Page 77 of The Alpha's Runaway Bride

Noah

“I’m so glad to be back home,” Noah said as the ceremonial hall came into view.

“Me, too,” Elijah said. “The bed was very comfortable last night, but I think I’m going home and I’m going to sleep for a week.”

“Do you think that Trent will hold up his end of the bargain?” Keith asked.

“I think so,” Noah said. “He’ll lose face if he doesn’t since he signed the document. We were in his territory, in his ceremonial hall, so he can’t say that he signed it under duress.”

“Good. I would hate to think that we did this whole trip for nothing,” Keith said. “I’m with Elijah. I’m going home and going to bed.”

“I think I’ll shower and visit Angie. She has to be worried by now. I didn’t tell her where I was going. I just said that I was going to be gone for a few days,” Noah said.

They grabbed their clothes and went in different directions. Noah checked his phone. He thought it was strange that he hadn’t received any texts or voice messages from Angie.

“I guess she just decided I would contact her when I got back,” he told himself.

After a long hot shower and a quick bite to eat, Noah went to Angie’s apartment. When she didn’t answer the door after he knocked, he used his key to get in. He could instantly feel that something was off. The apartment didn’t feel lived in. Apollo’s water and food bowl weren’t in their customary spot.

Noah saw a piece of paper on the dining room table and recognized Angie’s handwriting.

My Dearest Noah, I knew from the very beginning that I wasn’t a suitable mate for you because I’m a mundane human. That is why I turned you down the first time. I came to the shifter world hoping to give our love a chance, but all I did was put you in danger. The elder made it very clear to me that I would never be welcome as your mate and all I would do is destroy your life. I can’t do that to you. I wish you a lifetime of love and happiness. With all my love, Angie.

“Damn them,” Noah swore. “What the fuck do they think they were doing?”

He ran into Carolyn in the hallway.

“Why didn’t she wait to talk to me?” he asked.

“She tried calling you and texting you several times, but you never got back with her. She went to the ceremonial hall, which was when Elder Fredrick demanded that she leave.”

“Didn’t she get the message that I had to leave town for a few days because of an emergency?”

“No. She saw you that one last time and then nothing. You ghosted her,” Carolyn said.

If Noah hadn’t been so upset, he would have been impressed that Carolyn was standing up to him. He pulled out his phone and checked his message. The text that he had tried to send to Angie right before he left for Demon Claw territory had been deleted.

“I’ll be a son of a bitch,” he growled.

Noah stormed back into the ceremonial hall. “Which one of you talked to Angie?” he bellowed.

“Me,” Elder Fredrick said.

“What did you tell her?”

“The truth. I told her that she had done nothing but cause trouble for the pack. Because of her, one of our pack members is at Charred Cove Island. She also has caused problems between you and your father. I told her that if she stayed, she would only bring you down and that she needed to go back to the human world,” the elder said.

“I don’t know what the fuck you were thinking,” Noah raged. “First, Abner made his own choices and ended up exiled because of his actions and not because of anything that Angie did. Second, my father has always been an asshole, and we’ve been at each other’s throats since I was born. Third, her love could never hurt me in any way.”

The elder took a step back.

“Are you the one who deleted my message to her, as well as her messages and phone calls to me?”

Elder Fredrick nodded.

Noah growled and bared his fangs at the elder. He wanted nothing more than to rip the man’s throat out. A gentle touch on his arm stopped him. Noah whirled around to see his mother standing there.

Elder Cyrus stepped forward. “A mundane human is not suitable to be our luna. You need to forget about that – that person,” he spat, “and find a wolf shifter to marry. Selena comes from a fine family and would be a perfect match. As our alpha, you are obligated to marry a wolf shifter.”

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