Three hours into our drive, and Maddox still won't explain to me where we're going.

"What do you mean you don't know? You're the one behind the wheel!"

"I have a couple of men watching Aiden right now. Once he stops moving, we'll find a place to stay close by and we'll be able to track him ourselves from there."

He takes his hand off the steering wheel and places it on my thigh, giving it a nervous squeeze.

"Are you scared to see him again? Your brother?" I ask hesitantly.

His face remains calm as his eyes glance at me before returning to the road ahead. His hand twitches on my leg, the only sign of how he really feels.

"I just want this whole nightmare to be over with already," he shrugs. "The sooner the better."

I place my hand on top of his and plant a soft kiss on his cheek before leaning my head against his shoulder.

"Well, this isn't exactly how I envisioned our first getaway together, but let's make the best of it, shall we?"

We laugh and Maddox nods, all the tension we feel about our upcoming mission quickly melting away. We drive around aimlessly for hours with still no updates on Aiden's whereabouts and finally settle on stopping at a lone diner on the side of the highway.

It looks like something straight out of the 1950s, decked out in neon lights, black and white checkered floors, and an old school jukebox in the corner. It's quiet, but there are several couples eating and talking softly to each other in the booths along the wall, and two men sitting up at the bar.

They don't speak to each other, they don't even look at each other despite the fact that they're sitting side by side, instead keeping their attention on the coffee cups in front of them. They stick out in the cheerful diner atmosphere, but I chalk it up to them being a couple of weary travelers and turn my focus back to Maddox.

I wrap my arms around his waist, tucking my hands underneath his coat and shirt to press my cold fingers against his back. He hisses at the contact and I smile innocently up at him.

"Do you have a quarter I can use?" I bat my lashes at him.

"I'll give you anything you want if you get those fingers off my back. Holy shit, Poppy, you sure you're not a vampire?" He jokes, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet.

I thank him by stretching up to kiss him on the nose and skip over to the jukebox while he finds us an open booth.

There are only about forty songs to choose from, but I scroll through each one carefully, searching for one song in particular. I grin to myself when I finally find it and walk back to the booth Maddox picked out as Can't Take my Eyes Off You serenades the dining room.

"This is my parents' song," I explain shyly as I slide in across from Maddox.

There's a funny look on his face, and for a moment I think I've somehow crossed a line, but he gives me one of his rare, soft smiles and shakes his head gently.

"It's my parents' song, too," He tells me. "I remember hearing it late at night and Aiden and I would run downstairs to see them dancing to it around the kitchen. They'd scold us for being out of bed so late, but then they'd make us a late night snack. We'd sit around laughing and talking until mom and dad carried us back upstairs."

He gets that far-away look on his face as he recalls the memory and I can feel the happiness radiating off of him.

"I remember being so envious of my parents. They were so in love and I couldn't wait to have a mate that I could dance around the kitchen with," he continues. "They're still in love now, but it's not the same. I don't think they've danced like that since Aiden left."

The happiness fades to feelings of guilt and that far-away look becomes troubled as Maddox turns his gaze to stare out the window.

"Maddox, it's okay to remember the good moments, too. You don't have to feel guilty for looking back at memories of Aiden and thinking fondly of them. He hasn't always been this way."

"I know, I know, it's just- it's hard for me to imagine that the same boy who'd run down the stairs with me is the same one who's terrorizing my pack and my mate."

"There's no way any of you could have known what being rejected would have done to him," I say gently, desperately wanting to wipe the frown from his face. "Rejection at Lupercalia is so rare for both of our kinds, even the books don't go into too much detail about any of it. You and your family can't keep beating yourselves up over his actions forever."

Maddox opens his mouth to respond, but something catches his attention out of the corner of his eye- one of the guys at the bar gets up and heads for the bathroom. The look he gives me as he walks past our booth sends a chill straight down my spine.

"Maddox, we need to leave. Now," I whisper, shooting him a panicked look.

He furrows his brows at me in confusion and turns his head to glance back at the guy just as he disappears into the bathroom.

"Why? We just ordered our food."

"Those guys at the bar are rogues."

"No," He shakes his head. "There's no way, I'd be able to smell a rogue from miles away. They're just weird, ignore them."

"No, I promise you, I-"

I'm interrupted by the sound of something sliding across the tile. We both look up to see the other man from the bar pulling a chair up to the end of our booth, a sinister smile painted on his face.

"Alpha," he greets Maddox with a nod.

His smile fades when he glances in my direction, his face full of disgust.

"Witch," he spits at me.

Easy, I tell Maddox through our link.

I can tell he's furious and he's gripping the table so hard I'm afraid it might snap in half.

No sudden movements. Let's just see what they want before we traumatize the humans.

You know exactly what they fucking want, Poppy.

"Why are you here?" I ask softly, hoping to distract the rogue from my mate's murderous glare.

He shrugs, his smirk returns as he stares at Maddox's white-knuckled hold on the table.

"We were told to give you a message."

His friend returns from the bathroom and stands behind him, looking bored and uninterested in being part of the conversation.

"We don't want it," Maddox growls at them.

"I wasn't aware that I gave you a choice. Alpha Aiden would like you to know that he knows what you're up to and advises you to give up the girl quietly. The easier you make this, the less your pack suffers."

"Alpha Aiden? I didn't realize rogues recognized any sort of hierarchy."

Even though the title was the least concerning thing about his statement, I couldn't help but notice it. Rogues were known for making their own path after leaving their packs. They were notoriously lone wolves. The idea of them banding together enough to recognize a leader was bad news.

"Shut up, Witch. No one was speaking to you," the quiet one finally speaks up.

Maddox slams his fists on the table at his response, causing the wood to crack and splinter under them. The diner becomes deadly silent as the remaining guests and staff look over at us, their expressions an equal mix of horror and shock.

"I will snap your fucking neck right here if you speak to her like that again," Maddox snarls at him.

His voice is quiet, barely above a whisper, but his rough tone is full of deadly promise.

"Now now, no need to scare the humans," the smiley one responds. "We're merely here to relay the message. You don't need to have your men tracking us anymore. Bring the girl to Aiden yourself and your pack's coven will not be harmed. Otherwise, we'll be... forced to come collect her on our terms."

He finally faces me, smirking wide enough that his fangs are bared and full of malicious intent, telling me exactly what his terms would be if he came back to find me.

He slips Maddox a piece of paper and stands up, following his friend out the door. Maddox opens it up to find an address scribbled out on it, and it isn't until he places a hand on my bouncing knee under the table that I realize my whole body is shaking.