AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What are your plans for today, Mariam?” Justine asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“I don’t know what I’m allowed to do,” I answered carefully, shifting my eyes to Randy. Justine scowled at that answer.
“Well, that’s just ridiculous. Give me your phone, wolfman. I’m calling Trace,” she demanded, hand outstretched to her mate. Randy sighed and handed his phone to her, grumbling under his breath about staying out of Trace’s business. She dialed and held the phone up to her ear, giving me an apologetic look.
“Are you rude or just stupid?” Justine said when Trace picked up. My breath caught in my chest, worrying about how the moody alpha on the other end would respond. I had to remind myself that he probably wouldn’t murder his own sister at least.
“You heard me,” she said, walking to the fridge and fishing out a jug of milk. “You left a perfectly good mate here alone on her first day in a new pack, she doesn’t know anyone, and your old flame Jessica just dropped off muffins for you. Fuckingmuffins, Trace. I tried to comfort Mariam and ask her out to do something, and do you know what she told me? “Justine paused for dramatic effect. “She said she didn’t know what she was allowed to do. You have abandoned her, and she doesn’t even know if she can leave the house.”
Randy reached over and slapped her on the ass, growling a warning. Whatever the line was with them, Justine wasgetting close to crossing it. But while she was exaggerating about my reaction to Jessica stopping by and about this being my first day with the pack, I was also thrilled to hear her chewing Trace out. He needed someone to challenge him on his bullshit, and as much as I wished I could, the man was terrifying to me. Avoidance was a much safer route to take with him.
I expected to hear shouting through the other side of the phone, but instead, his voice remained soft enough that I couldn’t even make out his response. Whatever he said, it must have been what Justine was hoping for. She gave me a bright smile and a thumbs up.
“See, was that so hard?” she asked. Justine didn’t wait for her brother’s answer. She ended the call and handed the phone back to Randy. Then she poured her mate a tall glass of milk, which seemed to help soothe his irritation at her behavior.
“Trace says you’re free to leave the house,” she said, putting the milk back in the fridge. “I can’t wait to show you Flagstaff and introduce you to some other pack members. It’s perfect timing, too. What with the pack run tonight and all.”
My throat tightened. How could I forget about the pack run? I had been so excited about the possibility of joining Gabe and some of the women at work for the run, but now I wouldn’t just be Ella…I wouldn’t even be Ella at all, actually. I would be introduced as a liar and their alpha’s runaway mate. My head started to spin as I thought about their reaction to learning that I had lied to them about my identity the whole time.
“Whoa,” Randy said, reaching out to steady me. “Packruns are fun. It’s nothing to be worried about. Didn’t you have them in your former pack?”
I nodded, trying to suppress my uneasiness. I wanted to explain that they were actually one of the things that I missed the most about being away from my pack, but then another emotion rushed through me. This would be the first pack run where I didn’t have Patrick and Lance running beside me.
“Do you want to go out today, or do you just need some time to rest?” Justine asked, watching me with a frown. “And if you aren’t up to going on the run, I’m sure Trace would understand you sitting this one out.”
I shrugged as I slid off the stool. I wanted to run back up the stairs and hide under the blankets on my bed. Maybe I could call Patrick again, though that made me feel inexplicably guilty. I made some lame excuse about needing to rest more before leaving the house and trudged back up the stairs.
I didn’t want to go on the run, that much was for sure, and now I didn’t even want to face the teachers at the school. I chastised myself for trying to avoid the inevitable.When had I become such a coward?
Running away was all I had done for the past month, and it seemed like I was making it a habit. Maybe it would be better to go and just face the music sooner rather than later. Unless I really could escape, I’d have to see them all again, anyway.
I fell facedown back onto the guest room bed. Slowly, I reached for the phone I had left abandoned on the floor and scrolled through the short list of contacts—Patrick, Ella, a few teachers from the school, the principal…and Gabe. I clicked on his name before I could second-guess myself and tentatively held the phone up to my ear.
For a minute, I thought he wasn’t going to answer, but then he picked up right before it went to his voicemail. “Hey, Mariam. How’s it going?”
It felt weird to hear him use my real name instead of calling me Ella, but I pushed the thought aside.
“It’s okay. I guess…I mean, it could be worse.” I tried to laugh, but it sounded forced. Gabe was quiet on the other end, waiting for me to elaborate. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, Gabe. I just…I need a friend.”
“Well, we’re friends. What do you need me to do for you?” The question was measured. He was choosing his words carefully.
“I’m not asking you to break me out of here,” I said, sighing. “I’m just really overwhelmed. I was thinking about the pack run tonight and facing everyone from school…and I think I’m losing my nerve. I just want to hide in this room forever.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about the people at school. I called and let Ms. Jenkins know what was going on. I assumed that you wouldn’t be in, at least today, and I didn’t want them to worry.” He paused. “She wasn’t upset, Mariam. She was grateful that you were able to help when you could, and she wanted me to tell you to be kind to yourself if I spoke with you.”
That made me feel pretty stupid. Of course, Ms. Jenkins would be more concerned about me than about who would cover for kindergarten. I was still a little surprised that she wasn’t angry over being lied to, but maybe she understood more than I gave her credit for.
“Trace bit me this morning,” I whispered into the phone. It still felt surreal to say the words out loud.
Gabe sucked in a breath. “And how do you feel about that?”
“I’m upset. My wolf is over the moon,” I answered truthfully. “It’s going to prevent me from ever leaving, isn’t it?”
There was no point in lying to Gabe about my desire to escape. He wasn’t going to betray me. At least, I didn’t think he would report our conversation back to Trace.
“I think you should give him a chance,” Gabe answered slowly. “But if you are still unhappy about being mated after really trying to be with him, we’ll figure something out together, Mariam. I haven’t spent hours in the Collections room at the library for nothing.”
If there were any way out, he would be able to find it. “Gabe, I can never repay you for offering that. Thank you,” I said, my voice cracking with emotion.
