It took less than an hour to gather the travelling group.
Sam had Ameer's SUV packed full of their luggage. In the end, Akela had convinced Ezekiel to let her carry a pack too and he had reluctantly let her grab a pack of her own stuff.

Akela sat in the car with Zion and Abel either side. Ezekiel sat in the passenger side and Sam took the drivers seat for the first leg of the journey. Ezekiel and Abel would each take turns to drive, and Ezekiel had promised to let Akela practice her driving once they hit a calm stretch of road. She had been out with Ameer every week and discovered a surprising love of motorways. The feeling of flying when she sped along was still a power trip, but Ezekiel was more focused on their journey.

Zion's leg jiggled as they drove through the town. Akela picked up his edginess and realised suddenly he had never seen it. She reached for his hand, not knowing how to reassure him, considering she wasn't overly confident in human villages herself. In the link between them she felt him relax at her touch before his leg stopped moving. He moved their hands into his lap and wove their fingers together, stroking her knuckles gently while he looked at the roads, shopfronts and people outside the window. To passers-by, it looked like a large dog was placed in the back seat, studying them with a curious look in his eyes. But to Akela, he was overjoyed and terrified at the same time.

Akela squeezed his hand taking some of his stress. His tail whipped fast with the excitement of being out of the territory, while his body was in high alert because of all the new sensory impressions. He didn't even know he was squeezing Akela's fingers every time he saw something new or interesting.

On her other side, Abel was apparently half asleep with music plugged into his ears, but his mind was on how the two next to him were practically cuddling while excitedly pointing to stuff passing by outside the car. He wanted to be annoyed, but Zion was so overwhelmed with seeing everything around him, he wasn't even aware of the details Abel saw. Such as the way Akela would rub her thumb across his knuckles every time she saw something she thought he would like or how the two of them wore matching grins.

Abel sighed and decided to not ruin his brother's moment. His own flickering jealousy would have to wait. Quietly he hoped Kira was into overexcited halfies.

Two hours later, Zion fell asleep from sheer sensory overload. Like a toddler, he was pointing at a horse in a field one moment and asleep before anyone could give him the repeated reply of "Yes, Zion... it's a thing..."

The end of their first day on the road brought them to the edge of a forest.

Ezekiel got out of the car and watched the youngsters get out and stretch stiff backs before Sam ordered the boys to help set up a tent.

"Akela," Ezekiel said softly before she could start digging out Zion's sleeping bag and the mats for the rest of them.

She turned to look at her uncle with the respect she still wanted to show him as her Alpha.

"Let them sort out the camping gear," Ezekiel ordered and waved for her to follow him to a quiet area a short walk into the woods.

Akela looked at him.

"Have you linked Kira since we left home?" he asked.

Akela wrinkled her nose before shaking her head. Tending to Zion's terrified world expansion had taken most of her focus.

"I mean... I feel her presence... she's still alive," she explained.

Ezekiel nodded and rolled out a blanket.

"If you need to, do whatever Aimee taught you. I need her to know we're on our way and I need you to feel for directions," he instructed and left her alone to unpack the gear.

Akela sat down on the blanket and took a deep breath before following Kira's presence. Relieved to feel it stretching in roughly the direction they were travelling, she pushed the link open.

"Kira!" she announced and was met with a feeling that felt almost like a hug.

"We're on our way, Kira! To the cabin where dad wanted to spend or last winter with mama!" she said, repeating the meeting-place.

"I know, Aki! I can feel you. And you have to tell me who you're travelling with because I keep getting these bursts of... belonging," Kira thought back, making Akela want to stay quiet.

She threw a look over towards where two men, bored with sitting in a car for a whole day were laughing and play-wrestling over by the tent. She smiled at the way they obviously cared for each other.

"You'll meet them soon," she linked and loaded the thought with a playfully coy secrecy.

A stunned surprise came from Kira pretty fast.

"Did you... are you..." Kira's presence was pushing hard before a pause and a loud "THEM?!?"

Akela laughed at Kira's shocked assumption.

"You freaky little minx!" Kira teased with a tangible laughter trickling along with the thought.

Akela blushed at the insinuation she felt Kira hinted to.

Kira's presence in her mind felt curious.

"I'm not claimed, Ki," Akela chuckled as she realised Kira was searching for Akela's mated link.

"Damn!" Kira smiled.

Akela laughed again. Despite her sister being physically weak, she was relieved to feel her humour still being intact.

"I have a surprise for you too," Kira said with what Akela knew was a cheeky grin.

Akela expressed her surprise as Kira revealed a link, a family link, to a third person. Kira's son was too young for such a strong presence. It had to be an adult.

"Who is that?" Akela asked, wondering who Kira could have such a close family bond with.

"You'll see," Kira replied, teasing Akela's curiosity just like she always had.

"Just get to the cabin, will you!" Akela sighed and dangled her own link with Zion and Abel just out of Kira's reach.

"We'll be there. I can't wait to see you again!" Kira said and Akela felt her twin's tiredness.

"I can't wait to see you too," Akela whispered into the air.

A burst of her sister's love made Akela's throat constrict.

There were so many things she wanted to say, so many things she wanted her sister to know, but the sheer terror of maybe having to lose her again if Preston North caught up with them, held her back. Kira, although the fear was there in their link, had somehow managed to keep her personality and sense of humour.

"Hey, Aki," Kira linked, sounding a lot more serious.

Akela returned a mental nod.

"I'm really scared, okay... But I need you to keep sending me those happy little sparks you get whenever your guys do their magic. Because I need that to keep going..." Kira admitted, finally revealing her vulnerability.

Akela grinned and looked again at where Zion was running around, doing some weird freedom dance.

She relayed the happy feeling at seeing his wiggling tail to Kira before sending a mental hug. Her sister was near sleep.

Focusing on the two brothers, Akela returned to the campsite.

Zion was still swinging his butt around his younger brother who was on the ground, laughing. Ezekiel and Sam were sat by the car, pondering over the map.

"Akela!" Ezekiel called when he saw her.

She smiled at her uncle and made her way over.

"She's weak, but moving. I'm sending her as much energy as I can," Akela reported.

Ezekiel nodded before bringing her attention to the map.

"We'll save some travelling if we cut straight across here. But it means visiting the Estuary pack," Ezekiel said.

Abel was on his feet, his face set in a stony frown before Ezekiel could even complete the sentence.

"Nope! Not happening!" He nearly snarled.

Ezekiel lifted an eyebrow and looked at Akela. His amusement nearly surfacing.

"There is no way you are going near that.... that... inflated... conceited..." Abel sputtered.

"Describing yourself there are you?" Zion's voice delivered dryly.

Ezekiel looked at the two of them with an exasperated shake of his head.

"I have already phoned Solomon. He and his father are expecting us tomorrow night," the Alpha stated firmly eliciting a series of mumbled swearing from Abel before he stomped over to the nearest tree, kicking the trunk.

Akela sighed and looked at her uncle.

"The estuary heir was quite taken with you and has offered to help us out as long as it keeps him away from trouble with the north," Ezekiel smiled.

She nodded in acceptance. Whatever her Alpha decided, she would do. Ezekiel gave her a quick hug before sending her off to adjust her bed for the night. Zion was equipped with a sleeping bag whereas the rest of them would sleep in wolf shape on sheepskins.

By morning, Abel was still grumpy.

Zion was shooting him little teasing glances that seemed to aggravate him even more.

"You worried about not being the best looking guy in the room? Or is it the fact that this guy has serious amounts of money?" Zion chuckled as another grumbled uttering of displeasure left Abel's mouth.

He turned to look at his brother with a deep frown.

"Shut it before I kick you out of the car!" Abel growled.

Between them, Akela sat, finding Zion's teasing quite entertaining. Just like the day before, Zion found the landscape fascinating and would point out every weird thing to Akela.

"Behave, Abel. Solomon has offered to invest in rebuilding my old sawmill. Our territories are full of timber and our packs are growing. We need a source of income," Ezekiel sighed from the front seat.

Akela looked at him through the mirror with a frown.

"He wasn't part of the grand search for you mother, Akela. He visited to discuss business. Gerry knows him from business school," Ezekiel grinned mischievously.

There was a sense of amusement from her Alpha that embarrassed her.

"But Gerry said..." Abel huffed.

"He visited Gerry before he came to see me, yes. And Gerry told him about our search for Akela's family and her bond with you two. So he asked if he could meet her to see if he recognised her from somewhere," Ezekiel grinned in unhidden amusement.

Zion stared at Akela, studying her for any reaction until she started laughing.

"Damn... He might be my new best friend!" she giggled, remembering his deliberate winding up of the two men next to her.

"He was an ass!" Abel grumbled.

Akela elbowed him gently.

"No. That was you, strutting around like a peacock," she chuckled.

Abel resumed his epic sulk, staring out the window until they pulled up to a rather large mansion, just outside a large city. A bridge connected the drive to the city across the river with a stunning view across a wide estuary and the ocean.

Akela followed Zion out of the car and stretched before looking towards the entrance to the house. Down the front steps, with a wide smile on his face, strode Solomon Waters alongside an older, similarly handsome man. Both were informally dressed, looking relaxed and friendly.

"Alpha Lowell Waters! Thank you for inviting us," Ezekiel smiled and walked up to shake the older Lycan's hand in the human fashion.

"My heir was pleased with your way of running your pack, I was intrigued to see if the Cizinec heir had really broken the warrior tradition," the other Alpha smiled.

Ezekiel laughed at the suggestion an shook his head.

"I'm afraid the warrior heritage was not my path," he grinned and brought his hand out to introduce the rest of them.

Solomon was stood there looking aloof, but shooting Akela small smirks whenever Abel made displeased face. She nodded back respectfully.

"Let me introduce you to the last remaining Cizinec, My Delta prime, Samwise Cizinec Bari and my niece, Akela James. I believe your heir has already met Alpha Gervais' betas, Zion and Abel Connor," Ezekiel introduced, informally leaving out the wolf names.

Lowell studied the group, briefly studying Zion before fixing on Akela.

"You're the girl searching for her sister am I right?" he asked with a friendly smile, holding a hand out to greet.

Akela curtsied, as Allie had taught her to do, and shook his hand politely.

"She has just escaped the confines of the North, we're heading to a hidden location to meet her and bring her home," Ezekiel explained.

Lowell simply nodded. He preferred having nothing to do with the North and indicated for the group to head indoors.

"I'm afraid the halfie will have to stay indoors. While we are a modern pack, a few of our members are quite superstitious. And we have a few humans who are unaware of our dual nature. He might cause some fear," Lowell told Ezekiel just loud enough for the rest of them to overhear.

Akela felt Zion's mood drop and his heart fell. Surrounding the house, was a large garden, they could see a fire pit, surrounded by paving in mosaic patterns out through the back window. She knew he had hoped to explore some of the nearby areas but was stopped in his newfound wanderlust by his unconventional looks.

"I'll stay in with you," Akela whispered and took his hand.

Behind them, Abel was still busy glaring suspiciously at Solomon and the way the host was guiding Akela through the winding corridors of the house with small touches.

Eventually, the host Alpha opened a door to a large guest suite with multiple bedrooms and a large living area, complete with a top modern entertainment centre.

"I trust our guest quarters will be sufficient?" The host smiled at them before he and Ezekiel left the room, heading for the Alpha's office to discuss whatever business arrangements they had started negotiating. Judging by the modern human luxuries around them, Akela came to the understanding that whatever this pack was involved in, they were doing it well.

"Don't look so suspicious, my dear friend," Solomon whispered to Akela with a cheeky grin that had Abel growling deep in his chest and Zion holding a hand on his brother's arm to stop him from attacking.

Solomon looked at the two brother's with a grin before focusing on Akela again.

"Most of our money is paid back into charities. Replanting rainforests, children's hospitals, animal shelters, that sort of stuff..." he smiled. Akelsanodded back at him letting him lead her further into the room towards where Sam was already looking through the movie collection.

"The TV is logged in to my Netflix. Watch whatever you want," Solomon indicated the sofa.

With a sigh, Zion slapped his brother's shoulder in a final effort to lighten him up.

"I don't know about you... but Teen Wolf?" he asked Akela and dragged her towards the sofa, leaving Abel to stew in his own bad mood.

"I like the way you think," Solomon grinned at Zion and in a single instant, the two of them came to an understanding.

Akela sat down next to Sam, while the two new best buddies fist-bumped and started sharing their mutual love of werewolf movies. 

****
Okay you Fanimals...

I'm at the point of writing where I'm considering casting some of the characters.

A few stay the same as in A Woman's Best Friend, (Ezekiel is still Oliver Dench, Archer is still Jensen Ackles and Rayleigh is still Alia Bahtt...) 

So... If Archer and Rayleigh are Gervais, Zion, Abel and Diana's parents, I need to research mixed origin, hot guys for Gervais, Abel and Zion... (such a struggle, I assure you... 😉)

I have a photo of Zion for inspo, but the dude is a few years too old for the part.
So I won't share his cute face until the story allows it and I know if I'll keep him...

Anyway.

How do we feel about Avon Jorgia as Abel?

And Abel Hotaki as Gervais (yes... His name is actually Abel... but he doesn't look like my Abel...)

I'm leaning towards Dianna Agron for Akela (and by extension Kira..)

Because she's super cute...

but I'm not convinced yet... 

Because Bindi Irwin exists and she'd be a kick-ass Akela/Kira...  

(and we can't really complain about possibly casting her dad, the legendary Steve "Crocodile hunter" Irwin, as Link? Can we?)

Opinions?