Page 20 of The Forbidden Alpha

“Sorry, Gabe,” she whispered. “I was just… thinking.”

“Yeah, well, knock it off. It’s not good for you,” I muttered, stepping back out. The “two-day” clock Jaxon had set was ticking down to its final hours.

“Morning, Adea,” Jaxon added as she followed me out. She gave him a stiff nod.

I threw the last bag into the back of my Challenger. Jaxon leaned against his Jeep, watching us. “Do me a favor, Gabe? Keep an eye on my daughter. I’ll be in meetings with the Table and with all the unmated males in the North, I won’t be able to keep an eye on her. I’d ask Shane, but I have a feeling he’ll be chasing skirts.”

Like I don’t have any plans.

“No problem, Alpha.”

“Appreciate it.” He looked at Adea, then back to me, a flash of something—pity?—moved in his eyes.

If the Goddess didn’t speak by your fourth year, you were expected to stop dreaming and start settling. I’ve always been the oddball, so I’ll wait for them until I grow old and gray. But to Jaxon, I had one year left of usefulness before my transition into a rogue or madness begins. Most found their mate, or took a chosen. I don’t know what I’d do yet. He was from that generation where if we didn’t have a big claiming moment, we were hopeless.

My phone buzzed. My stomach churned with dread before I even looked.

Shane: We’re pulling out. If she tries to run, call me. Let me know the second you cross the border.

I stared at the screen until the words blurred. Shane wasn’t asking for an update; he demanded it like she belonged to him. I looked at Adea, who was staring at the woods one last time. I didn’t need to ask her what happened. I already knew. Shane was a lunatic; he was a smart, cold-blooded ass who viewed her as property, and he’d gladly remove any obstacle that stood in his way just to have her. He’d been stalking her every move, and he somehow thought I’d help him. I’d be the first to help my girl run, but I had to play the part. I tapped, ‘Sure. About to head out,’ to appease the headcase.

Dick.

I shoved the phone into my pocket and headed for the car. Time to get this show on the road. I threw my arm over her shoulder and she looked up at me wide-eyed as I leaned down. “Let’s run away,” I whispered.

She smirked, and we dashed to my Challenger.

Chapter 11

Adea

We were ten hours in before the sweltering heat had my clothes sticking to my skin, a second, unwanted layer. I pulled the scrunchie from my wrist and balled my hair up into a bun, the loose strands whipped free in the wind. Riding in Gabe’s red 1970 Challenger was a lifestyle—a loud, gasoline-scented rebellion against the suffocating obedience of the prison we called home. It was scorching, the sun beating down on the asphalt, but with the windows down and the engine growling beneath us, it was the closest thing to freedom I’d ever felt.

I reached for the book in my lap. Cruel Devotion was about a young woman snatched from her bed, her family murdered by a gruesome beast. Last I left off, she was being dragged through the woods, and I was desperate to disappear into someone else’s nightmare. Before I could crack the spine, Gabe snatched it.

“No, no, no. We are not doing the ‘library nerd’ thing today. Save the monsters for bedtime or when you’re sulking. We are on top of the world now, babes,” he said, tossing the paperback into the backseat. I flinched and twisted my body, the need to ensure it landed safely made me move without thought.

I sighed when I found it still in perfect condition on his leather seats. I chewed my bottom lip, flipping back around and scowling at him. If only the monsters stayed in the books. “Fine. What’s the snack situation?”

“Non-existent. You bulldozed through my stash. Pit stop is a must,” Gabe decided. I socked him in the shoulder.

“I did no such thing! You’re a trash panda. Your lap is literally a bag graveyard!” I grabbed the bags and threw them at my feet. He pulled a hand to his chest and had the audacity to act appalled. Then he veered off the exit at the last possible second, pulling the Challenger into a dusty, middle-of-nowhere gas station right off the highway that looked like it hadn’t seen a coat of paint in decades.

The air outside the car was so hot I felt it with every breath. We were the only ones here and I gave him a ‘you better be ready to run if someone jumps out to kill us’ look. Inside the station, the air conditioning was a dying, metallic shriek that made me grind my teeth. We moved through the aisles, scavenging. I stood on my tiptoes and found Gabe with an armful. I rushed my haul to the counter: three chocolate bars, pepper-chips, and three different kinds of cookies. Gabe was the responsible adult and had bottles of water, vitamin packets, things to make sandwiches, and his favorite—tropical gummies.

Gabe dumped a handful of jerky onto the pile. “Protein,” he winked. “For the beast within.”

I laughed, a genuine, small sound that surprised me. For a second, Shane felt miles away.

The bell above the door gave a sad chime as we pushed back out into the sun. The heat hit hard, thick with the scent of burnt sweets and rotting roadkill.

“Six more hours,” Gabe said, quieter than before. “We have to clear the pass before dark, or we’re stuck up here.”

He said it easily, the way you do when anywhere is fine as long as it isn’t alone. I recognized the deflection because I used it too. He looked up at the horizon, where the peaks of the Northern mountaintops sat, a wall of iron against the sky.

“Why’s that?” I asked, climbing into the leather seat.

“There’s a snowstorm coming.” The car jerked as he jumped in.