<i>Things are better where we're going."</i><br/><br/>Eivind sounded so confident when he said those words but Blue couldn't be so sure. The boy nodded quietly, staring longingly out the window and seeing only dark shadows and inky black shapes in the distance. Alaric moved down the road at a pace that suggested caution, but he knew where he was going. He knew what lay ahead, as did Eivind, but Blue couldn't seem to imagine anything other than more misery waiting for him on the blurry horizon.<br/><br/>It had been so long since he had sat in his own car. The half-empty water bottle still stood in the cup holder up front, and a string with beaded turquoise and onyx stones hung from the rear view mirror. The car's interior was untouched, unmoved, like the entirety of the past month had passed without incident, and perhaps had never happened at all. But the scars on Blue's body and the pain in his side told him that his experiences had been very much real and no amount of wishing or positive thinking was going to change that. He continued to say nothing to Eivind, and was appreciative that Alaric also chose to remain silent as the other wolf's prodding probably would not have resulted in anything good. The thought crossed Blue's mind that he would have to try to acquire the keys at some point. Unless Eivind planned on chaining him down, having his car be so close and ready to move at any time was too large of a temptation to ignore. If Blue could get his keys from the wolves, he could take his car and drive as far as possible, either until the road or his gas gave out, and hopefully find some humans along the way who could help him and get him back to his family.<br/><br/>Blue was surprised when Alaric drove to a new area, filled with some semblance of civilization. Small wooden homes dotted the area, and people (whom Blue assumed must have been the rest of Eivind and Alaric's pack), moved around, some clothed some not, but all of them with a sense of purpose. They stared as this unfamiliar vehicle quietly weaved through the area, eventually settling next to an old truck in front of a quaint house with an illuminated front porch. Eivind helped Blue exit the car, but Blue wasn't paying much attention to the man who held him. This wasn't what he had been expecting. Lofgren's pack was wild, preferring to sleep underneath the stars than constructed roofs, eating almost nothing but the fresh meat they caught and any foods that naturally grew in the forest, only sometimes seeming to acquire human food from sources Blue never identified. The only "home" of any sort Blue had ever seen was the cabin, and if the wolves had houses apart from that Blue certainly never saw them. But this . . . this was a community. Males, females, even children rushing around in the darkness, their parents calling to them to retire for the night. If a human stumbled upon this place, it would have been easy to convince him that this was just a settlement of more humans. Extremely secluded and perhaps eccentric humans, but humans nonetheless. It would have been strange, but not so much to inspire unease or suspicion. Blue was forced to wonder which pack was considered the norm, Lofgren's or Eivind's? Even if Eivind's pack was more integrated into society and somewhat modern, they were still werewolves, and Blue didn't allow cute houses and nuclear families to make him forget that their potential for violence and cruelty was vast.<br/><br/>Eivind led Blue into his home and moved him over to the overstuffed couch that sat in front of a brick fireplace, where Eivind went after he had deposited Blue. "You live here alone?" Blue asked curiously, taking in all the furs and what looked to be handmade furniture around the home. It was small, but not cramped, a good size for a couple or maybe a family with a single child. It seemed strange to him that Eivind wouldn't have anyone else to share this place with, but then again, Eivind didn't come across as the warmest person he had ever met, so perhaps he had chosen the life of a perpetual bachelor.<br/><br/>A few quiet, awkward moments stretched between the two as Eivind continued to move around and Blue just sat there, unsure of what he was supposed to be doing. Were he to ask Eivind, he was sure that the wolf would just grunt a concise "nothing," maybe expand on how he was supposed to rest of he was feeling generous with his words. He decided that if Eivind wasn't going to start a conversation with him, he would have to do it instead, and there was really only one thing that Blue had any desire to talk about.<br/><br/>"You got me here," he began slowly, prodding at Eivind with the inquisitive tone in his voice. "You convinced Alaric to help me and clean my wound, killed Alden, dragged me all across Lofgren's forest, hardly ever stopping. You never let me out of your sight, all so you could bring me here, to your house?" Blue bit his lip and inhaled deeply before continuing. "That's a shit ton of work to do for someone you planned on killing. Now that we're here, are you finally going to tell me what the fuck is going on?"