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I don’t know if anyone will come to check that I’m not trying to run away again. Maybe they don’t care. I ran before and they came after me and killed Shane.

Maybe theywantme to run so they have an excuse to kill me and they can tell Mack it was all my fault.

He rubs a hand up and down my back. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I think I’d rather run as far away from this place with you as possible.”

He chuckles. “Me too.”

I don’t want to tell him about what happened. It’s still so fresh, but opening up to Mack has always been easy, so I start from the beginning.

I tell him about what happened at the house in Winter Lake, the shock of coming face to face with Shane, and how he had someone set fire to the den.

Here, I stop. “Is everyone okay?”

“Everyone is fine,” he reassures me. “And your grandparents are busy redecorating and wiping all traces of the fire from the den. Including ordering new windows.”

It’s a relief knowing the house didn’t burn down.

Talking more slowly, I reluctantly tell Mack about waking in the cabin. “I’d been dreaming of you and…”

He seems to recognize I don’t want to tell him this. “It’s okay, Aerin. You can tell me.”

Still reluctant to admit this, even though I know I didn’t do anything wrong, I still wince as I say it. “I dreamed I was with you. And in the dream you kissed me, but when I woke up…”

“Shane was doing the kissing?” His voice is tight.

I move to get up but his arms tighten around me. “I’m not mad at you, Aerin. I’m pissed at him for taking advantage. Neveryou.” He kisses me then. Softly. Sweetly. But far, far too briefly. “What else happened?”

I continue my story. Including Franklin telling me that he would let the omegas go, but that I didn’t believe he would.

Of how Franklin killed Shane right in front of me, and that a man tried to sneak into my room last night, and when I heard Mack’s footsteps, I thought he was back to do it again.

It’s been two days, and yet I feel like I’ve been here a month.

“I’m sorry you’ve been through so much,” he says a long while later. “But I really wish you hadn’t given yourself up like that.”

“Chris was hurt. I had to,” I tell him. And as much as I hate being here, I don’t regret what I did. Shane would not have just walked away and Chris would have died if Helena didn’t help him.

“Chris! Is he?—”

“He’s fine. Warren is still at the house in case there’s any trouble, but he told me that Chris had woken up a couple of times. Moses is staying with him and he assured me he has Lucy on speed dial in case he needs her advice on anything, but he was healing well before we left.”

“Moses?” I scrunch my nose. “What is Moses doing in Winter Lake?”

He sighs tiredly. “Yeah, there’s a lot I need to tell you. But first, you didn’t hurt yourself falling out of the balcony, did you?”

“I’m okay. It’s only the ground floor, and the grass was pretty soft.”

He shakes me slightly. “You need to be more careful, love. You and Thumper are my heart.”

My smile is watery. “Thumper is living up to her name. My bladder is getting all the hits lately.”

He flashes me a grin. “Bathroom break?”

I nod. “Bathroom break.”

But neither of us moves. We just look at each other.

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