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Prologue
Summer
My heart is beatingan erratic rhythm in my chest as I punch my four digit PIN into the ATM down the block from my pack house.
No.
Not my pack house. Not anymore.
My cheek throbs at the reminder. I lift a shaky hand and prod at the tender skin around my eye that has already begun to swell. Never in the two years after we'd bonded had she lifted so much as a finger in anger. None of them had.
Two years of bliss; of love and devotion. I thought I'd found my forever pack. My destined mates. They were supposed to care for me and me for them. It is literally what being destined means. We were fated for each other. Perfect matches.
Or so I thought.
Then I got pregnant. All four of us were over the moon at the news. Connor and Brody had started to treat me like glass, but it was in an adoring way. Never letting me carry anything heavier than ten pounds, making sure I was taking my vitamins, and rubbing my back through the morning sickness. Jade though...she was exultant. She found out a few years ago that she’d have trouble conceiving because of her polycystic ovary syndrome, so this was her chance at being a mother, and you could watch her love for me and the baby grow exponentially when I gave her the good news.
Not even two weeks after finding out about the pregnancy, I lost her. Him. It. My little peanut. We had two weeks of undimmable happiness.
I couldn't tell you who the father was. My pack—myformerpack—was made up of me and my three alphas: Connor, Brody, and Jade.
Jade being the head alpha and our pack leader. Don't let the fact that she is the only female alpha in the pack fool you. She is incredibly successful, confident, and strong. My black eye proves that.
Connor and Brody are both successful, too, but they're content in their roles under Jade. To think, less than forty eight hours ago I never would have imagined a day where they were abusive, and now I'm fleeing under the cover of darkness. One hit is all it took. I won't stick around a second longer and wait for their behavior to escalate. Jade may have been the one to land the blow, but Connor and Brody just stood by and watched.
I may be an omega, but I refuse to be some simpering fool. My heart feels like it is breaking in my chest at the thought of leaving my fated mates, but the Goddess herself couldn't keep me here any longer.
I waited for them all to pass out, knowing they're heavy sleepers, and then I left with nothing more than the debit card in my pocket, a backpack with some clothes and toiletries, and my bike. The screen before me lights up—temporarily blinding me since my eyes have already adjusted to the blanket of darkness enveloping the city—and the options to make a deposit or withdrawal burn a hole through my retinas.I'm really doing this.
Pressing the withdrawal button, I take out the maximum amount I can at this ATM and quickly pocket it before hustling over and hefting up the bike I’d laid on its side. Our pack is extremely well-off, but they'll still notice the money is gone by the time they all wake up. With that thought, I swing one leg over the seat, settle on my bike, and pedal as fast as I can to the other four ATMs from here to the bus station. It's a few miles, but I'm not completely out of shape, so I make it in good time.
Each time I take the maximum amount out, and by the time I make it to the train station, I have a little over five thousand dollars cash burning a hole in my pocket. That's my new start. Five thousand dollars. I'm not so shallow that I won't be able to adjust to a more modest living, but I can admit to already missing the luxuries I've been afforded the past two years.
That's okay though. A simple life, free of fear, is better than flinching at the sight of my mates for the rest of my life.
The late hour—or early, I guess since it’s a little after one in the morning—means there isn't a line at the ticket counter. I step up to the glass partition and see the elderly lady working has drifted off on duty. If it were any other night, I'd laugh good-naturedly. But tonight, I'm a big ball of stress, so I tap lightly on the glass, and she jolts awake, looking around frantically while she finds her bearings, and then her eyes meet mine.
A head of curly, completely gray hair that is slightly frizzy and pulled into a haphazard bun at the base of her neck frames a sweet looking face. She's probably in her early 60's if I had to guess.
Sheepish eyes hold mine as she straightens her spine, shakes the mouse, and tinkers with the keyboard in front of her.
"How can I help you, sweetie?" she asks, still sounding slightly embarrassed.
"I need a one-way ticket to wherever the next bus is headed," I respond, my voice sounding pinched with nerves.
Her eyes widen a little, and she's suddenly looking at me with more interest. My backpack—filled to the brim—dark circles under my eyes, and the hood I currently have up over my hair to hide my face all tell a story. But nothing tells a better story than the swollen and purple skin surrounding my eye.
She gasps a little and starts typing on her computer with a determined focus I appreciate.
"Next bus out leaves in 20 minutes," she tells me after a minute.
"I'll take it,” I say, reaching into my pocket and handing over some of the cash I just pulled out.
The older lady shakes her head immediately. "Keep it. Good luck."
I take the ticket she slides through the bottom of the partition and murmur a quietthank you.Tears prick my eyes at her kindness. I clear my throat, blink my eyes a few times to dry the tears that never fell, and give her one last grateful smile.
Pivoting on my feet, I hike my backpack up a little further, and make my way to the line of mostly empty buses off to the right in the terminal.
