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Once he has, I shake my head. “Nah. This is supposed to be a quick trip. If I see some of my regulars, I’ll end up in there way longer than I should.”
That’s true. Can you imagine if Vin or Jimmy want to chat? I can see it now. They’ll tell me to pull up a stool and ask me all about where I’ve been. Vinnie for sure will have something to say about me mating Mountainside’s Alpha, and Jane… oh, Jane will probably have a lecture for me. She really thought I should end up with Aleks.
Luna, I miss them. My regulars. My co-workers. My friends… I miss everything about Charlie’s, but it’s different now. Everything’s changed.
Including me.
I can’t bring myself to go in there. Not yet. Not while I don’t know when I’m coming back—or even if I am.
Technically, I didn’t quit. Just like, technically, I haven’t moved out of Muncie. When he was trying to convince me to mate him, Ryker bought a place on the edge of Muncie’s downtown area; when I finally gave in, he gave me the deed as a mating gift. It’s mine, so I have a home here. And if it wasn’t for my bio-dad pulling his stunt, I probably would have been moved in by now.
All that’s on hold. Ryker came down to Muncie himself with a couple of my guards shortly after Trish was taken, packing up everything I had left behind so that he could bring it to the Alpha’s cabin. Since Aleks made good on his threat to have all of my stuff from the apartment packed up and moved to the townhouse, it was as easy as Duke, Dorian, and Ryker loading it into a pack truck and driving it back to Accalia.
When I headed to the mountains to get mated, I only brought enough clothes with me to last the week I planned to take off. Once it became obvious that I would be sticking around a little longer, Ryker made sure I had everything else so that I was comfortable living with him.
And if it’s super obvious that he wants to keep me there for good, I pretend I don’t notice. I knew what I was getting into when I decided to bond with an alpha wolf with a tendency to be overbearing and possessive. Until the threat hanging over my head is gone, I get that I’m gonna have to stay on pack land.
This isn’t me leaving. If I was going to leave, I would’ve done anything to stop Jace from coming with me, instead of letting him tag along. No. This is me realizing that I still have people I care about in the Fang City who probably need a head’s up.
I don’t have to worry about telling any of my human friends, my vamp boss, or my regulars at the bar. As soon as I get the message to the Cadre, word will spread. Especially if things are as serious between Dominic and Hailey as they seem, they’ll be protected from another breach courtesy of the Wicked Wolf.
Roman Zakharov certainly needs to be told. I’m kind of surprised that Ryker hasn’t already told the vamp leader, but knowing how my mate feels about vampires—calling them bloodsuckers, for example—I guess it was the last thing on his mind.
He only played nice with Roman because it was the only way to earn a ticket into Muncie. Now that we’re mated, it doesn’t matter.
To him, I correct. To him, it doesn’t matter. His focus is on his pack—as it should be.
But me?
I still have some unfinished business here.
“Come on,” I tell Jace. “We’ve got one more stop to make before we head back.”
* * *
The back doorto Aleks’s apartment might’ve been open like it always used to be, but it doesn’t take long for me to realize that no one’s been home for a while.
I take a deep breath. Over Jace’s woodsy scent, I pick up traces of my own, Aleks’s, and a whole lot of dust. If I was pressed to answer, I would say that Aleks hasn’t been back to the apartment since, oh, maybe two weeks ago?
Gee. What a surprise. I’ve already learned that, when he’s hurt, he bolts. He did it when I refused to take him as my mate over Ryker, and I’m beginning to think he had the same reaction after I told him I was making our mating final.
Just in case, I leave Jace in the living room. He’d insisted on joining me in the apartment when we hit the fire escape, and since I already suspected what I would find, I didn’t argue.
I put my foot down when he starts to follow me toward the hall, though. This is Aleks’s territory and Jace can freaking stay put.
Knocking on Aleks’s door is pointless; I can already sense his absence. My wolf leads me to my old room, and though I already knew he’d done exactly what he said he would, it’s a little bittersweet to see it so empty. It’s like he was desperate to erase every hint of me before he took off himself.
The rest of the apartment is unchanged. The tea is where Aleks left it in the kitchen, the row of mugs he kept specifically for me lined up as if he still believes that, one day, I’ll return to drink out of them. The bathroom is the same, the same low fragrance body wash propped on the side. Even the living room is untouched.
On the newly repaired coffee table, I see a snapshot of Aleks. His glasses are folded neatly next to a book written in Polish. There’s an empty notepad sitting crooked, a pencil tossed absently on top. And, there, sparkling in the lamplight Jace must’ve turned on, is a golden chain.
My heart sinks.
It’s a golden chain with a pure white fang hanging off of it.
My fang—
No. Not mine.
