Page 1 of Fractured Mates

Chapter One

Sophie

I’ve always thought of that time I murdered my mate as the greatest day of my life, but maybe I’ve been wrong. As I sit in this old diner, huddled in a corner booth all by my lonesome and relishing in the most savory meal I’ve ever tasted, I start to question what should hold the title of “Best Day Ever.”

Staring at the meaty burger topped with an Anaheim pepper, pepper jack cheese, and bacon, all drizzled in barbeque sauce, I try to convince myself that a kickass foodie day has to be better than anything else. Especially anything to do with the man I wish I’d never met.

Yet, the animal in me won’t ever agree to that.

Killing Thane changed everything for us and you know it, my wolf says compellingly. He would have caged us, and that would have only ended one way.

I know she’s right, but as sauce dribbles down my chin and my chest rumbles in satisfaction, I can’t find the will to agree. All I can appreciate in this moment is the delicious meal and the Oreo shake it came with.

It’s been over ten years since I fled my pack and was relocated to Texas. While the pack there had been everything the protectors who found me had promised, I hadn’t stayed long.

The need to be on the go, doing as I please, and watching my own back is too strong for me to stay in one place for long. The alphas Cait and Roman have allowed me my freedom, insisting their pack is still my home, but their words only serve as a safeguard for me.

When I’m asked where I’m from and say East Texas, people don’t screw with me as much. Well, as long as I don’t stick around long enough for them to get suspicious.

Though, from the sounds of it, Cait and Roman are ready to “retire,” so the pack will soon be in the hands of Dawsyn and her dragon mate Cillian. I’m not sure if my wanderer arrangement will continue working out, but I’m going to take advantage as long as I can.

“You look like you need a few more napkins, hon,” the waitress says with a knowing smirk as she sets a stack next to my plate. “Can I get you a refill on your shake?”

I nod with my mouth full, then force myself to swallow. “Thanks. This is the best burger I’ve ever tasted.”

She winks at me, a spark of confidence shining in her hazel eyes. “Of course it is.” She glances back toward the kitchen and sighs. “My Henry knows what he’s doing back there.”

The longing in not only her voice but her gaze sends a twinge of pain through my chest, one I resent with every fiber of my being.

Being human, this woman doesn’t know the connection of a fated mate bond, but I do.

I know how all-encompassing it can feel, how in one moment you can feel so lost, then start to believe that everything in the world is finally right. Yet, I also know how wrong those feelings can be. How everything you’ve been told suddenly becomes the biggest lie to ever exist.

A shudder runs through me, and I close my eyes until the waitress speaks again. I hadn’t even realized she was still standing next to the table.

“Are you cold?” she asks. “We can move you farther from the vent.

Grabbing one of the napkins, I wipe my face and shake my head as I force a smile to my lips. “I’m good. Thank you.”

She pats the tabletop and returns my grin. “Well, all right, then. You just holler if you need anything at all and I’ll have a refill right up.”

If only all humans could be this nice…

I stare back down at my burger, but my normal, ravenous appetite has faded away. Thinking about Thane typically does that to me.

He’s the only son of a bitch who has that kind of power over me, and he doesn’t even exist any longer.

I buried him in the ground twelve years ago, but he still finds a way to fuck with me. I thought once he was dead that I wouldn’t miss the mate bond. Yet, no matter how much I hate him and am glad he’s dead, there’s a part of me that can’t stop caring about him. That alone pisses me off more than anything else, knowing that he still has some sort of hold on me, even from the grave.

Taking a deep breath, I calm my rising rage and close my eyes. I picture the river back in East Texas and the rock I used to sleep against when being around the pack became too much.

Their sympathetic looks were a constant reminder of what I’d been forced to do.

And we had every right to kill him, my wolf says, as she always does. He would have raped us, caged us, and eventually killed us, one way or another. It was him or us. How do you not see that after all this time?

I do see it, but knowing something and believing it are two different things. I know that shifting and allowing you to rip Thane’s heart from his human chest was the right thing to do, because he truly was a monster. Yet…I became a murderer and lost my fated mate all in the same moment.

We did that, she corrects. Plus, he was a shitty person and deserved what he got.

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