Page 7 of The Runaway Mate

I couldn’t take it anymore. My chest felt like it was going to explode; it was heavy, and there was such pain there. Pain I couldn’t explain, couldn’t get rid of. It felt like I was breaking apart, and the one person who should be there to hold me up was the one holding the hammer. I turned and sprinted out of the room, Brock’s laughter trailing behind me. I ran home, went straight to my room, and locked the door. I collapsed on my bed, not able to stop the tears, to stop the whining of my wolf who wanted me to go back, to go and shake some sense into our mate.

I don’t know how long it was before Hayley came home. I heard a soft knock on my bedroom door, followed by a voice that seemed too gentle for its owner. “Mai, it’s Hayley. Can I come in?”

I hesitated, not really wanting company, but I knew she wouldn’t go away until she said whatever she wanted to say. I clicked the lock.

The door swung open, and Hayley walked in, her eyes meeting mine briefly before she looked away. She sat on the edge of my bed, her posture straight, every inch the Alpha female she wanted so desperately to be.

“I heard about what happened,” she began, her voice laced with sympathy. “I’m really sorry, Mai. No one should have to go through that.”

I swiped angrily at the tears that were starting to fall again. I didn’t want Hayley to see me crying.

“Ryan,” she sighed. “Ryan is a complicated person. He’s had to look after his brothers since his mom died and his dad checked out of the whole parenting thing. He’s got a lot of responsibility. He doesn’t need another kid on his plate, you know? But he really could have handled the situation with more care.”

“I’m not a kid!” The tears wouldn’t stop. Oh Goddess, why wouldn’t they stop?

“Sure, you’re not. But that’s the way Ryan sees you. The way he’ll always see you. I don’t want to hurt you, but you need to know the truth, Mai. When Ryan is with Sarah, he lights up. He’s happy, Mai. She’s good for him.”

I felt like Hayley had stabbed me in the heart with an icepick. It hurt so much to hear her say that Ryan was happy with someone else. That he was meant for someone who wasn’t me.

Hayley reached out and stroked my hair. She had never done that before. Never shown me any physical affection. “I know you. I know you love Ryan and will want to do what is right for him. Sometimes, life gives us signals, Mai. Signals that maybe we’re not where we’re supposed to be,” she continued, her eyes searching my face for a reaction.

“What do you mean?” I whispered, not sure I could take much more.

Hayley sighed, her eyes flicking to the door and back to me. “What I mean is, maybe this is your chance to get out, to see the world, to grow up, to escape this… smallness,” she waved her hand vaguely around the room, “and discover who you really are.”

“Run away, you mean,” I clarified, my voice tinged with disbelief.

She shrugged. “Call it what you want, but sometimes, running away is running toward something better, something that’s actually worthy of you. Do you want to stay here? To always be the kid who thought she was Ryan’s mate and got rejected in front of all the Packs? Your little scene will sustain the gossips for months, years even. This news will spread across the northeast in no time. Who’ll take you now, Mai? If you stay, no one will want you. You’ll always be the delusional kid pining for the mate she can’t ever have.”

Hayley was right. Nobody would touch me now. I would always have to live with the rejection, the humiliation. But could I really leave everything behind? My home, my Pack, my brother? Ryan?

Hayley seemed to sense my struggle. “You could always come back. But you’ll come back stronger, wiser, and who knows, maybe even out there, you’ll be able to find someone who truly values you for who you are.”

Her words were wrapped in a layer of sweetness, but something in her tone set off alarms in the back of my mind. Was she really concerned about my well-being, or was she just trying to get rid of me?

Still, her words hit a nerve. She was offering me an out, a way to escape the humiliation and heartbreak. And part of me, the part that wanted to stop feeling this unbearable pain, wanted to take it.

She stood up to leave, her eyes locking onto mine one last time. “Just think about it, okay? You deserve so much more than this, Mai.”

She left the room, closing the door gently behind her. I don’t know how long I stayed there, my feet rooted to the floor. But by the time I wiped away my tears, I knew what I was going to do. I packed a small bag and left that night. Everyone was at the party, and the border patrols were on skeleton crews—all the enforcers were in the center of town to protect the Meet. I was able to slip out of our territory without seeing anyone. I ran… and ran far. Only stopping two years later, when I reached Cocrane and tried desperately to forget all about Ryan.

Chapter six

Mai

And now here he was, standing in my fucking doorway.

Ryan. My Ryan.

No! Not mine. Never mine.

My wolf was clamoring inside me. She wanted to go to him, to be kissed and touched in a way that she never wanted with Seth. I reined her in, but it hurt more than my broken arm or twisted knee. He’d rejected me, and now he was just standing there. I could feel his eyes on me, his gaze piercing through me.

“Ryan,” I whispered. Shit, I so wasn’t ready to see him again. I didn’t think I’d ever be ready to see him again.

Ryan looked me up and down, his arms crossed over his chest, his blue eyes laser-sharp in their gaze. He wore blue jeans and a black T-shirt that stretched tight across his broad chest. Muscles bulged in his arms; not the sculpted muscle built by weightlifting. No, this was powerful muscle corded into shape by hours of fighting and ripping through his opponents. His jaw was clenched so tight I thought he might break his teeth.

Goddess, he looked good. His dark hair was shorter than I remembered, only about an inch long on top. It made him seem more severe, less the boy I knew, more manly somehow. His face was hard, and a muscle twitched in his cheek when his eyes passed over my injuries. His whole body was rigid and tight, like he was desperately trying to hold himself back from moving. Yet his presence seemed to invade the whole space. You always knew when Ryan was in the room; you could feel his energy spreading out and taking all the available oxygen.

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