He laughs. “Plotting, huh?” He takes something out of his bag. I didn’t even notice he was carrying one. “Here, your mother and I wanted to give a present to Dario and you for the hard work you have put into the last two years. You are both very helpful and never turn any of your siblings down if they need help.”
“What is this?” I blink when he hands me a small book and an envelope.
“It’s a map,” he says. “In the envelope is a credit card. I am not giving you an endless budget, so make sure to spend it wisely. Ifyou do it well, you will be able to travel around for two to three months.”
“What?!” I exclaim.
“I have talked to the other packs, and they know you will be passing through. Liam has recently upgraded his car to a bigger one. He offered for you to take his old one. It’s sturdier than what you are driving now. How about you take a friend or two with you?” he offers. “There is definitely enough space for Charlie, at least.”
“Wait a moment, Liam is in on it, as well?”
He grins. “All of them are, actually,” he says.
Man, my siblings are amazing!
“Make this a road trip and see something of the country.”
“What…what… what!? Dario and I always wanted to do that!”
“I know,” he chuckles.
There are times to act modest and there are times to accept an amazing gift. I grip it tighter, before pumping a fist in the air. “This is fuck-“ I clear my throat. “-freaking amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I tackle him in a hug before I grab my bag. “I need to talk to Dario and start planning. Oh, and I need to thank Mom. This is amazing!”
I dash off, running right back to the packhouse, when I spot Dario running towards me at full speed. “Here you are!” he yells. “Did Dad already-“
“He did!”
“Can you believe it?” Dario brushes through his hair. “It’s only going to be us, and he said we could invite Charlie along, too.”
In a family so big, it’s rare to be completely on your own. This is a completely new experience for us. For the first time ever, it’s just going to be the two of us, maybe with some friends, for more than just a day. It almost sounds too good to be true. “Maybe he will send warriors with us?”
“I asked him,” Dario clarifies, as usual, thinking of everything. “But he said, he talked to other packs and made sure their warriors keep an eye on us without following us around.”
I gape. “No way!”
“He said, he actually trusts us to look out for ourselves,” Dario says, tilting his head to the side. “Still can’t even grasp it.”
“But it’s true,” I grin. “Let’s start planning!” I pause. “Wait, you are done with your exams, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, completely done. I am ready for this.”
Dario and I immediately throw ourselves into planning everything. The first person we contact is Charlie, and she is instantly on board. Seems like her parents are very pleased with the opportunity for her, too, which says a lot, because her dad tends to worry a lot.
We don’t have the time to plan every detail, as we want to make as much use of the time we have. Dario holds onto the credit card and will keep our budget in mind, while I will be handling the map. We have planned the route, roughly, and booked two hostels on the way.
“How about we take a tent with us?” Charlie offers. She has just dropped by to help with the planning. “I bet a lot of places allow camping, and it would cost us less, plus it’s more private.”
“Not a bad idea, actually,” Dario says. “Finn likes camping. I bet we can borrow his camping gear.”
He is right. Finn is one of our brothers, and currently, leading a pack far in the north. Maybe we can actually visit him on our tour. He likes camping, but left most of his stuff behind.
“I will give him a call,” Dario says.
“Pity that Gisela won’t join us,” Charlie sighs. “But I get it. She is here for warrior training. She obviously can’t skip three months of it.”
“What about your other friends?” I ask. “I guess we could take one more person along. Anyone else would obviously blow our budget.”
“Austen or Ty?” she asks.
