Page 17 of Wynter Abandoned

Sometimes, I wished they would just physically hurt me. At least, that way, it would be one event. They would beat me. I would recover. Life would go on.

This emotional hold they had on me was like nothing tangible. I had a wounded soul, and their mission in life was to keep scraping the scab off, making me bleed over and over, the scars getting deeper all the while.

Being alone and in poverty without a coin to my name would be better than this.

At least, it was in my mind.

In reality, poverty could rob one of any happiness. Everything was more difficult. And without any support, and the gods knew I had no friends other than the chickens and Goliath, I had no hope.

“What are you gawking at?” my stepmama asked while sneering at her breakfast.

“Oh, nothing,” I replied, realizing that I was allowing my thoughts to take over.

“Better not be about Xerxes,” Violet said, jabbing at her quiche with her fork.

“Who?” I asked. I knew who he was. He was the focus of all my thoughts lately, though I had no business thinking about any alpha.

“Don’t give me that, you worthless idiot. Your fate is sealed. You are going to live here and serve this family for the rest of your life. Dreaming is just self-torture.”

Violet wasn’t wrong. I needed to get back to reality and face the facts she’d just laid in front of me.

People like me didn’t have mates. I was forbidden to shift. Forbidden to acknowledge my animal.

I was being silly. Silly and immature. The best thing I could do for myself would be to focus my thoughts on my work and give up on anything else.

Too bad my heart completely disagreed.

Chapter Sixteen

Titan

Xerxes was asking around about the female and the two she’d driven off with. He was massively frustrated at not being able to remember their names but felt confident that with enough research, he would learn where to find her.

As for me, how would I tell him that I had gotten a glimpse, a whiff of the female I thought was our mate? In the woods late at night, seen her shadow, watched her from a distance. Her clothes were baggy, concealing her form, but that didn’t stop my wolf from fixating on her. What color was her hair? Her eyes? What did her voice sound like—beyond the soft gasp when she realized I was there? I wanted to know.

My wolf stood there, fixated on her, wanting to approach, but she looked so timid. Ready to flee, and even if I shifted, I’d be nude. She had a scent of wolf, even from here, but it was faint, and I couldn’t tell for sure if she was one of us.

A shifter might be fine with someone approaching nude after shifting. They’d be fine with a wolf because they’d know the difference. Could she be a human and I was picking up the scent of someone else who had passed through?

What would Xerxes say if I told him I thought we had different mates? After vowing to mate one female together so many years ago, being so sure that was Fate’s plan, was I about to break that promise?

To mate a human…or something?

I might have to leave the pack after that.

One did not break a promise to an alpha just like that. Not and avoid being cast out as a rogue. I’d lose my whole family, all my friends, my home…but what was the alternative? If Xerxes and, theoretically, Smoke felt the woman from town was theirmate, but I didn’t? I would be doing nobody any good to keep with the arrangement. I’d just make everyone miserable if I did.

My alpha wanted me to try to find his female, the one he’d met but didn’t even have a name for. A lot of that going around. Since I had no idea where to start my search, why not head in the direction where I’d seen my female? It was new territory for me, and perhaps I’d find them both. Or someone who knew them and could provide information.

This time, I rolled up a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt and tucked them into a bag I could wear around my neck in case I had the opportunity to talk to someone who might not like me naked. For whatever reason. With time at a premium, Xerxes, no doubt, pacing holes in the floor while calling, texting, and googling for any hint of the female he had met, the one he thought was all of our mate.

Heart heavy, I thought about driving closer to my destination but then realized it would take me more time to drive the long way around than to run cross-country. So, off I went. It was a few hours and on the other side of a hill that felt more like a small mountain, which could be why we didn’t socialize with whatever pack lay on that side often. And why last time I was there was also the first time. We ran straight out until we neared the area where I’d seen the female that night, and there we slowed, pacing through the brush, steps as quiet as wide furry paws could make them.

I recognized the tree she’d been near, and approached it, muzzle lifted to scent the air. She’d been here, but she was not now. Another, however, was. Maybe someone who could help me on my quest or Xerxes’.

Remaining in the shelter of the tree, I shifted and donned my clothes, ready to step out and greet the female. My fur had kept me toasty and cozy, but I was missing having a coat now.

“I don’t care what anyone says, those dresses we bought are not nice enough for the ball.”

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