you be any more of an ass?” Tanya glared at Austin.
Austin pushed Trevor’s hand away. “Absolutely.” He smiled. “This is low-level ass-ness. I can take it up several notches if you’d like.”
Tanya turned back to the phone and put more coins in. “I’d like you to keep your mouth closed about something that I will discuss with my parents when I’m ready to.”
Austin was quiet for several minutes before he finally spoke. “I just want you to be okay, T. You’re like a sister to us. When you hurt, we hurt.”
Her heart squeezed in her chest, and she had to focus hard to keep the bond locked down, which was hard to do when emotions were running high. And Tanya’s were definitely up there. She dialed the number she had memorized and waited for Lisa to answer.
“Your father let you off the leash?” Lisa’s voice was playful and warm.
“Ha, ha, the dog jokes never get old,” Tanya said dryly. “How’d you know it was me?”
“Your mom just called. She said, ‘Tanya’s headed your way. Find out what’s wrong.’”
Tanya rolled her eyes. She should have known her mother wouldn’t leave well enough alone. “Nothing is wrong. I just figured I’d take advantage of my brief freedom while I can.”
“Fair enough.” Lisa didn’t sound like she believed Tanya at all. “How long till you get here?”
“Ten hours,” Daniel called out, still eavesdropping on her conversation. Rude.
Tanya sighed. “Twelve with bathroom breaks. Trevor has a small bladder.”
“I know where you sleep, T,” he called back. “You should be kinder to me.”
