She drove the truck as fast as she could down the road. They had six hours till Drew would call for the Winter Solstice run to start followed by a party like the pack had never seen. She patted the seat next to her just to be sure it was really there. They’d never had Christmas before, and she’d never had a reason to buy Drew a gift in December. She had braved the human mall to get him the damn thing, and she wanted to get it home, wrapped, and set up before Drew led the pack on the Winter Solstice run. The car sputtered and made a strange noise before black smoke shot out the back. Jerking the wheel, Betty turned the car off the road. “Shit.” She clenched her teeth. Obviously, she should have had someone look at it before she’d taken the drive. Drew’s car they occasionally used, hers had been sitting stagnant for a long time. When it started up without issue, she’d assumed everything was fine. Betty pulled out her cell phone.
