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Maybe in a fantasy world, I could do that. But this is the real world, and it’s gritty and bloody andmean.
Plopping Aleks’s mail on the counter, I tear open the envelope. My breath catches in my throat when I see the block letters on the form, my heart racing when I catch my name, followed by one that’s familiar.
And then I read the rest, and my world as I know it comes crashing down.
CHAPTER10
LET ME IN
Two minutes ago, I was wondering how much longer it would be until Aleks returned from the Cadre building. I wanted to feed him again—both dinner I prepped, and a little blood for sustenance—and show him just how much my wolf appreciates him as our protector and mate.
But this letter…
All I can think about now is getting the heck out of Dodge. Or, in this case,Muncie.
I can’t stay here. That much is obvious. For a couple of hours, I might’ve convinced myself that the five shifters who ambushed me last night were a fluke. With them dead, no one had to know what happened. There’d be no war, and so long as Peyton kept her mouth shut, I wouldn’t have to worry about the Alpha collective discovering what I used to be able to do.
Glancing down at the letter in my hand, I almost want to cry.
Because now? Idohave to worry about it.
I can almost guess what happened. Peyton didn’t just tell those five that I had the ability to break mate bonds with the touch of my hand. She must have gone through with her threat to inform the Alpha collective. Somehow the small shifter group was the advance guard. Whether they knew the collective would summon me to one of their gatherings or they wanted to get to me before I could have a chance to plead my case—and tell them that that part of my “gift” was gone—it doesn’t matter. They came, and my vampire slaughtered them for it.
And now I have an official summons telling me that I have twenty-four hours to present myself to the Alpha of the Northern Winds Pack
I’m familiar with him. Of course. Lone wolves need to have a handle on shifter politics to survive, and I’m no exception. I fell out of touch during the two years I was trapped in the Wolf District, but my five months on the run updated the dossier I kept in my panicked mind. Dash Harrigan has a reputation for being a tough yet fair Alpha. If he’s the one chosen to be responsible for making sure I get to the Alpha gathering, I at least am looking at a fair trial.
The Northern Pack is about three hours away from Muncie by car, a little longer if I’m in my fur. I can easily make it by the twenty-four hour deadline.
Too bad I have no intention of going.
Why should I? If I tell them that the Luna has gone silent and my “gifts” are gone, will that save me? Or will they decide I’m still too much of a threat and put me down because there’s a chance that they might return? Either way, I can’t risk it. I managed to avoid being outed to the collective for almost twelve years. If I go on the run again, I can’t see why I wouldn’t be able to stay one step ahead of them.
The problem is that Peyton knows where I am. The Alphas, too, obviously. How else could they have sent a letter to Aleks’s apartment for me? If I stay, I’m only putting my vampire in danger.
Crumpling the letter in a shaky hand, I think about what Gem said. It isn’t just vampires as a whole that are putting shifters backs up against the wall. They mentioned Muncie specifically. And, sure, she might try to convince me that they’re just grumbling because word got out that it was a Muncie vamp who finally ended the Wicked Wolf’s reign of terror, but we both know why Aleks killed Walker.
As much as he wanted revenge for what Walker put him through, Aleks challenged the former Alpha over me. He slaughtered three of the five shifters—leaving the other two to his vampires—for me. And if I tell him I’m terrified because the Alpha collective is coming after me now, he’ll do anything he can to protect me from the other shifters.
I don’t doubt that. From the moment Aleks claimed me as his beloved, he’s put me above anyone else. He’d fight the whole Luna-damned world for me, but even Aleks has his limits. He can’t stop every Alpha in the United States, and I would lose him.
I’ll tear a hundred throats before I let anyone harm a hair on your head…
He won’t forgive me for running without telling him. I understand that. He’ll think we can figure this out together—but I know better. I’m a lone wolf. I always have been. I’ve been fooling myself all along that I could have Aleks, but I have to admit, while I’m his, he’s never really been mine.
If I’m going to lose him anyway, I have to at least know that he made it. That he survived.
It’s my turn to protect him. And if that means running and leaving him behind, that’s what I’m going to have to do.
I don’t second-guess my decision; running away from a problem has always been my first instinct, and this time is no different. Instead, shoving the sweaty, crumpled letter into my back pocket, I race for the bedroom I share with Aleks. My wolf lets out a mournful whine when the scent of our mating hits me, but she doesn’t fight me. We both know this is for the best.
Grabbing the duffel I’ve kept stowed in the closet, I stuff it full of as much clothes as I can fit. My deck of tarot cards go in the front pocket. Hurrying to the kitchen, I grab some non perishables in case food is hard to find, and though I think about taking one or two trinkets that I can flip for cash, I don’t. I have my cards. If I need money, I’ll earn it.
I’m already going to hurt Aleks enough by leaving without a word. I won’t steal from him before I go.
My nerves are ratcheted as high as they can go. As I glance around, taking in the apartment for one final time, my wolf is up, pacing around inside of me. At least while I’m in Muncie, I’m going to have to be in my skin, but once I break out of the Fang City, I’ll have to go fur, lugging my duffel behind me.
I don’t leave a note. What can I say? That I love him, and I’m only leaving to save him? Maybe it’s a good thing we didn’t make it to the next Luna. I would’ve only had to reject him anyway when I couldn’t ask and receive her blessing to make him my mate, and if I had? He never would let me go.
