Page 39 of Alpha's Runaway Mate

He shrugged. “About fifteen. You looked so peaceful while you were asleep. And I wanted to keep you that way.”

“Asleep?”

“No,” he replied, sitting up and letting his hands glide along my bare shoulders. “Peaceful.”

I leaned in to kiss him, wrapping my hands around his neck and knocking him back onto the bed. Kaine’s hands tightened around my hips, pulling me impossibly closer as he deepened the kiss. But just as things were getting heated, I pulled away.

“We’ve got to get Leo ready for school,” I said, watching as his eyes, dark with desire, closed in frustration as he groaned.

Reluctantly, we got out of bed. While Kaine helped Leo prepare for school, I whipped up a simple breakfast of toast and eggs. Leo chattered at the dining table about his school, the puzzle he was working on with Kaine, and all the little things that filled his world. He was seemingly unaffected by the strange events unfolding around him. And a part of me was glad that he wasn’t aware of all the complexities looming around him. But soon, I knew that I’d have to sit him down and explain what he truly was—a hybrid. That is after I understood what that actually meant.

While Kaine was off dropping Leo at school, I busied myself with cleaning Leo’s room and the rest of the house. Now, standing in front of the mirror in my bathroom, I peered closely at my own eyes, half expecting them to turn that unusual shade of gold like Leo’s. I even focused intently on my toothbrush, willing it to levitate, do something—anything. Nothing of that sort happened. The words of Salome echoed in my head,I bound her to her fate as a werewolf—her fated mate.What did that even mean?

Kaine returned after I had just finished my bath. Noticing my long face, he asked what was going through my mind. I admitted to him that I was confused about who—or what—I really was. Everything Salome said had deepened my confusion when I tried hard to understand it all.

I knew the basics: I was part witch, part werewolf, and my witch side was somehow bound, locked away. But Leo, his witch side was free, manifesting in ways that made me worry. Kaine gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, promising me that we would figure it out together. When I suggested searching through my father’s belongings in the attic, he was happy to help. Hours later, we’d gone through everything at least twice, hoping for any clue about my past, but we came out empty-handed. The onlydiscovery Iad made was a photograph of the woman I’d always believed was my mother—the woman I didn’t meet, the woman who’d supposedly died a few weeks after I was born.

Discovering that everything I knew about myself might be a lie left me in a fog of confusion. It felt like my entire life was a lie. If there was one thing I was grateful for at this moment, it was that I wasn’t unraveling this alone. Kaine was here, steady and sincere, and his presence made the uncertainty a little easier to bear.

He left to handle some pack duties, while I hurried to the diner for my shift. I was already late, and had to sprint the entire way. When I burst through the back door into the diner, breathless and tugging on my apron, the soft murmur of the evening crowd greeted me.

As soon as I stepped behind the counter, Isolde was waiting for me. “Finally decided to show up, huh?”

I blinked, startled by her tone. I should have gotten used to this by now—her coldness, the sharpness in her tone when she spoke to me—but I couldn’t accept that I’d lost my best friend so easily. I opened my mouth to apologize. “I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

“Save it.” Her words were sharper than usual, laced with irritation and annoyance. “I’ve been covering your shift for the last hour. And for what?”

I opened my mouth to explain, but then I closed it, wondering where I would even begin. Normally, she would be the first person I confided in whenever I had a problem. We used to know everything about anything going on in each other’s lives. But now, we were like strangers. The anger in her eyes made my heart heavy. I knew this was about more than just showingup late for work, and it frustrated me that I couldn’t understand why she was treating me this way.

I softened my voice as I moved closer to her. “Isolde, what’s going on? I don’t think it's fair for you to act this way and not tell me why.”

“Mr. Mason wants his coffee. I’m out of here.”

“Isolde—”

Her gaze darkened, lips pressing into a thin line. Without another word, she yanked off her apron and stormed out of the diner, leaving me standing there, bewildered. If I were to make a list of the things that confused me in my life right now, the list would be endless.

Sighing, I went ahead and served Mr. Mason his coffee before returning back to the counter to immerse myself in my work. This was when I noticed Dominic sitting in one of the chairs behind it. From the expression on his face—pity—I knew that he’d witnessed my confrontation with Isolde.

“I have a theory,” he said, scooting two chairs closer to me. “I wouldn’t exactly call it a theory—more of an observation.”

I frowned, still reeling from the earlier confrontation. “What are you talking about, Dominic?”

“You really don’t see it, do you?”

I paused in my task of putting the clean mugs and utensils away in their respective shelves to look at him. “Are you going to start speaking in words I understand, or what?”

He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “First day I moved to Crescent Valley, Isolde was at the house with Kaine. It wasn’t hard to notice how she giggled at every little thing he said, how eager she was to help him with anything, and how her body tensed whenever they got close.”

With each word Dominic spoke, my brows furrowed deeper in confusion. I could connect the dots, but it still didn’t make sense. Maybe I needed to hear him say it outright.

“The way she looks at him—it’s obvious she likes him.”

His words were like a sudden jolt, scattering memories through my mind. I could suddenly recall the little signs I’d ignored—the times Isolde was unusually protective and possessive around Kaine, the awkward silences whenever I spoke about my relationship with Kaine, the fleeting glances I’d caught her throwing his way. It all pieced together like a puzzle. Still, I didn’t want to believe it.

I shook my head. “No. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t I?” Dominic raised an eyebrow, a slight smirk tugging at his lips. “You know I’m right. She’s angry because you’re back, messing up the ground she thought she was gaining or had gained with Kaine. He was always the subject of our conversations, always wanting to join our hunts, practically begging me to talk him into taking her along. And believe me, it wasn’t because she loved hunting.”

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